Power and Politics of Architecture in Tudor England

Privacy as a Weapon of Power

From the early middle ages all royal apartments had private sections and public sections. This separation was created as much for privacy as it was for power. Access to the rooms that were more private was strictly limited by the monarch. There was a constant pressure by courtiers to gain access to these private rooms, causing the outermost of the private rooms to really not be private at all. This tendency of the outer rooms to become less private meant that the monarch would have to retreat further and further into his apartments while adding rooms to them. 

Under Henry VIII, privacy became more and more of a luxury. Palaces had been characterized by their lack of privacy and communal nature. There was not much a monarch could do without the entirety of the court being there to watch. “Until the fourteenth century, kings had lived, eaten, and slept in the great hall and chamber; life had been communal, with little concept of privacy”[1] One can see from the plans of Hampton Court Palace, that there was certainly a hierarchy of rooms. The chambers of the King were all back to back, leading from the Great Hall. This allowed Henry VIII to strictly control who could meet with him and in what setting. Only the closest and most important courtiers ever made it past the privy chamber. "[A]t Whitehall and Hampton Court, new private rooms multiplied like a cellular growth, and 'secret' chambers were added on as an extra grade to 'privy' ones."[2] This is an aspect of royal palaces and architecture that certainly changed during the Tudor Period.The video linked, is a PBS documentary about the so called "Secrets of Hampton Court," it goes into great detail about the way Henry VIII lived in Hampton Court. Henry VIII’s father, Henry VII, had retained the traditional design for royal apartments at Richmond Palace, initially. Eventually, beginning to move away from that design towards privacy after a great fire.
 
[1] Weir, Henry VIII, 7
[2] Girouard, Henry VIII: King of Builders

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