4 - Fatal and Near-Fatal Attractions
Summary
The Virginian woman Pocahontas, with her father counselor hath been with the King and graciously used, and both she and her assistant well placed at the masque. She is on her return (though sore against her will) if the wind would come to send them away.
John Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, 18 January 1616/17Here is a fine picture of no fair Lady and yet with her tricking up and high style and title you might think her and her worshipful husband to be somebody, if you do not know that the poor company of Virginia out of their poverty are fain to allow her four pounds a week for her maintenance.
John Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, 22 February 1616/17As Chamberlain, the prolific news-monger of Jacobean England, noted, Pocahontas and her ‘assistant’, Rolfe attended the Twelfth Night masque, A Vision of Desire, produced by the popular team of Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones for the Christmas season of 1616–17. Their appearance at court, accompanied by the once and future governor of Virginia, Lord de la Ware, and his wife, constituted a key item in the tour that was designed to bring renewed (positive) attention to English America and to convince people to invest their persons and their money in the Virginia Company's venture. Indeed, 6 January 1616/17 proved to be a highly significant date in the history of Jacobean England and its empire, although none of the historical actors concerned derived much joy in the end from the turn of events: for them, the results should be filed under ‘be careful what you wish for’ or ‘the best laid plans oft go astray’. Notwithstanding, their activity secured the English toehold in North America and, by extension, the early modern English Empire.
This appearance of the ‘Virginia woman’ and ‘her worshipful husband’ at court signalled a new sense of purpose within the Virginia Company.
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- The English Empire in America, 1602–1658Beyond Jamestown, pp. 73 - 92Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014