KINGSHIP AND THE ROYAL ITINERARY

Abstract

THE PERIPATETIC NATURE of kingship has long been known to historians of English court. Indeed, a number of royal itineraries have been in print since nineteenth century and several more exist in manuscript form. 1 It was not until relatively recently, however, that characteristics and implications of movements of royal household were investigated.2 Social and architectural historians have now examined (domestic itinerary' and established that frequent (removings' were necessary to avoid development of insanitary conditions in royal houses. Scholars studying Renaissance spectacle and pageantry have shed light on role of (progress itinerary', whereby representational displays of royal power were enacted during solemn entries into towns in distant parts of monarchs' realms.3 However, one particular form, the (festival itinerary' (the pattern of movement of court based on seasonal variations, legal terms and liturgical calendar), still remains largely neglected.4 Yet this determined when and where (the ritual year' annual round of sacred and secular ceremonies at early-modern court largely performed by personnel of chapel royalwas celebrated.5 The festive itinerary thus lay at heart of kingship in this period, as it underpinned those ceremonial occasions which re-articulated symbolic relationships between ruler and ruled.6 It is purpose of this article to draw attention to fundamental role that festival itinerary played in pre-modern England through a case-study of