Description: Accounts providing details of the quantities and cost of clothing and other items manufactured for the first Tudor kings.
By the late fifteenth century the Great Wardrobe, the section of the royal household that supplied the king and his household with clothing and furnishings, was well established in the London parish of St Andrew by the Wardrobe (many of the suppliers of fabric to the Great Wardrobe and many of the individuals who worked for it lived and worked in the city).This volume provides an edition and calendar of the accounts for 1498-99 and 1510-11, as wellas the section of the 1544 account relating to Henry VIII's campaign in France. In addition there are two appendices listing the recipients of livery in the extant Great Wardrobe accounts and warrants and an extensive glossary. The Introduction to the edited texts discusses the patterns of supply to the Great Wardrobe and assesses the significance of a small but influential group of Italian merchants who traded alongside the Londoners. Professor Maria Hayward teaches in the Department of History, University of Southampton.
Brief description: MARIA HAYWARD is professor of Early Modern History at the University of Southampton, and her research focuses on the Tudor and Stuart courts. Her books include Rich Apparel: Clothing and the Law in Henry VIII's England and Stuart Style: Monarchy, Dress and the Scottish Male Elite, winner of the 'History Book of the Year' in the Scottish National Book Awards 2021.
Review Quotes: An example of good, selfless scholarship and the warrants offer such a wealth of information that they will surely inspire further research.-- "COSTUME"