Civic Pageantry Including Royal Entries

Abstract

Civic pageantry involves ceremonial activities of public display which are sponsored or performed by the governing authorities of a city or town. Civic pageantry is social and political: confirming governing authority and fostering a public civic identity and harmonious civic relationships. (Religious pageantry with the primary purpose of religious worship/celebration, even when involving the civic government, is excluded from this description.) Civic pageantry consists, in medieval and early Tudor England, largely of formal street processions, which may or may not include pageants: displays involving costumed performers and/or constructed exhibits, either carried through the streets or located on stages positioned along the processional route. The three major forms of social/political civic pageantry, to 1541, were the royal entry, the marching Midsummer Watch, and the mayoral inauguration procession. Other forms also existed. Royal entries were especially prevalent in wealthy London, because of its geographical proximity to the court at Westminster, and London's Midsummer Watch and mayoral inauguration were also especially elaborate.