Abstract
This study aims to identify and describe the musical instruments which were played at the court of Henry VIII. It is based primarily upon a new transcription of the inventory of 1547 which avoids the inaccuracies and misreadings of published versions; further documentary evidence has been drawn from English language sources of the time. There has been no previous attempt at a systematic survey of all the instruments which are known to have been used at the court of Henry VIII although some of the material on which this study is based has appeared in accounts of the development of particular instruments and in histories of the cultural activities of the court. The excavation of the Mary Rose has produced the only group of musical instruments which can be confidently said to have been used in England during the reign of Henry VIII. As a consultant to the Mary Rose Trust, I had access to those instruments before their conservation. The study makes it clear that groups of similar instruments in the "renaissance" taste were introduced to replace the old-fashioned "mediaeval" ensembles; this reflects a dramatic change in the musical fashions at court. The collation of the documentary evidence has clarified the technical state of some instruments as well as indicating possible dates for the introduction of instruments including the regal and crumhorn into England. The evidence suggests that the slide trumpet may have been played during the reign of Henry VIII and arguments are advanced for the form which may have been assumed by the clarion. Arrangements for the tuning and maintenance of some keyboard instruments are discussed and the social positions of instruments and performers are examined.