As simon adams warns his readers in an article on the court in The Spenser Encyclopedia, ‘neither Spenser's experience of, nor his attitude towards, the court is easy to establish’. It is not just that it is difficult to be certain of what personal knowledge Spenser had of the court: Adams also reminds us of recent critical opinion that ‘an overly literal interpretation of allusions to persons and events in his work’ is dangerous. On the other hand, several episodes in The Faerie Queene take place inside discernibly courtly locations. Redcrosse and Duessa encounter Lucifera inside the chambers of the House of Pride (I.iv); Una and Redcrosse enter the ‘Hall’ of the House of Holiness (I.x) and return to the palace of her parents after Redcrosse has killed the dragon (I.xii); Arthur, Artegall, and Talus are received at Mercilla's court, where they witness the trial of Duessa (V.ix). What is common to a number of these episodes is reference to the term ‘presence’: many take place either in a presence chamber, or in the presence of a monarchical figure. In the House of Pride, Redcrosse and Duessa ‘to the Presence mount’ (I.iv.7.2), and in Mercilla's court, Artegall and his companions are ‘guyded by degree | Vnto the presence of that gratious Queene’ (V.ix.27.1–2).

The task of this chapter, in large part, is to examine these courtly episodes in the context of contemporary court culture, and more particularly contemporary courtly space (insofar as the relation between space and culture was discussed in Chapter 2 above).