Presenting 16th century Renaissance Europe with…guess who?
The theme is Masquerade, which had its history in Southern Renaissance Italy…
The timeframe of our multiple characters is 1469, 1484, 1513, 1572, 1587, and 1598, all of which we learned about in these books…
Since this is a masquerade, I’ll let you keep guessing who we are!
Our costumes hint to historical accuracy and more so to who we are.
This is a masquerade though, so parts of our costume were a disguise! 😉
MASQUERADE RENAISSANCE FAIRE HORS D’OEUVRES
Since our lives are so crazy busy, I planned a simple Renaissance Faire type of affair.
Sparkling cider, non-alcoholic, to replicate Italian wine.
Shrimp cocktail, since Italy was near the sea.
Spinach and artichoke dip with pita chips, because artichoke is Italian, and pita chips were imported.
Cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto which is very Italian.
Gorgonzola tarts, steak wrapped in bacon and scallops wrapped in bacon, because they are good!
Italian wedding cookies, to celebrate the Italian marriages in the Shakespearean plays we read.
Taking our plates of food to eat in the family room, our guest asked questions about who we were.
While we stayed in character throughout, we interjected comments when our foe misinterpreted our intents!
Although we have completely different stories, there is one point in time where we all merge paths…for better or for worse.
Meanwhile in the background played 16th century Italian Renaissance music.
SHAKESPEAREAN RECITATIONS
We each chose some Shakespeare to memorize.
My daughter chose two selections, one from Hamlet and the other from Antony and Cleopatra.
My son chose 3 of his favorite selections from Henry V.
My selection was Portia’s Quality of Mercy speech from Merchant of Venice, Act 4 Sc 1, lines 182-195.
WHO’S WHO FROM SHAKESPEARE?
Inspired by a game we saw played at a Renaissance Faire last summer, we played Who’s Who from Shakespeare?
Meanwhile I had set all the Shakespeare plays the kids and I saw on DVD on the end table.
Since our guest wasn’t familiar with Shakespeare, I had him do the choosing and the kids and I did the playing.
After my son left the room, our guest looked through the plays laying on the table, then chose a character in the list before the play begins.
As we put the book away, my son reentered the room.
My son was now that character our guest had chosen, but my son had no idea who he was.
Isn’t this a fun masquerade?
After my daughter and I asked leading questions, my son attempted to answer in such a way that indicated knowledge of who he was.
When he guessed correctly, his turn moved to my daughter, then after she played, it moved to me.
ROUND ONE WITH MY SON
Me: Are you hot?
Son: Standing next to this fireplace, I certainly am.
Daughter: Are you jealous of your wife being with a friend.
Son: Am I Othello?
ROUND TWO WITH MY DAUGHTER
Me: Have you lived with your dear one all her life?
Daughter: Dear one?
Son: Did you get the rope?
Daughter: Why would I need a rope? It wouldn’t be any good for anything, like climbing into windows.
Me: Is she safe?
Daughter: Um, I hope so.
Son: Do you know much about medicine?
Daughter: Am I some kind of doctor?
Son: Do you like playing nursemaid?
Daughter: Am I the lady who helped Juliet?
After the kids and I each took two turns, our guest was impressed with how quickly we guessed our parts.
This was a lot easier than the Shakespearean troupe at the Renaissance faire made it look. 😉
MASQUERADE GUESSING GAME – WHO AM I?
Now for another guessing game to reveal who we are?
While my son made his masks and mine, my daughter made hers.
Each mask has a symbolic meaning, which I will describe later.
As we told our story, we wore our masks, but didn’t reveal who we were.
After revealing who we were, we told the rest of the story.
Then we switched out our mask, because each of us portrayed multiple people.
MASQUERADE #1 – WHO AM I?
I have copper coins on my mask, the color of which is replicated in my Venetian gown, because I am from the Medici family, the wealthy banking family of Florence.
My changeable silk taffeta gown, in copper and black, reflected the story.
The black of the sometimes support of the Huguenots and the copper for the financial power and banking system owned by the Medici family.
I am well educated and well favored by all.
{{{Then I detailed the rise of power of the Medici family, the establishment of the banking system, the legacy of her father-in-law Cosimo de Medici, and the brief success of the leadership of her husband, Piero de Medici. Florence was not the largest European city, but it was the richest because of the Medici family.}}}
It is 1469, and my husband recently died.
I must be in disguise because Medici lives are in danger.
{{{To an intrigued but puzzled audience, I revealed who I was.}}}
Although I am in much danger, I know that you, dear friends, will carry my secret close to your heart.
My name is Lucrezia de Medici.
{{{Then she walked out of the room to send another lady of the Medici family to tell her story.}}}
MASQUERADE #2 – WHO AM I?
I am the wife of Lorenzo the Magnificent, whom the people of Florence loyally support, because he is their hero.
The men are even willing to fight for him, under the ancient system of feudalism.
{{{Then I related the story of how he quelled the plot of his enemies, including Pope Sixtus IV and the King of Naples.}}}
I must be in disguise because Medici lives are in danger.
{{{To an intrigued but puzzled audience, I revealed who I was.}}}
Although I am in much danger, I know that you, dear friends, will carry my secret close to your heart.
My name is Clarice de Medici.
{{{Then she walked out of the room to send another lady of the Medici family to tell her story.}}}
MASQUERADE #3 – WHO AM I?
It is 1513, the year my brother, Giovani, became Pope Leo X.
I grew up with Michelangelo who attended a school for artists that my father established.
I must be in disguise because Medici lives are in danger.
{{{To an intrigued but puzzled audience, I revealed who I was.}}}
Although I am in much danger, I know that you, dear friends, will carry my secret close to your heart.
My name is Maddalena de Medici.
{{{Then she left to send one final Medici lady of note.}}}
MASQUERADE #4 – WHO AM I?
I was born in Florence and married Henry II, the future king of France.
After my husband died, each of my three sons took a turn at kingship.
When my first son, Francis II died, my second son Charles IX at age 10 was too young to rule, so I was the Queen Regent.
Finding myself in such an important position, I read Machiavelli’s The Prince, for advice on how to keep our city-state strong in this time of continued warfare.
When my son was old enough to rule, he asked her to remain at his side as ruler.
Due to varying situations, I sided with the Huguenots one day, then the Catholics another day, depending on who would strengthen the kingdom the most at that particular point in time.
Later I tried to get Elizabeth I to marry one of my sons.
Philip II who ruled Spain was already my son-in-law.
Mary, Queen of Scots’ uncles, the Guises, played heavily in the flux of my political schemes.
I’ve read reports that although I’m peaceful, I’m also subtly dictatorial, scrupulous, calculating, and crafty.
There are those who even think that I’m to blame for the St. Bartholomew Day’s Massacre.
My name is Catherine de Medici, Queen of France
{{{I thought it would be a fun masquerade to pose as each of these ladies to tell many important stories of the famed di Medici family that we had learned in our studies.}}}
MASQUERADE #5 – WHO IS HE?
Repeating my pattern, my son portrayed his two personas while wearing a different mask uniquely designed for each.
Black represents the French Huguenots.
Before we began our study of the Renaissance, my son wanted to portray our ancestor, on my mother’s father’s side, with a French name that’s been anglicized.
Family members traced our ancestry to Brittainy, France to a General Bertaut who fled to Belgium during the St. Bartholomew Day’s Massacre.
{{{Other paperwork documents descendants with another French surname, that my mom grew up with, leaving Belgium in the early 18th century to settle north of Philadelphia.}}}
My son’s eyes got huge when he found out we apparently had a general in the family.
He used that bit of information, combined with historical information from the day of the massacre, to assume that he was a Huguenot and weave an interpretation.
For his costume, I chose black embroidered trim with black ties, to replicate historical shirts of the era, which I inspected in a Janet Arnold book.
The rest is based on a modern costume pattern, for which my son chose the coat fabric.
MASQUERADE #6 – WHO IS HE?
Then my son switched masks to portray King Henry V, who fought at the Battle of Agincourt in the Hundred Years War.
We highly recommend the Branagh movie!
MASQUERADE #7 – WHO IS SHE?
Since my daughter wanted to portray Mary Queen of Scots, I let her wear my Queen Elizabeth costume, altered to look more like Mary Queen of Scots.
While ripping off the old and creating the new, I thought it would be hilarious if my daughter portrayed both Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I, an idea my daughter liked!
While Mary was daughter-in-law of Catherine de Medici, she lived in France.
Since her husband had a short life, Mary returned to Scotland where she allegedly schemed to take the English throne from her cousin Elizabeth.
MASQUERADE #8 – WHO IS SHE?
My daughter wore a purple mask as she portrayed Queen Elizabeth, because it’s my daughter’s favorite color and it nicely complements peacock feathers nicely.
Queen Elizabeth actually had a gown with eyes and ears woven into it to represent the many spies she had in her court.
The eyes of the peacock feathers replicated her spies.
We had a lot of fun with these games of masquerade and intrigue.
