The Master of the Revels was the holder of a position within the English, and later the British, royal household, heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels". Originally he was responsible for overseeing royal festivities, known as revels, and he later also became responsible for stage censorship, until this function was transferred to the Lord Chamberlain in 1624. However it seems the Master of the Revels, who normally reported to the Lord Chamberlain in any event, continued to perform the function on behalf of his superior until the English Civil War closed the London theatres in 1642. The office continued almost until the end of the 18th century, although with rather reduced status.
Read more about Master Of The Revels: History, The Revels Office, List of Masters of The Revels
Famous quotes containing the words master of, master and/or revels:
“A penniless man who has no ties to bind him is master of himself at any rate, but a luckless wretch who is in love no longer belongs to himself, and may not take his own life. Love makes us almost sacred in our own eyes; it is the life of another that we revere within us; then and so begins for us the cruelest trouble of all.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“I marvel thy master hath not eaten thee for a word, for thou art not so long by the head as honorificabilitudinitatibus.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Luxury spreads its ample board before their eyes; but they are excluded from the banquet. Plenty revels over the fields; but they are starving in the midst of its abundance: the whole wilderness has blossomed into a garden; but they feel as reptiles that infest it.”
—Washington Irving (1783–1859)