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The Speeches at Prince Henry's Barriers

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Though ceremonial in nature, the practice had some inherent risk (as jousting did), and the sixteen-year-old Prince Henry had to persuade his reluctant father to allow his participation. The ceremonial challenge that initiated the barriers occurred on 31 December 1609; Prince Henry then kept an "open
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Jonson had to tread lightly between the King's well-known pacifism and the Prince's more martial frame of mind. He had the Lady of the Lake present the Prince with a shield, rather than the more usual and typical sword, like the shield given by
573: 101:. The seven met fifty-eight challengers during the Barriers; "each bout consisted of two pushes with the pike and twelve sword-strokes, and the young prince gave or received that night thirty-two pushes and about 360 strokes." 150:
participates in the form of a star above the scene. (Arthur represented James, who never took part directly in masques and entertainments.) Merlin rises from his tomb; he and the Lady condemn the contemporary decay of
185:"soldier of God." The Arthurian theme was the Prince's idea rather than Jonson's, who in fact disparaged Arthurian romance, and preferred James's suspicion of militarism to Henry's enthusiasm. 664: 734: 127:. Jones was given £150 in December 1609, for works at the barriers "agreeable to the Prince's disposition". Jonson's text for the speeches that preceded the combat involve figures of 123:
Barriers ceremonies were often lushly decorated and costumed. As with Jonson's other masques for the Court, the sets and costumes for Prince Henry's Barriers were designed by
671: 601: 163:, lord of the isles," (Henry). Merlin summarizes British history; then a personified spirit of Chivalry emerges, after which the barriers combat took place. 181:. Merlin warns the young Prince to beware of militaristic urges. The name "Meliadus," or "Moeliades," applied to Henry in Jonson's text, is an anagram for 61:
was a stylized martial combat, conducted on foot with swords and pikes; it was something like a joust without horses. The entertainment took place in the
159:. (Jones's two sets supported this theme; one was a ruined House of Chivalry, and the other, St. George's Portico.) The Lady and Merlin call forth " 727: 769: 762: 86: 911: 629: 804: 678: 98: 790: 374: 783: 650: 82: 78: 906: 239: 107:, the Prince's chamberlain, obtained pikes and tiltstaves for the combat from Thomas Lincoln, yeoman of the armoury at 776: 39: 90: 473: 901: 811: 713: 870: 580: 865: 622: 431: 62: 896: 104: 94: 748: 253: 643: 367: 720: 685: 587: 494: 487: 424: 417: 566: 529: 403: 699: 692: 74: 755: 741: 615: 608: 480: 77:, which cost £100 per day. The Prince was supported by a team of six nobles and gentlemen: 8: 891: 501: 438: 410: 360: 112: 843: 508: 193: 47: 43: 860: 829: 543: 522: 387: 189: 536: 452: 139: 128: 108: 66: 347: 323:
Selfish Gifts: the Politics of Exchange and English Courtly Literature, 1580–1628,
706: 156: 131:. Henry was introduced as Meliades, a son of the Scottish queen by Meliadus of 885: 657: 459: 515: 147: 124: 383: 35: 797: 445: 352: 50:
in conjunction with the ceremony known as Prince Henry's Barriers.
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Teaneck, NJ, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2006; p. 149.
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The Entertainment of the Kings of Great Britain and Denmark
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4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923; Vol. 3, p. 393.
155:, but predict its restoration under the new reign of the 135:. The speeches prophesied a revival of British chivalry. 574:
A Private Entertainment of the King and Queen on May-Day
196:, and was thereafter included in editions of his works. 310:
The Stage Designs of Inigo Jones: The European Context,
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The Language of Space in Court Performance, 1400-1625
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Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995; p. 69.
142:inaugurates the work, at the site of the tomb of 883: 728:News from the New World Discovered in the Moon 763:Time Vindicated to Himself and to His Honours 368: 297:The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture 46:. The speeches were performed on 6 January 770:Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion 375: 361: 214:Devil-Land: England under Siege, 1588–1688 87:Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton 188:Jonson's text was first published in the 190:first folio collection of Jonson's works 115:bought pearls for the Prince's costume. 637:The Speeches at Prince Henry's Barriers 21:The Speeches at Prince Henry's Barriers 884: 679:Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists 382: 356: 243:, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 293 630:The Entertainment at Britain's Burse 805:The King's Entertainment at Welbeck 784:The Fortunate Isles and Their Union 651:Love Freed from Ignorance and Folly 83:Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel 79:Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox 13: 665:A Challenge at Tilt, at a Marriage 14: 923: 791:Love's Triumph Through Callipolis 341: 912:Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales 777:The Masque of Owls at Kenilworth 735:The Entertainment at Blackfriars 40:Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales 328: 91:James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle 315: 302: 299:(Cambridge, 2008), pp. 179-80. 289: 276: 263: 247: 232: 219: 206: 1: 714:Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue 229:(Cambridge, 2010), pp. 145-6. 199: 871:Sons of Ben (literary group) 581:The Entertainment at Althorp 474:Epicœne, or The Silent Woman 34:or entertainment written by 7: 866:English Renaissance theatre 623:The Hue and Cry After Cupid 432:Every Man out of His Humour 241:Letters of John Chamberlain 53: 42:, the son and heir of King 16:Masque (play) by Ben Jonson 10: 928: 812:Love's Welcome at Bolsover 907:English Renaissance plays 853: 821: 749:The Gypsies Metamorphosed 672:The Irish Masque at Court 556: 395: 273:(London, 1836), 103, 115. 644:Oberon, the Faery Prince 216:(Penguin, 2022), p. 132. 721:For the Honour of Wales 686:The Golden Age Restored 588:The Masque of Blackness 488:Catiline His Conspiracy 425:Every Man in His Humour 284:Issues of the Exchequer 271:Issues of the Exchequer 238:Norman Egbert McClure, 118: 59:Prince Henry's Barriers 567:The Coronation Triumph 530:Rollo Duke of Normandy 258:The Elizabethan Stage, 902:Masques by Ben Jonson 700:The Vision of Delight 693:Christmas, His Masque 756:The Masque of Augurs 616:The Masque of Queens 609:The Masque of Beauty 27:The Lady of the Lake 502:The Devil Is an Ass 411:The Case is Altered 286:(London, 1836), 99. 99:Sir Thomas Somerset 24:, sometimes called 509:The Staple of News 75:St. James's Palace 44:James I of England 897:Arthurian theatre 879: 878: 861:Ben Jonson folios 830:On My First Sonne 742:Pan's Anniversary 549: 544:Mortimer His Fall 523:The Magnetic Lady 321:Alison V. 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Index

masque
Ben Jonson
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
James I of England
1610
Banqueting House
Whitehall Palace
St. James's Palace
Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox
Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel
Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle
Sir Robert Gordon
Sir Thomas Somerset
Thomas Chaloner
Greenwich Palace
David Murray
Inigo Jones
Arthurian legend
Lyonesse
Lady of the Lake
Merlin
Arthur
chivalry
House of Stuart
Meliadus
Thetis
Achilles
Iliad
first folio collection of Jonson's works

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