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Tuesday, November 30, 2021

The Funeral of Queen Mary I. December 13 & 14, 1558

Being a staunch Protestant, Raphael Holinshed had little good to say, in his Chronicles, about Queen Mary I. His account of her funeral, on December 13, 1558, and interment, is brusque.

The thirteenth of December being tuesdaie, the corps of queene Marie was right honorablie con[vey]ed from hir manor of S. [J]ames, vnto the abbeie of Westminster. Hir picture was laid on the coffin, apparelled in hir roiall robes, with a crowne of gold set on the head thereof, after a solemne manner. In the abbeie was a rich and sumptuous hearse prepared and set vp with war, and richlie decked with penons, baners and scutchions, of the armes of England and France, vnder which hearse the corpse rested all that night, and the next daie it was brought into the new chappell, where king Henrie the seuenth lieth, and was interred there in the chappell on the north side.[1]

Her marriage to the Spanish King Philip II and the loss of the key channel island of Calais to the French did not ingratiate her with her subjects either.

Nevertheless, Elizabeth, her successor, saw the necessity of permitting her a truly royal funeral. It was going to be the great challenge of her reign to move away from Catholicism with the least possible violence. In the words of John Strype, “She was buried with a pomp suitable to her princely quality, by special order of the Queen her sister, and her Council”.[2]

While Strype was every bit as dedicated to Protestantism, he saw  fit to give a fuller description of the preparations and the events of the day. Since soon after her death, her body had been removed from her privy chambers, at the Royal Palace of St. James, to her chapel there for private viewing.

On the 10th, the deceased Queen was brought out of her chapel, with all the heralds, many lords and ladies, gentlemen and gentlewomen, and all her officers and servants in black.

On the 10th it was removed probably in order to prepare it for burial. Her body lay overnight on the 12th in the royal chariot that served as hearse until the funeral procession.

When the day was come, after this manner were her funerals performed. Her corpse was brought from St. James's where she died, in a chariot, with a[n effigy] resembling her person, adorned with crimson velvet, her crown on her head, and her sceptre in her hand, and many good rings on her fingers.

From there a “great company” of mourners proceeded ahead of it to Westminster Abbey.

And so up the highway went the foremost standard, with the falcon and the hart. Then came great company of mourners. And after, another goodly standard of the lion and the falcon, followed by King Philip her husband's servants, two and two together, in black gowns; heralds riding to and fro to see all go in order. After, came the third standard with the white greyhound and the falcon. Then came gentlemen in gowns, mourners. Then came riding esquires, bearing banners of arms. Next came the lord Marquis of Winchester, on horseback, bearing the banner of the arms of England, embroidered with gold. Then Mr. Chester, the herald, bearing the helm and the crest and mantles. Then Mr. Norroy bearing the target, with the garter and the crown. Then Mr. Clarencieux, bearing the sword. And after, Mr. Garter bearing her coat armour: all on horseback. Banners were borne about her by lords and knights, with four heralds on horseback, bearing four white banners of saints, wrought with fine gold, viz. Mr. Somerset, Mr. Lancaster, Mr. Windsor and Mr. York. Then came the corpse with her picture lying over her, covered with cloth of gold, the cross silver. Then followed Mr. with the chief mourners. And then ladies riding, all in black trailed to the ground. In the chariot, wherein the Queen lay, rode the pages of honour with banners in their hands. Afore the corpse, her chapel, and after, all the monks, and after them the bishops in order. And all in this equipage passed by Charing Cross to Westminster Abbey, where at the great doors of the church, everybody alighted off their horses. Then were gentlemen ready to take the Queen out of her chariot : and so earls and lords went before her towards the hearse, with her picture borne between men of worship. At the church door, met her four bishops and the abbot, mitred, in copes, censing the body; and so she lay all night under the hearse with watch. Item, There were an hundred poor men in good black gowns, bearing long torches, with hoods on their heads, and arms on them. And about her the guard, bearing staff-torches, in black coats. And all the way chandlers, having torches to supply them that had their torches burnt out.[3]

The somber pageantry of the event seems to have been strictly by the book. No mention is made of subjects mourning along the parade route.

Upon the completion of the various duties, the officers left the body overnight in the hearse in the Henry VII chapel until her remains were interred the next day.

On the next day, viz. December 14, was the Queen's mass; and all the lords and ladies, knights and gentlemen, did offer. And there was a man of arms and horse offered, and her coat armour, helmet, sword, and target, and banner of arms, and three standards. All the heralds standing about her. The Bishop of Winchester made her funeral sermon. There was offered also cloth of gold and velvet, whole pieces, and other things. After the mass and all was done, her Grace was carried up to the chapel that King Henry VII. builded, with bishops mitred. And all the officers went to the grave. And after, they brake their staves, and cast them into the grave on her. In the mean time the people plucked down the cloth, every man a piece that could catch it, round about the church, and the arms too. The Queen being buried, the Archbishop of York came and declared a collation, and as soon as he had made an end, all the trumpets blew a blast. And then the chief mourners, the lords and knights, the bishops and the abbot went into the abbey to dinner, and all the officers of the Queen's Court.[4]

Mary’s officers broke their staves of office and threw them into the grave, while, outside of the church, the public grabbed anything they could get hold of by way of souvenir. When the burial had been effected, the Archbishop invited the members of the cortege to a light supper.



[1] Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587, 1808). IV.158.

[2] Strype, john. Ecclesiastical Memorials, III., ii., p. 141 ff.

[3] Ibid., 141-2.

[4] Ibid., 142-3.


Also at Virtual Grub Street:

  • To Where Did Queen Elizabeth I Disappear in August 1564? July 18, 2021. “Leicestershire was in the opposite direction from London. Nichols could discover no more.”
  • Elizabeth I’s Progress to Cambridge University, 1564: Her Arrival. June 20, 2021. “The Queen would be the only woman riding a charger. It was a statement that she could rule as well as any king, including the rule of a war horse.”
  • Simnel Cake: Lenten Treat of the Ages. March 7, 2021. “Samuel Pegge sees confirmation that saffron was used in the crusts of simnel cakes in Shakespeare's Winter's Tale…”
  • Excerpts from Reports Following a Year of Royal Deaths (1536). September 19, 2021. “Chapuys speaks of a reconciliation between Henry and the Princess Mary.”
  • Queen Mary I to Henry Bedingfeld, 21 May 1554. Instructions for care of Princess Elizabeth at Woodstock. February 28, 2021. “On the morning of May 21, 1554, Princess Elizabeth embarked from the royal palace at Richmond,...”
  • Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
  • Check out the English Renaissance Letter Index for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
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