Mary Tudor - Anna Whitelock [119]
Some weeks before, Mary had issued a proclamation ordering all her subjects to extend “courtesy, friendly and gentle entertainment” to the Spaniards, “without either by outward deeds, taunting words, or unseemly countenance” giving any insult to the visitors. Londoners were in a benevolent mood, and there was little ill feeling displayed toward the new king. The city had been decorated with splendid pageants for the occasion. At London Bridge two vast figurines greeted the royal couple. The mythical giants Corineus Britannus and Gogamogog Albionus, warriors from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s twelfth-century history of Britain, held between them a tablet on which were written verses lavishing praise on Philip and giving thanks for his safe arrival:
O noble Prince sole hope of Caesar’s side
By God appointed all the world to guide
Right heartily welcome art thou to our land
The archer Britayne yeldeth thee her hand,
And noble England openeth her bosom
Of hearty affection for to bid thee welcome.
But chiefly London doth her love vouchsafe,
Rejoycing that her Philip is come safe.3
The king and queen rode on into Gracechurch Street, where Henry VIII was portrayed, a scepter in one hand and a book in the other, upon which was written “Verbum Dei,” “the Word of God.” It was the image that had appeared on the title page of the Great Bible of 1539, the first authorized version in English, which had shown Henry distributing the English Bible to his subjects—anathema to Catholics, who believed that scripture in the vernacular undermined the sanctity of its meaning. Such a provocative image of Protestant triumphalism was hardly what might be expected in a pageant welcoming a Catholic king and queen. After Mary and Philip had passed, Gardiner threatened the painter, Richard Grafton, with imprisonment in the Fleet. Grafton responded that he thought he had done well, declaring, “If I had known the same had been against your lordship’s pleasure, I would not have so have made him.” Grafton was ordered to paint out the book and replace it with a pair of gloves.4
At the end of Gracechurch Street stood a triumphal arch adorned with statues and paintings, created by the merchants of the steelyard. On the left stood the figure of a woman, Hispania, supporting a castle; on the right stood Britannia with the arms of England. The pageant was decorated with pictures of battles on land and sea and the insignia of England and Spain. At the top of the arch was a mechanical image of King Philip on horseback and the inscription “In honour of worthy Philip the fortunate and most mighty Prince of Spain, most earnestly wished for.”5 At Cornhill, another pageant, surmounted with images of the royal couple, featured representations of four noble Philips from history: Philip, king of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great; Philip, the Roman emperor; Philip the Bold; and Philip the Good of Burgundy. The third pageant, in Cheap, depicted Orpheus and the nine Muses. Near them men and children, dressed like wild beasts, lions, wolves, bears, and foxes, danced and leaped, this spectacle “pleasing their majesties very well.”6
The royal couple moved on to the little conduit at the west end of Cheap for the fourth pageant. Described as “the most excellent pageant of all,” it showed Philip and Mary’s shared genealogy from Edward III of England. Under a great tree was an old man, signifying Edward III, lying on his side with a white long beard, a closed crown on his head, and scepter and ball in his hands. On top of the tree the queen was shown on the right and the king to the left, and