LKvM ... how do we know the fight was an all-Catholic affair?
Yes, the Butler family was Catholic, but James Butler, then Viscount Thurmond, had been removed from that environment in about 1620 by King James I, and brought up a Protestant, to which religion he adhered for the rest of his life. No mention of the other young men in the family, so I can't speak to Capt. Francis Bromwich. http://www.historyireland.com/ear…
According to this article, the Commonwealth (before Pepys' time) made a significant investment in the development of Plymouth as a Naval victualling and trading base:
"Archaeologists are beginning a major investigation that could reveal early evidence of Plymouth’s status as an epicenter of global trade. "Experts from the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Archaeology Society will be carrying out excavations on part of the earliest victualling yard for the Royal Navy in Plymouth, sited at Commercial Wharf to the south of the Barbican. "The area was used for nearly 200 years to supply the Navy with bread, biscuits and beef until those operations moved to Royal William Yard in the 19th century.
"Conservation work on the quay wall at Commercial Wharf has revealed important 17th century material. This has included pottery and clay pipes dating to the second half of the 17th century from Italy, Iberia, France, Holland and the Rhineland, as well as English pottery from North Devon and Somerset. Archaeologists have also found tableware, jars, a candlestick and a strange unglazed shard that was probably part of a Spanish wine amphora or olive oil jar, never before seen in Plymouth. "They hope to uncover more such items with the possibility of finding earlier items from around the time of the Mayflower’s departure from Plymouth.
'University of Plymouth maritime archaeologist Martin Read said: “Plymouth has always had a much higher proportion of imported pottery from southern Europe and the Mediterranean than elsewhere. It was probably brought back by fishermen after selling their salted cod, with something like 40% of the ceramics recovered in Plymouth from this time having been imported. This is an exciting opportunity to examine part of an early victualling yard. There are very few of these sites that have not been later redeveloped and built over, so the area is of international importance.”'
Archduchess Margaret of Austria (1480 - 1530), Regent and Governor of Habsburg Netherlands, died when one of her maids broke a glass goblet, and a splinter of glass went into her foot and became gangrenous. She agreed to have her foot amputated, and but died before the operation, apparently from an overdose of opium that the doctors gave her in preparation for the amputation.
(Margaret was the daughter of a Holy Roman Emperor, and she ran the Court where Anne Boleyn grew up ... which was "progressive". I have no answer for this conundrum.)
“Hark the foe is calling. Fast the wood are falling; Scenes and sights appalling. Mark the wasted soil. War and confiscation. Curse the fallen nation. Gloom and desolation. Shade the lost land o’er.” -- Furlong, by John O’Dwyer
Henry VII replied that he was a new King and was in no position to order the alum be turned over to the Pope without due process. Precisely what issue was referred to is not clear.
However, Henry VII went on to arranged his own illicit alum trade while he vigorously prosecuted the incursions of others upon the Pope’s monopoly by confiscating the cargoes to the Holy See. This kept the price gratifyingly high for his own trade.
A March 19, 1489 letter from Malvezzi to His Holiness informs him that the alum matter was still in litigation.
As for the collection for the crusade: “In this kingdom, which in Italy is supposed to be full of gold and silver, I have seen nothing of the sort as yet; nay, I am told this jubilee will not yield 20,000 ducats, which seems incredible; and they assert that in the time of Pope Sixtus, in the year of the jubilee they got but 18,000 ducats.” (b)
(b) Calendar of English Affairs, Venice, 179. 551. Persio Malvezzi to Pope Innocent VIII. From London, 19 March, 1488 [O.S.]. Original in Latin.
Ah, the Wars of the Roses. Won't go there ... you think the Civil Wars were confusing?
Our Henry VII Wiki page devotes a section to alum, the magic ingredient to make fabric dyes permanent.
In 1461 the Pope’s godson, Giovanni da Castro, discovered huge deposits of it in the Tolfa mountains near Rome. Until then, the only known sources for alum were in Egypt and Syria, under control of the Ottoman Turks.
Their monopoly created great frustration for the wealthy in Western Europe. Alum fixes dyes in nearly all fabrics, and the Turks, controlling the only supply, charged exorbitant prices, making colorfast clothing rare and expensive.
Once it became known that alum could be found in places with volcanic histories many new deposits were found. In order to protect its new-found source of wealth, the Pope quickly declared alum a monopoly. Anyone who supplied or acquired alum from anywhere other than the Tolfa mines was excommunicated. This safeguarded the Papal income.
In February, 1486, a letter to the Pope with an illegible signature, explains something of the illicit trade that developed for the textile mills of Flanders, and the reaction of Henry VII’s government:
“… understanding that a Spanish ship with alum from Piombino was on its voyage to Flanders, made an agreement with English mariners for the capture of the ship, because it carried alum confiscated to the Apostolic treasury. The mariners thus engaged attacked the Spaniard not far from England, both parties fighting for a long while and many being killed and wounded. At length the English mariners who upheld the interests of Christ's Vicar were victorious, and took the captured ship into port in England.”
Gio. Ambrosio maintained, exhibiting a bull of Pope Sixtus, whereby all purchasers and exporters of alum from Piombino are “… excommunicated and heretics, that the Florentine should not be listened to, as he was excommunicated. In virtue of this, and by many arguments, Gio. Ambrosio showed that the alum was forfeited to the Apostolic treasury.”
“Whilst the alum was thus under sequestration, and the litigants at daily strife for superiority, I came to London and stated to the King that the alum of Piombino belonged to your Holiness, and how insolently and iniquitously the Lord of Piombino had behaved against the Apostolic see. … Throughout his reply he ever expressed himself animated by the desire to favour the Apostolic see, but said he was new in the kingdom, which is governed by its own and ancient laws, and that he could neither oppose, infringe, nor abrogate.(a)
(a) Calendar of English Affairs, Venice, 160-1. 509. [Illegible] to Pope Innocent VIII. From London, 19 February, 1486. Original in Latin.
This article gives a description of Isaac Newton's life at Trinity College, Cambridge, and a bit more info on John Wickins, with a shout-out to Pepys and the Royal Society circa 1685.
Genius is frequently difficult to accommodate. Our thanks to Trinity College, Cambridge for giving this genius a safe place to think for so many years, even if no one was interested in his lectures. (Students are requently dumb!) https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/new…
Nell Gwyn sat in the box next to the Pepys. She and an actor were talking and laughing at people in the theater, which must have prevented the Pepys from hearing the dialog, while noting their enjoyment and merriment.
I read jade and slut as being affectionate comments on Nell's bad teenage behavior.
For much of the Diary, Isaac Newton lived at Trinity College, Cambridge. I understand he went home for about two years during the plague, which makes me question the following nugget:
"John Wickins was Isaac Newton's assistant as well as his friend, and the pair shared rooms at Trinity College from 1665 until 1683."
Wickins later transcribed and published Newton's letters, and the originals then disappeared. In 2022 a copy of the book was added to Newton's archives.
Today's History Quiz says the original ketchup was nothing like the sweet tomatoey concoction we know today.
Ketchup (AKA “catsup”) is an Asian invention (the name derives from the Chinese word ke-tsiap, meaning fish sauce) and began as a pickled fish sauce used to season dishes hundreds of years ago (it tasted more like Worcester[shire] sauce).
In the 17th century, British sailors adapted the sauce and began to make it out of mushrooms.
Tomatoes were added by North Americans around 1801.
According to today's History Quiz, we have the Dutch to thank for the orange carrots we eat. Prior to the 16th century carrots were mostly purple, with some natural mutations resulting in occasional yellow or white variations. The Dutch took these mutated carrots and bred them together to create the orange variant we enjoy.
Twelfth Night, the end of the Christmas and New Year's festivities, falls on January 6.
January 7 marks the start of the Epiphany, and a return to work ... but of course not everyone was happy about that, especially the men who worked the soggy, frozen land.
Many women, especially unmarried women, toiled indoors at their spinning wheels, making cloth. So synonymous was spinning with single women that it spawned the word spinster.
These working women dutifully returned to work on January 7, which became known as St. Distaff’s Day.
But there is no Saint named Distaff.
The distaff was an important tool used in the first process of making cloth. It is used during the spinning of wool or flax into thread. The distraff is used to hold the wool or flax so that the spinner can easily reach it or keep it out of the way as they spin the thread. The distaff is often tucked into the waistband, leaving both hands free, or it can be worn like a ring on the finger. The "canonisation" of the distaff shows the importance of the tool, and of how important their job was, and thus the meaning of this return to work day.
To the still idle men who wanted the fun and games to continue, St. Distaff’s Day provided an opportunity for further (probably drunken) fun.
In 1648 the Devonshire poet and country cleric, Robert Herrick, included in his "Hesperides" a short poem, 'Saint Distaff’s Day or the Morrow After Twelfth Day' in which he described the reception that the returning spinners could face;
‘If the maides a spinning-goe burn the flax and fire the tow: scorch their plackets, but beware that ye singe no maiden-haire’.
So St. Distaff’s Day could be another day for male mischief making. It's tempting to think the spinsters, trying to save their precious handiwork from the flames, would also throw some cold buckets of water over their tormentors to sober them up.
Wikipedia tells me "On 4 June 1668, Tangier was declared a free city by charter, with a mayor and corporation to govern it instead of the army. The charter made it equal to English towns." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eng…
"I did receive an instance of the Duke of York’s kindness to me, and the whole Committee, that they would not order any thing about the Treasurer for the Corporation now in establishing, without my assent, and considering whether it would be to my wrong or no."
Wikipedia tells me "On 4 June 1668, Tangier was declared a free city by charter, with a mayor and corporation to govern it instead of the army. The charter made it equal to English towns." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eng… This explains the accounts for the "Corporation now in establishing"; they must be in the process of handing over management to the new entity.
I thought Pepys was the Treasurer for the Tangier Committee: our Encyclopedia says, "Pepys took over this role from Thomas Povy in March 1665 after Povy was unable to keep his accounts in order."
So James has told the Committee they can't ask for any paperwork from Pepys without Pepys agreeing they need it, because it might be "to his wrong" for him to produce it??? I recall him being worried that they might find some dodgy Tangier bookkeeping to his benefit some months ago. But this is outrageous if my memory and interpretation are correct.
According to this blog, Aldgate was demolished in 1617 ... plus there are pictures of what all the gates looked like. Some were really beautiful, but restricted traffic badly. https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022…
Welcome, Mary, and Pepys will help you along better in 2022 than you can guess now. If nothing else, you will find out how much you love the internet and the telephone. I envy Pepys his wide circle of friends and acquaintences; we have swapped convenience for intimacy, and I suspect we are the losers.
Gresham College's free one hour lectures are all available on line. In March 2022 there will be a new one: "What was life like in 1649-1660, Britain's only decade as a republic?
"This lecture explores the immense changes of the period through the personal experiences of prominent figures. It argues that, despite the failure of the republican project and the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, the decade forged the British Isles and created the conditions for the commercial and colonial prosperity of the centuries that followed." https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lecture…
I wonder what Pepys called this decade? The time of Oliver? The Uprising?
Gresham College is offering a free one hour lecture about James VI and I's foreign policy ... available, as all their lectures are, on line afterwards https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lecture…
Comments
Second Reading
About Monday 11 January 1668/69
San Diego Sarah • Link
LKvM ... how do we know the fight was an all-Catholic affair?
Yes, the Butler family was Catholic, but James Butler, then Viscount Thurmond, had been removed from that environment in about 1620 by King James I, and brought up a Protestant, to which religion he adhered for the rest of his life. No mention of the other young men in the family, so I can't speak to Capt. Francis Bromwich.
http://www.historyireland.com/ear…
About Plymouth
San Diego Sarah • Link
According to this article, the Commonwealth (before Pepys' time) made a significant investment in the development of Plymouth as a Naval victualling and trading base:
"Archaeologists are beginning a major investigation that could reveal early evidence of Plymouth’s status as an epicenter of global trade.
"Experts from the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Archaeology Society will be carrying out excavations on part of the earliest victualling yard for the Royal Navy in Plymouth, sited at Commercial Wharf to the south of the Barbican.
"The area was used for nearly 200 years to supply the Navy with bread, biscuits and beef until those operations moved to Royal William Yard in the 19th century.
"Conservation work on the quay wall at Commercial Wharf has revealed important 17th century material. This has included pottery and clay pipes dating to the second half of the 17th century from Italy, Iberia, France, Holland and the Rhineland, as well as English pottery from North Devon and Somerset.
Archaeologists have also found tableware, jars, a candlestick and a strange unglazed shard that was probably part of a Spanish wine amphora or olive oil jar, never before seen in Plymouth.
"They hope to uncover more such items with the possibility of finding earlier items from around the time of the Mayflower’s departure from Plymouth.
'University of Plymouth maritime archaeologist Martin Read said: “Plymouth has always had a much higher proportion of imported pottery from southern Europe and the Mediterranean than elsewhere. It was probably brought back by fishermen after selling their salted cod, with something like 40% of the ceramics recovered in Plymouth from this time having been imported. This is an exciting opportunity to examine part of an early victualling yard. There are very few of these sites that have not been later redeveloped and built over, so the area is of international importance.”'
For photos of the pottery and more info., but sadly none of the 17th century buildings, see "https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/news/q…
About Opium
San Diego Sarah • Link
A story showing how dangerous opium can be:
Archduchess Margaret of Austria (1480 - 1530), Regent and Governor of Habsburg Netherlands, died when one of her maids broke a glass goblet, and a splinter of glass went into her foot and became gangrenous. She agreed to have her foot amputated, and but died before the operation, apparently from an overdose of opium that the doctors gave her in preparation for the amputation.
(Margaret was the daughter of a Holy Roman Emperor, and she ran the Court where Anne Boleyn grew up ... which was "progressive". I have no answer for this conundrum.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar…
About Kinsale, Ireland
San Diego Sarah • Link
“Hark the foe is calling.
Fast the wood are falling;
Scenes and sights appalling.
Mark the wasted soil.
War and confiscation.
Curse the fallen nation.
Gloom and desolation.
Shade the lost land o’er.” -- Furlong, by John O’Dwyer
About Henry VII
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 2
Henry VII replied that he was a new King and was in no position to order the alum be turned over to the Pope without due process. Precisely what issue was referred to is not clear.
However, Henry VII went on to arranged his own illicit alum trade while he vigorously prosecuted the incursions of others upon the Pope’s monopoly by confiscating the cargoes to the Holy See. This kept the price gratifyingly high for his own trade.
A March 19, 1489 letter from Malvezzi to His Holiness informs him that the alum matter was still in litigation.
As for the collection for the crusade:
“In this kingdom, which in Italy is supposed to be full of gold and silver, I have seen nothing of the sort as yet; nay, I am told this jubilee will not yield 20,000 ducats, which seems incredible; and they assert that in the time of Pope Sixtus, in the year of the jubilee they got but 18,000 ducats.” (b)
(b) Calendar of English Affairs, Venice, 179. 551. Persio Malvezzi to Pope Innocent VIII. From London, 19 March, 1488 [O.S.]. Original in Latin.
For deep dives like this from the times of Shakespeare, check out
https://vgs-pbr-reviews.blogspot.…
About Henry VII
San Diego Sarah • Link
Ah, the Wars of the Roses. Won't go there ... you think the Civil Wars were confusing?
Our Henry VII Wiki page devotes a section to alum, the magic ingredient to make fabric dyes permanent.
In 1461 the Pope’s godson, Giovanni da Castro, discovered huge deposits of it in the Tolfa mountains near Rome. Until then, the only known sources for alum were in Egypt and Syria, under control of the Ottoman Turks.
Their monopoly created great frustration for the wealthy in Western Europe. Alum fixes dyes in nearly all fabrics, and the Turks, controlling the only supply, charged exorbitant prices, making colorfast clothing rare and expensive.
Once it became known that alum could be found in places with volcanic histories many new deposits were found. In order to protect its new-found source of wealth, the Pope quickly declared alum a monopoly. Anyone who supplied or acquired alum from anywhere other than the Tolfa mines was excommunicated. This safeguarded the Papal income.
In February, 1486, a letter to the Pope with an illegible signature, explains something of the illicit trade that developed for the textile mills of Flanders, and the reaction of Henry VII’s government:
“… understanding that a Spanish ship with alum from Piombino was on its voyage to Flanders, made an agreement with English mariners for the capture of the ship, because it carried alum confiscated to the Apostolic treasury. The mariners thus engaged attacked the Spaniard not far from England, both parties fighting for a long while and many being killed and wounded. At length the English mariners who upheld the interests of Christ's Vicar were victorious, and took the captured ship into port in England.”
Gio. Ambrosio maintained, exhibiting a bull of Pope Sixtus, whereby all purchasers and exporters of alum from Piombino are “… excommunicated and heretics, that the Florentine should not be listened to, as he was excommunicated. In virtue of this, and by many arguments, Gio. Ambrosio showed that the alum was forfeited to the Apostolic treasury.”
“Whilst the alum was thus under sequestration, and the litigants at daily strife for superiority, I came to London and stated to the King that the alum of Piombino belonged to your Holiness, and how insolently and iniquitously the Lord of Piombino had behaved against the Apostolic see. … Throughout his reply he ever expressed himself animated by the desire to favour the Apostolic see, but said he was new in the kingdom, which is governed by its own and ancient laws, and that he could neither oppose, infringe, nor abrogate.(a)
(a) Calendar of English Affairs, Venice, 160-1. 509. [Illegible] to Pope Innocent VIII. From London, 19 February, 1486. Original in Latin.
About Trinity College, Cambridge
San Diego Sarah • Link
This article gives a description of Isaac Newton's life at Trinity College, Cambridge, and a bit more info on John Wickins, with a shout-out to Pepys and the Royal Society circa 1685.
Genius is frequently difficult to accommodate. Our thanks to Trinity College, Cambridge for giving this genius a safe place to think for so many years, even if no one was interested in his lectures. (Students are requently dumb!)
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/new…
About Thursday 7 January 1668/69
San Diego Sarah • Link
Nell Gwyn sat in the box next to the Pepys. She and an actor were talking and laughing at people in the theater, which must have prevented the Pepys from hearing the dialog, while noting their enjoyment and merriment.
I read jade and slut as being affectionate comments on Nell's bad teenage behavior.
About Trinity College, Cambridge
San Diego Sarah • Link
For much of the Diary, Isaac Newton lived at Trinity College, Cambridge. I understand he went home for about two years during the plague, which makes me question the following nugget:
"John Wickins was Isaac Newton's assistant as well as his friend, and the pair shared rooms at Trinity College from 1665 until 1683."
Wickins later transcribed and published Newton's letters, and the originals then disappeared. In 2022 a copy of the book was added to Newton's archives.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-engla…
About Other fish
San Diego Sarah • Link
Today's History Quiz says the original ketchup was nothing like the sweet tomatoey concoction we know today.
Ketchup (AKA “catsup”) is an Asian invention (the name derives from the Chinese word ke-tsiap, meaning fish sauce) and began as a pickled fish sauce used to season dishes hundreds of years ago (it tasted more like Worcester[shire] sauce).
In the 17th century, British sailors adapted the sauce and began to make it out of mushrooms.
Tomatoes were added by North Americans around 1801.
About Carrots
San Diego Sarah • Link
According to today's History Quiz, we have the Dutch to thank for the orange carrots we eat.
Prior to the 16th century carrots were mostly purple, with some natural mutations resulting in occasional yellow or white variations.
The Dutch took these mutated carrots and bred them together to create the orange variant we enjoy.
About Monday 4 January 1668/69
San Diego Sarah • Link
I like your explanation better, Brian. Thanks.
About Thursday 7 January 1668/69
San Diego Sarah • Link
Twelfth Night, the end of the Christmas and New Year's festivities, falls on January 6.
January 7 marks the start of the Epiphany, and a return to work ... but of course not everyone was happy about that, especially the men who worked the soggy, frozen land.
Many women, especially unmarried women, toiled indoors at their spinning wheels, making cloth. So synonymous was spinning with single women that it spawned the word spinster.
These working women dutifully returned to work on January 7, which became known as St. Distaff’s Day.
But there is no Saint named Distaff.
The distaff was an important tool used in the first process of making cloth. It is used during the spinning of wool or flax into thread. The distraff is used to hold the wool or flax so that the spinner can easily reach it or keep it out of the way as they spin the thread. The distaff is often tucked into the waistband, leaving both hands free, or it can be worn like a ring on the finger.
The "canonisation" of the distaff shows the importance of the tool, and of how important their job was, and thus the meaning of this return to work day.
To the still idle men who wanted the fun and games to continue, St. Distaff’s Day provided an opportunity for further (probably drunken) fun.
In 1648 the Devonshire poet and country cleric, Robert Herrick, included in his "Hesperides" a short poem, 'Saint Distaff’s Day or the Morrow After Twelfth Day' in which he described the reception that the returning spinners could face;
‘If the maides a spinning-goe
burn the flax and fire the tow:
scorch their plackets, but beware
that ye singe no maiden-haire’.
So St. Distaff’s Day could be another day for male mischief making.
It's tempting to think the spinsters, trying to save their precious handiwork from the flames, would also throw some cold buckets of water over their tormentors to sober them up.
For this and other ancient Christmas traditions, see
https://www.countrylife.co.uk/com…
About Thursday 4 June 1668
San Diego Sarah • Link
Meanwhile, somewhere else at Whitehall:
Wikipedia tells me "On 4 June 1668, Tangier was declared a free city by charter, with a mayor and corporation to govern it instead of the army. The charter made it equal to English towns."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eng…
Anyone know anything about this?
About Monday 4 January 1668/69
San Diego Sarah • Link
"I did receive an instance of the Duke of York’s kindness to me, and the whole Committee, that they would not order any thing about the Treasurer for the Corporation now in establishing, without my assent, and considering whether it would be to my wrong or no."
Wikipedia tells me "On 4 June 1668, Tangier was declared a free city by charter, with a mayor and corporation to govern it instead of the army. The charter made it equal to English towns."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eng…
This explains the accounts for the "Corporation now in establishing"; they must be in the process of handing over management to the new entity.
I thought Pepys was the Treasurer for the Tangier Committee: our Encyclopedia says, "Pepys took over this role from Thomas Povy in March 1665 after Povy was unable to keep his accounts in order."
So James has told the Committee they can't ask for any paperwork from Pepys without Pepys agreeing they need it, because it might be "to his wrong" for him to produce it???
I recall him being worried that they might find some dodgy Tangier bookkeeping to his benefit some months ago.
But this is outrageous if my memory and interpretation are correct.
About Sunday 3 January 1668/69
San Diego Sarah • Link
"hearing how the King do intend this frosty weather"
I think Pepys lost his train of thought, Terry. Maybe he calls a Frost Fair?
About Aldgate
San Diego Sarah • Link
According to this blog, Aldgate was demolished in 1617 ... plus there are pictures of what all the gates looked like. Some were really beautiful, but restricted traffic badly.
https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022…
About Thursday 31 December 1668
San Diego Sarah • Link
Welcome, Mary, and Pepys will help you along better in 2022 than you can guess now. If nothing else, you will find out how much you love the internet and the telephone. I envy Pepys his wide circle of friends and acquaintences; we have swapped convenience for intimacy, and I suspect we are the losers.
About Oliver Cromwell
San Diego Sarah • Link
Gresham College's free one hour lectures are all available on line. In March 2022 there will be a new one:
"What was life like in 1649-1660, Britain's only decade as a republic?
"This lecture explores the immense changes of the period through the personal experiences of prominent figures. It argues that, despite the failure of the republican project and the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, the decade forged the British Isles and created the conditions for the commercial and colonial prosperity of the centuries that followed."
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lecture…
I wonder what Pepys called this decade? The time of Oliver? The Uprising?
About James Stuart (I, King 1603-1625)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Gresham College is offering a free one hour lecture about James VI and I's foreign policy ... available, as all their lectures are, on line afterwards
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lecture…