Somerset House

Somerset House (labelled as Somerſet Palace on the Agas map) was a significant site for royalty in early modern London. Erected in 1550 on The Strand between Ivy Bridge Lane and Strand Lane, it was built for Lord Protector Somerset and was was England’s first Renaissance palace.
After the execution of Somerset in 1552, the house was given to Elizabeth I before her ascension, and was used by both herself and foreign ambassadors. In 1603 Somerset House belonged to Anne of Denmark and during this time the house served as the setting for courtly masques put on by Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones. Not only a place for celebration, Somerset House hosted the funeral for Oliver Cromwell in 1658 within its chapel. (Weinreb and Hibbert 849).
Two name changes have occured during the life of Somerset House. In 1606 the house was renamed to Denmark House in honour of Anne of Denmark’s brother, Christian IV of Denmark. After parliament claimed ownership of the house in 1645, the original name of the house was reinstated and has been maintained into present day (849). It is now a centre for arts and culture in London; for more information, see the Somerset House website.

Cite this page

MLA citation

Duncan, Catriona. Somerset House. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 6.6, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 30 Jun. 2021, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/SOME1.htm.

Chicago citation

Duncan, Catriona. Somerset House. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 6.6. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Victoria: University of Victoria. Accessed June 30, 2021. mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/SOME1.htm.

APA citation

Duncan, C. 2021. Somerset House. In J. Jenstad (Ed), The Map of Early Modern London (Edition 6.6). Victoria: University of Victoria. Retrieved from https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/editions/6.6/SOME1.htm.

RIS file (for RefMan, RefWorks, EndNote etc.)

Provider: University of Victoria
Database: The Map of Early Modern London
Content: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

TY  - ELEC
A1  - Duncan, Catriona
ED  - Jenstad, Janelle
T1  - Somerset House
T2  - The Map of Early Modern London
ET  - 6.6
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/06/30
CY  - Victoria
PB  - University of Victoria
LA  - English
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/SOME1.htm
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/xml/standalone/SOME1.xml
ER  - 

TEI citation

<bibl type="mla"><author><name ref="#DUNC3"><surname>Duncan</surname>, <forename>Catriona</forename></name></author>. <title level="a">Somerset House</title>. <title level="m">The Map of Early Modern London</title>, Edition <edition>6.6</edition>, edited by <editor><name ref="#JENS1"><forename>Janelle</forename> <surname>Jenstad</surname></name></editor>, <publisher>U of Victoria</publisher>, <date when="2021-06-30">30 Jun. 2021</date>, <ref target="https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/SOME1.htm">mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/SOME1.htm</ref>.</bibl>

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