Inventory of Henry VIII

The Inventory of Henry VIII compiled in 1547 is a list of the possessions of the crown, now in the British Library as Harley MS 1419.

The inventory was made following a commission of 14 September 1547 during the first year of the reign of Edward VI. The surviving manuscripts list the possessions of Henry VIII item by item, by their location in houses. The armaments of ships and forts are also recorded.Starkey, David, (1998), xix. Altogether there are 17,810 items listed, and some of these entries contain multiple objects. Despite this abundance, only a very small number of objects survive and can be identified. The monetary values of the objects were not recorded, though the weights of many gold and silver items were given.

Manuscripts The three original manuscripts of the Inventory are; Society of Antiquaries MS 129A & B, and a duplicate copy at British Library Additional MS 46348; and British Library Harley MS 1419A & B. BL Add. MS 46348 was used in the Tower of London after the inventory was compiled to track changes in the royal collections and contains later annotations.Starkey, David, (1998), xx, the later annotations were not published in 1998.

These manuscripts were edited and published in full for the first time in 1998. The published transcription allotted each item an index number to facilitate further study. The team of editors provided a thematic index of generic headings in alphabetical order. Within the index many heading provide short glossaries. This indexing solution to the large number of royal possessions has itself a helpful introduction running to three and half pages.Starkey, David, ed., The Inventory of Henry VIII, vol. 1, (1998), 441-444.

Another manuscript lists the ships of Henry VIII's navy; the three Anthony Rolls are kept by Magdalene College, Cambridge, and the British Library, and were published in 2000.Knighton, C.S., & Loades, D.M., ed., The Anthony Roll of Henry VIII's navy, (2000): Pepys Library 2991 and British Library Add. MS 22047. Partial details of the royal library and other separate inventories of the King's books were also published in 2000.Carley, James P., ed., The libraries of King Henry VIII, British Library/British Academy (2000):

Other lists of Henry's jewels survive, including an inventory made by William Compton in 1519.Rachel King, The Tudor Heart (London: British Museum, 2026), p. 20. The inventories of James V of Scotland and Mary, Queen of Scots, including costume and jewellery were published in 1815, 1844, 1863 and 2004, from manuscripts in the National Archives of Scotland and British Library.see external links for publications of the Scottish manuscripts.

The Whitehall Palace inventory of 1542 Over 4000 objects at Whitehall Palace in the keeping of Sir Anthony Denny were recorded in 1542. This inventory survives in manuscript the National Archives at Kew, PRO E315/160 and PRO E101/472/2, and at the British Library, BL Lansdowne Rolls 14 & 15. The Whitehall inventory was published in 2004.Maris Hayward, ed., The 1542 Inventory of Whitehall Palace, 2 vols (Illuminata Publishers: Society of Antiquaries, 2004).

Another inventory of 1542 lists wardrobe stuff including tapestries and cushions at Windsor Castle in the keeping of William Tildesley, with later notes up to 1562.Catalogue of the books, manuscripts, autograph letters, and engravings, of the late Sir William Tite, sold by auction, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge (London, 1874), p. 93: See also TNA E315/60.

Portraits

Henry VIII had a collection of portraits including a portrait of King Arthur and one of Mary of Hungary, described as "a table of the Quene of Hungrie nowe Regent of Flaunders her hedde tiered in white".David Starkey, Inventory of Henry VIII (London: Harvey Miller, 1998), p. 384 nos. 15377, 15383.

Henry VIII owned a "picture of Jacobe kinge of Scottes with an hawke on his fist". Another listing has the legend "Jacobus quartus Rex scotorum". The picture may have been the model for the portrait of James IV of Scotland painted by Daniël Mijtens.Maria Hayward, The 1542 Inventory of Whitehall Palace, 2 (Illuminata Publishers, 2004), p. 96 no. 799: David Starkey, Inventory of Henry VIII, 1 (London, 1998), pp. 239 no. 10702, 385 no. 15410. A lost picture of a "woman having a monkey on her hand" framed with a yellow and white silk curtain may have been the inspiration for the portrait of Margaret Tudor with a common marmoset painted by Mijtens.Lorne Campbell, 'Scottish Patrons and Netherlandish Painters', Grant G. Simpson, Scotland and the Low Countries 1124–1994 (Tuckwell, 1996): Maria Hayward, Whitehall Inventory, 2 (London, 2004), p. 91 no. 869: David Starkey, Inventory of Henry VIII, 1 (London, 1998), p. 237 no. 10594.

A portrait of Arthur, Prince of Wales showed him wearing a "red cap with a brooch upon it, and a collar of red and white roses".Maria Hayward, The 1542 Inventory of Whitehall Palace, 2 (Illuminata Publishers, 2004), p. 94 no. 763: David Starkey, Inventory of Henry VIII, 1 (London: Harvey Miller, 1998), p. 239 no. 10666: Arthur, Prince of Wales: RCIN 403444 A portrait of Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, had a curtain of yellow and white sarcenet paned together.Maria Hayward, The 1542 Inventory of Whitehall Palace, 2 (Illuminata Publishers, 2004), p. 91 no. 711.

Henry's collection The inventory intended to list all of the late king's jewels, plate, stuff, ordinance, and munition. Commissioners were appointed to view the royal mansion houses, stables, and stores of munition. The sections below sketch aspects of this collection.

Gold, silver, and jewels

The inventory has 3690 entries for precious metals and stones. These include a coffer of Catherine Parr's jewels which remained at the Tower of London, amongst its contents were gold headresses set with pearls and diamonds (habillements); girdles with gold links set with diamonds, rubies and pearls; and two jewels fashioned with the initials "HK", for Henry and Katherine.David Starkey, Inventory (London, 1998), pp. 77-80 nos. 2619-2741.

One recent acquisition was the Three Brothers, a pendant of balas rubies, diamonds and pearls bought from Anton Fugger:"A jewell bought by the kinges Majestie of Anthony fulker and his company of Antewarpe in May 1551 and delivered to t'handes of the Earl of willteshere lorde treasurer of England by the kinges Majestie the VIIth day of June 1551.A fayer flower of golde having sett in the same three table ballaces sett withowte foyle, and between everey ballace a perle, and in the myddes betwene the three ballaces a large pointed Diamounte and a perle pendaunt at one of the ballaces."David Starkey, Inventory, vol. 1 (London, 1998), p. 98, no 3686. Edward VI was obliged to buy this jewel, which he described in his diary, for 100,000 crowns because the English crown owed £60,000 to the Fugger's bank.W. K. Jordan, The Chronicle and Political Papers of Edward VI (George Allen & Unwin, 1966), p. 60, 25 April 1551.

The enamelled Royal Gold Cup which survives in the British Museum was listed as "a Cuppe of gold with Imagerie, the knopp a crowne Imperiall and aboute the bordre of the cover and the foote a Crowne garnished with lxii garnishing perles weying lxxix oz", and can be identified by its original number of pearls.David Starkey, Inventory of Henry VIII, vol. 1 (London, 1998), no. 42: Elizabeth Cleland, The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England (New York, 2023), p. 104 fig. 34. The "knopp, a crowne Imperiall" and "the bordre of the cover" of the cup with its pearls were lost at some point between the 17th and 19th centuries. Notes in the inventory record diplomatic gifts given and some incidents; in the summer of 1552, Edward VI lost a large pearl pendant from a gold chain while riding between Titchfield and Southampton. The pearl was found and returned in May 1553. Some jewels were given to the goldsmith Everard Everdyes to be remodelled, and Everdyes made a crown for Edward VI for his coronation.Starkey, David, ed., The Inventory of Henry VIII, vol. 1 (London, 1998), no. 2209.

Palaces and houses Apart from collections of jewels and the stores of the Royal Wardrobe, items were listed in the houses where they were kept. Henry had 55 different palaces. As well as Henry's major palaces, the contents of his children's homes and wardrobes were listed. These include; Manor of Beddington, Surrey, in the charge of Sir Michael Stanhope. Durham Place, London, former home of Prince Edward. The More, Hertfordshire, Wardrobe in the charge of Richard Hobbes. Manor of Nonsuche, Surrey, Wardrobe in the charge of Sir Thomas Cawarden. Nottingham Castle, Wardrobe in the charge of Thomas Clyeff. Manor of Otelands, in the charge of Sir Anthony Brown, Master of the King's Horses and Keeper of Oatlands. New Hall or the Manor of Beaulieu, Essex, in the charge of the Marquis of Northampton, usual home of Lady Mary.Madden, Frederick, Privy Purse Expenses of Princess Mary, William Pickering, London, (1831), cvi-cvii. Manor of Richmond, Surrey, Wardrobe in the charge of William Griffithe. Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire, effects of Catherine Parr. Woodstock Palace, Oxfordshire. Hampton Court, London. The elaborate furnishing textiles and beds of these houses are listed in detail. Beyond this general magnificence, the inventory hints at Henry VIII's own interests and activities; at the Palace of Westminster there was a little study called the New Library, with equipment for writing, drawing, painting and surveying. Two shelves held patterns for castles and engines of war, and there was a portfolio for plans, noted as 'a case for a platte covered with leather.'Starkey, David, ed., The Inventory of Henry VIII, vol. 1 (1998), nos. 17479-17522.

Tapestry and textiles

In 1906 the historian and tapestry-maker W. G. Thomson commented on the 1547 inventory that the king, "had a perfect mania for acquiring tapestries by any means that presented itself." Thomson was first to print the full list of tapestries but omitted the dimensions. These were given in English yards, or French and Flemish ells. In total, Thomas P. Campbell estimates the inventory list at approximately 2,450 tapestry wall hangings, and 300 other tapestry furnishings.Campbell, Thomas P., Henry VIII and the Art of Majesty, Yale, (2007), ix, xi: Thomson, W. G., A History of Tapestry, 3rd ed., (London, 1930), 242, 245-262. An entry for one of the newer suites listed in the Wardrobe at Westminster reads; "Item vii peces of fine newe Tapsterie of the Historye of Vulcanus Mars and venus lined withe Canvas whereof one pece conteyneth in Lengthe v yerdes iii quarters di The iide pece conteyneth in lengthe vii yerdes quarter di The iiide pece conteyneth in lengthe vi yerdes di the iiiith in lengthe v yerdes iii quarters The vth in lengthe vii yerdes quarter The vith in length vi yerdes di and the viith in length vii yerdes quarter everye of the saide peces conteyning in depthe iiii yerdes quarter di."Starkey, David, The Inventory, vol. 1 (London, 1998), p. 209 no. 9729. Amongst the many other furnishing textiles of embroidered silk and brocade in the Wardrobe at Hampton Court there was a crimson bed and a pair of crimson satin cushions embroidered with the arms of James V of Scotland.Starkey, David, ed., The Inventory, vol. 1 (London, 1998), p. 278 nos. 12136, 12174. These items may have been seized at Edinburgh in 1544.

Amongst verdure tapestry with "broad blooms" there was a set with birds and apples and another group featuring roses, pomegranates, or pots at the corners. The pomegranate an emblem of Catherine of Aragon.David Starkey, Inventory of Henry VIII (London, 1998), p. 295 nos. 12626-12628. Mary I gave some of these tapestries to George Brediman, a groom of the chamber.HMC 9th Report (London, 1883), p. 416.