Master of the Revels: Difference between revisions

Master of the Revels
Master of the Revels
	Revels Office
Style	The Right Honourable
Appointer	The British monarch
Term length	No fixed term
Inaugural holder	Walter Halliday
Formation	1347

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The Master of the Revels was the holder of a position within the English, and later the British, royal household, heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels". The Master of the Revels was an executive officer under the Lord Chamberlain. Originally he was responsible for overseeing royal festivities, known as revels,^[1] and he later also became responsible for stage censorship, until this function was transferred to the Lord Chamberlain in 1624. However, Henry Herbert, the deputy Master of the Revels and later the Master, continued to perform the function on behalf of the Lord Chamberlain until the English Civil War in 1642, when stage plays were prohibited. The office continued almost until the end of the 18th century, although with rather reduced status.

History

The Revels Office has an influential role in the history of the English stage. Among the expenses of the royal Wardrobe in 1347, there was provision for tunicae and viseres (shirts and hats) for the Christmas ludi (plays) of Edward III. During the reign of King Henry VII, payments are also recorded for various forms of court revels; and it became regular, apparently, to appoint a special functionary, called Master of the Revels, to superintend the royal festivities, quite distinct from the Lord of Misrule.^[2]

In Henry VIII's court, the post became more important, following the burgeoning of courtly shows, plays and masques. To support the increased demand for theatrical entertainment, an officer of the Wardrobe was permanently employed to act under the Master of the Revels. Under Elizabeth I the Office of the Revels was further increased and was subdivided into Toyles, Revels and Tents. With the patent given to John Farlyon in 1534 as Yeoman of the Revels, what may be considered as an independent office of the Revels (within the general sphere of the Lord Chamberlain) came into being. When Sir Thomas Cawarden received a 1544 patent as Master of the Revels and Tents he became the first to head an independent office. At this point the role of the Master of the Revels was focused on royal entertainment. One of the master’s fundamental roles was to audition players and companies for performances before the monarch and court. The master was also charged with matters of public health and ensured that playing companies ceased performances during plague seasons, as well as religious matters, guaranteeing that theaters closed on Lent. Each Master of the Revels kept an official office book that served as a record of all business transactions; including purchases and preparations for each theatrical entertainment and after 1578 included fees taken after licensing plays for performance.

After the Dissolution of the monasteries, priories became open spaces to house British royal household offices. Soon after Cawarden's appointment, the office and its stores were transferred to a dissolved Dominican monastery at Blackfriars. The office of the Revels had been previously housed at Warwick Inn in the city, the London Charterhouse, and then at the priory of St. John of Jerusalem in Clerkenwell, to which a return was made after Cawarden's death in 1559.^[2] Cawarden lived at Loseley Park, near Guildford, where his official papers were preserved.^[3] Sir Thomas Benger succeeded Cawarden, followed by Sir Thomas Blagrave (1573–79), and Edmund Tylney followed him (1579–1610). Under Tylney, the functions of Master of the Revels gradually became extended and the office acquired the legal power to censor and control playing across the entire country. This increase in theatrical control coincided with the appearance of permanent adult theatres in London. Every company and traveling troupe had to submit a play manuscript to the Office of the Revels. The master read the manuscript and sometimes even attended rehearsals. Once a play was approved, the master would sign the last page of the manuscript. The licensed manuscript attesting to the Master of the Revels' approval of a play was a treasured item for playing companies. When traveling and taking a play into the country troupes had to carry the licensed copy of the play manuscript. There was a licensing fee charged by the Office of the Revels for the approving of plays. Tylney charged seven shillings per play.

With the legal authority to censor came the power to punish dramatists, actors and companies that published or performed subversive material. The master had the authority to imprison, torture or even maim those associated with dissident or unapproved theatrical material. In 1640 William Beeston was imprisoned for supporting the performance of a play without the approval and censor of Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels.

At the height of the Master of the Revels’ power, the master had the licensing authority to approve and censor plays as well as any publication or printing of theatrical materials across the entire country. He also had the authority to issue royal patents for new playing companies and approve the erection of their playhouses. The master was able to collect fees not only from the approval of allowed books and plays, but also through annual allowances from playing companies for the continued approval of their playhouses.

Under Tylney, the functions of Master of the Revels gradually became extended to a general censorship of the stage.^[4]^[5] In 1624 the Office of the Revels was put directly in the hands of the Lord Chamberlain, thus leading to the Licensing Act 1737, when the role was taken over by the Examiner of the Stage, an official of the Lord Chamberlain. The function was abolished only in 1968. In addition, by the end of Tylney's tenure, the authority of the Revels Office (rather than the City of London) to license plays for performance within the City was clearly established.^[4] Tylney was succeeded by his relation by marriage, Sir George Buck.^[6] Buck was granted the reversion of the mastership in 1597,^[4] which led to much repining on the part of the dramatist John Lyly, who had expected to be appointed to the post.^[7] Sir John Astley followed Buck in the office, but he soon sold his right to license plays to his deputy, Henry Herbert, who became Master in 1641.

For the study of English Renaissance theatre, the accounts of the Revels Office provide one of the two crucial sources of reliable and specific information from the Tudor and Stuart eras (the other being the Register of the Stationers Company). Within the revels accounts scholars find facts, dates, and other data available nowhere else. A catalogue of the Folger Shakespeare Library collection based on the majority of surviving papers of Thomas Cawarden is available on-line. Other papers are available to study at the Public Record Office at Kew, or the Surrey Record Office.

With the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, stage plays were prohibited.^[8] Stage plays did not return to England until the Restoration in 1660.^[9]

The Revels Office

In 1608, Edmund Tylney wrote a memorandum on the office that offers a vivid picture of its operation. He wrote that the office:

consisteth of a wardrobe and other several [i.e. separate] rooms for artificers to work in (viz. tailors, embroiderers, property makers, painters, wire-drawers and carpenters), together with a convenient place for the rehearsals and setting forth of plays and other shows ...^[10]

Tylney went on the note that the office also provided a house for the master and his family, and other residences for some of the office's personnel, if specified in the patents of their positions.

In the year of the Tylney document, the Revels Office had moved to the Whitefriars district outside the western city wall of London, though throughout its history it was located in several other places about the city, including the Blackfriars district.

According to Thomas Blount in his 1656 dictionary "Glossographia", the origin of the word "Revels" is the French word "reveiller", to wake from sleep. He goes on to define "Revels" as:

Sports of Dancing, Masking, Comedies, and such like, used formerly in the Kings House, the Inns of Court, or in the Houses of other great personages; And are so called, because they are most used by night, when otherwise men commonly sleep.^[11]

Masters of the Revels

Walter Halliday (1461–1483)
Sir Thomas Cawarden (1544–1559)
Sir Thomas Benger (1560–1572)
Sir Thomas Blagrave (1573–1579)
Sir Edmund Tylney (1579–1610)
Sir George Buck (1610–1622)
Sir John Astley (1622–1640)
Sir Henry Herbert (1640–1673, de facto from 1623)
Thomas Killigrew (1673–1677)
Charles Killigrew (1677–1725)
Charles Henry Lee (1725–1744)
Solomon Dayrolles (1744–1786)

Master of the Revels (Ireland)

John Ogilby (1637–) (first Irish Master of the Revels)
Joseph Ashbury (1682–)
Thomas Griffith (1721–1729)
Edward Hopkins (1722–1736)

Notes

^ Jane Ashelford, Dress in the Age of Elizabeth I (Batsford, 1988), p. 126.
^ ^a ^b Chisholm 1911.
^ Chambers 1906, passim.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3821. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Eccles 1933, pp. 418–419.
^ Tilney's cousin was the husband of Buck’s aunt. See Eccles 1933, p. 416.
^ Letters from Lyly to Robert Cecil, 22 December 1597 and 27 February 1601, and letter from Lyly to Queen Elizabeth I, probably in 1598, quoted in Chambers 1923, pp. 96–98 and Chambers 1906, pp. 57–58
^ "September 1642: Order for Stage-plays to cease", British History Online, accessed 6 November 2014
^ Baker, p. 85^{[incomplete short citation]}
^ Halliday 1964, p. 409; spellings modernised.
^ "References to Dance in Sixteen Early Modern Dictionaries" by Greg Lindahl, 2 August 2021

References

Chambers, Edmund K. (1906). Notes on the History of the Revels Office Under the Tudors. London: A. H. Bullen.
Chambers, Edmund K. (1923). The Elizabethan Stage. Vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Revels, Master of the". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Eccles, Mark (1933). "Sir George Buc, Master of the Revels". In Sisson, Charles Jasper (ed.). Thomas Lodge and Other Elizabethans. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 409–506.
Halliday, F. E. (1964). A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964. Baltimore: Penguin.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{For|2021 science fiction novel by Nicole Galland|Master of the Revels: A Return to Neal Stephenson's D.O.D.O.}}
 {{Infobox official post
-|border=parliamentary
 |flag=
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@@ Line 10: / Line 11: @@
 |reports_to=
 |seat=
-|post={{small|[[United Kingdom]]}}<br />Master of the Revels
+|post=Master of the Revels
 |incumbent=
 |image=
 |incumbentsince=
 |style=''[[The Right Honourable]]''
-|appointer=The [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British Monarch]]
+|appointer=The [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarch]]
 |termlength=No fixed term
 |inaugural=[[Walter Halliday]]
@@ Line 22: / Line 23: @@
 |}}
-The '''Master of the Revels''' was the holder of a position within the [[Kingdom of England|English]], and later the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]], [[Noble court|royal household]], heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels". Originally he was responsible for overseeing royal festivities, known as ''revels'', and he later also became responsible for [[theatre|stage]] [[censorship]], until this function was transferred to the [[Lord Chamberlain]] in 1624.  However, [[Henry Herbert (Master of the Revels)|Henry Herbert]], the deputy Master of the Revels and later the Master, continued to perform the function on behalf of the Lord Chamberlain until the [[English Civil War]] in 1642, when stage plays were prohibited. The office continued almost until the end of the 18th century, although with rather reduced status.
+The '''Master of the Revels''' was the holder of a position within the [[Kingdom of England|English]], and later the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]], [[royal court|royal household]], heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels". The Master of the Revels was an executive officer under the [[Lord Chamberlain]]. Originally he was responsible for overseeing royal festivities, known as ''revels'',<ref>Jane Ashelford, ''Dress in the Age of Elizabeth I'' (Batsford, 1988), p. 126.</ref> and he later also became responsible for [[theatre|stage]] [[censorship]], until this function was transferred to the Lord Chamberlain in 1624.  However, [[Henry Herbert (Master of the Revels)|Henry Herbert]], the deputy Master of the Revels and later the Master, continued to perform the function on behalf of the Lord Chamberlain until the [[English Civil War]] in 1642, when stage plays were prohibited. The office continued almost until the end of the 18th century, although with rather reduced status.
 ==History==
-The history of the Revels Office has an interesting place in the history of the English stage. Among the expenses of the royal Wardrobe we find provision made for ''tunicae'' and ''viseres'' ([[shirt]]s and [[hat]]s) in 1347 for the [[Christmas]] ''ludi'' ([[Play (theatre)|plays]]) of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]]; during the reign of [[Henry VII of England|King Henry VII]], payments are also recorded for various forms of court revels; and it became regular, apparently, to appoint a special functionary, called Master of the Revels, to superintend the royal festivities, quite distinct from the [[Lord of Misrule]].<ref name=eb1911 >Chisholm (1911).</ref>
+The Revels Office has an influential role in the history of the English stage. Among the expenses of the royal [[Wardrobe (government)|Wardrobe]] in  1347, there was provision for ''tunicae'' and ''viseres'' ([[shirt]]s and [[hat]]s) for the [[Christmas]] ''ludi'' ([[Play (theatre)|plays]]) of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]]. During the reign of [[Henry VII of England|King Henry VII]], payments are also recorded for various forms of court revels; and it became regular, apparently, to appoint a special functionary, called Master of the Revels, to superintend the royal festivities, quite distinct from the [[Lord of Misrule]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
-In Henry VII's time the Master of the Revels seems to have been a minor official of the household. In [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]'s court, however, the post became more important, and an officer of the Wardrobe was permanently employed to act under the Master of the Revels. With the patent given to [[John Farlyon]] in 1534 as [[Yeoman of the Revels]], what may be considered as an independent office of the Revels (within the general sphere of the [[Lord Chamberlain]]) came into being; and in 1544 Sir [[Thomas Cawarden]] received a patent as Master of the Revels, he being the first to become head of an independent office. Soon after his appointment, the office and its stores were transferred to a dissolved [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] [[monastery]] at [[Blackfriars, London|Blackfriars]], having previously been housed at [[Warwick Inn]] in the city, the [[London Charterhouse]], and then at the [[priory]] of [[St. John of Jerusalem]] in [[Priory of Clerkenwell|Clerkenwell]], to which a return was made after Cawarden's death.<ref name=eb1911 /> Cawarden lived at Loseley Park, near Guildford, where his official papers were preserved.<ref>Chambers (1906), ''passim''.</ref>
+In [[Henry VIII]]'s court, the post became more important, following the burgeoning of courtly shows, plays and masques. To support the increased demand for theatrical entertainment, an officer of the Wardrobe was permanently employed to act under the Master of the Revels. Under [[Elizabeth I]] the Office of the Revels was further increased and was subdivided into Toyles, Revels and Tents. With the patent given to John Farlyon in 1534 as [[Yeoman]] of the Revels, what may be considered as an independent office of the Revels (within the general sphere of the [[Lord Chamberlain]]) came into being. When Sir [[Thomas Cawarden]] received a 1544 patent as Master of the Revels and Tents he became the first to head an independent office. At this point the role of the Master of the Revels was focused on royal entertainment. One of the master’s fundamental roles was to audition players and companies for performances before the monarch and court. The master was also charged with matters of public health and ensured that playing companies ceased performances during plague seasons, as well as religious matters, guaranteeing that theaters closed on [[Lent]]. Each Master of the Revels kept an official office book that served as a record of all business transactions; including purchases and preparations for each theatrical entertainment and after 1578 included fees taken after licensing plays for performance.
+After the [[Dissolution of the monasteries]], priories became open spaces to house British royal household offices. Soon after Cawarden's appointment, the office and its stores were transferred to a dissolved [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] [[monastery]] at [[Blackfriars, London|Blackfriars]]. The office of the Revels had been previously housed at Warwick Inn in the city, the [[London Charterhouse]], and then at the [[priory]] of [[St. John of Jerusalem]] in [[Clerkenwell Priory|Clerkenwell]], to which a return was made after Cawarden's death in 1559.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Cawarden lived at Loseley Park, near Guildford, where his official papers were preserved.{{sfn|Chambers|1906|loc=''passim''}} Sir [[Thomas Benger]] succeeded Cawarden, followed by  Sir [[Thomas Blagrave]] (1573–79), and [[Edmund Tylney]] followed him (1579&ndash;1610). Under Tylney, the functions of Master of the Revels gradually became extended and the office acquired the legal power to censor and control playing across the entire country. This increase in theatrical control coincided with the appearance of permanent adult theatres in London. Every company and traveling troupe had to submit a play manuscript to the Office of the Revels. The master read the manuscript and sometimes even attended rehearsals. Once a play was approved, the master would sign the last page of the manuscript. The licensed manuscript attesting to the Master of the Revels' approval of a play was a treasured item for playing companies. When traveling and taking a play into the country troupes had to carry the licensed copy of the play manuscript. There was a licensing fee charged by the Office of the Revels for the approving of plays. Tylney charged seven shillings per play.
-Sir [[Thomas Benger]] succeeded Cawarden, and [[Edmund Tylney]] followed him (1579&ndash;1610).  Under Tylney, the functions of Master of the Revels gradually became extended to a general censorship of the stage,<ref name=ODNB>Kincaid, Arthur. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/3821 "Buck (Buc), Sir George (bap. 1560, d. 1622)"]. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Online edn., May 2008, accessed 23 January 2012 {{subscription}}</ref><ref>Eccles, pp. 418–19</ref> which in 1624 was put directly in the hands of the Lord Chamberlain, thus leading to the [[Licensing Act 1737]], when the role was taken over by the Examiner of the Stage, an official of the Lord Chamberlain. The function was abolished only in 1968. In addition, by the end of Tylney's tenure, the authority of the Revels Office (rather than the City of London) to license plays for performance within the City was clearly established.<ref name=ODNB/> Tylney was succeeded by his relation by marriage, Sir [[George Buck]].<ref>Tilney's cousin was the husband of Buck’s aunt. See Eccles, Mark (1933). "Sir George Buc, Master of the Revels", in Sisson, Charles Jasper. ''Thomas Lodge and Other Elizabethans'', Cambridge: Harvard University Press, p. 416</ref> Buck was granted the reversion of the mastership in 1597,<ref name=ODNB/> which led to much repining on the part of the dramatist [[John Lyly]], who had expected to be appointed to the post.<ref>Letters from Lyly to [[Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury|Robert Cecil]], 22 December 1597 and 27 February 1601, and letter from Lyly to Queen Elizabeth I, probably in 1598, ''quoted'' in Chambers (1923), pp. 96–98 and Chambers (1906), [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924026121495#page/n63/mode/2up pp. 57–58]</ref> Sir [[John Astley (Master of the Revels)|John Astley]] followed Buck in the office, but he soon sold his right to license plays to his deputy, [[Henry Herbert (Master of the Revels)|Henry Herbert]], who became Master in 1641.
+With the legal authority to censor came the power to punish dramatists, actors and companies that published or performed subversive material. The master had the authority to imprison, torture or even maim those associated with dissident or unapproved theatrical material. In 1640 [[William Beeston]] was imprisoned for supporting the performance of a play without the approval and censor of Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels.
-For the study of [[English Renaissance theatre]], the accounts of the Revels Office provide one of the two crucial sources of reliable and specific information from the [[Tudor Dynasty|Tudor]] and [[House of Stuart|Stuart]] eras (the other being the Register of the [[Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers|Stationers Company]]). Within the revels accounts scholars find facts, dates, and other data available nowhere else. A catalogue of the Folger Shakespeare Library collection based on the majority of surviving papers of Thomas Cawarden is available on-line. Other papers are available to study at the Public Record Office at Kew, or the Surrey Record Office.
+At the height of the Master of the Revels’ power, the master had the licensing authority to approve and censor plays as well as any publication or printing of theatrical materials across the entire country. He also had the authority to issue royal patents for new playing companies and approve the erection of their playhouses. The master was able to collect fees not only from the approval of allowed books and plays, but also through annual allowances from playing companies for the continued approval of their playhouses.
-With the outbreak of the [[English Civil War]] in 1642, stage plays were prohibited.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=55741 "September 1642: Order for Stage-plays to cease"], British History Online, accessed 6 November 2014</ref> Stage plays did not return to England until the [[Restoration (England)|Restoration]] in 1660.<ref>Baker, p. 85</ref>
+Under Tylney, the functions of Master of the Revels gradually became extended to a general censorship of the stage.<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB | url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/3821 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/3821 | title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | date=2004 }}</ref>{{sfn|Eccles|1933|pp=418–419}} In 1624 the Office of the Revels was put directly in the hands of the Lord Chamberlain, thus leading to the [[Licensing Act 1737]], when the role was taken over by the Examiner of the Stage, an official of the Lord Chamberlain. The function was abolished only in 1968. In addition, by the end of Tylney's tenure, the authority of the Revels Office (rather than the City of London) to license plays for performance within the City was clearly established.<ref name="ODNB" /> Tylney was succeeded by his relation by marriage, Sir [[George Buck]].<ref>Tilney's cousin was the husband of Buck’s aunt. See {{harvnb|Eccles|1933|p=416}}.</ref> Buck was granted the reversion of the mastership in 1597,<ref name="ODNB" /> which led to much repining on the part of the dramatist [[John Lyly]], who had expected to be appointed to the post.<ref>Letters from Lyly to [[Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury|Robert Cecil]], 22 December 1597 and 27 February 1601, and letter from Lyly to Queen Elizabeth I, probably in 1598, ''quoted'' in {{harvnb|Chambers|1923|pp=96–98}} and {{harvnb|Chambers|1906|pp=[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924026121495#page/n63/mode/2up 57–58]}}</ref> Sir [[John Astley (Master of the Revels)|John Astley]] followed Buck in the office, but he soon sold his right to license plays to his deputy, [[Henry Herbert (Master of the Revels)|Henry Herbert]], who became Master in 1641.
+For the study of [[English Renaissance theatre]], the accounts of the Revels Office provide one of the two crucial sources of reliable and specific information from the [[Tudor Dynasty|Tudor]] and [[House of Stuart|Stuart]] eras (the other being the Register of the [[Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers|Stationers Company]]). Within the revels accounts scholars find facts, dates, and other data available nowhere else. A catalogue of the [[Folger Shakespeare Library]] collection based on the majority of surviving papers of Thomas Cawarden is available on-line. Other papers are available to study at the Public Record Office at Kew, or the Surrey Record Office.
+With the outbreak of the [[English Civil War]] in 1642, stage plays were prohibited.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=55741 "September 1642: Order for Stage-plays to cease"], British History Online, accessed 6 November 2014</ref> Stage plays did not return to England until the [[Restoration (England)|Restoration]] in 1660.<ref>Baker, p. 85{{incomplete short citation|date=March 2023}}</ref>
 ==The Revels Office==
-In 1608, Edmund Tilney wrote a memorandum on the Office that offers a vivid picture of its operation.  He wrote that the Office
+In 1608, Edmund Tylney wrote a memorandum on the office that offers a vivid picture of its operation. He wrote that the office:
-:"...consisteth of a wardrobe and other several [i.e. separate] rooms for artificers to work in (viz. tailors, embroiderers, property makers, painters, wire-drawers and carpenters), together with a convenient place for the rehearsals and setting forth of plays and other shows...."<ref>Halliday, p. 409; spellings modernized.</ref>
+{{quote|consisteth of a wardrobe and other several [i.e. separate] rooms for artificers to work in (viz. tailors, embroiderers, property makers, painters, wire-drawers and carpenters), together with a convenient place for the rehearsals and setting forth of plays and other shows ...<ref>{{harvnb|Halliday|1964|p=409}}; spellings modernised.</ref>}}
-Tilney went on the note that the Office also provided a house for the Master and his family, and other residences for some of the office's personnel, if specified in the "patents" of their positions.
+Tylney went on the note that the office also provided a house for the master and his family, and other residences for some of the office's personnel, if specified in the [[Letters patent|patents]] of their positions.
-In the year of the Tilney document, the Revels Office had moved to the Whitefriars district outside the western city wall of London, though throughout its history it was located in several other places about the city, including the [[Blackfriars, London|Blackfriars]] district.
+In the year of the Tylney document, the Revels Office had moved to the Whitefriars district outside the western city wall of London, though throughout its history it was located in several other places about the city, including the [[Blackfriars, London|Blackfriars]] district.
 According to [[Thomas Blount (lexicographer)|Thomas Blount]] in his 1656 dictionary "Glossographia", the origin of the word "Revels" is the French word "reveiller", to wake from sleep. He goes on to define "Revels" as:
-:'Sports of Dancing, Masking, Comedies, and such like, used formerly in the Kings House, the Inns of Court, or in the Houses of other great personages; And are so called, because they are most used by night, when otherwise men commonly sleep' <ref>http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/articles/dance_em_dict.html Dance in Early Dictionaries</ref>
+{{quote|Sports of Dancing, Masking, Comedies, and such like, used formerly in the Kings House, the Inns of Court, or in the Houses of other great personages; And are so called, because they are most used by night, when otherwise men commonly sleep.<ref>[http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/articles/dance_em_dict.html "References to Dance in Sixteen Early Modern Dictionaries"] by Greg Lindahl, 2 August 2021</ref>}}
 ==Masters of the Revels==
+{{div col|colwidth=24em}}
-* [[Walter Halliday]]  (1461–83)
-* Sir [[Thomas Cawarden]] (1544–59)
+* [[Walter Halliday]] (1461–1483)
-* Sir [[Thomas Benger]] (1560–72)
+* Sir [[Thomas Cawarden]] (1544–1559)
-* Sir [[Thomas Blagrave]] (1573–79)
+* Sir [[Thomas Benger]] (1560–1572)
-* Sir [[Edmund Tilney]] (1579–1610)
+* Sir [[Thomas Blagrave]] (1573–1579)
-* Sir [[George Buck]] (1610–22)
+* Sir [[Edmund Tylney]] (1579–1610)
+* Sir [[George Buck]] (1610–1622)
-* Sir [[John Astley (Master of the Revels)|John Astley]] (1622–40)
-* Sir [[Henry Herbert (Master of the Revels)|Henry Herbert]] (1640–73, de facto from 1623)
+* Sir [[John Astley (Master of the Revels)|John Astley]] (1622–1640)
+* Sir [[Henry Herbert (Master of the Revels)|Henry Herbert]] (1640–1673, de facto from 1623)
-* [[Thomas Killigrew]] (1673–77)
+* [[Thomas Killigrew]] (1673–1677)
 * [[Charles Killigrew]] (1677–1725)
-* [[Francis Henry Lee]] (1725–31)
+* [[Charles Henry Lee]] (1725–1744)
-* [[Charles Henry Lee]] (1725–44)
+* [[Solomon Dayrolles]] (1744–1786)
+{{div col end}}
-* [[Solomon Dayrolles]] (1744–86)
 ==Master of the Revels (Ireland)==
 * [[John Ogilby]] (1637–) (first Irish Master of the Revels)
-* [[Joseph Ashbury]] (1682–
+* [[Joseph Ashbury]] (1682–)
-* [[Edward Hopkins (politician)|Edward Hopkins]] (1722–36)
+*[[Thomas Griffith (actor)|Thomas Griffith]] (1721–1729)
+* [[Edward Hopkins (MP)|Edward Hopkins]] (1722–1736)
 ==See also==
@@ Line 74: / Line 82: @@
 ==Notes==
+{{reflist|30em}}
-{{reflist}}
 ==References==
+{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
-*[[Edmund Kerchever Chambers|Chambers, E.K.]] (1906). [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026121495 ''Notes on the History of the Revels Office Under the Tudors'']. London, A. H. Bullen
+* {{cite book|last=Chambers|first=Edmund K.|author-link=Edmund Kerchever Chambers|year=1906|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924026121495|title=Notes on the History of the Revels Office Under the Tudors|location=London|publisher=A. H. Bullen}}
-*Chambers, Edmund K.  (1923). ''The Elizabethan Stage'', Oxford: Clarendon Press, vol. 1
+* {{cite book|last=Chambers|first=Edmund K.|year=1923|title=The Elizabethan Stage|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press|volume=1}}
 *{{EB1911|wstitle=Revels, Master of the}}
+* {{cite book|last=Eccles|first=Mark|year=1933|chapter=Sir George Buc, Master of the Revels|editor=[[C. J. Sisson|Sisson, Charles Jasper]]|title=Thomas Lodge and Other Elizabethans|location=Cambridge|publisher=Harvard University Press|pages=409–506}}
+* {{cite book|last=Halliday|first=F. E.|author-link=F. E. Halliday|year=1964|title=A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964|location=Baltimore|publisher=Penguin}}
+{{div col end}}
+==Further reading==
+{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
 * Clare, Janet (1990). ''Art Made Tongue-Tied by Authority: Elizabethan and Jacobean Dramatic Censorship''. Manchester, Manchester University Press
+* Clare, Janet (1990) "The Censorship of the Deposition Scene in Richard II", ''[[The Review of English Studies]]'' 41
+* Clare, Janet (1987). "'Greater Themes for Insurrection's Arguing': Political Censorship of the Elizabethan and Jacobean Stage." ''The Review of English Studies'' 38.150
 * Cunningham, Peter (1842). ''Extracts from the accounts of revels at court'', Malone Society
 * Dutton, Richard (1991). ''Mastering the Revels: The Regulation and Censorship of English Renaissance Drama''. Iowa City, University of Iowa Press
-* Eccles, Mark (1933). "Sir George Buc, Master of the Revels", in Sisson, Charles Jasper. ''Thomas Lodge and Other Elizabethans'', Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp. 409–506
 * Feuillerat, Albert (1914). ''Documents Relating to the Office of the Revels'', Louvain
+* [[Andrew Gurr|Gurr, Andrew]] (2009). ''The Shakespearean Stage 1574–1642''. Cambridge University Press
-* Folger Shakespeare Library, {{cite web|url=http://shakespeare.folger.edu/other/html/dfoloseley.html |title=Guide to the Loseley Collection}} (1955-2000)
+* [[Henry Herbert (Master of the Revels)|Herbert, Henry]] (1917) ''The Dramatic Records of Sir Henry Herbert: Master of the Revels, 1623–1673''. Vol. 3. Yale University Press
-* [[F. E. Halliday|Halliday, F. E.]] (1964). ''A Shakespeare Companion 1564&ndash;1964.''  Baltimore, Penguin
+* [[Alfred John Kempe|Kempe, Alfred John]] (1836). [https://archive.org/details/loseleymanuscrip00kemp ''The Loseley Manuscripts''], John Murray, London
-* Historical Manuscripts Commission, 7th Report, ''Manuscripts of William More Molyneaux at Loseley Park'', (1879), 596-681.
+* Metz, G. Harold (1982) "The Master of the Revels and The Brooke of Sir Thomas Moore." ''[[Shakespeare Quarterly]]'' 33.4
-* [[Alfred John Kempe|Kempe, Alfred John]] (1836). ''The Loseley Manuscripts'', John Murray, London
+* [[Sybil Rosenfeld|Rosenfeld, Sybil]] (1935) "The Restoration Stage in Newspapers and Journal, 1660–1700." ''[[Modern Language Review]]''
+* {{cite web|url=https://findingaids.folger.edu/dfoloseley.xml|title=Papers of the More family of Loseley Park, Surrey, 1489–1682 (bulk 1538–1630)|access-date=2 March 2023|publisher=[[Folger Shakespeare Library]]}}
+* Historical Manuscripts Commission, 7th Report, ''Manuscripts of William More Molyneaux at Loseley Park'', (1879), 596–681.
+{{div col end}}
-{{English Monarchy Household|state= collapsed}}
+{{British Monarchy Household|state= collapsed}}
 [[Category:Positions within the British Royal Household]]
@@ Line 97: / Line 116: @@
 [[Category:Censorship]]
 [[Category:European court festivities]]
-[[Category:Theatre in the United Kingdom]]
+[[Category:Theatre of the United Kingdom]]

v t e Royal Household in England, Scotland and the United Kingdom
Great officers of the Household	Lord Chamberlain of the Household Vice-Chamberlain of the Household Lord Steward of the Household Master of the Horse His Majesty's Representative at Ascot Master of the Buckhounds Clerk Marshal Treasurer of the Household Comptroller of the Household
Other great officers of the Household (currently among Great Officers of State)	Lord High Steward Lord Chancellor Purse Bearer Keeper of the Privy Seal Earl Marshal Knight Marshal
Private Secretary's Office	Private Secretary to the Sovereign Director for Security Liaison Royal Communications
Privy Purse and Treasurer's Office	Keeper of the Privy Purse Royal Almonry
Lord Chamberlain's Office	Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood Crown Equerry Gentleman of the Horse Master of the Revels
Master of the Household's Department	Master of the Household Master of the Household of Scotland Butler of Scotland
Board of Green Cloth	Clerk of the Green Cloth Cofferer of the Household
Lords/ladies-in-waiting	Mistress of the Robes Master of the Robes Groom of the Robes Groom in Waiting Page of Honour Maid of Honour Mother of the Maids
Medical Household	Physician to the King Serjeant Surgeon Apothecary to the Household Apothecary to the Household at Sandringham Apothecary to the Household at Windsor Coroner of the Queen's Household Medical Officer to The King
Ecclesiastical Household	Clerk of the Closet Deputy Clerk of the Closet Dean of the Chapel Royal Gentleman of the Chapel Royal Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal Honorary Chaplain to the King
Royal Archives and Royal Collection	Keeper of the Royal Archives Royal Librarian Surveyor of the King's Pictures Surveyor of the King's Works of Art Master of the Jewel Office Treasurer of the Chamber Crown Jeweller Historiographer Royal England Scotland
Wardrobe	Keeper (or Treasurer) of the Wardrobe Comptroller of the Wardrobe Cofferer of the Wardrobe Keeper of the Great Wardrobe
Privy chamber and bedchamber	Groom of the Chamber Lord of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber Lady of the Bedchamber Woman of the Bedchamber Chamberer Groom of the Stool (1509–1901) Page of the Backstairs
Bodyguards and guardians	King's Guard Yeomen of the Guard Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard Sovereign's Bodyguard Gold Stick-in-Waiting Silver Stick-in-Waiting Yeomen Warders High Constables and Guard of Honour of the Palace of Holyroodhouse
Animal keepers	Master of the Staghounds (1738–1782) Master of the Hawks Master of the Harriers Keeper of the Queen's Swans Warden of the Swans Marker of the Swans
Arts and entertainment	Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom Master of the Ceremonies Master of the King's Music Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales Groom Porter Piper to the Sovereign Piper to the Queen Mother Serjeant Painter Principal Painter in Ordinary Painter and Limner Flower Painter in Ordinary Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland Grand Carver of England Master Carver Pantler of Scotland
Other positions	Defence Services Secretary Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal for Scotland Geographer Royal Justiciar (1102–1261) Knight Marischal Personal aide-de-camp Armour-Bearer and Squire of His Majesty's Body King's Flag Sergeant Field Officer in Brigade Waiting Warden of the Mint (1216–1829) Gentleman Usher Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State His Majesty's Botanist King's Bargemaster Funeral directors