Textile History

ISSN: 0040-4969 (Print) 1743-2952 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ytex20

Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy: The

Artisans’ Part in a Royal Marriage Proposal,
1560–1561

Cecilia Candréus

To cite this article: Cecilia Candréus (2017) Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy: The
Artisans’ Part in a Royal Marriage Proposal, 1560–1561, Textile History, 48:2, 211-232, DOI:
10.1080/00404969.2017.1374021

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00404969.2017.1374021

Published online: 16 Nov 2017.

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 Textile History, 48 (2), 211–232, November, 2017

Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy: The

Artisans’ Part in a Royal Marriage Proposal,
1560–1561
Cecilia Candréus
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The use of fashionable dress played an important part in early modern dynastic politics.
In this paper, the diplomatic efforts to engineer a marriage between Erik XIV of Sweden
and Elizabeth I of England are used as an example of the interrelations of textiles and
diplomacy. Parallel to their negotiations in London, the Swedes organised the production of
luxury goods and set up temporary workshops on the spot. The study looks at the Swedish
embroidery workshop in London, using written records to investigate its organisation and
production, and to discuss artisanal skills and the transnational element in employment
in a royal workshop. It is suggested that the entire enterprise was a diplomatic practice,
designed to enable the Swedes to draw attention to their presence in London and make
their consumption visible on all possible levels.

Introduction

This paper concerns the young heir to the Swedish throne, Erik Vasa (1533–1577), shortly
before his accession in 1560 as King Erik XIV, and his aspirations to present himself as a
magnificent prince (see Fig. 1).1 His father Gustav I, who had seized power in 1523, had
confirmed the family’s dynastic ambitions by making Sweden a hereditary, rather than
an elective, monarchy in 1544.2 When Erik XIV came to the throne in September 1560 he
represented the second generation of a royal family that had a tentative grip on a newly
independent kingdom, neither well known in the European arena. Like his father, Erik
sought to make an alliance through marriage that would reinforce his dynastic claim to the
throne and strengthen the perception of Sweden in a European context.3
The idea of Elizabeth Tudor as a potential wife was first mooted in 1557, and began
to be discussed in earnest when she became queen of England in November 1558. At this
point the Swedes were still short of experienced diplomats.4 Prince Erik’s former teacher,
Dionysius Beurræus (Denis Burrey), a scholar of French origin, was made Sweden’s emissary
to England in the autumn of 1557 and reached London in the spring of 1558.5 Three years
later he was replaced by a Swedish nobleman, Nils Gyllenstierna.6 Both were appointed to
present Sweden in the best possible light, and to negotiate for Elizabeth’s hand. With this
came the duty to supply their masters with information on everything from politics to court
ceremony, to recruit artisans into Swedish service, and to facilitate the import of all sorts
of luxury goods.7 Unlike the commercial hubs of the Continent, sixteenth-century Sweden
had a small population, and was too small a market for trade on the grand scale. Its fiercely

© Pasold Research Fund Ltd 2017 DOI: 10.1080/00404969.2017.1374021

 Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy
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Fig. 1.  Erik XIV, c. 1561. Portrait attributed to Steven van der Meulen (Nationalmuseum,
NMGrh 2039), 186 × 104 cm.
Source: Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.

contested borders with Denmark cut off its trade routes to the Continent and hindered
commerce.8 Thus, parallel to the marriage negotiations, luxury goods such as ceremonial
textiles and extravagant clothes for Erik and his entourage were commissioned in London.
Temporary workshops for embroiderers, tailors, and button- and lacemakers were set up
by the Swedes in London, where they operated from the summer of 1560 until spring 1561.
This paper aims to shed light on the interrelation of textiles and diplomacy. The Swedish
king’s temporary embroidery workshop in London is an interesting case study, given its posi-
tion at the centre of a series of diplomatic negotiations, and raises a number of questions.
What was the Swedes’ ultimate aim in setting up workshops in London? Why not simply
turn to existing English workshops? Were the goods commissioned not available in Sweden?
Was there need for a particular style of craftsmanship, and, if so, was the nationality of the
artisans important? How did the manufacture of embroidered goods tie in with the mar-
riage negotiations, both in terms of the people involved and types of production? To answer
these questions, the set-up of the embroidery workshop is investigated here, including all
the parties involved and their areas of responsibility. The artisans and their backgrounds

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 Cecilia Candréus
are addressed by looking at recruitment and the size of the operation; their craft skills, by
looking at wage differentiation and the division of work; and their production, by looking
at the types of items made. The entire operation is also viewed relative to the work of the
existing royal embroidery workshop back in Sweden.
The focus on manufacture and the artisans’ working conditions offers a new perspec-
tive on the relationship between dynastic politics, diplomacy and consumerism, and is an
important contribution to dress history. Few garments have survived from the sixteenth
century, and any understanding of textile production is a valuable complementary source of
information. It also serves as an example of how the manufacture of embroidered clothing
was organised and valued, underpinning the wider strategies of consumption. It has also
made it possible to raise questions about the outlook on artisanal skills and transnational
elements of artisanal employment in a royal workshop.
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During his short reign until his deposition in 1568, Erik XIV managed to make quite
a mark on Swedish history with what to this day is thought of as his notorious profligacy
and taste for luxury. Though this may be true, spending large sums of money to keep up
appearances was an established way of expressing power in Renaissance Europe. Birgitte
Bøggild-Johannsen, for example, has investigated the strategic consumption of one of
Erik XIV’s contemporaries, Frederick II of Denmark (r. 1559–1588), and places particular
emphasis on how building works and art purchases helped create a sumptuous setting for
the regent, acting as an immediate manifestation of his own and the nation’s power.9 Her
general survey rightly questions the use of the term patronage (mæcenatet) to describe the
relationship between artisan and monarch, where we should more properly talk of strategic
consumption, with artisans hired to carry out the work commissioned by the ruler. In Dress
at the Court of King Henry VIII (2007), Maria Hayward explores the concept of magnif-
icence, the idea that ​​kingship was articulated by a lavish and impressive milieu, in which
material wealth served as a reflection of other forms of wealth.10 To distinguish magnificence
from splendour, we can turn to Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503). In his tract, De splendore
(1498), he talks about magnificence in relation to building works and the kind of spectacle
‘destined for a longer life’, while splendour is associated with ‘ornament of the household,
the care of the person, and with furnishings’.11 Displays of magnificence often took the form
of theatrically orchestrated ceremonies such as coronations and funerals, which provided
a framework for a display of lavish textiles with symbolic content, including heraldry and
royal insignia.12 Hayward’s study focuses on the actual clothes in the English Wardrobe of
Robes, and their manufacture, care and use. She considers a wide range of ways in which
dress was designed to reinforce the different roles of the monarch. The work of the royal
artisans is only touched on in passing.13
Few historians have paid attention to embroidery as an artisanal trade. Uta-Christiane
Bergemann’s Europäische Stickereien, 1250–1650 (2010) includes a general survey, giving
examples of conditions in different parts of Europe.14 When it comes to the work of the
English royal embroiderers, Hayward’s book and Janet Arnold’s research on the wardrobe
of Elizabeth I are important contributions, while Patricia Wardle’s study of John Shepley
(1575–1631), embroiderer to Charles, Prince of Wales, is of special interest as she investigates
embroiderers’ working conditions in some detail, including information on timeframes
and wages.15 I have looked at the production of embroidered clothing for the court of Erik
XIV’s father, Gustav I (r. 1523–1560), examining wardrobe inventories against accounts of
textile manufacture, in order to determine whether domestic production was able to meet
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 Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy
demand, and concluding that, given the size of the workshop, the number of garments (for
both men and women) with embroidery, and the embroidery techniques and materials used,
the Swedish royal workshop was able to supply the Vasa court with fashionable garments.16
Earlier research on Erik XIV’s commissions in London and Antwerp was published in
1941 by Swedish art historian Åke Setterwall.17 Setterwall set out to establish the provenance
of a magnificent piece of surviving embroidery from the Renaissance, now in the collections
of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.18 Building on primary sources, Setterwall’s study
offers an informative overview of Erik’s commissions as a whole. The current investigation
makes use of additional sources and provides a detailed analysis of the embroiderers in
particular, set in broader historical context.
The Swedish historian Ingvar Andersson has focused on the political implications of Erik
XIV’s marriage plans and the diplomatic exchanges with England. The proposed union can
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be described in terms of a dynastic marriage. However, Andersson’s study emphasises the

anticipation of a commercial treaty with England as the driving force behind the courtship,
intended to break Swedish trade free from the grasp of the Hanse.19
In A History of Diplomacy (2010), Jeremy Black provides some useful pointers on how
best to define a diplomat. His aim is not to provide simply a static history of diplomacy,
but rather to chart its changing characteristics, which, if we ‘see diplomacy as a privileged
aspect of general systems of information-gathering, of representation, and of negotiation’
will lead us to consider the involvement of unaccredited persons in diplomatic practice.20
This view of diplomacy ties in with the themes presented in Double Agents: Cultural and
Political Brokerage in Early Modern Europe (2011), and especially Marika Keblusek’s con-
tribution on diplomats as cultural brokers and their active involvement in the commissioning
of artworks and other items.21 This is the approach to diplomatic function applied in the
present paper.
The study is based on written primary sources. A number of records kept in the National
Archives (Riksarkivet) and the Royal Palace Archives (Slottsarkivet) in Stockholm cover the
diplomatic missions to London and Antwerp in 1559–1561. There are multiple duplicates of
several accounts, some verbatim and others containing supplementary data. The accounts
cover purchases, travel expenses and wages. Attendance records and receipt books for the
delivery of materials to artisans offer information on production, with additional evidence
from the correspondence between Erik XIV and his agents abroad. The outcome of pro-
duction can to some extent also be seen in the royal wardrobe inventories.22 One problem
these records pose is how best to translate sixteenth-century Swedish into English. There
are only a limited number of extant textiles from the period to use as reference for defining
a broad variety of written terms, and where it is difficult to determine what type of clothing
a written record refers to in Swedish it is almost impossible to provide an adequate trans-
lation. For that reason, the more intractable Swedish terms are given in brackets on their
first mention, and all excerpts are included in the original in the notes. Similarly, several
different currencies were used, and the conversions made here are based on exchange rates
given in the actual accounts (see Appendix 1). Artisans named in the Swedish records are
primarily referred to on a first name basis, together with their professional title and only
the occasional patronymic — ‘embroiderer Thomas’ — and I have chosen to retain this
format here.23

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 Cecilia Candréus
Starting Up the Workshop

In the autumn of 1559, Prince Erik’s brother, Johan Duke of Finland, was sent on an
embassy to England in order to negotiate for Elizabeth I’s hand. Duke Johan is known to
have kept a magnificent house during his stay in London, giving banquets and taking part in
court life.24 Considering the sociocultural dimensions of diplomacy, early modern marriage
embassies were often led by men of the highest rank possible, as the ability to interact in a
court environment outweighed any particular negotiation skills.25 The use of extravagant
textiles played an important part in this public role. In order to meet local standards of
appearance, measures already had been taken before Duke Johan left Sweden, and on 2
September 1559, weeks before his arrival, payments were issued to three embroiderers in
England working on a suit.
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The Queens embroiderer M: Willem Bruneå who worked on the purple suit 78 daler
Item M: Gregorius who made the brim on my gracious Lord’s [tabbert] 40 daler
Item M: Willem Breslott who worked on my gracious Lord’s purple cloak 12 daler.26

In October additional payments were made for the same suit, and a tailor was paid to finish
the outfit.27
The reference to ‘Willem Bruneå’ as the queen’s embroiderer is interesting. Queen
Elizabeth employed several embroiderers at the start of her reign, among them Guilliame
Brallot.28 Brallot was of French descent, from Normandy, and known to have worked for
Henry VIII and other members of the English royal family from about 1524 onwards.29 He
is seen in Queen Elizabeth’s accounts until 1559/60.30 Given the wide range of spellings and
brave attempts at phonetic transliteration found in both Swedish and English documents,
Bruneå/Brallot may well be one and the same person. It would have been possible to hire
the English royal embroiderers as they were not required to work exclusively for members
of the royal family, and did accept commissions from other clients.31 However, there were
other embroiderers with similar names also working in London.32
In addition to the three embroiderers delivering piecework in 1559, Duke Johan’s accounts
note payments to another workshop in London, run by an embroiderer named Lodwick.
These payments continued throughout the duke’s stay.33 It is possible to estimate the size of
this workshop as approximately eight to twelve people.34 The records suggest work on coats
of arms (vapen) for lackeys and the royal guards (drabanter).35 There were also payments
for equipment, such as embroidery frames and chairs, suggesting the Swedes provided their
own premises for the workshop (see Fig. 2).36
Upon Duke Johan’s return to Sweden, Prince Erik gained the sanction of the Swedish
Diet for his marriage plans in late June 1560. Official consent made it possible to invest
large sums of money in his preparations.37 By the autumn Erik was ready to travel to
England in person and vast commissions for luxury goods were placed. Work began
immediately and Ambassador Beurræus’ accounts for July to August 1560 describe the
setting up of several workshops in London.38 Sweden had agents or men of business sta-
tioned in Antwerp — Arvid Trolle, Arnold Rosenberg and Henrik Hambach. There they
primarily bought goldsmiths’ work and expensive materials such as silk, velvet, cloth
of gold, metal thread, pearls and gemstones.39 Shipped to London, the bulk of it was

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Fig. 2.  ‘Der Seydensticker’, woodcut, 1568.

Source: Facsimile from Jost Amman's Stände und Handwerke/mit Versen von Hans Sachs, publ.
G. Hirth 1896.

used in the manufacture of embroidered goods and clothes.40 In London, Ambassador

Beurræus handled the negotiations for the marriage proposal, while making arrange-
ments to set up the workshops.41 The Swedish contingent in London, agents as well as
artisans, rented lodgings in three houses on the west bank of the Thames, near Cannon
Street and Cheapside.42 Ambassador Beurræus’ expenses for their daily provisions give
some indication of the size of the Swedish group, with ten persons in 1558, fourteen
persons in 1559, sixty-five persons in 1560 and, finally, 138 persons in the first half of
1561.43 A number of artisans belonging to the Swedish royal workshops were brought
over to London.44 In July 1560, the Swedish agent Lasse Lukasson was transferred from
Antwerp to London, to relieve Beurræus of his administrative duties concerning the
workshops, and with him came the embroiderers Edmund Merchator and Thomas
Trahanns.45 In October 1560, the royal embroiderer Claes Hess was brought in from
Sweden to replace the embroiderer Edmund during his illness, and he remained there
after Edmund’s death.46 Others on the spot in London were Prince Erik’s personal
tailor Hans Bertilsson, the button- and lacemaker (knopmakare) Hans Skilling, and
the feather-maker (fjädermakare) Dominicus Duclusset, all of them brought over from
Sweden. All these royal artisans fell into the upper wage bracket in their respective
groups, and some of them had already been assigned to work for Prince Erik’s ducal
court at Kalmar Castle in 1558.47
Following the setting up of the embroidery workshop, the workforce grew week by week.
From six embroiderers in mid-July, it jumped to fifty embroiderers by mid-August, and in

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September and October some forty-five to sixty embroiderers were working each week.48
The fluctuation in the number of employed embroiderers indicates that it was possible to
access large numbers of skilled workers for varying lengths of time, keeping production
on a fast track. In November the numbers started to fall, from forty to only nine paid on
24 December.49 This downsizing can be explained by events in Sweden. In late September
1560, just as Prince Erik was about to embark for London, the sudden death of his father
forced him to delay his departure. By Christmas, when news of the old king’s death became
common knowledge in London, Ambassador Beurræus decided to halt all work on the
commissions for fear of the marriage plans being cancelled.50
Contrary to Ambassador Beurræus’ assumptions, the old king’s death only increased
the urgency to complete the commissions. The prince’s apparel was now to be used in his
coronation ceremony. On 17 February 1561, Erik XIV wrote to Beurræus in London:
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I would therefore like to see that what you have commissioned there, both regarding our clothes
and canopies and more, will without delay be sent over here, as such things, for the shortness
of time, cannot be decorated and made here with haste.51

The king was referring to the short time frame to prepare for the upcoming coronation,
which was initially scheduled for May 1561.52 This would seem to indicate that the commis-
sions in London were driven at least in part by time pressure rather than a lack of competence
in the Swedish court workshops. Following the king’s orders, work on the commissions in
London was resumed at the beginning of March 1561. The workshop grew again, from five
to twenty-two embroiderers in April.53 The English goods made it to Sweden approximately
three weeks before the coronation, which was finally held on 29 June 1561.54

Recruiting Artisans

In 1560 the royal embroidery workshop in Sweden employed about nine master embroider-
ers, two journeymen and five apprentices. Counting also the embroiderers Thomas and Claes
in London, this took the total number of royal master embroiderers to eleven. Unlike the
English court embroiderers, who worked by appointment, the embroiderers in Sweden were
hired on one-year contracts, working in the castle workshops and following the monarch
as he moved around the realm. By contrast, in Denmark there was usually only one royal
embroiderer listed on the court payroll. Further needs were covered by individual artisans
who were commissioned for piecework, or a group of local artisans hired for a limited
period to assist the royal embroiderer.55
When the Vasas first came to power in the 1520s, there had been only a small set-up in
Sweden, employing one or two embroiderers. It was only around 1550, more than twenty-five
years into Gustav I’s reign, that the workshop started to grow. The growth came in the shape
of foreign artisans, recruited primarily from Germany and France, who worked together
with journeymen and apprentices of Swedish origin.56 A steady increase in numbers was
followed by a sudden spate of recruitments in 1559.57 When it came to the Swedish royal
artisans stationed in London, the embroiderers Thomas Trahanns and Edmund Merchator
were both recorded as new members of staff as of 10 July 1559 and their presence in Antwerp
is verified in 1560.58 Another recruitment in 1559 was the button- and lacemaker Hans
Skilling, also stationed in Antwerp and London. Skilling was probably also trained as an
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 Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy
embroiderer, as he was titled as such in some of the early documents.59 The embroiderer
Claes Hess had been in Swedish court employ since 1547.60
What, then, of the bulk of the workers employed in the king’s London workshop? How
were they recruited and what do we know of their background and level of skill? Was
there access to this many skilled embroiderers in the English capital? Possibly yes, as there
is evidence of similar numbers of embroiderers being accessible in the 1620s.61 However,
indications in the Swedish accounts suggest that the Swedes cast their net much wider
than just London. At the beginning of August 1560 a painter and an embroiderer from the
Swedish group were sent from Antwerp to Lier in Flanders (present-day Belgium), with
instructions to recruit embroiderers to the king’s service.62 Having completed their task, the
new embroiderers were brought back to Antwerp.63 There is no information as to how many
they were or whether they were to work in Antwerp, or be sent on to London or Stockholm;
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however, the dates tally with the London workshop doubling in size in mid-August. Another
recruiting drive for embroiderers may have followed about a month later, as the embroiderer
Claes was given £20 ‘when he went into France’.64
In tracing the origins of these recruits, their names may offer some suggestions. A key
document in this case is an attendance record kept for the embroiderers in the London
workshop, containing all their names, which number about seventy, all male.65 Judging by
the sound of the names registered, the vast majority of the embroiderers came from the
Low Countries.66 Only about ten per cent of the names can be interpreted as English.67
There were plenty of artisans from overseas living and working in London at this date.
A distinction was made between English-born people who were not citizens of London, for
whom the label was ‘foreigner’, and those who we would term foreigners, who were called
‘strangers’ or ‘aliens’.68 The various records of strangers and aliens in London have been
compiled by the Huguenot Society. In the years 1541–1583 there were about sixteen embroi-
derers registered as strangers or aliens, the majority of them of Dutch or French origin.69
Pursuit of a trade as a professional artisan in London was closely regulated, and in
general required the artisan to be both a citizen of London and a guild member. Whether
these restrictions applied to hired workers is unclear. However, there were exceptions, such
as the opportunity to live and work in the so-called liberties, the areas that had formerly
belonged to the monasteries and which remained outside the control of the city authori-
ties. It has also been suggested that many tradesmen and artisans studiously ignored the
regulations, and the authorities were often too short-staffed to enforce the ordinances.70 In
this particular case, the Swedish venture, considering its temporary nature, might very well
have been sanctioned by Queen Elizabeth.
The apparent foreign recruitment by the Swedes in the autumn of 1560 would have
differed from the previous recruitment during Duke Johan’s stay in 1559–1560, which pri-
marily seems to have involved craftsmen already resident in London. The difference can
possibly be explained by the larger scale of operations in 1560–1561, exhausting the local
supply of qualified artisans.

Working Conditions and Organisation

Erik XIV’s London-based embroidery workshop was led by the embroiderers Thomas and
Claes, with the help of an additional master embroiderer. The bulk of the hired labour
working with them can be traced in the attendance records covering September 1560 to April
218
 Cecilia Candréus
1561, specifying how many days each worker put in per week. Of a total of about seventy
71

names, some appear almost continuously throughout the document, week after week, while
others make shorter appearances.72 The embroiderers worked six days a week at most, some
as little as half a day. This suggests the Swedes were eager to take on as many as possible,
even if only for a few hours, in order to keep up the speed of production. Working fewer
hours would have enabled some to do work for other clients as well. In the regular royal
workshop in Sweden the number of working days in a year was set at about 284, or six
days a week, with each working day being seven hours.73 An entry of October 1560, in the
London accounts, records the purchase of thirty-two brass candlesticks for the embroider-
ers.74 These would have enabled them to continue work as the winter nights drew in. After
the standstill in production over the winter of 1560, about twenty-five names returned in
the spring of 1561, of which approximately four or five names seem new.75
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From the written records, it is difficult to ascertain a clear division of labour in the
London workshop. There is a receipt book for the delivery of materials, stating the date of
distribution, recipient, type of material and quantity, but only occasionally what the mate-
rial was intended for.76 The embroiderer Thomas was primarily working with embroidered
emblems (sprickworden), and the embroiderer Claes with the royal suits. Materials used
for the king’s own clothes went to his personal tailor Hans Bertilsson, the tailor Wolter
worked on garments for the king’s sisters, and the tailor Gilius made clothes for high-ranking
court functionaries (kammarjunkare), chamber valets (kammartjänare) and the royal guard.
The king’s feather-maker Dominicus Duclusset worked for the king’s personal needs. The
button- and lacemaker Hans Skilling was responsible for making the notions for clothing
and horse trappings for tournaments (torneretäcken, rosstecken). Last but not least, large
amounts of passement (posament) was made by the passement-makers (possamentmakare)
Nicolaus Bineth and Franciscus Rusilius.77
The assignments given to the royal artisans were then carried out with the help of hired
workers. The other workshops were smaller than that of the embroiderers. In September
1560, button- and lacemaker Hans Skilling employed a group of fourteen journeymen, while
the records list payments to 17–22 tailors and 45–60 embroiderers.78 It is hard to draw any
conclusions regarding the level of skill of the embroiderers based on these records. However,
the wages of the royal embroiderers in Sweden show that the work of individual artisans
was valued differently.

Wages

In Sweden, a majority of the royal embroiderers worked by yearly appointments (beställn-

ing), with a written contract describing the terms of employment. The wages comprised
a sum of money, one set of clothing and food supplies (fettalie) such as meat, fish, butter
and grain. In individual cases, free housing was included as well. In 1560–1561, a trained
embroiderer was paid between 80 and 400 Swedish marks plus clothing and food supplies
(see Appendix 2).79 When appraising the value of clothing and food supplies together with
the money, the highest paid embroiderers earned a total salary of approximately 645½
Swedish marks, or close to £36 per year (see Appendix 3).80 The apprentices earned less
than 80 marks and received meals at court instead of food supplies.
While stationed in London, the embroiderers Thomas and Claes received their nor-
mal salary as royal embroiderers. Both had yearly appointments worth 400 marks plus
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 Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy
clothing and food supplies, placing them among the highest paid embroiderers in Sweden
(see Appendix 2).81 Comparing these salaries with those of the other Swedish royal artisans
in London show that the button- and lacemaker Hans Skilling was parallel to the embroi-
derers with 400 marks, while the king’s personal tailor Hans Bertilsson only received 300
marks and the feather-maker Dominicus Duclusset was another step below with a salary
of 250 marks.82
The workers hired for the London workshop were paid at a flat rate fixed for the group
of embroiderers as a whole, not taking individual skill into consideration. Rates varied from
1s 4d to 2s a day and seem to have been set relative to supply and demand. In a letter to Erik
XIV in January 1561, Lukasson complained about having to raise the wages for embroiderers
when they were to resume work after they had been let go over the winter. Lukasson stressed
that he would have been able to negotiate a better rate had the embroiderers been hired for
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a longer consecutive period.83 However, the wages that were later recorded for February
and March show a relatively consistent rate. The master embroiderer, who is not recorded
by name, received 3s a day.84 These rates were roughly comparable with those paid during
Duke Johan’s stay in 1559–1560.85 Sixty years later the London embroiderer John Shepley
(1575–1632) paid his workers about 2s to 2s 6d a day, while night work paid 3s a night.86
This suggests the Swedes offered competitive wages.
The journeymen working with the button- and lacemaker Hans Skilling received slightly
less than the embroiderers. In October 1560, for example, four men working with Skilling
earned between 8d and 20d a day, while one earned 3s.87 The latter may be compared with
the master embroiderer, who was on the same wage. The individually set wages for button-
and lacemakers suggests a distinction was made between them in regard to skill. One small
bill of wages made out for unskilled workers in London concerned a group of women who
were paid to string pearls for embroidery work: in 1560, six women were paid a total of 30s
for three weeks’ work, meaning less than 2s a week per person.88

Embroidered Goods Made in London

The items commissioned in London and Antwerp were initially intended to lend their
splendour to a royal wedding. However, many of them were ultimately used for Erik XIV’s
coronation in late June 1561. It seems likely, then, that some of the orders were revised or
added to following Erik XIV’s accession.89 Commissions abroad were often mediated by
agents on the spot, based on correspondence with the end client.90 The king’s representatives
played an important role in decision-making concerning both manufacture and purchases, as
royal orders were often framed without detailed information. In a list dated January 1561,
planning what was needed for the coronation, the specification includes:

Item for his royal highness’s needs some stately suits shall be ordered and made, his royal
highness in particular requires one suit in purple and white with gold and gemstones on the
collar and the pane on the trunkhose and the brim of the gown … his royal highness would
also like to order 2 canopies with precious embroidery with his royal coat of arms and his
motto. Item accoutrements for some beds.91

Hence, the king’s agents needed to make suitable choices based on what was available. Some
guidance was obtained from brokers (faktor) such as François Bertÿ, who was used by the
220
 Cecilia Candréus
Swedes to facilitate currency exchanges and to acquire certain items. Further aesthetic
92

advice was probably provided by the Flemish painter Johan Baptista van Uther, who lived
with the Swedish group in London.93 In 1560, Van Uther was sent from London to Antwerp,
to buy what was needed for the clothing that was to be made.94
There are no complete accounts of the actual production, although the receipt books for
the raw materials give a rough idea.95 The embroiderer Claes seems to have been responsible
for work on Erik XIV’s own clothes. The embroiderer Thomas also did work on the king’s
clothing, but his main responsibility was the manufacture of sprickworden.96 These were the
embroidered emblems worn by lackeys and the royal guard. Eyewitness reports from Erik
XIV’s coronation describe the sprickworden as depicting a round, crowned coat of arms
embroidered with gold and pearls, carrying the king’s motto ‘Iehova dat cui vult’ (the com-
bined Hebrew and Latin version), ‘Gud giver åt vem Han vill’ (‘God giveth to whomsoever
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he will’), and underneath flanked by the letters ‘E R’ for Ericus Rex.97 Although they do not
mention the embroiderers Thomas and Claes by name, there are other documents confirming
the manufacture of a royal coat of arms for a canopy and horse trappings for tournament,
the latter a collaboration between a group of embroiderers and button- and lacemakers.98
It is not possible to assess the manufacture of the king’s personal clothing in detail as the
written records are insufficient. When the items arrived in Sweden from London, the king’s
chamber valet Christoffer Andersson only accounted for two precious suits described as
‘Velvet suits with gold and silver purl in gold and silver passement one of purple carmosyn
velvet the other of red carmosyn velvet’.99 These two suits are also noted in a letter sent
from London to Antwerp on 13 January 1561.100 The king’s wardrobe inventories of 1563
and 1566 record several purple (fiolebrun) and red suits. However, two suits in particular
stand out, one purple, one red, embroidered all over and adorned with gemstones such as
diamonds, rubies and pearls, and among the richest and costliest items in the king’s ward-
robe.101 Both suits comprised a number of matching garments, including two velvet clothes
bags (klädsäckar).102 The clothes bags, being almost as magnificent as the clothes themselves,
were used to protect the garments from dust while in storage.103
The receipt book for the materials issued to the king’s personal tailor Hans Bertilsson,
who was in the London workshop, includes large quantities of both red and purple car-
mosyn velvet, as well as a number of other precious fabrics and passement used for trim-
mings.104 There are also records of the embroiderers Claes and Thomas working on the king’s
clothes.105 Both received materials on a regular basis, primarily metal thread, purl, silk and
pearls.106 Records confirm the two velvet clothes bags were made in the London workshop.107
All this information must, however, be weighed against the fact that the books of 1561 also
record the purchase of two extravagant velvet suits from what seems to be a London-based
tailor. The entry reads: ‘From Jahnn Anntoni tailor for his Royal Highness’s needs. Velvet
suits with gold and silver purl in gold and silver passement the one purple carmosyn velvet
the other red carmosyn velvet’, priced together at just over £616.108 Valued at approximately
£308 each, these suits were at the height of luxury, comparable to the most expensive suits
made for Charles Prince of Wales sixty years later at a cost of £300 a suit.109
There are two surviving portraits that show Erik XIV in a red suit embroidered with
gold and wearing a short black cloak (see Fig. 1). Both portraits are attributed to Steven
van der Meulen and were almost certainly painted to be used in the context of the king’s
marriage negotiations. The first was sent to Elizabeth I in early 1561; the second smaller
version was supposedly intended for a princess of Hesse in 1562. Both portraits are now in
221
 Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy
Swedish museum collections.110 How the suits made in London relate to the ones depicted
in these portraits is unknown. It does, however, give us an indication of the kind of image
Erik XIV wished to project.
It is also difficult to judge how the two suits acquired from the tailor Jahnn Anntoni
relate to those made in the king’s London workshop. In addition to the items produced in
the London workshop a few precious objects with embroidery work were also bought in
London and Antwerp. Among the more valuable items were two state beds. One bed made
of red velvet with embroidery was bought in London from ‘Loduich italiener’, possibly an
Italian import, and cost £240;111 the other, made of purple (violet) silk with embroidery
was purchased from Peter van den Walle in Antwerp for 850 thaler (about £212).112 Van der
Walle also provided a cope and a mitre for 624 thaler (about £156).113 These vestments were
destined for Sweden’s archbishop, to be used in the coronation ceremony, and in accord
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with the king’s wishes were finished with pearl-embellishments.114 Parts of the red bed are
possibly still extant, albeit reworked, in the collections of Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.115
The cope, made of white silk damask with gold embroidery, and mitre are now in the col-
lections of Uppsala Cathedral (see Figs. 3 and 4).116
In regard to the skill required, the type of embroidery work done in the London work-
shop does not seem to have been exceptionally different to the work done by the royal
embroiderers in Sweden. The manufacture of embroidered dress was part of their regular

Fig. 3.  Cope and mitre, c. 1561, Uppsala Cathedral. Purchased from Peter van den Walle in
Antwerp, and used in Erik XIV’s coronation ceremony in 1561.
Source: Author 2016.

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 Cecilia Candréus
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Fig. 4.  Detail of cope, c. 1561, Uppsala Cathedral. Close-up of shield and brim with
embroidery in gold and coloured silk; the stones and pearls originally incorporated in the
embroidery are missing. The main fabric of white silk damask is also ornamented with gold
embroidery.
Source: Author 2016.

work, which also included ceremonial objects and heraldry (see Fig. 5). Prestigious items,
such as the coronation mantle for Erik XIV, were made in the Stockholm workshop (see
Fig. 6).117 However, some categories of objects seem to be recent departures, such as sprick-
worden for lackeys and the royal guard, and clothes bags. The records indicate that they
were subsequently made in the Stockholm workshop.118 It has not been possible to judge
whether the type of embroidery done in London was different to the work done in Sweden
in technique or design. These embroideries no longer survive in the royal collections, and
written descriptions are too general to give any clues.
The features that did set apart the type of work done in London from that done in Sweden
were the precious objects bought from merchants in London and Antwerp. For example,
the two state beds are the only ones with embroidery work listed in the king’s household
inventories of 1561 and 1567.119 There are very few accounts of work on embroidered interior
textiles, such as bed furnishings, being done in the Stockholm workshop.120
When it came to the work of the tailors in the London workshop, the sources suggest the
introduction of a different cut and construction of the gowns (kjortlar) made for the king’s
sisters. In a letter from 4 April 1561, Lukasson declared his intention to have the same tailor
who had worked on the princesses’ clothes brought to Sweden in order to make any final
adjustments.121 The accounts for May 1561 also show the purchase of five farthingales, ‘to

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 Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy
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Fig. 5.  Sweden’s royal coat of arms, c. 1561–1562 (Royal Armoury nnr 31450). Attributed
to the embroiderer Hubert Woldemarsson (d. 1565).
Source: Royal Armoury, Stockholm (CC BY-SA).

Fig. 6.  Coronation mantle of purple velvet with embroidered crowns, by the embroiderer
Påwel Thurolt (Royal Armoury, nnr 25940). The mantle was used in Erik XIV’s coronation
ceremony in 1561.
Source: Göran Schmidt, Royal Armoury, Stockholm (CC BY-SA).

224
 Cecilia Candréus
be worn under their gowns’. The earliest record of farthingales in the Swedish context,
122

they would have been necessary to obtain the proper silhouette. Another feature that seems
to have increased in popularity in Sweden was ‘see-through’ (genomsiktig) metal thread
bobbin-made borders and edgings (posament) used on clothing.123 Vast amounts of these
trimmings were produced in the London workshop by the passement-makers Nicolaus
Bineth and Franciscus Rusilius.124 Bobbin-made trimmings were probably also produced
in Sweden by this time. In 1559, an entry in Ambassador Beurræus’ accounts reads ‘Paid
for the tools that the passement-makers brought with them to Sweden 19 shillings 8 dr’.125
There is also recorded a payment to a turner (svarvare) named Hans in Stockholm in 1561
for eighty-four ‘instruments for making golden passement for his Royal Majesties needs
for 6 marks’.126
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Textiles and Diplomacy

The aim of this paper has been to examine the interrelation of textiles and diplomacy, using
as a case study the production of textiles made in conjunction with the negotiations for a
royal marriage. The investigation of the Swedish king’s temporary embroidery workshop
in London has shown how the sheer scale of such operations differed substantially from
the working conditions of the regular royal workshop back in Sweden. This would suggest
the Swedes were forced to turn abroad in order to obtain this level of output. The close
involvement of Swedish agents is also touched on, as is the ambassadors’ concern with
purchases, recruitment and the organisation of production over and above their formal
diplomatic business.
In terms of the background of the artisans in royal service, individual nationality seems
to have been unimportant. There is no indication that the Swedes preferred to recruit English
workers, say, since the workshop was led by embroiderers already in Swedish service. Records
of wages and days worked show how the workforce was treated as a mass resource, without
much distinction in regard to individual craft skills. Finally, the type of goods produced
in the London workshop did not differ markedly from those made by the embroiderers in
Stockholm.
Ultimately, the embroidered items obtained by the Swedes in London and Antwerp did
serve as a tool in Ambassador Beurræus’s diplomatic efforts. In a letter of 13 January 1561,
Lukasson wrote from London to Trolle in Antwerp, telling him how Ambassador Beurræus
had invited Queen Elizabeth’s Privy Council to visit, making a show of the king’s new
clothes and other manufactures.127 Lukasson wrote that he had

let them see his Royal Highness’s striking clothes, the purple with gemstones and the red with
gold purl, likewise the two hats and bonnets that were bought here from Frans Bertÿ and the
sprickworden, and just about everything that is here.128

In conclusion, I suggest that the entire set-up in London was an important gambit in Swedish
diplomacy. Having studied the enterprise on a detailed level, there do not seem to have been
any compelling practical arguments behind setting up production in London. Raw materials
and artisans were brought in from the Low Countries, and the work was led by the king’s
own royal embroiderers brought in from Sweden, thus excluding the idea that what they
were after was access to English expertise that would leave its mark on production. However,
225
 Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy
running their own operations on the spot, employing vast numbers of workers for months at
a time and paying competitive wages would have been an effective way of making themselves
seen. To be seen and talked about in London must have been the desired outcome of their
presence, and there was much talk of the Swedish king’s immeasurable wealth. One rumour
doing the rounds in London in the summer of 1560 was that Prince Erik was bound for
England with eighty large ships, 10,000 men and vast sums of money.129 However, rumours
of the opposite kind were also known, as one letter speaks of the painter Johan Baptista
van Uther having heard people shouting in the streets that the king of Sweden had neither
silver plates nor goblets, but had to buy it all in Antwerp.130
In addition to the diplomatic implications, this study contributes to our understanding
of how royal dress was commissioned and produced, and where materials were sourced in
the early modern period. It has also increased our knowledge of international consumer
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activity and the transnational aspects of life as an artisan in royal service.

Acknowledgements
I give thanks to Cecilia Aneer, Ingela Wahlberg and Lena Dahrén for reading and providing valuable com-
ments during work, and Charlotte Merton for directions to material in British archives and language review.
The author would also like to express her gratitude to the following funding bodies: Agnes Geijers fond
för nordisk textilforskning, Berit Wallenbergs Stiftelse, Gyllenstiernska Krapperupstiftelsen and Kungliga
Vetenskapsakademien.

References
1
Erik XIV was removed from power in 1568 due to temporary insanity, and after several years of imprisonment
was murdered.
2
Gustav I seized power by force in 1521, breaking the Kalmar Union, the personal union of the Scandinavian countries
under the Danish king, and securing sovereignty for Sweden (which included present-day Finland).
3
Gustav I married Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg in 1531.
4
I. Andersson, Erik XIV:s engelska underhandlingar: Studier i svensk diplomati och handelspolitik (Lund: Gleerup,
1935), pp. 11–17, 50. M. Keblusek, ‘The Embassy of Art: Diplomats as Cultural Brokers’, in Double Agents: Cultural
and Political Brokerage in Early Modern Europe, ed. M. Keblusek and B. Vera Noldus (Leiden: Brill, 2011), pp. 15–16
shows how many early modern diplomats were recruited among scholars, scientists, clerics and lawyers. Education and
language skills were the key qualifications, preferably in combination with a noble title.
5
When arriving in England, Beurræus breached diplomatic etiquette by presenting his credentials to Princess
Elizabeth first and Queen Mary second. Andersson, Erik XIV:s engelska underhandlingar, pp. 11–17, 50, 89.
6
Beurræus had been informed of Gyllenstierna’s mission in December 1560, but he did not arrive in England until
2 February 1561. Ibid., pp. 46–50.
7
Similar examples are given in Keblusek, ‘The Embassy of Art’, pp. 11–25. For Beurræus in particular, see Erik XIV
to D. Beurræus, 17 February 1561, fols 41–46v, Riksregistraturet (RR); Erik XIV to D. Burraeus, 18 March 1561, fols
60v–62v, RR, Riksarkivet (RA). See also Ambassador Gyllenstierna’s letters 1561–1562 in I. Andersson and S. Arnell,
eds, Handlingar rörande Sveriges utrikespolitik 1561–1566 (Stockholm: P. A. Nordstedt och söner, 1946), pp. 1–232.
8
K. E. Steneberg, ‘Vasahovet som tongivande inom konsten och modets värld’, in Svenska folket genom tiderna, ed.
E. Wrangel, 13 vols (Malmö: Allhem, 1938–1940), iii (1938), pp. 255–92. Sweden’s southern provinces, Skåne, Halland
and Blekinge, were Danish until the mid-seventeenth century and the passage through Sound was subject to a heavy toll.
9
B. Bøggild-Johannsen, ‘Til kongens og rigets behov: Nogle betragtninger om kunstforbruget ved Fredrik IIs hof’,
Renæssanceforum, 2 (2006), pp. 5–7, https://www.renaessanceforum.dk/ (accessed 26 February 2012).
  M. Hayward, Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII (Leeds: Maney, 2007), pp. 9–11.
10

  11 G. Pontano. An English translation of his Latin text is found in ‘Ioannis Ioviani Pontani to Chariteo: On
Splendour’, ed. and trans. F. Tateo, Journal of Design History, 15, no. 4 (2002), pp. 222–27.
  12 R. Strong, Splendor at Court: Renaissance Spectacle and the Theater of Power (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973);
K. Sharpe, Selling the Tudor Monarchy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), pp. 61–65.
  13 Hayward, Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII, pp. 325–27.
  14 U. Bergemann, Europäische Stickereien 1250–1650: Kataloge des Deutschen Textilmuseums Krefeld, 3
(Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner, 2010), pp. 21–84.

226
 Cecilia Candréus
  J. Arnold, Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe Unlock’d (Leeds: Maney, 1988), pp. 189–92; Hayward, Dress at the Court
15

of King Henry VIII, pp. 325–27; P. Wardle, ‘John Shepley (1575–1631), Embroiderer to the High and Mighty Prince
Charles, Prince of Wales’, Textile History, 32, no. 2 (2001), pp. 133–55. See also P. Wardle, ‘The King’s Embroiderer:
Edmund Harrison (1590–1667)’, i: ‘The Man and his Milieu’, Textile History, 25, no. 1 (1994), pp. 29–59; P. Wardle,
‘The King’s Embroiderer: Edmund Harrison (1590–1667)’, ii: ‘His Work’, Textile History, 26, no. 2 (1995), pp. 139–84.
  16 C. Candréus, ‘En svensk verkstad för utländska lyxvaror: De kungliga pärlstickarna vid Gustav I:s hov 1523–1560’,
Historisk Tidskrift, 133, no. 4 (2013), pp. 587–620.
  17 Å. Setterwall, ‘Gustav II Adolfs kröningshimmel och Erik XIV:s utländska beställningar’, Konsthistorisk Tidskrift,
10, no. 1 (1941), pp. 59–70.
  18 Canopy (bärhimmel) of red velvet with embroidery, c. 1560, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm (NMKCXV2076A).
  19 Andersson, Erik XIV:s engelska underhandlingar, pp. 12–13, 17–28, 44–50, 96, 140.
  20 J. Black, A History of Diplomacy (London: Reaktion Books, 2010), pp. 12–17, 47.
  21 Keblusek, ‘The Embassy of Art’, pp. 11–25.
  22 Records of central importance to this study are held in Riksarkivet (RA), Stockholm (the Swedish National
Archives), Diplomaträkenskaper (Dipl.räk.), vols 3–4; Diplomatica Anglica, vol. 514; Kammararkivet (KA), Slott och
gårdar: Stockholm (SoG:Sthlm), vol. 22; and Riksregistraturet (RR); and in Slottsarkivet (SLA), Stockholm (Royal Palace
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Archives), Klädkammarräkenskaper (Klk), vol. A:26; Ämnessamlingar, Resor m.m., vol. 1; and Kungliga och furstliga
personers enskilda egendom (KoFPEE), vols 4–5.
  23 ‘Thomas pärlstickare’.
  24 Andersson, Erik XIV:s engelska underhandlingar, p. 27. See the English account in J. Hayward, Annals of the
First Four Years of Reign of Queen Elizabeth, ed. J. Bruce (London: Camden Society, 1840), p. 37.
  25 Black, A History of Diplomacy, p. 47.
  26 Försträckt pärlstickare, 2 September 1559, L. Knutssons räkenskap för hertig Johans resa till England 1559,
Dipl.räk. 3:2, RA. ‘Drottningens pärlestickare M: Willem Bruneå som förarbetade then fiolbrune Clädningh 78 daler
Item M: Gregorius som giorde brämet till min N:H: tabbort 40 daler Item M: Willem Breslott som förarbetade min N:
Herres fiolbrun Krage 12 daler.’
  27 Pärlstickarlöningar, S. Henrikssons räkenskap 4 October–5 November, Dipl.räk. 3:3, RA.
  28 Others were William Middleton and David Smith. Arnold, Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe, p. 189. The embroiderer
Nicholas Norton is also seen in the accounts. Lord Chamberlain’s Department (LC), Records of special events,
Coronation: Elizabeth I 2/4/3 fol. 15, The National Archives (TNA), Kew. I am grateful to Charlotte Merton for pointing
this out to me. Charlotte Merton, Ph.D., Lund, email message to author, 4 May 2012.
  29 Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 4: 1524–1530 (London: HMSO, 1875), pp. 156–70,
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol4/pp156-170 (accessed 9 February 2015); Hayward, Dress at
the Court of King Henry VIII, pp. 326–27.
  30 Arnold, Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe, p. 189; Hayward, Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII, pp. 326–27.
Brallot is for instance seen in Wardrobe of Robes, LC2/4/3, fols 24v, 75; Vestry, LC2/4/3, fol. 50v; Exchequer of Receipt
Warrants for Issues, 1560/61, TNA E404/113, fol. 86. I am grateful to Charlotte Merton for pointing these out to me.
Charlotte Merton, email to author, 4 May 2012.
  31 Hayward, Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII, p. 327.
  32 See Guillelmus Bruneå/Gillam Brun´no/William Brunnam registered for 1562–1571; R. E. G. Kirk and E. F. Kirk,
eds, Returns of Aliens Dwelling in the City and Suburbs of London from the Reign of Henry VIII to That of James I,
i–iv (Aberdeen: Huguenot Society of London, 1900–1908), i (1900), pp. 290, 403; ii (1902), p. 41.
  33 The embroiderer Lodwick seems to have been hired within a fortnight of Duke Johan’s arrival in London.
Pärlstickarelön, J. Römers räkenskap, Dipl.räk. 3:3, RA; Andersson, Erik XIV:s engelska underhandlingar, p. 26.
  34 The wages for the workers are registered in bulk payments. The estimate has been calculated by dividing those
figures by the number of working days registered for the embroiderer Lodwick. Pärlstickarelön, J. Römers räkenskap,
Dipl.räk. 3:3, RA.
  35 See the entry for 14 December 1559. Pärlstickarelön, J. Römers räkenskap, Dipl.räk. 3:3, RA.
  36 The purchases of embroidery frames are entered in October 1559 and March 1560. Ämbetsfolks löningar S.
Henrikssons utgift 4 October–5 November 1559; Inköpt bohag 11 March, J. Römers räkenskap, Dipl.räk. 3:3, RA. A
carpenter was also paid for chairs in the embroiderers’ workroom. Ämbetes och arbetsfolks löningar, 22 November
1559, J. Römers räkenskap, Dipl.räk. 3:3, RA.
  37 Andersson, Erik XIV:s engelska underhandlingar, pp. 37–38.
  38 The books show purchases of embroidery materials and tools, made with the assistance of the embroiderer
(Jacques de Ehaalon/Jacob Salun), and the workrooms were equipped with new window frames. Pärlstickare 1560, D.
Beurræus diarium över utgifter 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:2, RA.
  39 A. Trolles räkenskap för resan till England 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 3:5, RA; Setterwall, ‘Gustav II Adolfs
kröningshimmel’, p. 64.
  40 See, for example, L. Lukassons räkenskap för uppbörd och utgift i London 1560–1561, Klk A:26:9, fol. 36 ff., SLA.
  41 Pärlstickare 1560, D. Beurræus diarium över utgifter 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:2; Kort uttag på utgifter 1560, D.
Beurræus räkenskap 1557–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:3, RA; Andersson, Erik XIV:s engelska underhandlingar, pp. 11–17.

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 Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy
  42 The rent of the house for nine months came to £45. Setterwall, ‘Gustav II Adolfs kröningshimmel’, p. 69.
  43 Uti England, D. Beurræus räkenskap 1557–1561, Dipl.räk. 3:3, RA. These numbers exclude the lodgings and
provisions for Duke Johan and his entourage in 1559, which were covered by a separate account.
  44 Erik XIV to A. Trolle, 16 January 1561, fol. 8v, RR, RA, ‘that our own artisans, that are in both London and
Antwerp’ (‘att vårt eigeet ämbetiss folck, som bådhe I Lundhenn och Andorpenn äre’); see also a similar reference in
Erik XIV to D. Beurræus, 17 February 1561, fol. 45v, RR, RA.
  45 Pärlstickare 1560, D. Beurræus diarium över utgifter 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:2; Diversen Reisen, 10 August 1560,
A. Trolles räkenskap för resan till England 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 3:5, RA.
  46 Expenses connected to Edmund’s death were entered in the accounts on 13 October. Pärlstickare 1560, D.
Beurræus diarium över utgifter 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:2; the embroiderer Claes appeared in the London accounts from 2
October 1560. L. Lukassons utgifter på sidentyg m.m. 1560–1561, 2 October 1560, Klk A:26:10, SLA. There was also an
embroiderer named Claes Pullmeijer on the staff in Sweden in 1560–1561. His being in the lower wage bracket suggests
he was not a fully trained embroiderer, and thus unlikely to have been put in charge of the work in England. Pärlstickare,
Beställnings- och underhållsregister 1560–1561, Strödda räkenskaper och handlingar före 1630 (StRoH) 51, RA.
  47 This included the embroiderer Claes Hess, the feather-maker Dominicus Duclusset and the tailor Hans Bertilsson.
Hertig Erik i Kalmar, hans hovfolk, RKB 35:9, RA; Candréus, En svensk verkstad för utländska lyxvaror, p. 606.
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  48 Löning pärlstickare 1560–1561, SoG:Sthlm 22, RA.

  49 The attendance records for button- and lacemakers; also note the standstill over the winter. L. Lukasson to
Erik XIV, 13 January 1561, Dipl.Angl. 514, RA; Löning pärlstickare och knopmakare 1560–1561, SoG:Sthlm 22, RA.
  50 Setterwall, ‘Gustav II Adolfs kröningshimmel’, p. 65.
  51 Erik XIV to D. Beurræus, 17 February 1561, RR, fols 24v ff., RA; Setterwall, ‘Gustav II Adolfs kröningshimmel’,
p. 66. ‘Såghe förthennschuld gärnne, att hwadtt såpsom i ther besteltt haffwe, bådhe um wåre clädninger, samptt medtt
himler och annett mere, måtthe uthan all förtögrinngh hijtt öffwer schickes, effter sådanntt för tijdzenns kortheett scull
icke kann här såå hastelighenn bliffe tillpynttedh och tilredhe giortt.’
  52 Setterwall, ‘Gustav II Adolfs kröningshimmel’, p. 66.
  53 Löning pärlstickare 1560–1561, SoG:Sthlm 22, RA.
  54 On 10 June, Erik Gustafsson received 500 Swedish marks (about £27) for taking care of the English goods that
arrived at the port of Elfsborg, aka Älvsborg fortress. Tärepengar, 10 juni 1561, Joen Erikssons leverans 1561, RKB
39:2, RA.
  55 Candréus, En svensk verkstad för utländska lyxvaror, pp. 601–14; Bøggild-Johannsen, Til kongens og rigets
behov, pp. 15–16.
  56 Candréus, En svensk verkstad för utländska lyxvaror, pp. 608–10.
  57 Also recruited were four French embroiderers based in Stockholm. Ibid., p. 607.
  58 Pärlstickarlön, Uppbörd och utgift 1560, RKB 38:3; A. Trolles räkenskap för resan till England 1560–1561, Dipl.
räk. 3:5, RA.
  59 In his contract for his yearly appointment in 1559–1560 he was titled embroiderer. Open letter, 27 June 1560,
Klk A 31:4, SLA; he was also titled embroiderer in some London records, but this was occasionally crossed out and
corrected to button- and lacemaker. L. Lukassons utgifter på sidentyg m.m. 1560–1561, 15 August 1560, Klk A:26:10, SLA.
  60 Hess seems to have been working for Prince Erik as early as 1555. Candréus, En svensk verkstad för utländska
lyxvaror, p. 606.
  61 Wardle, John Shepley, pp. 143–44.
  62 A. Trolles räkenskap för resan till England 1560–1561, Diversen Reisen, 6 August 1560, Dipl.räk. 3:5, RA;
Förtäringsregister, L. Lukassons uppbörd och utgift på sidentyg, Klk A 26:1, fol. 36v, SLA; Candréus, En svensk verkstad
för utländska lyxvaror, p. 609.
  63 There is a record of three embroiderers being reimbursed for their ‘inconvenience’ (omak). Förtäringsregister,
L. Lukassons uppbörd och utgift på sidentyg, Klk A 26:1, fol. 36v, SLA; in Trolle’s account called ‘versuimeniße’. A.
Trolles räkenskap för resan till England 1560–1561, Diversen Reisen, 10 August 1560, Dipl.räk. 3:5, RA; there was
also one entry made in the London accounts on 10 August regarding five French embroiderers receiving 25s ‘for their
benevolence’ (‘på theres wellvilie’). Pärlstickare 1560, D. Beurræus diarium över utgifter 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:2, RA.
  64 A payment for the embroiderer Claes and one man to accompany him to ‘Ria’ was made on 13 October 1560,
Pärlstickare 1560, D. Beurræus diarium över utgifter 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:2; Kort uttag på utgifter 1560, D. Beurræus
räkenskap 1557–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:3, RA. ‘när han drogh in i Frankrike’.
  65 All calculations based on the London attendance records are estimates. The use of given names and surnames is
inconsistent and there are large variations in spelling, making it impossible to reach exact numbers. The accounts cover
28 September 1560 to 20 April 1561. Löning pärlstickare 1560–1561, SoG:Sthlm 22, RA.
  66 See, for example, Jann Duwe, Adam Gingo, Jann Gingo, Hans De Anwers, Mattis Schalonn and Henrik Willems.
Löning pärlstickare 1560–1561, SoG:Sthlm 22, RA.
  67 See, for example, Gem Roberth [James Roberts], Henrik Harwi [Henrik Harvey], Jems Ross [James Ross], Peter
Falletth, Rittger Assbee [Rutger Ashby], Roberth Bertonn [Robert Burton], Roberth Foss, Thomes Niutun [Thomas
Newton], Thomes Rosse. Löning pärlstickare 1560–1561, SoG:Sthlm 22, RA.

228
 Cecilia Candréus
  S. Rappaport, Worlds Within Worlds: Structures of Life in Sixteenth-Century London (Cambridge: Cambridge
68

University Press, 1989), p. 42.

  69 Kirk and Kirk, Returns of Aliens, i–iv.
  70 Rappaport, Worlds Within Worlds, pp. 29, 34–35, 44–45.
  71 The accounts cover 28 September 1560–20 April 1560/61. Löning pärlstickare och knopmakare 1560–1561,
SoG:Sthlm 22, RA.
  72 See n. 65.
  73 Candréus, En svensk verkstad för utländska lyxvaror, pp. 612–14; B. Lager-Kromnow, Att vara stockholmare
på 1560-talet (Stockholm: Komm. för Stockholmsforskning, 1992), pp. 19–21.
  74 Bohag som köptes till huset i England, D. Beurræus diarium över utgifter 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:2, RA.
  75 The uncertainty over the numbers is due to many of them being entered with their given name only on the earlier
occasion, and later with both given name and surname. A further five embroiderers were included in the attendance
record for button- and lacemakers in spring 1561. Löning pärlstickare och knopmakare 1560–1561, SoG:Sthlm 22, RA.
  76 L. Lukassons utgifter på sidentyg m.m. 1560–1561, Klk A:26:10, SLA. The accounts cover the period from July
1560 to August 1561.
  77 Ibid.; L. Lukassons räkenskap för uppbörd och utgift i London 1560–1561, Klk A:26:9, fols 45–51, SLA.
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  78 Pärlstickare, Skräddare, Knopmakare 1560, D. Beurræus diarium över utgifter 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:2, RA.
  79 Beställningsregister 1562–1618, StRoH 1–4; Löningsregister 1553–1614, 1–2; Strödda kamerala handlingar (StKH)
51; Beställnings- och underhållsregister 1560–1561, StRoH 51, RA.
  80 Reg. på ämbetsmän 1562, SoG:Sthlm 22, RA. A further four men would have been part of the workshop as a
whole, as the register for yearly appointments and the register for wages (löneregister) specify the number of embroiderers
on the payroll in 1562 as being eleven masters and two apprentices. Löneregister 1:3, 1562, StRoH; Beställningsregister
1, 1562, StRoH, RA.
  81 Some wage payments are recorded in several part payments, giving different sums. See, for example, RKB 36:1;
36:12; 36:13; 38:3; 38:9; 38:11; Beställnings- och underhållsregister 1560–1561, StRoH 51, RA.
  82 Hovfolks årslön 1562, Joen Erssons utgift, RKB 40:2, RA.
  83 The letter gives a detailed account of different exchange rates for Swedish coinage. L. Lukasson to Erik XIV, 13
January 1561, Dipl.Angl. 514, RA.
  84 The wages are recorded as a total sum per week, varying between 6s and 18s a week. Löning pärlstickare
1560–1561, SoG:Sthlm 22, RA.
  85 Pärlstickarelön, J. Römers räkenskap, Dipl.räk. 3:3, RA.
  86 Wardle, John Shepley, pp. 142–43.
  87 Löning knopmakare 1560–1561, SoG:Sthlm 22, RA.
  88 Pärlstickare 1560, D. Beurræus diarium över utgifter 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:2, Till pärlstickarnas arbete 1560,
D. Beurræus räkenskap 1557–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:3, RA.
  89 The original instructions, given by Prince Erik before his accession, unfortunately do not survive.
  90 Bøggild-Johannsen, Til kongens og rigets behov, pp. 19–21; Candréus, En svensk verkstad för utländska lyxvaror,
p. 610; E. Welch, Shopping in the Renaissance: Consumer Cultures in Italy 1400–1600 (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 2005), pp. 262–70.
  91 The king’s list of things to be acquired for the coronation ceremony, RR January 1561, fols 24v, 26, RA. ‘Item
schall till hans Kong:e Mtt:z behoff, bestelles och göres någre ståtelighe klädningar, synnerligenn will hans kong:e Ma:
haffue een klädningh fiolbrun och huitt medtt gull och ädlestener på kraghenn och öffuertogen och brämett på kiortelenn
… Will och Hanns Kong:e Mtt: haffwe bestellt 2. himler kostelight stickedhe medtt hanns kong:e mttz: Wapner och
dicterium. Item tilbehöringer till någre sänger.’
  92 L. Lukasson to A. Trolle, 13 January 1561, Dipl.Angl. 514, RA; L. Knutssons räkenskap för hertig Johans resa
till England 1559, Dipl.räk. 3:2; S. Henrikssons räkenskap, Dipl.räk. 3:3; J. Römers räkenskap, Dipl.räk. 3:3, RA. Bertÿ’s
own letters from 1561 to Erik XIV are held in Dipl.Angl. 514, RA. He is also mentioned in Ambassador Gyllenstierna’s
letters in 1561–1562. Andersson and Arnell, Handlingar rörande Sveriges utrikespolitik, p. 157. The advisory function
of a broker is also raised in Keblusek, ‘The Embassy of Art’, p. 22.
  93 Van Uther was eager to advance his own position and set about upsetting relations between the other Swedish
agents. Van Uther did eventually become court painter in Sweden. Beställningar 1562, Joen Erssons utgift, RKB 40:2;
Uti England pro anno 1560, D. Beurræus räkenskap 1557–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:3, RA; Setterwall, Erik XIV:s utländska
beställningar, p. 69.
  94 There is an account of Van Uther’s return from Antwerp to England in August 1560. Diversen Reisen, 10
August 1560, A. Trolles räkenskap för resan till England 1560–1561, Dipl.räk. 3:5, R. A. Setterwall, ‘Gustav II Adolfs
kröningshimmel’, pp. 69–70.
  95 L. Lukassons utgifter på sidentyg m.m. 1560–1561, Klk A:26:10; L. Lukassons räkenskap för uppbörd och utgift
i London 1560–1561, Klk A:26:9, fols 45r–51, SLA.
  96 Svenska Akademiens Ordbok, ‘sprickord’, https://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/ (accessed 11 April 2014). A list of
finished and half-finished goods made in the London workshop, dated ‘Micaehlis’ (29 September) 1560 records a total

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 Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy
of 232 sprickworden, with some variations in size and motif. Lista över färdigt och halvfärdigt, D. Beurræus diverse
smärre räkenskaper m.m., Dipl.räk. 4:5, RA.
  97 Simon Fischer, secretary of the representative of the Duchy of Pomerania, wrote a detailed account. He gives
the motto as ‘cui vult dat’. K. Hedell, Musiklivet vid de svenska Vasahoven med fokus på Erik XIV:s hov (1560–68)
(Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2001), pp. 103–04, 321.
  98 The king’s list of things to acquire for the coronation ceremony. January 1561, RR fols 26 ff.; Erik XIV to A.
Rosenberg with note to L. Lukasson, 18 March 1561, RR, fol. 67; L. Lukasson to Erik XIV, 13 January 1561, Dipl.
Angl. 514, RA; Settervall, Erik XIV:s utländska beställningar, pp. 66–67. The king’s wardrobe inventory of 1566 lists
two velvet horse trappings for tournaments, one of purple velvet with cloth of gold, and the other of black velvet with
silver gauze (silverskir).
  99 L. Lukassons räkenskap för uppbörd och utgift i London 1560–1561, Klk A:26:9, fol. 53, SLA. ‘Sametz Clädninger
med guldh och Söllffuerz Canntilier i guldh och Söllffuers Passemennth thenn ene fiolebrun Carmesie Samet thenn
Andre rödh Carmesie Sameth.’
100
See quote in conclusions. L. Lukasson to A. Trolle, 13 January 1561, Dipl.Angl. 514, RA.
101
Klädinventarium Erik XIV, Stockholms slott 1563, KoFPEE 5:8; Klädinventarium Erik XIV, Stockholms slott
1566, KoFPEE 5:12, SLA.
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102
Based on the clothes listed in the wardrobe inventory of 1563, each set seems to have included a gown (kjortel),
jacket (livjacka), cloak (krage), doublet (tröja), trunkhose (övertog), clothes bag (klädsäck), hat, bonnet (bonett) and a
small sword (rapper) with a scabbard (dagger) and sword belt (gördel). The terminology does not readily translate into
English. This area is in need of further research aimed at connecting records describing the manufacture with extant
inventories and portraits. Klädinventarium Erik XIV, Stockholms slott 1563, KoFPEE 5:8; Klädinventarium Erik XIV,
Stockholms slott 1566, KoFPEE 5:12, SLA.
103
Lista över färdigt och halvfärdigt, D. Beurræus diverse smärre räkenskaper m.m., Dipl.räk. 4:5, RA; Klädinventarium
Erik XIV, Stockholms slott 1563, KoFPEE 5:8; Klädinventarium Erik XIV, Stockholms slott 1566, KoFPEE 5:12, SLA;
Arnold mentions the use of clothes bags in Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe of Robes, Arnold, Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe,
p. 233.
104
L. Lukassons räkenskap för uppbörd och utgift i London 1560–1561, Klk A:26:9, fols 47–49, SLA.
105
L. Lukassons räkenskap för uppbörd och utgift i London 1560–1561, Klk A:26:9, fols 48v–49v, SLA.
106
L. Lukassons utgifter på sidentyg m.m. 1560–1561, 2 September, 10 October 1560, Klk A:26:10, SLA.
107
Ibid.; Lista över färdigt och halvfärdigt, D. Beurræus diverse smärre räkenskaper m.m., Dipl.räk. 4:5, RA.
108
L. Lukassons räkenskap för uppbörd och utgift i London 1560–1561, Klk A:26:9, fols 28, 31, SLA. ‘Aff Jahnn
Anntoni Schreddare Tiill Konunge Maitz behoff. Samedz kledningar med gulldh och sölffwers kanntilier i gulldh och
Sölluuers poβemennt thenn eene fiolebrunn Carmesi samett thenn annder Rödh Carmesi Samett.’
109
Wardle, John Shepley, p. 143.
110
Both portraits are attributed to Steven van der Meulen (fl. 1543–1561), and are in the collections of Nationalmuseum,
Stockholm (NMGrh 2039, 186 × 104 cm, and NM 909, 58 × 31cm respectively).
111
L. Lukassons räkenskap för uppbörd och utgift i London 1560–1561, Klk A:26:9, fol. 28, SLA.
112
A. Trolles räkenskap för resan till England 1560–1561, in Antorff Gekaufft, 8 March 1561, Dipl.räk. 3:5, RA;
Setterwall, ‘Gustav II Adolfs kröningshimmel’.
113
A. Trolles räkenskap för resan till England 1560–1561, in Antorff Gekaufft, 8 March 1561, Dipl.räk. 3:5, RA.
114
The king’s list of things to acquire for the coronation ceremony, RR January 1561, fols 26 ff., RA.
115
Canopy (bärhimmel) of red velvet with embroidery, c. 1560, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm (NMKCXV2076A).
The canopy has also been referred to as a tablecloth in some earlier research. The embroidery is of high quality with
grotesque ornamentation and mythological figures and scenes. Parts of the bed may have been reworked and used as a
canopy in the coronation ceremony. See Setterwall, ‘Gustav II Adolfs kröningshimmel’, pp. 60, 63, 67–68.
116
The composition of this vestment is consistent with this description, and it is also recorded in the king’s wardrobe
inventory of 1566. Klädinventarium Erik XIV, Stockholms slott 1566, KoFPEE 5:12, SLA. This inventory claims the cope
had been made in England. However, this is probably a misconception, due to the acquisition being made in connection
with the large commissions in London. The clasp on the cope has an embroidered coat of arms for a bishop of unknown
origin, suggesting that the cope was originally commissioned by someone else. The pearls originally included in the
embroidery were later stripped off.
117
The mantle is of purple velvet covered with 454 embroidered crowns. Royal Armoury, Stockholm (nnr 25940).
The embroiderer Påwel Thurolt, working in Stockholm, received materials for the coronation. M. Mårtenssons leverans
och utgift på sidentyg, Klk A 27:5, fols 12v–13. Another version of the same account specifies work on embroidered
crowns.  M. Mårtenssons leverans och utgift på sidentyg, 28 March 1561, Klk A 27:4, fol. 17v, SLA; G. Ekstrand,
Kröningsdräkter i Sverige (Borås: Carlssons, 1991), pp. 15–19.
118
See, for example, M. Mårtenssons uppbörd och utgift, 23 January, 7 November, 8 and 22 December 1562, Klk
A:29:8; M. Mårtenssons uppbörd och utgift, 31 March 1563, Klk A 29:6, SLA.
119
Husgerådsinventarium 1561, KoFPEE 4:4; Erik Gregerssons räkenskap på husgeråd 1567, KoFPEE 4:9, SLA.
120
Candréus, En svensk verkstad för utländska lyxvaror, pp. 614–17. Parts of the royal archives were lost in the
palace fire of 1697.

230
 Cecilia Candréus
121
L. Lukasson to Erik XIV, 4 April 1561, Dipl.Angl. 514, RA. A group of English tailors’ apprentices were registered
in the Swedish wage accounts in 1561–1562: ten were paid for six weeks in July 1561, then further payments to three
persons in August, while in April 1562 eight persons were paid for twenty weeks’ work. Till månadspeng, Joen Erikssons
leverans 61, RKB 39:2; Allehanda årslön, Joen Erssons utgift 1562, RKB 40:2, RA.
122
L. Lukassons räkenskap för uppbörd och utgift i London 1560–1561, Klk A:26:9, fol. 54v, SLA, ‘bure dem Vnder
theris kiortlar’.
123
The word ‘posament’ is difficult to determine and would have been used to describe a number of different
techniques. The addition of the word see-through (genomsiktig) when describing some of the passement (posament) in
the accounts suggests that it was bobbin-made. L. Dahrén, Med kant av guld och silver: En studie av knypplade bårder
och uddar av metall 1550–1640 (Uppsala: Department of Art History, Uppsala University, 2010), pp. 39–47, 131–51.
124
L. Lukassons utgifter på sidentyg m.m. 1560–1561, Klk A:26:10, SLA.
125
Paid on 5 June 1559, Uti England pro anno 1559, D. Beurræus räkenskap 1557–1561, Dipl.räk. 4:3, RA. ‘Betaltt
för then redskap som paßementh makarene fördhe medh sigh till Suerie.’
126
Till arbetslön anno 1561, RKB 39:2, fol. 127, RA. ‘Instrument till att giöre gyllene paßementh till kong e Mattz
behoff för 6 mark.’
127
L. Lukasson to Erik XIV, 13 January 1561, Dipl.Angl. 514, RA; Setterwall, ‘Gustav II Adolfs kröningshimmel’.
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128
L. Lukasson to A. Trolle, 13 January 1561, Dipl.Angl. 514, RA, ‘och leth them ssee H:K:N: ståtelie Kleder den
fiolebrun medh the Eddle stener och ten rödhe med gull Kantilier theslikes de twå hattar och bonetth som bleue köpt
aff Frans Bertÿ och de sprickwordh och snart sagt alt ther här är’.
129
Andersson, Erik XIV:s engelska underhandlingar, pp. 42–43.
130
L. Lukasson to A. Trolle, 13 January 1561, Dipl.Angl. 514, RA.

Cecilia Candréus, PhD, is a researcher in Textile Studies at Uppsala University, Sweden.

With long experience in working with Renaissance and Baroque textiles, she has a particular
interest for embroidered objects used in a ceremonial and ecclesiastical context. Her recent
publications deal with the use of textiles as manifestations of power and social rank within
both a royal and a noble context. Her current research focus is on the working conditions
of the early modern artisan, with special regard to geographical mobility, institutional
networks and craft tradition.

Appendix 1

A compilation of different currencies based on exchange rates included in Förklaring på åtskilliga mynt
i främmande landskap, D. Beurræus räkenskap 1561, Dipl.räk. 4:4, RA; Lars Knutssons räkenskap för
hertig Johans resa till England 1559, Dipl.räk. 3:2, RA; L. O. Lagerqvist, Vad kostade det? Priser och
löner från medeltid till våra dagar (Lund: Historiska media i samarbete med Kungl. Myntkabinettet,
2011), p. 109.
1 pound sterling (£) = 20 shillings (s) = 240 pence (d) 1 shilling = 12 pence
1 pound sterling = 4½ Swedish daler 1 Swedish daler = 4 Swedish marks
1 Swedish daler = 4½ shillings
1 Antwerp thaler = 5 shillings

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 Embroidery as a Means of Diplomacy
Appendix 2
Wages for royal embroiderers in the register for yearly appointments, Sweden 1560–1561. Beställnings-
och underhållsregister 1560–1561, StRoH 51, RA.

Wages in Approximate equiva- Other forms of wages Name

Swedish marks lent in pounds sterling
400 marks £22 Victuals, one set of clothing and The embroiderer
free housing Claes (Hess)
500 marks £28 Victuals and one set of clothing Påwel Turolt
400 marks £22 Victuals and one set of clothing Thomas Trahanns
400 marks £22 Victuals and one set of clothing Hugo Pellert
400 marks £22 Victuals and one set of clothing Kilian Brawelle
200 marks £11 Victuals and one set of clothing Jahan Gaulart
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200 marks £11 Victuals and one set of clothing Willam Jönsson
200 marks £11 Victuals and one set of clothing Johan Brandeburg
200 marks £11 Victuals and one set of clothing Niclas Man
170 marks £9½ Victuals and one set of clothing The embroiderer
Mårthen
160 marks £9 Victuals and one set of clothing Claes Pullmeÿer
80 marks £4½ Victuals and one set of clothing Per Silwastsson

Appendix 3

Wages recorded in the attendance record for embroiderers at the Royal Palace, Stockholm, 1562. Reg.
på ämbetsmän 1562, SoG:Sthlm 22, RA.

Total value of wages Approximate equiva- Specified form of Name

in Swedish marks lent in pounds sterling ­employment
645½ marks £36 yearly appointment Gilliam Beualertt
645½ marks £36 yearly appointment Hugo Pilett
501 marks £28 yearly appointment Niclas Maan
358 marks £20 yearly appointment William Jönsson
358 marks £20 yearly appointment Johann Gaulart
290 marks £16 yearly appointment Morthenn
230 marks £13 wages, clothing and Peder Silvestersson
meals at court
190 marks £10½ wages, clothing and Christoffer Håkansson
meals at court
150 marks £8½ wages, clothing and Erik Pedersson
meals at court

232