Hampton Court ... Illustrated with forty-three drawings by Herbert ...

JAMES I. 69
and say little of religion to her court. James I. was a
theologian, and he delighted in discussion. Thus the
Palace saw the famous Conference, and many another
wrangle of divines. And, no less than theology, the
King enjoyed hunting, and the paths by the Thamesside
resounded with the horn.
The coming of Christian IV., his wife's brother, a
tall, coarse-looking, bloated man, as he may be seen in
Vansomer's large portrait now in the Palace, was an
excuse for more revelry; and so again the visit of the
Duke of Lorraine'ssonin 1606, with hunting, hawking,
feasting, and the dancing of the " carrante " and the
galliard. Otto of Hessen and Ernest of Saxe-Weimar
were two other princely visitors, and they were as
royally received.
Reminiscences of these days are preserved at the
Palace in the curious picture of Henry, Prince of
Wales, a big boy in green hunting - dress with an
elaborate collar, and the young Earl of Essex; and in
the portraits by Vansomer of the King in black and
in his royal robes, and of Anne of Denmark, one
" in her hunting habit, with a horse and a blackmoor,
and some five little dogs." Henry's quaint,
prim figure is the most interesting of the three. He
was not unlike his brother, and with a touch of his
father too.
The Queen died at Hampton Court on March 2,
1619, and little of importance occurred there afterwards,though
James still drank and hunted and feasted
as of old.