Anne of Denmark and the spa at Bath
Anne of Denmark (1574–1619) was the wife of James VI and I. She visited Bath, Somerset in the belief that drinking and bathing in mineral waters could improve her health.[1] The warm springs at Bath had been used for medicinal purposes since Roman times. During her progresses to Bath she was entertained at country houses along the way.[2] The court physician Théodore de Mayerne left extensive notes in Latin describing his treatment of Anne of Denmark from 10 April 1612 to her death.[3] Primarily, she was seeking help for gout or dropsy, a swelling of the legs and feet which made walking difficult.[4] Her companion and servant Jean Drummond described an occasion when the queen was unable to set her swollen foot on the ground.[5] During these progresses, Anne of Denmark visited or came near some of the lands and manors included in her jointure lands, including Corston, and was able to promote the image of the Stuart monarchy.[6]
At Bath in 1613
In April 1613, after the
Masque at Caversham
At Caversham Park on 27 April, William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury and Lady Knollys put on an entertainment written by Thomas Campion.[12] A description of the entertainment was printed in 1613. The queen was met by a 'Cynic' dressed as a wildman who debated with a 'Traveller' in elaborate costume. These two rode the short distance to the park gate and were met by two park keepers dressed in green perpetuana and two of Robin Hood's men, who sang for the queen in her coach.[13] The entertainment continued in the hall of the house after supper. Eight pages in green satin introduced eight masque dancers, who invited the ladies in waiting to dance, and finally Anne of Denmark agreed to make "herself head of their revels, and graciously to adorn the place with her personal dancing". When she left Caversham, the Gardener and his workmen and three country maids gave a speech and sang.[14]
Bath in May
Théodore de Mayerne gave some medications to Anne of Denmark at Lacock Abbey in May 1613. Mayerne held a meeting about her health, attended by her chamberlain George Carew, at Badminton or a house in Bath belonging to the Earl of Worcester on 5 May. Mayerne built up the queen's water treatment over a number of days, before she bathed in King's Bath. Mayerne noted the warm and gently bubbling water.[15][16]
While bathing, this year or in 1615, it was said that Anne of Denmark was surprised by a flame caused by natural gas in King's Bath, and thereafter used the New Bath or Queen's Bath where a column with a globe and crown and the inscription "Anna Regnum Sacrum" was added in her honour.[17] A drawing dated 1672 and 1675 of the bath and the Hart Lodging in Bath, where she stayed, shows a related inscription "Annae Reginae Sacrum, 1618" across the parapet of the building, and the globe on top of the crowned column in the centre of the Queen's Bath. The drawing is held by the British Museum.[18]
Pageant at Bristol
Anne of Denmark went to Bristol on 4 June where there were various entertainments.
She stayed a night at
She returned to
Wells and Bath in August
Anne came back to Bath in August 1613.[28] She went to Wells, Somerset, travelling from Oatland to Elvetham, Basing, Hurstbourne, Wallop, and Salisbury.[29] She visited Edward Rodney at Rodney Stoke, who subsequently married Frances Southwell, a lady in waiting, in May 1614.[30]
On 20 August 1613 at Wells she was entertained by a pageant performed by the town's trades and crafts. The blacksmiths presented Vulcan's forge. The butchers made a tableau of "old virgins", with their attires made of cow tails and necklaces made of cow's horns, who were drawn in a chariot by men and boys dressed in ox skins. The mayor, William Bull, held a dinner for members of the queen's household including her four maids of honour; Mary Gargrave, Elizabeth Harcourt, Mary Middlemore, and Elizabeth Roper.[31]
Mayerne wrote to King James on 31 August that she was in the best of spirits.[32] He wrote in French, "Ce jourd huy S. M. est entrée dans le baing, qu'elle est très bien porté, et au sortir. C'est trouvé en toute telle disposition que nous erisons sien souhaitter", that is, "today Her Serene Majesty entered the bath as usual, all things are as well as could be wished for". Mayerne thought the queen's good attitude would help her cure.[33]
The Venetian ambassador Antonio Foscarini recorded her delight at the entertainment in Bath.[34] In September, musicians played for her departure from Bath.[35]
At Bath in 1615
From September 1614 Anne was troubled by pain in her feet, as described in the letters of her chamberlain Viscount Lisle and the countesses of Bedford and Roxburghe.[36] Lisle noted "the Queen hath been a little lame" as early as October 1611.[37] She was ill in March 1615, suspected to have dropsy,[38] and given a course of physic.[39] Plans for a trip to Bath were deferred, at King James' suggestion, possibly because of a lack of funds.[40]
She left Denmark House for Salisbury and Bath at the end of July 1615,[41] after uncertainty at court if she would make the journey.[42] There were petitions against the royal progresses to the west this year, because the hard winter and exceptionally hot and dry summer had adversely affected crops and livestock.[43][44]
There was music at
Her lodging in Bath was Dr Stewarde's house, and Mr. Hadnethe's house near the springs was rented as the queen's lodging for bathing.[47] Viscount Lisle's daughter Kate Mansel came from Margam to join the royal party at Bath, partly on account of ill-health.[48] On 23 August there was morris dancing and the Earl of Worcester's musicians played.[49] A blind man in Bath played the organ for the queen.[50]
The queen was expected to return via Chippenham to Oatlands by 2 September. She stayed at Bath longer than anticipated due to an attack of gout. Lisle sent his wife Barbara four red deer pasties and a salmon pie, treats from the court kitchen.[51] She was at Marlborough on 6 September, and heard the town's musicians.[52]
On the return journey, she went to Mr. Flower's house at
Anne of Denmark's stay in Bath in the summer of 1615 was reckoned as two visits, and her servant and usher John Tunstall was later paid £105-10s-9d for fitting up her lodging in Bath and expenses of her journeys.[57]
References
- doi:10.4000/hms.7196
- ^ James Knowles, 'Anna of Denmark, Elizabeth I, and Images of Royalty', Clare McManus, Women and Culture at the Courts of the Stuart Queens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), pp. 33–41.
- ^ Phyllis May Hembry, The English Spa, 1560-1815: A Social History (London, 1990), p. 39.
- ^ William Drummond,The genealogy of the most noble and ancient House of Drummond (Glasgow, 1879), p. 280
- ^ Jemma Field, 'Anna of Denmark', Aidan Norrie, Carolyn Harris, J. L. Laynesmith, Danna R. Messer, Elena Woodacre, Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), p. 221: Colin J. Brett, Crown Revenues from Somerset and Dorset (Somerset Record Society, 2012), pp. 8-9.
- ^ Hugh Trevor-Roper & Blair Worden, Europe's Physician: The Various Life of Sir Theodore de Mayerne (Yale, 2006), p. 113.
- ^ Joseph Browne, Theo. Turquet Mayernii Opera medica: Formulae Annae & Mariae (London, 1703), pp. 10, 12.
- ^ John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 628-9: William Fraser, Memorials of the Montgomeries, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1859), p. 191.
- ^ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1610-1613, vol. 12 (London, 1905), p. 537 no. 836: HMC Downshire, 1613-1614, vol. 4 (London, 1940), p. 106.
- ^ Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 464.
- ^ John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), p. 629.
- ^ Julie Sanders, 'The Two Noble Kinsmen', Richard Dutton & Jean E. Howard, A Companion to Shakespeare's Works: The Poems, Problem Comedies, Late Plays, vol. 4 (Oxford, 2003), pp. 457-8.
- ^ Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 450: John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 629-39
- ^ Joseph Browne,Theo. Turquet Mayernii Opera medica: Formulae Annae & Mariae (London, 1703), pp. 10 (date "1617" is incorrect), 14, 20-2 noting "ingressa est balneum, majus Regis, usque ad ischion, dixitque calorem aquae etiam circa scaturigines non esse ninus vehementum".
- doi:10.4000/hms.7196
- ^ John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 640, 643: vol. 4 (London, 1828), p. 1094.
- ^ Austin J. King & B. H. Watts, 'Some Visitors to Bath during the Reign of James I, part II', The Antiquary, 13 (London, 1886), p. 69: See external links.
- ^ Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 459.
- ^ John Evans, A Chronological Outline of the History of Bristol (Bristol, 1824), pp. 169-170.
- ^ Bernard Capp, British Slaves and Barbary Corsairs, 1580-1750 (Oxford, 2022), pp. 7-8.
- ^ John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 646-7, 661, 664.
- ^ John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 666-9
- ^ Joseph Browne,Theo. Turquet Mayernii Opera medica: Formulae Annae & Mariae (London, 1703), p. 22 noting "ad faciem cuius ab usu balnei siccior erat cutis et aliquantulam scabia".
- ^ HMC Marquis of Bath at Longleat, vol. 2 p. 63: Mary Anne Everett Green, Calendar State Papers Domestic, 1611-1618 (London, 1858), p. 190: Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), pp. 461-2.
- ^ Austin J. King & B. H. Watts, 'Some Visitors to Bath during the Reign of James I, part II', The Antiquary, 13 (London, 1886), p. 68: Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 469.
- ^ Mary Anne Everett Green, Calendar State Papers Domestic, 1611-1618 (London, 1858), p. 195: Henry Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd series vol. 3 (London, 1827), p. 199.
- ^ Phyllis May Hembry, The English Spa, 1560-1815: A Social History (London, 1990), p. 39.
- ^ Emanuel Green, 'The Visits to Bath of Two Queens', Proceedings of the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 7 (Bath, 1893), p. 216.
- ^ Isaac Herbert Jeayes, Letters of Philip Gawdy of West Harling, Norfolk, 1579-1616 (London, 1906), p. 176: Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 512.
- ^ John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 672-5: HMC 1st Report: Corporation of Wells (London, 1874), p. 107.
- ^ Emanuel Green, 'The Visits to Bath of Two Queens', Proceedings of the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 7 (Bath, 1893), p. 222: Mary Anne Everett Green, Calendar State Papers Domestic, 1611-1618 (London, 1858), p. 198.
- ^ Austin J. King & B. H. Watts, 'Some Visitors to Bath during the Reign of James I, part II', The Antiquary, 13 (London, 1886), p. 67 quoting TNA SP 14/74 f.112.
- ^ Allen Hinds, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1613-1615, vol. 13 (London, 1907), pp. 36-7 no. 70.
- ^ Austin J. King & B. H. Watts, 'Some Visitors to Bath during the Reign of James I, part II', The Antiquary, 13 (London, 1886), p. 68.
- ^ HMC Downshire, vol. 5 (London, 1988), p. 22 no. 56: Lord Braybrooke, The Private Correspondence of Jane Lady Cornwallis (London, 1842), p. 41.
- ^ William A. Shaw, HMC 77 Report on the manuscripts of Lord de l'Isle & Dudley: Sidney Papers 1608-1611, vol. 4 (London, 1926), p. 294.
- ^ HMC Mar & Kellie, 2 (London, 1930), p. 59.
- ^ G. Dyfnallt Owen, HMC Downshire, vol. 5 (London, 1988), p. 181 no. 375.
- ^ G. Dyfnallt Owen, HMC Downshire, vol. 5 (London, 1988), pp. 183 no. 377, 190 no. 394.
- ^ G. Dyfnallt Owen, HMC Downshire, vol. 5 (London, 1988), pp. 276 no. 564, 288 no. 589.
- ^ William Shaw & G. Dyfnallt Owen, HMC 77 Viscount De L'Isle Penshurst, vol. 5 (London, 1961), p. 303.
- ^ John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 3 (London, 1828), p. 97.
- ^ Elizabeth McClure Thomson, The Chamberlain Letters (London, 1966), pp. 134-5.
- ^ Emanuel Green, 'The Visits to Bath of Two Queens', Proceedings of the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 7 (Bath, 1893), p. 223.
- ^ Andrew Ashbee, Records of English Court Music, 1603-1625, vol. 4 (1991), p. 201-2.
- ^ Emanuel Green, 'The Visits to Bath of Two Queens',Proceedings of the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 7 (Bath, 1893), p. 224.
- ^ William Shaw & G. Dyfnallt Owen, HMC 77 Viscount De L'Isle Penshurst, vol. 5 (London, 1961), p. 305.
- ^ Andrew Ashbee, Records of English Court Music, 1603-1625, vol. 4 (1991), p. 202.
- ^ Austin J. King & B. H. Watts, 'Some Visitors to Bath during the Reign of James I, part II', The Antiquary, 13 (London, 1886), p. 69.
- ^ William Shaw & G. Dyfnallt Owen, HMC 77 Viscount De L'Isle Penshurst, vol. 5 (London, 1961), pp. 306-7.
- ^ Andrew Ashbee, Records of English Court Music, 1603-1625, vol. 4 (1991), p. 202.
- ^ Emanuel Green, 'The Visits to Bath of Two Queens', Proceedings of the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 7 (Bath, 1893), p. 225.
- ^ Andrew Ashbee, Records of English Court Music, 1603-1625, vol. 4 (1991), p. 202.
- ^ William Shaw & G. Dyfnallt Owen, HMC 77 Viscount De L'Isle Penshurst, vol. 5 (London, 1961), p. 324.
- ^ John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 3 (London, 1828), p. 100.
- ^ Frederick Devon, Issues of the Exchequer (London, 1836), p. 183.