Masque of Amazons, A

Anon. (1579) Also associated with A Masque of Knights.

Historical Records

'A Maske of Amazons' is listed in the Revels accounts of 1578/9 as one of the masques performed 'before her maiestie the ffrench Imbassadour being presente the sonday night after Twelfdaie [11 January] whereof one was' (Feuillerat 286, 287).

Theatrical Provenance

English Court at Richmond.

Probable Genre(s)

Masque.

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

There were many references to Amazons in early to mid-Elizabethan culture. The stories of the Amazon empire built by warrior queens who eschewed marriage, also pointed to Queen Elizabeth. This masque was staged when Elizabeth was being courted by the Francis, Duke of Anjou, but more speculation on the historical backdrop in 'For What It's Worth' below. This Masque appears to have been performed simultaneously with A Masque of Knights (listed as a separate play in LDP but redirects to this page).

Perhaps the most immediate, assessible, and popular rendering of the Amazon history was story of the Amazons in the Second Tome of William Painter's Palace of Pleasure (1567).

References to the Play

In a letter dated 15 January 1579, Bernadino de Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador in London, writes to Gabriel de Zayas about a series of state issues and international intrigues. Mendoza mentions in passing a recent grand ball at court during which there was 'an entertainment in imitation of a tournament, between six ladies and a like number of gentlemen, who surrendered to them' (see 'Simancas: January 1579', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain).

Critical Commentary

The play was performed for the French ambassador. Sibley notes that the resident French ambassador was Mauvissiere, but also points to Feuillerat's belief (n287, 4) that the reference was to Simier, the Duke of Alençon's envoy (Sibley 183).

Chambers is more straightforward, holding that this double masque was in fact staged "for the entertainment of the French ambassador, M. de Simier," who had come as an envoy concerning Alençon's marriage to Elizabeth. This connection, along with the historical connection with Leicester (I, 166).

For What It's Worth

John Jowett connects this court masque with the masque scene in Timon of Athens, specifically the possible emblematic motifs suggested by the stage directions in Timon (13).

Works Cited

Feuillerat, Revels. Internet Archive.

Jowett, John. 'Introduction' to Timon of Athens. ed. John Jowett (Oxford: OUP, 2004). Print.

Sibley, Gertrude Marian. The Lost Plays and Masques: 1500-1642 (Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1933). Internet Archive.

'Simancas: January 1579', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain (Simancas), Volume 2, 1568-1579, ed. Martin A S Hume (London, 1894), pp. 626-642. British History Online [accessed 30 September 2016].

Wiggins, Volume II.

Site created and maintained by Thomas Dabbs, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo; updated 30 November 2016.