The Early Grand Tour, By Sarah Powell

A distinctly romantic aura surrounds the Grand Tour, that once traditional rite of passage into cultured adulthood. Travel in continental Europe, it was hoped, would broaden the mind, enthuse the spirit, and inspire the senses... This it frequently did, even though the journey itself was distinctly uncomfortable and sometimes hazardous, and foreign ways and food were certainly not to the taste of all. Some doubtless would even have shared George VI's considered view that "abroad is bloody", their cultural baggage being transported along with the rest. Others found the allure of the continent so tantalising that they visited more than once; yet others even settled abroad permanently.

As early as the reign of Elizabeth I the benefits of European travel and extended séjours abroad were recognised. However, these were seen more in terms of an information-gathering exercise and a grounding in diplomacy for the benefit of the nation than as a general cultural experience; the term Grand Tour was not coined until the mid-seventeenth century. Sir Philip Sidney (see de l'Isle in Burke's Peerage), described in Encyclopaedia Britannica as "the finest English example of the Renaissance ideal of the perfect gentleman", was probably one of the first young Englishmen to embark on a "diplomatic" Grand Tour.

In 1572 Queen Elizabeth granted Sidney a licence to travel for two years to learn foreign languages. His travels took him to Paris, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Vienna, and then on to Venice where his portrait was painted by Paolo Veronese. Christopher Hibbert relates that the young man had with him a "bearleader" or travelling tutor, three servants and four horses. During his travels he studied languages and learned much about the workings of foreign courts. In 1577 this celebrated "soldier, statesman, courtier, poet and patron of scholars and poets", became the English ambassador to Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor. He was knighted in 1583 but died in 1586, aged just 32.

Sir Philip and those who followed in his wake in journeying through Europe were expected to gain as much knowledge as they could about the history, geography, politics, economics, social conditions and general culture of the countries they visited. They were, however, also expected to be wary of undesirable foreign influences which ranged from loose women to Catholicism…

Read the full article in ATAVUS Issue One 2003.

Burke's Peerage and Gentry's guide to Royalty