A Brief Introduction to the Tudor Inn.

Mr. Hubert Hall provides some well-chosen detail on the Tudor inn. In particular, he finds records on the Tabard Inn, already famous in Chaucer's time.

The Tabard, Tabred, or Talbot, even, as it was sometimes called, was one of the ancient hostelries which flanked the great southern road where it widened up to the foot of London Bridge. This was the house that received, and actually accommodated, Chaucer's Canterbury pilgrims and many another company bound on the same pious mission, though none, we may well believe their host, " so mery."¹

And “house” it was. Albeit a rather large house.

The house still existed During the reign of Elizabeth I, already of note for the fact that it was a major literary landmark. It was not representative of Chaucer's time, however, as much as that of John Falstaff. Hall describes it in some detail from out of the Latin record of a legal proceeding.

The arrangements of this inn about the middle of Elizabeth's reign would be much the same as those of any other hostel on the same scale. On the ground floor, looking on to the street, was a room called " the darke parlor ; " a hall, and a general reception room, called " the parlor." This was probably the dining-room of the house, as it opened on to the kitchen on the same level. Below the dark parlour was a cellar. On the first floor above the parlour and the hall were three rooms, " the middle chamber," " the corner chamber," and " Maister Hussyes chamber," with garrets or " cooklofts " over them. Above the great parlour was another room. There were also rooms called " the Entry chamber," and " the Newe chamber," " the Flower de Luce," and " Mr. Russell's chamber," the position of which is not specified. A warehouse, presumably under a separate roof, a coal-hole, and an oven-house, a double stable with an oat-loft over it, and a similar stable with a hay-loft over it.²

Like most inns it actually consisted of a number of buildings called a “messuage”. Thus we find a “double stable,” “warehouse,” etc.

In 1584, the year of the lawsuit, Robert Mabbe owned the Tabbard. Like Mistress Quickly's establishment, in Shakespeare”s Henry IV plays, the public rooms had been given names to distinguish them one from another. Mabbe's do not have the feminine touch of the hostess.

Host. Thou didst swear to me upon a parcel-gilt goblet, sitting in my Dolphin-chamber, at the round table, by a sea-coal fire, upon Wednesday in Wheeson-week,...³

Surely, a “dolphin chamber” is likely found in an inn under ownership of a woman. Mabbe's Tabard rooms have much more functional names.

Those who have read my Edward de Vere's Retainer Thomas Churchyard: the Man Who was Falstaff⁴ know that I identify the widow Juliana Penn as the model for Mistress Quickly. Churchyard stayed at her inn ̶ the White Bear, in Cheapside ̶ for some time and had to go in hiding from her for not having paid his bill. Letters written by she and Churchyard set a scene very close to that described in 2 Henry IV (the Earl of Oxford standing in for Prince Hal). It is not clear that Churchyard wasn't more afraid of being forced to acquit a promise of marriage as much as debtors prison (where he had languished once before in his Falstaffian career).

We can fill in the stage scenery of Mistress Quickly's Dolphin and other chambers from Hall.

The provision of linen... would be lavish even according to modern ideas. In a contemporary house we find thirteen pair of sheets ; 15 tablecloths of damask and diapers ; 3 cupboard cloths ; 5 dozen and 2 table napkins ; 6 dozen napkins of damask, diaper, holland, cut-work, and lead-work ; 22 hand-towels ; 11 towels of the same quality as the napkins ; and 7 pillow-cases. With regard to sleeping accommodation, there were joined bedsteads, with feather, flock, standing, or settle beds ; bolsters, pillows, blankets, and coverlets. The remaining furniture included cupboards, side boards, chests, tables, chairs, stools, and forms. Often, too, there were a few pictures and the universal hangings.⁵

A London inn was homey enough, it would seem. For its menu we can again go to 2 Henry IV, where Prince Hal finds an itemized bill for food in the sleeping Falstaff's pocket.⁶

Item, A capon, . . . . .2s. 2d.

Item, Sauce, ..... 4d.

Item, Sack, two gallons, . . 5s. 8d.

Item, Anchovies and sack after supper, 2s. 6d.

Item, Bread, ..... ob.⁷

It should come as no surprise that details of tavern / inn life can be found scattered throughout the works of the London playwrights of the late 16^th century. Should they be flush with recent payment for a play, they might emerge from a barely furnished rented room and meals at a nearby “ordinary” to live a bit more at large at an inn.

1Hall, Hubert. Society in the Elizabethan Age (1886). 81.

2Ibid.

3Shakespeare. 2 Henry IV, II.i.

4Purdy, Gilbert. Edward de Vere's Retainer Thomas Churchyard: the Man Who was Falstaff (2017). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077LVLXY2

5Hall. 82.

6Shakespeare. 2 Henry IV, II.iv.

7ob.] an obol/obolum designated a hay-penny

 

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What Color Were Shakespeare’s Potatoes? July 27, 2019. “By the year 1599-1600, when Shakespeare’s play would seem to have been written, the potato was available in London.  It was considered a delectable treat and an aphrodisiac.”

Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.

Check out the Queen Elizabeth I Biography Page for many other articles.