The Cloister and the Hearth: Wolsey, Henry VIII and the Early Tudor Palace Plan

Author: Thurley, Simon

Source: Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Volume 162, 2009 , pp. 179-195(17)

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Abstract:

It is increasingly recognised that religion was the mainspring of pre-Reformation domestic ritual in royal as well as episcopal and archiepiscopal households. This article sets out to examine the architectural consequences of this. It argues that from the mid-15th century a small group of high-status residential buildings was planned around the need for lavish liturgical display, particularly the introduction of a cloister. The patrons of such buildings were churchmen of the highest rank such as Henry Beaufort and Thomas Wolsey who, it is argued, had special requirements for their principal residences. These requirements subsequently went on to influence the plans of early Tudor royal palaces, culminating in the reconstruction of Whitehall Palace by Henry VIII in the 1540s.

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/006812809x12448232842538

Publication date: 2009-10-01

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