Part V of V, Stage-craft as State-craft
“OBERON: And think no more of this night’s accidents
But as the fierce vexation of a dream.
. . . .
TITANIA: My Oberon, what visions have I seen!
Methought I was enamor’d of an ass.
. . . .
O, mine eyes do loath his visage now!”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, IV, i
🐸 ACT V, Scene I: Awakening from the Dream to Settle a Debt
As Queen Elizabeth brought to a crescendo her performance as the lovesick princess who kissed the Duke of Alencon in Canterbury (but failed to turn her “frog” into a handsome prince) (click here to catch up on the drama in Canterbury), it became clear that she had been masquerading. Instead of playing for real for Alencon’s affections, she had been playing a strategic chess game for a French alliance against Spain with Alencon’s brother, the king of France all along.
Her gambit had failed. She had been forced to pay Alencon £70,000 to ensure his departure from England – a gallingly large sum for such a notoriously frugal queen. Now, she turned to recoup some portion of her expensive mistake from the Dutch who owed her £40,000 for her aiding them against the Spanish.
The Dutch offered to settle their debt, not with coin, but with a remarkable jewel of extraordinary size which had - alluringly - belonged to Philip II, king of their mutual enemy Spain, known as the “Landsjewel” (or “Landjuweel”). Before accepting the substitution, Elizabeth requested a drawing of the jewel and the opinion of trusted appraisers.
Awakened from her dream, the fairy queen had been left more than a little embarrassed about whom she had been kissing. Here was a sparkling opportunity to own her most loathed enemy’s prized bling!
👀 Act V, Scene II: Leicester Eyes the Landsjewel
After enduring Elizabeth’s fury and banishment for his scandalous, secret marriage to her look-alike 2nd cousin Lettice Knollys Devereaux, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester - Elizabeth’s former lover whom she nicknamed her “Eyes” - had redeemed himself by escorting her irksome and unwanted suitor, Alencon, to the Netherlands.
In March of 1582, Leicester arrived in Antwerp to inspect the Landsjewel on Elizabeth’s behalf. He met clandestinely with the Prince of Orange, Lord Hunsdon, Prince Epinoy and four burgesses (two from Antwerp and two from Ghent) in a simple room above the street. The Ghent burgesses, mud-splattered from their journey, entered the tiny chamber in boots and spurs.
Each burgess produced a key to one of four locks that secured a casket displayed on a table. One by one, each man turned his key. Leicester witnessed an extraordinary reveal: a gold cup set with precious stones and the “Landsjewel”, which was a huge “carbuncle”, a red gemstone, likely a garnet or a ruby.
Carbuncles were said to possess magical properties. According to medieval texts they glowed spontaneously from within. In Welsh legend, carbuncles generated as much light as the sun “making it always day when the day was gone.” In Isaiah, God promised to restore Jerusalem with splendor, including adorning its gates with carbuncles. Shakespeare describes Pyrrhus avenging his father, Achilles “with eyes like carbuncles” in Hamlet.
The Dutch claimed the Landsjewel came from a dismantled abbey. Enchanted by the jewel’s brilliance, Leicester asked why they had not previously sent it to London, remarking that if the Queen had seen it, she would have done anything they liked.
The casket was resealed, all four locks secured in turn by the four burgesses. Leicester put his wax seal on each lock. Leicester, Hunsdon, Orange and the four burgesses signed a legal document.
🤷♀️ ACT V, Scene III: The Mystery of the Missing Landsjewel
What became of the Landsjewel after that? Who knows! There is no record of the casket arriving in England, or of its reception by Elizabeth. It simply disappeared from the historical record.
Historians have speculated endlessly:
1. Lost in War: The chaos of the Eighty Years’ War may have led to the jewel’s loss, theft, or destruction.
2. Stolen or Misappropriated: The jewel could have been taken by those handling its transport or storage.
3. Hidden by the Dutch: Perhaps the Dutch decided not to relinquish the jewel after all.
4. Dismantled or Sold: The jewel may have been broken apart and sold discreetly.
5. Leicester’s Opportunism: As the last known person to seal the casket, Leicester himself is a prime suspect. His reputation for self-serving behavior and political ambition makes it plausible that he appropriated the jewel.
The Landsjewel’s disappearance remains one of history’s tantalizing mysteries. It may still lie hidden, waiting to be rediscovered!
🧚♀️ Behind the Curtain
Did “gentle Shakespeare” weave his queen as Titania, the Duke of Alencon as Bottom and himself as Oberon into A Midsummer Night’s Dream to disguise Elizabeth’s embarrassment and soothe her wounded pride over her failed gambit by helping her laugh and move on?
What do you think?
I think so! Like Oberon, the Bard knew and loved his fairy queen well.
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