Edmund Tilney

Sir Edmund Tilney or equally Tylney or Tyllney (* 1536 , † 1610 ) was a courtier , who as Master of the Revels under Queen I. Elizabeth and her successor James I came to prominence. In this position he was responsible for censorship in the English theater . He controlled and promoted the development of drama in the Elizabethan era . Tilney also converted the Revels Office, which was previously just a facility for organizing parties for the court, into a major, nationwide institution with approval and censorship powers.

Early years and family connections

Edmund Tilney was the only son of Philip Tilney († 1541), gentleman usher of King Henry VIII , and his wife Malyn Chambre. Edmund Tilney's grandfather was Sir Philip Tilney of Shelley († 1533), treasurer during the Battle of Flodden Field under the command of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk . Howard's first wife was Sir Philip Tilney's cousin Elizabeth Tilney, Duchess of Surrey ; after Elizabeth died in 1497, Howard married the sister of Tilney Agnes , later "Dowager Duchess of Norfolk" (the English word Dowager means that the Duchess was wealthy and of class as a widow ).

Edmund Tilney's mother, Malyn Tilney, was implicated in the scandal that led to the overthrow of the Duchess' step-daughter, Queen Catherine Howard . She was sentenced to life imprisonment on December 22, 1541 and her property was confiscated, but pardoned after the Queen's execution, which took place on February 13, 1542. Edmund Tilney's father was laid to rest on September 10, 1541 in St. Leonard's Church, in the London borough of Streatham . He died in debt and his widow Malyn received a pledge of aid from the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. There is no record of Tilney's education. He may have learned far more than Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish, as his early work indicated that he was not only close to languages, but also familiar with disciplines such as legislation, history, economics, and genealogy . It is believed that he must have traveled as travel was one of the common components of education at the time.

Career

Not only because Tilney likely enjoyed an informal education, but also because of his family ties to the Howards and their kinship with royalty, he was looking forward to a bright future. Through his sister's marriage, he was a distant relative of Queen Elizabeth I. In the years that followed, he maintained his relationships with the Howard family. In 1572 he represented the village of Gatton in the county of Surrey in the English parliament .

The son of the Duke of Norfolk, William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham and his grandson Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham held the title of Lord Howard of Effingham in succession. The second Lord Howard became Lord Chamberlain in 1574 . The Revels Office has always been under the direction of Lord Chamberlain and the latter now delegated the task of Master of the Revels to his relative, Edmund Tilney. In July 1579 Tilney also officially took over the office, which he had held since February 1578.

Tilney took over the office and began reforming and expanding it. When he began his work it mainly consisted of planning and conducting royal conversations as part of the duties of Lord Chamberlain. His first main job was to keep the queen and the court satisfactory. But then he began to solve the various burdens that lay on the Revels Office that he had taken over. For example, the authority fell into disrepute due to an economic inefficiency, caused by the incompetence of the previous heads, who only came to this office as favorites of the court and the resulting high debt. On December 24, 1581 Tilney founded a commission to solve the financial crisis and reduce the maintenance costs of the office to a moderate budget. The second part of the commission's duties was to prevent public debates over controversial contributions in the theater. Simply by only allowing plays to be performed if the manuscript was checked beforehand and contained the approving signature of the Masters of the Revels. Anyone who acted contrary could be incarcerated on Tilney's orders. Harsh corporal punishment was also threatened. The Master of the Revels was given full authority over the theater in England, which was previously divided between several officials and responsibilities of the institution.

He thus became the censor of all theatrical productions across the country. A notable example is The Book of Sir Thomas More . It deals with the xenophobic uprisings that took place in London on May 1st , 1517 ("Eval May Day"). Due to its explosive, political content, it was subject to the strictest censorship and was never published. And in this way all other political content of the theater that might displease the royal court was handled restrictively.

Tilney's time as Master of the Revels, which lasted from 1579 to 1610, falls at a very eventful time in the history of English drama. In 1576 England's first purpose-built theater buildings were erected on the outskirts of central London - The Theater and The Curtain . That was the beginning of many other new theaters in the country and led to the rapid spread of the acting culture in England. Well-known playwrights appeared, such as Christopher Marlowe or Thomas Kyd , who attracted the masses with their plays Tamburlaine and The Spanish Tragedy . Almost all of William Shakespeare's work also fell into Tilney 's time . Tilney licensed 30 of his pieces during his time.

As much as Tilney's censorship restricted playwrights, it also protected them from encroachment by other authorities. The construct of aristocratic patronage could not disguise the fact that the acting companies were ultimately commercial ventures that earned their money by traveling appearances in the courtyards of inns and permanent theaters; however, these patronage structures brought the theater companies under royal protection. In 1592 the theater critic, Lord Mayor of London, named Tilney as an obstacle on the way to ending the public theatrical system within the city. Tilney's censorship, however, was not broad in nature and was not excessively strict. While he criticized passages that were politically sensitive, such as the dethronement scene in Richard II or the portrayal of a French ambassador as a drinker ("The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron, Marshall of France" by George Chapman (1608)) he assigned the portrayal of the murder of Julius Caesar in the Shakespeare play of the same name . However, this is not considered to be proven.

On March 10, 1583, Queen Elizabeth I issued Edmund Tilney the order to put together her own theater troupe for their entertainment. Previously, foreign theater troupes made guest appearances at the court or employed, less talented court actors entertained the Queen and her entourage. He immediately delegated the task to Francis Walsingham , the head of the intelligence services at Elizabeth's court, who recognized additional opportunities to expand his espionage network through such a theater troupe traveling across the country. So he recruited u. a. from existing theater companies. like the Leicester's Men and the Sussex's Men the unusually large number of 12 actors for theater companies at the time, who would be very successful as Queen Elizabeth's Men in the following ten years .

Tilney was also responsible for an innovation in English drama, which gave the theatrical performance more space than the previously so successful mask games . The latter were very time-consuming and costly for the office, so that drastic savings were possible here. Mask games were only reappeared under Elisabeth's successor Jakbob I.

Elizabeth's reign ended on March 24, 1603 and Jacob I ascended the throne. There was a dispute over Tilney's position when John Lyly applied for the post. Even George Buck , supported by the Howard, was a competitor. However, Tilney kept his position as Master of the Revels even under James I. Around 1606, the master was also given the authority to license plays that were to be published as books. Some documents indicate that his later successor in office, George Buck, was already appointed here as a senior clerk ("acting master"). The censorship system became much more relaxed with Jacob I's accession to the throne. In the years that followed, Buck licensed many plays, while Tilney managed the Office of Revels. He remained in office until his death in 1610.

Own works

Edmund Tilney wrote a tract called A brief and pleasant dis-course of the duties in Marriage, called the Flower of Friendshipp , in the 1560s, and dedicated it to the Queen. He did this to seek recognition at court. The book was published in seven editions between 1567 and 1578. It is written in the traditional genre of continental "conversazione". He has several people talk about the duties of an exemplary husband and an exemplary wife in fictional conversations for two days and gives various historical examples. Tilney's only book is an eloquent literary work and shows influences of Renaissance humanism and other philosophical directions.

Topographical Descriptions, Regiments, and Policies is an unpublished political work that Tilney worked on to the end. He dedicated it to King Jacob; the work contains a collection of notes on various countries. This work also demonstrates Tilney's knowledge of various disciplines, such as topography , genealogy , geography, economics and law.

In those works or in documents that he signed himself, he always wrote his last name as Tyllney . In all other documents, however, it is written Tilney or Tylney .

Private life

Tilney lived a life caught between different spheres of power. On the one hand he was obliged to the Lord Treasurer , on the other hand it was the Lord Chamberlain to whom he was subordinate. After his appointment as master, he became better known and in 1583 married Dame Mary Braye. She was the fourth wife of the late Sir Edmund Braye. However, nothing more is known about this marriage, including whether or not they had offspring. His family circumstances are not even mentioned in Tilney's will of 1610. Tilney spent the last few years of his life fighting and claiming property and financial obligations. Towards the end his property had shrunk due to lost lawsuits and his financial situation was very strained. In his last will, he wished to be buried next to his father without pomp and ceremony and bequeathed his last money to some poor communities, some servants and his cousin Thomas Tilney. He was buried in St. Leonard's Church in the London borough of Streatham . A grave monument was erected in his honor. He previously lived in Leatherhead , Surrey, in a house known there as the Mansion House . A pub of the Wetherspoon pub chain has borne his name in the High Street Leatherheads since the 1990s .

Insufficient evidence

Although the office of Master of the Revels was one of the most influential offices under Elizabeth I, little information is available about the life of Tilney, who was the highest director of the licensing theater authority at the height of Elizabethan theater. Various sources existed, but most of them only provided incorrect information. From the scholar Malone to Sidney Lee , there were various representations of Tilney. But there are no ultimately clear details of his life. Neither about his person nor about his wife, who was not mentioned in his will. There was also speculation about whether he became Knight was knighted.

In popular culture

• In the feature film Shakespeare in Love , Tilney was played by Simon Callow .
• Tilney is a character in the alternate world story Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove .

Entries in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

• Catherine Davies: Howard [née Tilney], Agnes, duchess of Norfolk (b. In or before 1477, d. 1545), noblewoman
• Kames McDermott: Howard, William, first Baron Howard of Effingham (c.1510–1573), naval commander
• Retha M. Warnicke Katherine [Catherine; nee Katherine Howard] (1518x24-1542), queen of England and Ireland, fifth consort of Henry VIII

Entry in the Dictionary of National Biography

• Tilney, Edmund

Individual evidence

1. ↑ David M. Head, "Thomas, second duke of Norfolk (1443-1524), magnate and soldier," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2008, pp. 236 and 237
2. ^ ^{A b c d} Frederick Samuel Boas (1862–1957): Queen Elizabeth in Drama and Related Studies . Books For Libraries Press, New York 2008, pp. 40-41 (English).
3. ↑ Douglas Richardson: Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families . Ed .: Kimball G. Everingham. Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland 2004, ISBN 978-0-8063-1750-2 , pp. 236 and 237 (English).
4. ^ Richard Dutton: Tilney, Edmund (1535 / 6-1610), courtier . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2008, pp. 40-41 (English).
5. ^ Streitberger, WR (February 1978), p. 18 "On Edmond Tyllney's Biography" . The Review of English Studies Issue 29, No .: 113, pages 11–35
6. ↑ When the Elizabethan Poor Laws were changed with a law of 1572, the situation of traveling actors changed: Those who did not have patronage from a nobleman could be classified as a vagabond and subject to a number of penalties. However, those who enjoyed such protection were legally more secure than before.
7. ↑ Information from the "New Shake-speare Society"
8. ↑ ^{a b} Clare, Janet. P. 173 "Greater Themes for Insurrection's Arguing ': Political Censorship of the Elizabethan and Jacobean Stage" . The Review of English Studies Issue 38, No. 50, Pages 169-183, May 1987
9. ↑ Scott McMillin (Ed.): The Elizabethan Theater and 'The Book of Sir Thomas More' . Cornell University Press, 2019, ISBN 978-1-5017-4264-4 , pp. 184 (English, The Elizabethan Theater and "The Book of Sir Thomas More" in the Google book search).
10. ^ Chambers, EK The Elizabethan Stage. 4 volumes, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1923. Volume 1, pages 104 ff.
11. ^ Scott McMillin and Sally-Beth MacLean: The Queen's Men and Their Plays . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1998. p. 27
12. ↑ The art of gallantry: facets of a behavior model in literature ... edited by Ruth Florack, Rüdiger Singer in the Google book search
13. ↑ ^{a b} W. R. Streitberger (Ed.): The Masters of the Revels and Elizabeth I's Court Theater . Oxford University Press, 2017, ISBN 978-0-19-255228-0 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
14. ^ Frederick Samuel Boas: Queen Elizabeth in Drama and Related Studies . George Allen & Unwin, New York 2008, ISBN 0-8369-5397-5 , pp. 36-55 (English).
15. ↑ ^{a b} W.R. Streitberger, The Review of English Studies, issue 29, no .: 113 of February 1978, pages 11-35 "On Edmond Tyllney's Biography" online .