The REED London project aims to assist researchers and students in engaging with the City’s complex pre-modern identity by weaving together consideration of historical moments with contemporary documentary materials related to the business of performance in London between 1200-1650. Many of these excerpted texts – from eyewitness descriptions to civic contractual and and financial records to legal proceedings – present performance of different kinds as implicit and expected everyday aspects of larger societal experiences of London-based people and organizations.
What makes REED London valuable is that it bridges the gap between large-scale historical narratives and people’s day-to-day experiences. Even consequential political events such as royal ascensions and weddings, holiday celebrations, and even corporal punishments seamlessly integrated drama, music, dance, and entertainments that were not only observed but performed by and paid for by Londoners.
The REED London Online project showcases performance events in early modern London centered around notable royal women. The REED London website allows users to examine these performance events through collections of archival materials as well as interactive story maps. The events highlighted on this website span over a century of early modern London history: the Royal Entry of Katherine of Aragon in 1501; the events surrounding the Coronation of Elizabeth I in 1558/9; and the Wedding Performances for Princess Elizabeth Stuart. For each of these events, we demonstrate the relationship between Worshipful Companies, legal fraternities, aristocracy, and religious officials in the development and enactment of early modern performance. We also use historical GIS to depict the interactions of these groups of people with the space of early modern London. Through this project, we hope to offer new ways of reading and experiencing performance history in early modern London.
Work on REED London has been supported by the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Bucknell University, the Records of Early English Drama, the Fulbright Canada Program, the Cultural Writing Research Collaboratory, and the work of many researchers and students.

