Revels (Inns of Court)
The revels were a traditional period of merrymaking and entertainment held at the
Background
The
The revels are named from the Latin rebellare meaning "to rebel" and refer to a period of entertainment centred on Christmas.
Description
Written records of the revels do not seem to have been kept, or else have been subsequently lost, however some accounts remain.
In general the revels were regarded as a period of extravagant entertainment and wild partying, though the events generally followed a set traditional sequence.
Plays and masques
The entertainments at the revels often included plays, which came to be known as Inns of Court
It is thought that professional playwrights of this era wrote plays specifically with the revels' audience in mind and may have featured legal scenes in the hope of them being selected for a performance.[7] The inns played a key role in providing venues and funding for performances and were a great encouragement to early British actors and playwrights.[2][10] The close relationship between the companies and the inns is alluded to in Ben Jonson's Every Man out of His Humour, 1599: "the noblest nourceries [nurseries] of humanity, and liberty, in the kingdome: The Inns of Court".[1]
The revels' audience, being gentlemen, were trained in fencing and dancing and were thought to be especially critical of actors who lacked these skills; performances were often interrupted by interjections from the audience. The students of the inns were regarded as being particularly rowdy and are known to have got into fights with actors from Oxford's Men in 1580 and the Earl of Berkeley's men in 1581.[11] Despite this the plays and masques were regarded as the more respectable aspect of the revels. Elizabeth I attended a performance at Gray's Inn in 1565 and another in 1595 at which the Masque of Proteus was performed. On the latter occasion she returned the next night to present the Prince of Purpoole with diamonds and rubies.[2] The Lincoln's Inn and Middle Temple performed a revels masque at the royal court to celebrate the wedding of Elizabeth Stuart to Frederick V of the Palatinate.[2]
Shakespeare
Many of Shakespeare's plays allude to connections with the revels. Proteus, the hero of his The Two Gentlemen of Verona may have been taken from the inns' Masque of Proteus, the play's theme of friendship may have been inspired by the theme of the 1594 Gray's Inn revels (which centred on a Masque of Amity). The scene in The Taming of the Shrew (c. 1590–1592) showing the arrival of Lucentio at the university in Padua and a reminder from Tranio not to neglect his own pleasure whilst there may have been written by Shakespeare with an audience of law students in mind. In the same play the scene where the pedlar Christopher Sly temporarily gains the status of a lord may have been a reference to the temporary reigns of the inns' princes during the revels.[12] In Henry IV, Part 2 (c. 1596-99) Shakespeare has a justice of the peace, Robert Shallow, recall his time at the revels where, together with his friends, "you had not four such swinge bucklers in the Inns of Court again; and again I say to you we knew where the bon robas [prostitutes] were and had the best of them at commandment". Shallow claims to have been nicknamed "Mad Shallow" for his behaviour at the revels, but his colleague, Justice Silence, recalls that he was actually known as "Lusty Shallow".[2]
A performance of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors took place at the Gray's Inn revels on 28 December 1594 and is considered to be one of the best documented events of his life. The 1594–1595 Gray's Inn season was particularly elaborate as the previous three revels had been cancelled.[13] The play formed part of a sequence of events focused on the Twelve Days of Christmas, though the revels themselves lasted until Shrove Tuesday (7 February 1595) with a performance of the Masque of Proteus before the queen.[13]
The 1594–1595 revels were themed around friendship; as part of this the inns exchanged members for the entertainments in formal ambassadorial-style exchanges. As such the audience for the 28 December performance was particularly distinguished. It included Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, the lawyer and playwright Thomas Hughes, the writer John Lyly, the philosopher and scientist Francis Bacon (who had contributed speeches to the 27 December entertainment) and Francis Davison (who wrote a masque for the revels that year). This was the most prestigious audience that Shakespeare's work had been performed for up to this time.[11] It is thought that the Lord Chamberlain's Men performed the play on this occasion.[7]
However, the night of 28 December did not proceed to plan. The hall was overcrowded and fights broke out over the best seats. The ambassador from the Inner Temple left, perhaps in a staged
Shakespeare's
Decline, abandonment and modern revival
The quality of revels seems to have declined in the 17th century.[2] In 1610 the entire "barre" (fellows) of Lincoln's Inn refused to dance during the revels, on an occasion when judges had been invited to witness the festivities. This embarrassed the inn, who at that time only exempted benchers from the requirement to dance.[15] It is said that the revels at the Middle Temple were regarded as impressive during the reign of Charles I (1625–1649), though in 1638, Robert Brerewood remarked that the quality of dancing during the revels was worse than previously.[2][16] Peter the Great of Russia attended a masque at the revels of 1697–1698 and was said to have witnessed "a riotous and revelling Christmas according to custom".[16] The revels seem to have ceased soon afterwards and the last are thought to have been those of the Inner Temple in 1733.[16][2]
The revels were revived at the inns in the mid-20th century by Master Hubert Monroe of the Middle Temple and have since provided seasonal entertainment in the form of sketches, songs and jokes.[2]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87413-045-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Arlidge, Anthony. "Revelry in the Inns of Court". Counsel Magazine.
- ^ a b Pearce, Robert Richard (1855). A Guide to the Inns of Court and Chancery: With Notices of Their Ancient Discipline, Rules, Orders, and Customs, Readings, Moots, Masques, Revels, and Entertainments. Butterworths. pp. 114–115.
- ^ Pearce, Robert Richard (1855). A Guide to the Inns of Court and Chancery: With Notices of Their Ancient Discipline, Rules, Orders, and Customs, Readings, Moots, Masques, Revels, and Entertainments. Butterworths. pp. 121–123.
- ^ Baker, Christopher Paul (1974). Ben Jonson and the Inns of Court: The Literary Milieu of Every Man Out of His Humour. University of North Carolina. p. 145.
- ^ Baker, Christopher Paul (1974). Ben Jonson and the Inns of Court: The Literary Milieu of Every Man Out of His Humour. University of North Carolina. p. 65.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-118-23177-7.
- ISBN 978-1-118-23177-7.
- ISBN 978-0-13-547861-5.
- ISBN 978-0-7509-5282-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-118-23177-7.
- ISBN 978-1-118-23177-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-118-23177-7.
- ISBN 978-1-118-23177-7.
- ^ The Records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn: 1586≠1660. Lincoln's Inn. 1898. p. xxviii.
- ^ a b c Pearce, Robert Richard (1855). A Guide to the Inns of Court and Chancery: With Notices of Their Ancient Discipline, Rules, Orders, and Customs, Readings, Moots, Masques, Revels, and Entertainments. Butterworths. p. 128.
Further reading
- "Inns of Court: Drama, Entertainment, and Music—Christmas at the Inns of Court". Records of Early English Drama. Canadian Writing Research Collaboratory.
- Watson, Jackie (12 March 2015). "Satirical expectations: Shakespeare's Inns of Court audiences". Actes des congrès de la Société française Shakespeare (33). ISSN 2271-6424.