No Expense Spared
On 17 November 1584, English folk tucked into pies, puddings and cakes and participated in revelry and pastimes. Feasting and merrymaking sang in harmony with fireworks displays, bell-ringing and civic extravaganzas that included besieged wooden castles and mock battles.
In the capital, Londoners paid 12 pence to enter Whitehall Palace’s tiltyard and watch knights, clad in splendid allegorical armoured costumes, joust in honour of the Queen.
A visitor to England, Lupold von Wedel enthused over how knights entered in spectacular pageant cars drawn by horses “equipped like elephants” and were presented with curious allegorical devices and amusing poetry that made the Queen and her ladies in waiting laugh.
The occasion was ‘Elizabeth’s day’, a day of great spectacle staged to celebrate Queen Elizabeth I’s accession to the throne 26 years
