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The Masque of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn


The Masque of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn was a Jacobean era masque, written by Francis Beaumont. It was performed on 20 February 1613 in the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace, as part of the elaborate wedding festivities surrounding the marriage of Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of King James I, and Frederick V, Elector Palatine.

The masque was preceded by a procession, in which the masquers came down the River Thames from Winchester House on the royal barge, accompanied by a flotilla of other barges and boats, on Shrove Tuesday, 16 February. The masque itself was scheduled to be staged that evening, but had to be postponed for four days, due to the press of crowds at the Banqueting House and the fatigue of the King. Some thought that the masque was spoiled by the delay, since the surprise value of the costumes and set had been lost; but the King enjoyed it when he saw it, and ordered the dances repeated.

The principal masquers were fifteen knights of Olympia, dressed in carnation costumes; the musicians were costumed as twelve priests of Jove. The masque is richly dependent upon Greek mythology: the presenters were Mercury and Iris, the dancers of the first anti-masque were Naiads, Hyades and Cupids, joined by statues forged by Vulcan for Mount Olympus that came alive (four each of Naiads, Hyades, and statues, and five Cupids). The second anti-masque was a dance of rustic figures in "country sports." This second anti-masque was reproduced in a slightly simplified form in The Two Noble Kinsmen later in 1613—one sign of the influence that masques had on the stage drama of the era. (See Oberon, the Faery Prince for its similar connection with The Winter's Tale.)


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