Play
All of society descends on Bermondsey
A Fete at Bermondsey, the superbly detailed
painting shown on pages 14 and 15, depicts
a village celebration on the banks of the
river Thames. Probably painted by Marcus
Gheeraerts the Elder in c1569/70, it seems
to intentionally encompass all of Elizabethan
society – and, in doing so, provides a rare
insight into the lives of Elizabethans outside
the confines of the court.
Here we show two details from the
painting: an elegant nobleman in a long, pale
cloak (pictured left) and a pair of musicians
dressed in red (right), possibly with the
artist alongside them. They are joined in the
painting by cooks and serving men, women
busy at work, merchants, servants in livery,
labourers in the distant sawmill, children at
play and a man in stocks.
Elizabethans were very aware of divisions
in society. The writer Thomas Smith stated
in his 1583 book De Republica Anglorum
that: “We in England divide our men
commonly into foure sortes, gentlemen,
citizens, yeomen artificers, and laborers.”
Nearly all of the people Smith lists can be
seen in Joris Hoefnagel’s fete scene.