The Westminster Tournament Challenge
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The Westminster Tournament Challenge
The Westminster Tournament Challenge was the invitation to the 1511 Westminster Tournament, the joust held in honour of the birth a son Prince Henry to Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII on New Year’s Day 1511. Written in the form of an allegory, The Challenge begins by introducing the four challengers who have come from the realm of ''Cuere Noble'' to ‘accomplish certain feates of Armes.’ in honour of the ‘byrthe of a yong prynce'. Each challenger is given an allegorical name: Sir William Courtenay as ''Bone voloyr'', Sir Edward Neville as ''Joyous panser'', Sir Thomas Knyvet as ''Vailliaunt desyre'', and Henry VIII as ''Cuere loyall''. This is followed by a description of the tournament’s allegorical theme along with the rules and regulations to which the challengers and answerers will adhere. It concludes with the signatures of those who took part over the two days of the joust The Challenge, was commissioned by Henry VIII and produced by the workshop of Thomas Wri ...
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Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated by the pope. Henry is also known as "the father of the Royal Navy" as he invested heavily in the navy and increased its size from a few to more than 50 ships, and established the Navy Board. Domestically, Henry is known for his radical changes to the English Constitution, ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings in opposition to papal supremacy. He also greatly expanded royal power during his reign. He frequently used charges of treason and ...
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British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. The Library is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The British Library is a major research library, with items in many languages and in many formats, both print and digital: books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, videos, play-scripts, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings. The Library's collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial holdings of manuscripts and items dating as far back as 2000 BC. The library maintains a programme for content acquis ...
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Thomas Wriothesley
Sir Thomas Wriothesley ( ; died 24 November 1534) was a long serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the son of Garter King of Arms, John Writhe, and he succeeded his father in this office. Personal life Wriothesley was born at Colatford Wiltshire. His name at birth was Thomas Writhe, and he was the eldest son and second of four children of John Writhe and his first wife, Barbara, daughter of John Castlecombe. The location of Colatford has not been identified, but it was either near Castle Combe or Cricklade. Wriothesley's first wife, whom he married before 1500, was Jane, daughter of William Hall of Salisbury. The pair had ten children together, though their only surviving son was Charles Wriothesley, Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary. His second wife was Anne, widow of Robert Warcop with whom he had a daughter who died in infancy. Wriothesley died "worn out with age" in London, on 24 November 1534, and was presumably buried with his family in St Giles ...
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The 1511 Westminster Tournament Roll
The 1511 Westminster Tournament Roll is a painted roll of 36 vellum membranes sewn together. It is almost 60 feet long and 14 inches wide. The Roll depicts the joust called by Henry VIII in February 1511 to celebrate the birth of his son, Henry, Duke of Cornwall, to Catherine of Aragon, on New Year's Day of that year. Dale Hoak, in his book ''Tudor Political Culture'', describes the Roll as follows: The Roll is one of the most ancient and most prized possessions of the College of Arms in London. It is believed to be the work of Thomas Wriothesley's workshop, as is The Westminster Tournament Challenge, which was the invitation to the Tournament. That document is in the British Library's collections. The Roll features the earliest known portrait of a named Black person in Britain, John Blanke. He is pictured twice on the roll, playing the trumpet in both the opening and closing ceremonies of the tournament. Contents Membrane 1 The Introduction An heraldic badge signifying the ...
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Joust
Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponent while riding towards him at high speed, breaking the lance on the opponent's shield or jousting armour if possible, or unhorsing him. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The participants experience close to three and a quarter times their body weight in G-forces when the lances collide with their armour. The term is derived from Old French , ultimately from Latin "to approach, to meet". The word was loaned into Middle English around 1300, when jousting was a very popular sport among the Anglo-Norman knighthood. The synonym tilt (as in tilting at windmills) dates . Jousting is based on the military use of the lance by heavy cavalry. It transformed into a specialized sport during the Late Middle ...
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Henry, Duke Of Cornwall
Henry, Duke of Cornwall (1 January 1511 – 22 February 1511) was the first living child of King Henry VIII of England and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and though his birth was celebrated as that of the heir apparent, he died within weeks. His death and Henry VIII's failure to produce another surviving male heir with Catherine led to succession and marriage crises that affected the relationship between the English church and Roman Catholicism, giving rise to the English Reformation. Birth and christening Henry was born on 1 January 1511 at Richmond Palace, the first live-born child of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, born eighteen months after their wedding and coronation. Catherine had previously given birth to a stillborn daughter, on 31 January 1510. He was christened on 5 January in a lavish ceremony where beacons were lit in his honour. The christening gifts included a fine gold salt holder and cup weighing a total , given by Louis XII of France, his godfat ...
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Catherine Of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously Princess of Wales as the wife of Henry's elder brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales. The daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, Catherine was three years old when she was betrothed to Prince Arthur, heir apparent to the English throne. They married in 1501, but Arthur died five months later. Catherine spent years in limbo, and during this time, she held the position of ambassador of the Aragonese crown to England in 1507, the first known female ambassador in European history. She married Arthur's younger brother, the recently ascended Henry VIII, in 1509. For six months in 1513, she served as regent of England while Henry VIII was in France. During that time the English crushed and defeated a Scottish invasion at ...
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1510s In England
Events from the 1510s in England. Incumbents * Monarch – Henry VIII * Regent – Catherine, Queen Consort (starting 30 June, until 22 October 1513) * Parliament – 1st of King Henry VIII (starting 21 January, until 23 February 1510), 2nd of King Henry VIII (starting 4 February 1512, until 4 March 1514), 3rd of King Henry VIII (starting 5 February, until 22 December 1515) Events * 1510 ** c. January – Erasmus begins his period of residence in Cambridge. ** 21 January – Parliament grants Henry VIII generous tax subsidies. ** 31 January – Catherine of Aragon gives birth to her first child, a stillborn daughter. ** 17 August – Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley executed for "constructive treason". * 1511 ** 9 April – St John's College, Cambridge, receives its charter. ** July – Henry VIII's flagship the ''Mary Rose'' launched at Portsmouth. ** 13 November – War of the League of Cambrai: Henry joins the Holy League against France. ** 17 November – the Treaty of We ...
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William Courtenay (1477–1535)
Sir William Courtenay (1477 – November 1535) "The Great", of Powderham in Devon, was a leading member of the Devon gentry and a courtier of King Henry VIII having been from September 1512 one of the king's Esquires of the Body. He served as Sheriff of Devon three times: from February to November 1522, 1525/26, and 1533/34. He was elected Knight of the Shire for Devon in 1529. Origins He was the eldest son and heir of Sir William Courtenay (1451–1512) of Powderham by his wife Cecily Cheyne, daughter of Sir John Cheyne of Pinhoe. The family of Courtenay "of Powderham", always known thus until 1556 to distinguish it from the senior line of Courtenay of Tiverton Castle, Earls of Devon, was one of the most influential and best connected in Devon from the 15th century onwards. The cadet line of "Courtenay of Powderham" was descended from Sir Philip Courtenay (1340–1406), a younger son of Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon (1303–1377), of Tiverton Castle, but eventually itself ...
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Sir Edward Neville
Sir Edward Neville (died 8 December 1538) was an English courtier. He was born at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. He was the son of George Neville, 4th Baron Bergavenny and his wife Margaret, daughter of Hugh Fenn. He married Eleanor Windsor, daughter of Andrew Windsor, 1st Baron Windsor and Elizabeth Blount, before 6 April 1529. He was the brother of George Nevill, 5th Baron Bergavenny and the two of them became close to King Henry VIII (their distant cousin) and the Queen, Catherine of Aragon. Edward Neville was Esquire of the Body, and Keeper of Sewer (official overseeing service) to Henry VIII's household. He lived at Addington Park, Surrey, England. On 25 September 1513 he was invested as a Knight and in 1516 held the offices of Master of the Hounds and Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. The Nevilles and their cousins the Courtenays supported Catherine of Aragon's marriage and for the Pope's authority in England, which alienated King Henry. But Edward seems to have kept ...
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Sir Thomas Knyvet
Sir Thomas Knyvett (also Knevitt or Knivet or Knevet), of Buckenham, Norfolk (c. 1485 – 10 August 1512) was a young English nobleman who was a close associate of King Henry VIII shortly after that monarch came to the throne. According to Hall's ''Chronicle'', Knyvett was a frequent participant in the jousts and pageants of the new king's glittering court and was made Henry's Master of the Horse in 1510. Family Sir Thomas Knyvett was the son of Sir Edmund Knyvett (d.1504Sir Edmund Knyvett married Eleanor Tyrrell (died 1514), the daughter of Sir William Tyrrell of Gipping, Suffolk, and sister of Sir James Tyrrell. They had six sons and three daughters, including Edmund Knyvett (died 1 May 1539), esquire, who married Joan Bourchier, the only surviving child of John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners. Sir Edmund Knyvett was drowned at sea in 1504; .) of Buckenham by his wife Eleanor Tyrrell, the daughter of Sir William Tyrrell of Gipping, Suffolk by Margaret, daughter of Robert Darcy, ...
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Chancery Hand
The term "chancery hand" can refer to either of two distinct styles of historical handwriting. A chancery hand was at first a form of handwriting for business transactions that developed in the Lateran chancery (the ) of the 13th century, then spread to France, notably through the Avignon Papacy, and to England after 1350. This early "chancery hand" is a form of blackletter. Versions of it were adopted by royal and ducal chanceries, which were often staffed by clerics who had taken minor orders. A later cursive "chancery hand", also developed in the Vatican but based on humanist minuscule (itself based on Carolingian minuscule), was introduced in the 1420s by Niccolò Niccoli; it was the manuscript origin of the typefaces we recognize as '' italic''. Blackletter chancery English chancery hand In medieval England each of the royal departments tended to develop its own characteristic hand: the chancery hand used in the royal chancery at Westminster from the mid-century w ...
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