Aura Soltana

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Portrait of an unknown woman in masque costume, associated with Aura Soltana, 1590s, RCT

Aura Soltana, also known as Ipolitan the Tartarian or Ipolita or Ippolyta (fl. 1569), was a Tartar woman at the court of Elizabeth I after arriving from Russia to England, apparently as a slave.[1][2]

Archival records

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The sailor Anthony Jenkinson brought a young woman or child from Russia to England, who joined the court of Queen Elizabeth. She became known as "Ippolyta" or "Ipolitan the Tartarian."[3]

In September 1559, Jenkinson wrote a letter in Moscow to a trading colleague thanking him for "my wench Aura Soltana".[4] Richard Hakluyt identified this woman as "a young Tartar whiche he gave to the Queen afterward".[5] Jenkinson wrote that the "price of a Nagayan Tartar slave" in Astrakhan was "a loaf of bread worth sixpence in England".[6]

Subsequent records of the Elizabethan court mention "Ipolitan the Tartarian",[7] who is identified by Bernadette Andrea and other scholars as the same person. From these sources, her identity seems to be formed and connected with international trade and the Muscovy Company, with the exchange of eastern silks and Russian furs.[8]

She was christened on 13 July 1561 and the Queen gave her a gold chain and a gold tablet or locket.[9] The gifts were made to "Ipolitan the Tartarian".[10] There is no other evidence that Elizabeth was her godmother. In 1564 she was given livery clothes, listed in detail.[11]

A pewter metal doll was bought for her to play with in 1562, and she was given gifts of lavish clothing, and some of the queen's old clothes. The doll, provided by a silkwoman, Alice Montague, was given to Kat Ashley suggesting that Ashley (who was probably acting as the Mother of the Maids) looked after Aura Soltana.[12] Farthingale pins were bought for her, possibly suggesting her costume at court was much the same as other young women.[13][14]

Several pairs of shoes were made by Garret Johnson for Aura Soltana, possibly indicating she was still growing. These included leather shoes, some made of Spanish leather, leather "pantobles", and velvet shoes and pantobles. As Elizabeth's own shoes recorded before this time were all made of velvet, the costume historian Janet Arnold suggested that the queen copied a fashion introduced by Ippolyta and bought Spanish leather shoes.[15]

One of the latest records of Aura or Ipolyta at court was an order for the skinner Adam Bland to provide rabbit fur to her damask cloak in 1569.[16]

Costume in 1561 and 1564

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In May 1561 Elizabeth gave clothes to a "Tartarian woman", possibly Aura/Ippolyta or a companion. These included two loose gowns of black taffeta, a French kirtle of russet satin, and another French kirtle of black satin. The clothes had been made for the queen and discarded as gifts, a regular practice of the time.[17]

The clothes given to "Ipolita the Tartarian" in June 1564 were specified in a warrant and most were listed again in a second document with prices. The cost of the clothes may be compared with the annual fees paid to aristocratic courtiers.[18] The inclusion of imported materials connects her to the global exchange of luxury goods, and is a reminder of Jenkinson's role in the Persian silk trade.[19] The garments specified and the fabrics are not unusual among the records of Elizabeth's wardrobe. The items were:[20]

  • A gown and a kirtle, of damask edged with velvet, lined with cotton fustian and linen
  • A gown and kirtle of grosgrain chamlet edged with velvet
  • A gown of cloth; a kirtle of grosgrain
  • A petticoat of red cloth or grosgrain
  • A farthingale of mockado
  • 6 canvas smocks with Holland linen sleeves; 6 kerchiefs; 6 partlets with bands and ruffs; 4 pairs of Holland linen sleeves
  • Half a pound of "systers" thread for making the smocks and kerchiefs
  • 6 ounces of Granada silk thread to embroider the partlets and sleeves
  • 5 ounces of Venice gold thread for other embroidery
  • A "clout" of Spanish needles. The "clout" was a cloth to which needles were pinned.
  • A scarf of sarcenet
  • A velvet hat
  • 2 cauls of gold, silver, and silk, costing £4.

References

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  1. ^ Amy Licence, The Sixteenth Century in 100 Women (Pen & Sword, 2023), p. 179.
  2. ^ Gilleir, Anke; Montoya, Alicia A.; Dijk, Suzanna van (2010). Women Writing Back / Writing Women Back: Transnational Perspectives from the Late Middle Ages to the Dawn of the Modern Era. BRILL. p. 265. ISBN 978-90-04-18463-3. With only a fleeting reference in the accounts of English men who traveled through Russia,... how might we trace the resonance of this Tartar girl...
  3. ^ Bernadette Andrea, 'Ippolyta the Tartarian', Carole Levin, Anna Riehl Bertolet, Jo Eldridge Carney, eds, A Biographical Encyclopedia of Early Modern Englishwomen (Routledge, 2017), pp. 512-3.
  4. ^ Ladan Niayesh, 'Patterning the Tatar Girl in George Puttenham's The Art of English Poesie', Jyotsna G. Singh, A Companion to the Global Renaissance: Literature and Culture in the Era of Expansion, 1500-1700 (John Wiley, 2021), p. 378.
  5. ^ E. Delmar Morgan & C. H. Coote, Early Voyages to Russia and Persia: The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques & Discoveries of the English Nation: Made by Sea Or Over-land to the Remote and Farthest Distant Quarters of the Earth at Any Time Within the Compasse of These 1600 Yeeres, vol. 1, p. 109
  6. ^ Bernadette Andrea, 'The Tartar Girl, The Persian Princess, And Early Modern English Women's Authorship From Elizabeth I To Mary Wroth', Anke Gilleir, Alicia Montoya, Suzan van Dijk, Women Writing Back / Writing Women Back: Transnational Perspectives from the Late Middle Ages to the Dawn of the Modern Era (Brill, 2010), p. 264.
  7. ^ Elaine Kruse, 'A Network of Honour and Obligation: Elizabeth as Godmother', Anna Riehl Bertolet, Queens Matter in Early Modern Studies (Palgrave Macmillan), p. 190.
  8. ^ Ladan Niayesh, 'Patterning the Tatar Girl in George Puttenham's The Art of English Poesie', Jyotsna G. Singh, A Companion to the Global Renaissance: Literature and Culture in the Era of Expansion, 1500-1700 (John Wiley, 2021), p. 379.
  9. ^ Elaine Kruse, "A Network of Honor and Obligation", Anna Riehl Bertolet, Queens Matter in Early Modern Studies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), p. 190.
  10. ^ John Nichols, Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. 1 (London, 1823), p. 129
  11. ^ Elaine Kruse, 'A Network of Honour and Obligation: Elizabeth of Godmother', Anna Riehl Bertolet, Queens Matter in Early Modern Studies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), p. 190.
  12. ^ Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Leeds, 1988), p. 107: 'Copy of an Original Order of Queen Elizabeth', Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle, 24 (London, 1754), p. 163: Bernadette Andrea, 'Ippolyta the Tartarian', Carole Levin, Anna Riehl Bertolet, Jo Eldridge Carney, eds, A Biographical Encyclopedia of Early Modern Englishwomen (Routledge, 2017), pp. 512-3.
  13. ^ Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Maney, 1988), pp. 218-9.
  14. ^ Sarah A. Bendall, 'Whalebone and the Wardrobe of Elizabeth I: Whaling and the Making of Aristocratic Fashions in Sixteenth Century Europe', Apparence(s), 11 (2022). doi:10.4000/apparences.3653
  15. ^ Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Maney, 1988), pp. 212-4.
  16. ^ Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Maney, 1988), p. 107.
  17. ^ 'Copy of an Original Order of Queen Elizabeth', Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle, 24 (London, 1754), p. 163 and, 'Queen Elizabeth's old cloathes distributed', 76:1 (June 1806), p. 518. This record has been printed many times, the date printed is May, 3rd year of Elizabeth's reign.
  18. ^ Ann Rosalind Jones & Peter Stallybrass, Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory (Cambridge, 2000), p. 18.
  19. ^ Bernadette Andrea, The Lives of Girls and Women from the Islamic World in Early Modern British Literature and Culture (Toronto, 2017), pp. 47-48.
  20. ^ Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Maney, 1988), p. 107 spelling modernised here.
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