According to Sir John Harington, the visit to England of Queen Anne’s brother, Christian IV of Denmark, between 18 July and 11 August 1606, was celebrated with ‘shows, sights, and banquetings, from morn to eve’ (Masque Archive, Electronic Edition, Two Kings, 3). Amongst the round of hunting, tilting, tennis, fencing displays, feasting, and drinking, there were four main entertainments for which texts survive: John Ford’s ‘Monarch’s Meeting’ and ‘Applause Song’ (18 July); the entertainment at Theobalds (24–28 July); a ceremonial entry into London (31 July), with a pastoral show at the Fleet, and verses by John Marston; and a spectacular farewell firework display at Rochester on 11 August (see Nichols, 3.53). These occasions were supplemented by multiple play performances and lavish gift-giving, which may have cost much of the recently granted parliamentary subsidy (Masque Archive, Two Kings, 3; White, 1939, 491; Roberts, 1606; Ford, 1606; Davies, 1606; Bolton, 1607).

The precise purpose of the visit remains unclear, although there are some suggestions that Christian IV was attempting to persuade his brother-in-law into military action. The magnificence of the Danish naval vessels that transported the royal party may have been designed to display the resources available to an Anglo-Danish league (Davies, 1992, 313, 325; Gade, 1930, 110). However, many of the entertainments foreground the theme of Concord guided by Piety and Policy, as in Marston’s London pageant (Marston, 1961, 185–8), an emphasis continued in The Entertainment of the Two Kings written by Jonson for presentation at Theobalds. At Theobalds, the main purpose appears to have been the conspicuous display of hospitality (the total cost was over £1,920: Masque Archive, Two Kings, 1). The occasion comprised several elements: a tree with golden leaves inscribed ‘Welcome’, and a song that greeted the monarchs (Masque Archive, Two Kings, 4); an entry into the house; a masque of Solomon and Sheba; and further epigrams displayed at the Kings’ departure. Harington’s description of the chaotic and drunken masque (Masque Archive, Two Kings, 3) has overshadowed the rest of the occasion, though the veracity of this colourful account has lately been called into question (McManus, 2008; Butler, 2008, 125–7). Jonson’s fragmentary text provides little sense of what else occurred. From the Cecil papers we know that at least one other dramatic show may have been staged, a dialogue between the house and a traveller, explaining the purpose of the entertainment. This survives in Latin and French versions, although it is not clear – if indeed it was spoken – in which language it was performed. It is not mentioned in the most detailed contemporary narrative of King Christian’s visit, Henry Roberts’s The Most Royal and Honourable Entertainment, 1606 (Masque Archive, Two Kings, 4).

Jonson’s part consists solely of the speech by the Hours, in English and Latin, and Latin epigrams hung on the walls at the arrival and the departure. Many of the entertainments staged during the state visit were in Latin, as Christian spoke little or no English. At Theobalds, the Hours spoke first in English and ‘expressed to the King of Denmark’ parallel sentiments in Latin verse (15–26). The visual dimension is hard to reconstruct, but the opening description suggests a triumphal archway much like those designed for the King’s Entertainment (1604). This may have echoed or used the architecture of the building, which consisted of a series of elaborate gates or entries into each court. The substantial payment to Inigo Jones (£23 as against the £13 given to Jonson: Masque Archive, Two Kings, 1) may reflect the significance of architectural elements which are not detailed in Jonson’s fragmentary account. The use of central architectural symbols and the employment of Jones coincides with what we know of Cecil’s other entertainments (Knowles, 2002). It may reflect some connection between Jones and Christian IV, as it is thought that Jones was a member of the Earl of Rutland’s mission to bestow the Garter on the Danish monarch in 1603 (ODNB).

A copy of lines 6-13 in the Cecil Papers (JnB 580; see the Textual Archive), and Harington’s comment that Cecil was responsible for the ‘device’ of the masque, suggest Cecil’s close oversight of the process. This perhaps recalls his father’s authorship of Latin verses for Elizabeth I in 1572 (Binns, 1990, 76) and his own extensive involvement in generating the fictions, if not the verses, for entertainments associated with his houses, such as the Hermit’s Speech at Theobalds in 1594 (Heaton, 2007, 229–31; Knowles, 2002). Certainly, like many other Cecil entertainments, Two Kings was produced by the Cecil household, as the ‘song’ for the tree was by Thomas Wilson, Cecil’s man-of-affairs, and the silks were supplied by Sir Walter Cope, another of his circle.

This edition reproduces the F1 text. Wilson’s welcome song and the text of the house and traveller dialogue will be found in the electronic edition.