The Langham letter, published by 1580, is a significant source for the entertainments of the Elizabethan period in England. Dated from

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

on 20 August 1575, and titled ', it describes the summer 1575 entertainment of

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

by Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, at

Kenilworth Castle Kenilworth Castle is a castle in the town of Kenilworth in Warwickshire, England managed by English Heritage; much of it is still in ruins. The castle was founded during the Norman conquest of England; with development through to the Tudor pe ...

. It is addressed to Humfrey Martyn, the son of Sir Roger Martyn, a

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of the

Mercers' Company The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...

Authorship

The authorship of the letter was ascribed to Robert Langham (c. 1535–1579/80), a mercer and keeper of the privy council chamber, based on the author's references to himself in the letter as "Lanham" or "Laneham", "Langham", "Ro. La.", and "R. L. Gent. Mercer", and other biographical details, such as his self-description as a "Merchauntaventurer, and Clark of the Councell chamber doore", for which office he writes that he obtained through the patronage of Leicester. Council records confirm that he was paid £10 each April from 1573 to 1579 as keeper of the council chamber. The letter's editor, R. J. P. Kuin, argues that it is an authentic account by Langham, but others think it was written by William Patten as a joke at Langham's expense, a view which has been accepted by some authorities. The argument for Patten's authorship is based on similarities of form, style, subject matter, and phraseology common to the letter and Patten's acknowledged work and the close resemblance between his known hand and that which appears in two annotated copies of the letter. In addition, Patten himself witnessed the Kenilworth festivities and contributed some Latin verses to welcome the queen.

Reprints

The work was reissued at Warwick in 1784, and was reprinted in John Nichols's ''Progresses of Queen Elizabeth''.

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

quoted from it in his novel ''

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a tributary of the River Sowe, which joins the ...

'' (1821), leading to the republication of the ''Letter'' in London the same year. Subsequent reprints were in George Adlard's ''Amye Robsart'' (1870), in the Rev. Edward Hadarezer Knowles's ''Castle of Kenilworth '' (1871), and in the publications of the Ballad Society (ed. Furnivall), 1871.'' Dictionary of National Biography'', Laneham, Robert (fl. 1575), writer on the Kenilworth festivities of 1575, by Sidney Lee. Published 1892.

Notes

References

*Langham, Robert
''A Letter''
R. J. P. Kuin, ed. E. J. Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands, 1983. *Logan, Sandra
''Text/events in early modern England: Poetics of History''
Ashgate: Aldershot, Hants; Burlington, VT. (2007)

External links

* Reprint of Langham letters from th
English Heritage site.
for the download {{DEFAULTSORT:Langham Letter Letters (message) Tudor England 1575 works 16th-century documents