Historic environment: Kenilworth Castle (2028 exams)

Model answer

Elizabeth was greeted by the Lady of the Lake, who appeared on a floating island on the Great Mere. She was also entertained with fireworks and with hunting in the park around the castle.

Model answer

Interpretation A is convincing about the main purpose of Kenilworth in 1575, which was display and comfort rather than war, but it goes too far in calling it 'a castle in name only'.

Much of the interpretation is supported by evidence. After Elizabeth granted him Kenilworth in 1563, Robert Dudley built Leicester's Building in 1571-72 as lodgings for the Queen, with huge windows that would have been a weakness in any fortress. He also put large windows into older parts of the castle, including the Norman great tower, made a privy garden with a fountain and an aviary, and built a grand new gatehouse on the north side as the main entrance. The interpretation is right that the mere was used for pageants in 1575: Elizabeth was greeted by the Lady of the Lake on a floating island, and there was a water pageant with Arion riding on a dolphin. The change to a palace had begun even earlier, when John of Gaunt built the great hall in the 1370s and 1380s.

However, the claim that Kenilworth was a castle 'in name only' is not convincing. The great tower, the curtain walls, the towers and the Great Mere were all still there. Dudley chose to modernise a medieval castle rather than build a new house, because its ancient walls and its links with John of Gaunt and with royal history gave him prestige and suggested noble lineage and chivalry. The gatehouse kept turrets and battlements to look like part of a castle, and the tiltyard was used for jousting, a display of martial skill. The castle was also still defensible: in the Civil War it was garrisoned, and in 1649-50 Parliament had it slighted so that it could never be used as a fortress again, which shows it was still seen as a military threat.

The interpretation comes from a modern guidebook written to give visitors a vivid picture. Overall, it is convincing that by 1575 Kenilworth was mainly a palace for pleasure and display, but it underestimates how much of the fortress remained and why Dudley wanted to keep it.

Model answer

Robert Dudley entertained Elizabeth at Kenilworth for 19 days, from 9 to 27 July 1575, in the most lavish entertainment of her reign. He used the whole castle and the Great Mere as a stage, mixing classical myth, legend and local English traditions to flatter the Queen and display his own wealth and favour.

The entertainments began as soon as Elizabeth arrived on the evening of 9 July. Figures in costume welcomed her, and on the Great Mere the Lady of the Lake appeared on a floating island lit by torches. She claimed to have kept the lake since the time of King Arthur and offered it to the Queen. Elizabeth was then presented with symbolic gifts said to come from the classical gods, such as fruit, corn, wine, fish, weapons and musical instruments. This opening linked the Queen with legend and suggested that even the gods honoured her.

Over the following days there was entertainment of every kind. Fireworks lit up the sky over the castle. Elizabeth hunted deer in the park and chase, and on one return from hunting she was met by a 'savage man' who spoke verses in her praise. There were feasts, music and dancing, bear-baiting and the tricks of an Italian acrobat. Local people took part too: men from Coventry performed their traditional Hock Tuesday play about the defeat of the Danes, and a country wedding, or bride-ale, was staged with morris dancing. According to Robert Laneham, the castle clock was even stopped during her visit, as if time stood still while she was there.

The mere was used again for a water pageant in which Triton and Arion, riding on a dolphin, entertained the Queen with music. The poet George Gascoigne also wrote a masque in which the goddesses Diana and Juno argued about whether the Queen should stay unmarried or marry, but it was never performed, perhaps because its message about marriage was too direct.

We know about the visit mainly from Robert Laneham's letter of 1575 and Gascoigne's account published in 1576. The entertainments showed off Dudley's wealth and closeness to the Queen, and many historians think they were his last attempt to persuade her to marry him. Three years later he secretly married Lettice Knollys.

Model answer

Robert Dudley spent huge sums transforming Kenilworth after Elizabeth granted it to him in 1563. A study of the castle shows that impressing the Queen was the most obvious purpose of his changes, but it was closely linked to another purpose: displaying his own wealth, status and power as the greatest nobleman at court.

There is strong evidence that the changes were meant to impress Elizabeth. As Figure 1 shows, the most striking new building was Leicester's Building, at the south-east corner of the inner court, built in 1571-72 specifically as lodgings for the Queen. Its huge windows gave her views over the Great Mere and the park. North of the great tower Dudley laid out a privy garden with knots, a fountain and an aviary, designed for her pleasure and overlooked by the royal rooms. The timing is revealing, because the work was done in time for her visits of 1572 and 1575. In 1575 she stayed for 19 days, longer than at any other courtier's house on her progresses, and the whole castle became a stage for entertainments in her honour: the Lady of the Lake on a floating island on the mere, fireworks, hunting, music and plays. Dudley owed his position entirely to Elizabeth's favour, and many historians think he also hoped the visit would persuade her to marry him.

However, the changes also served Dudley's own purposes. As Earl of Leicester he needed a seat worthy of his rank. Glass was very expensive, so the huge windows in Leicester's Building and the large windows put into older buildings such as the great tower displayed his wealth to everyone who saw them. Leicester's Gatehouse, a grand new entrance in the north wall, impressed every visitor, not just the Queen, and Dudley emblems such as the bear and ragged staff advertised his family. His brother Ambrose was Earl of Warwick, and Kenilworth showed the Dudleys' power in the Midlands. Dudley was also following fashion: other courtiers, such as William Cecil at Burghley House and Theobalds, were building great houses with large windows and gardens, partly to receive the Queen. Comfort mattered too, as modern, well-lit lodgings replaced dark medieval rooms. Finally, Dudley kept the great tower, the walls, the mere and John of Gaunt's great hall, linking himself to the castle's royal and chivalric past, which added to his prestige.

These purposes cannot really be separated. In Elizabethan England power came from the Queen's favour, and showing off that favour increased a courtier's power. By making Kenilworth fit to receive Elizabeth, Dudley showed the whole court that he was her closest favourite.

Overall, a study of Kenilworth largely supports the statement. The key new buildings, the garden and the timing of the work show that impressing Elizabeth was the main purpose. But Dudley impressed her in a way that also displayed his own wealth and power, so the Queen was the most important audience for a display that was also about Dudley himself.