Court Revels, 1485-1559

In 1545 Henry VIII created a Revels Office within the royal household and appointed Sir Thomas Cawarden, one of the gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, as its Master. In so doing he set a precedent for the production of revels at court for the next century.

Some historians have only recently examined the revels in their historical context, but none has attempted, as W.R. Streitberger does, to study court entertainments in terms of the growth and development of the Revels organization and its adaptation to different political climates at court.

Streitberger presents evidence in the form of a calendar of court entertainments and appendices based on the primary documents; he provides an explanation of their occasion, form, and purpose of these entertainments in their historical context; and he explains the development of the revels organization from the temporary appointment of producers at the beginning of their period into a government office by the mid-sixteenth century. Streitberger details the adaptation of the Revels organization to the very different courts of the various monarchs, and explains how their personalities, principles, and policies shaped that adaptation.