by Alison Weir
There was relatively little furniture in Henry VIII’s palaces. Space had to be made for the hordes of people who came to court; therefore most furniture was strictly utilitarian. It was generally solid, but roughly fashioned, usually by the Office of Works, and the chief material was oak. Items designated for the royal apartments might be decorated with panels carved with crude mediaeval designs; only after about 1540 did Renaissance-style carvings begin to replace them. The Royal Wardrobe was the department responsible for providing furniture for the King’s houses.
The finest furniture was naturally to be found in the royal chambers. The most important pieces were the furniture of estate used by the King—his chairs of estate, his beds, and his buffets. His furniture was sacrosanct: no one else was allowed to sit on the throne, “nor to lean upon the King’s bed, nor to approach the cupboard where the King’s cushion is laid, nor to stand upon his carpet.”31
Hardly any of Henry VIII’s furniture survives, but contemporary sources give some idea of what it was like. His many chairs of estate, made in the typical X-frame design of the period,32 were upholstered in velvet or cloth of gold with gilt nails33 and were provided with a braided and tasselled cushion, and perhaps a footstool. The chair of estate was set on a dais beneath a sparver, or canopy of estate, made of cloth of gold, damask, or velvet, with a ceiler and tester perhaps trimmed and tasselled with Venice gold;34 its dorsal, the section hanging down the wall, might be embroidered with the royal arms or cipher and Tudor roses. The King’s cushion was carried before him in processions, and any seat it was placed on became a chair of estate—the seat of royal authority. 35 Henry VIII’s first Great Seal shows him on a mediaeval throne, but by 1542, when his third Great Seal was made, it was common for his chairs of estate to be embellished with intricate antique carvings in the Renaissance style.36
The Queen would sit on a smaller chair, equally lavishly appointed, with a lower canopy.37 Chairs of any other sort were scarce, and along with a few settles were reserved for those of higher rank. Everyone else sat on stools, in the inward chambers, or benches, in the outward chambers. No one apart from the Queen sat in the presence of the King, except by invitation.
A person’s wealth was often measured by the number of beds he owned: because of their carved decoration and rich sets of hangings, beds were usually the most valuable pieces of furniture anyone could own, and were frequently bequeathed in wills. Henry VIII possessed many rich beds. One at Windsor was eleven feet square and had a gold and silver canopy with silken hangings; 38 a similar bed had belonged to Henry VII. Another was a “great rich bedstead” inherited from Wolsey; it had gilt posts, four boules bearing cardinals’ hats, a ceiler of red satin embroidered with roses, garters, and portcullises, and a valance of white and green. Henry’s bed at Hampton Court was eight feet long, and had a ceiler and tester of cloth of gold and silver edged with silk fringes and purple velvet ribbon, as well as purple and white taffeta curtains bordered with gold ribbon.39
The King’s wives also slept in lavish splendour. Anne Boleyn had a “great bed” decorated with fringes of Venice gold and tassels of Florence gold,40 while Jane Seymour occupied “a great rich bed” with hangings she embroidered herself.41
Early in the reign, most of the King’s beds were tester beds, with a heavy wooden frame and wooden boards or, after about 1525, rope mesh, to support the mattress or feather bed. The canopy, or tester, would have been suspended from the ceiling by cords. In the day, the hangings, which were suspended from rails attached to the wall, would be drawn back and knotted. Sometimes, heavy hangings were used in winter, and lighter ones in summer. Later in Henry’s reign, the first four-poster beds appeared, and headboards grew taller and more intricately carved and painted; designs included heraldic emblems, ciphers, foliage, figures, and medallions. An oak headboard with the painted initials of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves and grotesque carvings, dated 1539, is in the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, while a carved headboard at Hever Castle bears the royal arms of England and is said to have belonged to Anne Boleyn; these are the only two pieces of furniture surviving from Henry VIII’s collection.
Henry’s bedcoverings were made of the finest materials: his counter-points, or coverlets, were of silk, velvet, or even fur. His sheets were of best lawn, and he had woollen fustians, or blankets, and feather bolsters and pillows. He slept on no fewer than eight mattresses, each stuffed with thirteen pounds of carded wool. A wheeled trestle (or truckle) bed was kept under the royal bed. Each evening, it was pulled out for the Gentleman of the Privy Chamber whose turn it was to attend the King during the night.
The King did not sleep in his beds of estate, but used them for the daily ceremonies of rising and retiring. His nights were spent in smaller, less elaborate beds in his privy bedchambers.
Important visitors to court were assigned chambers containing splendid beds; Henry ordered ten such “rich beds” for Whitehall in 1532. 42 Household officers and servants slept in simple beds or on pallets on the floor.
Buffets (for displaying plate), cupboards, and sideboard tables were everywhere to be seen in the royal apartments. They were frequently covered with carpets or sumptuous cloths of velvet or tissue.43 In accordance with Burgundian practice, buffets were usually built in tiers or steps: the taller the display of plate, the grander the owner. Henry VIII had buffets of up to twelve tiers for use on state occasions; these were guarded by his buffetiers (perhaps the origin of the word “Beefeaters”). Buffets were used also as sideboards for serving food and drink.
Gold and silver plate—cups, dishes, goblets, chargers, ewers, and salts—was among the most important status symbols of the age. A man’s rank and affluence were gauged by his being able to host a dinner without using any of the plate on display. Henry owned 2,028 items of plate. 44 Most of it was later melted down, and only three items from his collection survive: the silver-gilt Royal Clock Salt, an exquisite example of Gothic-Renaissance craftsmanship, which was a gift from Francis I around 1535,45 the Royal Gold Cup,46 once owned by the dukes of Burgundy; and a gold and enamel crystal bowl.47 Some of the King’s plate was stored in his privy chamber in “great trussing coffers” covered in leather and lined with “Bristol red” cloth.48
Katherine of Aragon is said to have been bequeathed the Howard Grace Cup, a jewelled ivory and silver-gilt basin; in 1520, she and the King owned gilt goblets with their names engraved around the borders, a gold salt cellar engraved with H and K and enamelled with red roses, and a gold basin enamelled with red and white roses, which had been “given to the King by the Queen.”49 Anne Boleyn’s falcon perches atop the antique-style Boleyn Cup, which bears the London hallmark of 1535–1536.50
Of all his plate, Henry particularly prized his clocks, which were luxury items available only to the very affluent. His inventory lists seventeen standing clocks with chimes and “alarums,” which “strike the quarter and half of an hour”; two were “fashioned like books” (Katherine of Aragon also owned a clock set in a gold enamelled book), while another was set in crystal and adorned with rubies and diamonds.51 He also had “a hanging clock closed in glass with plummets [weights] of lead and metal,” clocks that charted “how the sea doth ebb and flow” or showed “all the days of the year with the planets, with three moving dials,” clocks of antique work or adorned with roses or pomegranates, and a striking clock “like a heart.” One clock stood on a carved pillar in the privy chamber at Hampton Court,52 others on cupboards, buffets, or wall-mounted brackets. The King paid a specialist clock technician 40s a year to maintain all these clocks. Only one survives, a Renaissance-style, gilt-metal bracket clock in the Royal Library at Windsor, which has weights engraved with the initials and mottoes of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn— “Dieu et mon droit” and “The most happy”—surrounded by lovers’ knots. This clock may have been a wedding gift from Henry to Anne. A facsimile is at Hever Castle.
Other items in the royal chambers were not nearly as valuable or as interesting. Early Tudor table
s were often basic in design. Sometimes the table on the hall dais was handsomely carved and a permanent fixture, as at the More;53 such a table might be more than twenty feet long. Most tables, however, were simply boards set on trestles; they could be taken down after a meal. Heavy fringed tablecloths covered tables in both the royal apartments and the household offices.54
Henry VIII’s beautifully fashioned portable writing desk survives. 55 It is of stained walnut and gilded leather painted with the arms of the King and Katherine of Aragon supported by putti with trumpets, figures of Venus and Mars, Renaissance medallions, and antique motifs. Lined with velvet, it has a pull-down flap at the front, which is released when the lid is lifted, revealing three drawers; handles are at the sides.
Many items, notably clothes and linen, were stored in oak chests, which were sometimes carved with linenfold panels, foliage, or figures. Painted and gilded chests were imported by the wealthy from Flanders or Italy. Master Green, the King’s “coffer-maker,” regularly supplied him with chests with drawers, covered with fabric or leather and provided with leather travelling cases.56
Henry VIII, a vain man, was well-provided with “glasses to look in.” These were of polished steel; glass mirrors were unknown. One had “purple velvet and a passement of Venice gold set square about the same.”57 Another, ordered in 1530, was full length. 58 The King’s mirrors were hung on the walls alongside his paintings and maps. Four were displayed in the long gallery at Hampton Court, and fourteen at Whitehall.59
Also on display were three rare “pots of earth, painted, called porcelain,”60 which must have come from Venice, where porcelain had been manufactured since about 1470. Thirty-eight items of glass were on show in the King’s lower study at Greenwich alone.61
Henry’s was an itinerant court, as royal courts had been throughout the Middle Ages. The King removed on average around thirty times annually, less in his later years. In the winter he stayed nearer London; at other times he might go further afield or on progress. His moves from house to house, and the length of his stay at each one—which could be measured in days or weeks—depended on several factors: first and foremost were political considerations, followed closely by the King’s desire to hunt in his various chases. A house would need cleaning and sweetening after being occupied for a time, or water supplies or locally available provisions might prove insufficient for a longer stay. On many occasions, the King moved house to escape the plague. Often he followed a planned itinerary known as a giest, but this could be disrupted.
The sheer amount of work involved in moving the court from place to place was staggering. Not only did hundreds of courtiers and servants have to relocate, but most furniture was taken, too; this was arranged by the Royal Wardrobe. Beds had to be dismantled, tapestries taken down, clothing and linen packed, valuables safely stored away or transported. The new house was made ready by the Grooms of the Chamber and Privy Chamber, who had to have everything in place by the time of the King’s arrival.62 The house just vacated was left an empty shell, with a skeleton staff under the supervision of the Keeper, usually a favoured courtier who was allowed to reside in the house, or was provided with accommodation nearby.63 The official responsible for the smooth completion of each move was the Knight Harbinger; he had the final say as to where everyone was to be accommodated. His success depended on his acquiring a wide knowledge of the layout and previous arrangements at each house.
Most household items were transported on carts, wagons, mules, or sumpter horses, or by boat.64 Everything was packed in chests or wrapped in canvas, and watched over while in transit by specialised sumptermen; boar hides were sometimes spread over the baggage to keep it dry. Other things were left in storage until they were needed: every house had its removing wardrobe, and the greater houses had Wardrobes of the Beds, Wardrobes of the Robes, and Jewel Houses.65
The King, like most people, travelled on horseback. Sixteenth-century roads were generally poor; it was left to local landowners to keep them in repair, and many defaulted. Some roads were mere dirt tracks with pot-holes; they could be treacherous or impassable in bad weather. There were so few signposts that in remote areas (notably the far north) travellers had to employ local guides; even Henry VII had once got lost between Bristol and Bath. The chief roads were those built by the Romans, but even these were poorly maintained. An added hazard was the threat posed to travellers by beggars and robbers. Early in his reign, Henry VIII ordered the building of several new roads and the repair of important older roads, which led to an increase in the use of wheeled vehicles. The best roads were those reserved especially for the sovereign’s use, such as the King’s Road, which now runs through Chelsea in London and was once part of a private road linking Whitehall and Hampton Court. There were half a dozen of these roads, which provided connections between most of the greater houses.
The Queen and the ladies of the court would either ride on palfreys or travel in a chair (or chariot) or litter. Chairs were unsprung carriages like gaily painted covered wagons, with the coach suspended on leather straps. Such carriages were probably first used in England in the fourteenth century, and an illustration of an early example may be seen in the Luttrell Psalter. 66 Katherine of Aragon’s ladies rode in one at her coronation.
A litter was a long, boxlike structure fixed above two poles; it could be carried by men or horses. An aristocratic mode of transport since the twelfth century, particularly for ladies, it was convenient for use on roads that could not take wheeled vehicles. Litters normally had hooped roofs, or bails, with horizontal pommels, or rods; they were hung with rich curtains or blinds. Litters were frequently used in ceremonial processions. In 1514, Henry’s sister Mary owned “a beautiful litter covered with cloth of gold embroidered with fleurs de lys, and carried by two large horses equipped with both saddles and harness, all covered with similar cloth. Inside the litter there [were] four large cushions covered with cloth of gold, and on the outside this litter [was] covered with scarlet English cloth.” 67
Because of the problems encountered in travelling by road—especially through London, where the streets were narrow and congested—the King preferred to travel by barge along the Thames, the capital’s principal highway, beside which many of his palaces were located. Henry owned several state barges, which were looked after by the Master of the King’s Barge, the King’s Barge being a department staffed by a team of Royal Watermen. Henry’s barges were magnificent, lavishly embellished vessels: in 1530, the court painter Vincenzo Volpe was paid £15 (£4,500 now) for decorating the King’s new barge. Royal barges were large: Katherine of Aragon’s had twenty-four oars. Henry’s chief barge was called The Lyon. Docks and boathouses were reserved for the King’s use at most riverside palaces; one was built at Whitehall in 1540.68
Henry enjoyed pleasure rides along the river, which was then the habitat of thousands of swans; one such trip took place in 1539, when he took his barge to Whitehall and Lambeth, with his drums and fifes playing, and sailed up and down the Thames for an hour after Evensong.
Members of the nobility with town houses would also maintain barges and watermen; others had to hire barges or pay the London boatmen to row them across or along the busy river.69 Fares started at 1d (£1.25 now), but it cost 12d (£15.20) to get from Greenwich to the City. 70
Because he hated unnecessary disruption, Henry VIII would often secretly remove to another house for a short time, taking only a few friends and servants. This small retinue was known as his “riding household,” as opposed to his “abiding household.”71 One such visit took place in 1518, when he arranged to meet Cardinal Wolsey privately at Greenwich. Richard Pace, the King’s Secretary, informed Wolsey that the King “desireth Your grace to command provision to be made there for his supper and yours, for he will depart hence secretly with a small number of his Chamber, without any such persons as should make provision for him.” 72
Henry VIII was a fastidious man, and obsessed with cleanliness. He waged a constant battle against the
dirt, dust, and smells that were unavoidable when so many people lived in one establishment. Erasmus was shocked by the filthy conditions in English houses, and there is evidence that many of those who came to court had disgusting habits. Men commonly relieved themselves against walls and in fireplaces; there were frequent official strictures about dirty dishes, tankards, and leftover food lying around the palaces and courtyards; and visitors to the royal apartments had to be constantly reminded not to “wipe or rub their hands upon none arras of the King’s whereby they might be hurted” or place dirty dishes “upon the King’s bed, for fear of hurting the King’s rich counterpoints.” 73
Henry and his contemporaries knew of and feared the connection between dirt and disease, although no one was aware of the existence of germs. Infection was thought to be transmitted through bad air or foul smells. Cleanliness was seen as a virtue, but it was very difficult to achieve or impose. Henry VIII issued numerous ordinances enforcing the observance of strict hygiene in the royal residences, but they were not always obeyed, probably because his courtiers and servants did not share his sensibilities.
The Grooms of the Chamber were commanded to keep the royal apartments free “of all manner of filthiness” and were not allowed to delegate their duties to “mean persons,”74 they had to rise at six in order to clean and tidy the King’s rooms before he got up at eight. The pages who slept in the guard chamber were expected to rise at seven to help with the finishing touches.75