tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17484957141037308672024-03-17T23:04:05.478-04:001609 ChronologyLooking at events of 400 years ago with a focus on England and the New WorldRobert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-7746268087446051142009-10-16T17:09:00.003-04:002009-10-20T19:51:25.835-04:00Memorial Poem to Sir Francis Vere by Cyril Tourneur with dedication to the Earl of Oxford<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhONZKHq7ftvPY82lcZJo1243egb8m5nCq0TJZSvuTshRdV_1i1YSKFnz7DU8izIlNzvHfaZon6DWADuoxvkVhqUkOnzJT-tOH-DVxUIR0FqETKffMhTVzKBzeZJfYVEvG-3iVw1gD8HszB/s1600-h/0-FVERE-1609-TOURNEUR-01b.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhONZKHq7ftvPY82lcZJo1243egb8m5nCq0TJZSvuTshRdV_1i1YSKFnz7DU8izIlNzvHfaZon6DWADuoxvkVhqUkOnzJT-tOH-DVxUIR0FqETKffMhTVzKBzeZJfYVEvG-3iVw1gD8HszB/s400/0-FVERE-1609-TOURNEUR-01b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394787006343501458" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />On October 16, 1609, a book was registered at the Stationers’ Hall, called, “A Funerall Poeme. Upon the death of the most worthie and true souldier, Sir Francis Vere, Knight. Captaine of Portsmouth, &c. L. Gouernour of his Maiesties Cautionarie Towne of Briell in Holland, &c.”</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />The author was <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cyril Tourneur (c.1575-1626) </span>whose father, Captain Richard Turner, served in Holland at the same time as Sir Francis Vere and Sir Horatio Vere. We have evidence that Cyril himself saw some service there in 1613. Prior to that it is assumed he was living in London.<br /><br />Tourneur has left us with a very limited set of works: one long poem, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Transformed Metamorphosis</span> (1600), is often described as deeply imitative of Shakespeare. He wrote elegies for Sir Francis Vere (1609) and for Prince Henry, the doomed Stuart heir (1613). He is credited with only two plays, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Revenger's Tragedy</span> (1607) and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Atheist's Tragedy </span>(1611); <span style="font-style: italic;">Revenger</span>, however, is now often credited to Middleton, leaving <span style="font-style: italic;">Atheist’s</span> as the principal “certain” dramatic work of Tourneur.<br /><br />Tourneur was also associated with various members of the Cecil family and left an unpublished MS with an intriguing title, The Character of Robert, Earl of Salisburye, Lord High Treasurer of England, "ritten by Mr Sevill Tumour." The text was discovered within a larger MS in possession of one Lord Mostyn and is descibed in <span style="font-style: italic;">Hist. MSS. Commission, 4th Report, appendix, p. 361</span>. I haven’t seen this work, but I would like to. Usually books called “The character of…” are filled with personal details, scandals, dirt, etc., not easily found elsewhere.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Cyril Tourneur’s association with both the Vere family and the Cecil family, and his emergence as an imitator of Shakespeare, gives me pause to consider that he might have known the inside story --- the one we are now trying to reconstruct.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The 1609 elegy to Francis Vere begins with a one-page dedication</span>. It is ambiguously written and may be designed to honor Francis, or his nephew, Henry, the 18th Earl of Oxford, or the 1604-deceased 17th Earl of Oxford.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">This dedication has never been discussed before, not by Miller, the Ogburns, Chiljan, or myself in previous articles. The principal source for finding and identifying dedications is the book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Index of dedications and commendatory verses in English books before 1641</span>, by Franklin B. Williams, 1962. In that book, Williams lists this opening dedication in Tourneur’s 1609 elegy as pertaining to Henry, 18th Earl of Oxford.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">My thinking at the moment is that while Henry is probably the obscure but overt dedicatee, his father, Edward de Vere (17th Earl) is, in fact, the covert dedicatee.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Let’s read the text:</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" >DEDICATED TO HIS </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> LIVING MEMORIE;</span></span> </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"> WHICH ASCENDS </span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">TO THE INHERENT </span></span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"> HONOVR OF THE HEROYQVE </span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"> HOPE OF NOBILITIE, THE </span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"> EARLE OF OXFORD, &c. </span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />FROM WHOSE NOBLE-FAMILIE, </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /> THIS IMMORTALL WOR-<br /> THIE</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">, HATH THE HO-<br /> NOVR TO BE </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /> Descended.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vURU0DaovPDzd9JRSvGpeLGN2rygMH5I5vgmAyMKvy53ObKTUXUtjJU78sC1U1kPUQuSyFdqBljjwg9_gvL1zXFzBJRaEdY6IvS_s0vmQKM5lHN4LGSuB0nZ5F2ShndpEwSJUru7MdVE/s1600-h/0-FVERE-1609-TOURNEUR-02c.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 354px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vURU0DaovPDzd9JRSvGpeLGN2rygMH5I5vgmAyMKvy53ObKTUXUtjJU78sC1U1kPUQuSyFdqBljjwg9_gvL1zXFzBJRaEdY6IvS_s0vmQKM5lHN4LGSuB0nZ5F2ShndpEwSJUru7MdVE/s400/0-FVERE-1609-TOURNEUR-02c.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394788854211632306" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />In most other works, when a book is dedicated to a known, living nobleman, that man’s name and titles are delineated explicitly. Thus, the only path to reading this as pertaining to Henry (born February 23, 1593, and therefore age 16 in October 1609) would lie in the words, “…which ascends to the inherent honour of the heroyque hope of nobilitie, the Earl of Oxford, etc.”</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />But one can read this another way. In the first section, “Dedicated to his living memorie which ascends to…” would <span style="font-style: italic;">seem </span>to refer to the recently deceased Sir Francis. <span style="font-weight: bold;">But how does the living memory of Francis ascend to his nephew?</span> Francis is honored in section three with, “this immortall worthie,” descended from the same noble family.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">I propose that section one honors Edward, 17th Earl, section two honors Henry 18th Earl, and section three (and the poem that follows) honors the soldier, Sir Francis.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Next consider the layout of the dedication. There are three sections, each in the shape of a “V” or inverted triangle. This is the exact same shape as the famous <a href="http://1609chronology.blogspot.com/2009/05/shake-speares-sonnets-registered-may-20.html" target="blank">dedication to the 1609 <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span></a>. The number of lines in each triangle differs. In the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets, </span>the sequence is the famous 6, 2, 4. Here we have 3, 4, 5. Add ‘em up. Each dedication has twelve lines!</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Is it possible that Tourneur is drawing readers’ attentions to a similarity? Consider that <span style="font-weight: bold;">the typesetter has gone out of his way to stretch the last section into five lines and has played with the justification of letters (kerning) to create the three triangles</span>. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">There are also some lines in the elegy where Tourneur seems to be thinking of Edward de Vere’s poems, and his legacy:</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />“<span style="font-weight: bold;">His Minde was like an Empire</span>, rich and strong, </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />In all defensive pow'r against the wrong, </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />That civill tumult or invasive Hate </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Might<br />raise against the peace of her estate.”</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />“<span style="font-weight: bold;">In all his gestures and his Countenance, </span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" ><br />He did so pleasing a consent expresse<br /></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Of Noble Courage, and free Cherefulnesse</span>; </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />That his assurance had the pow'r to raise<br /></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The most deiected spirit into praise </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />And imitation of his worth. And thus, </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />By meanes Heroique and iudicious, </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />He did incline his armies gen'rous part </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />With love unto the practise of Desart. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />And in that moouing Orbe of active warre; </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />His high command was <span style="font-weight: bold;">the transcendent Starre, </span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Whose influence</span>, for production of mens worthes, </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Did gouerne at their militarie Birthes”</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />“<span style="font-weight: bold;">Offences done against his owne estate</span>,<br /></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">(Which alwayes doth more strongly aggravate </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The weight of iniurie to private sense, </span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Then publique apprehension of offence</span>; </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />And stirres mens passions more;) have oftentimes<br /></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Subduc'd the Malefactors for those crimes,<br /></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Into the hands of lustice: where he might </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />With approbation and consent of right…”</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />“Upon the instant of his waking, hee </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Did with such life, and quicke dexteritie, </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">His troupes direct; the seruice execute; </span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" ><br />As practis'd Printers, Sett and Distribute </span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Their Letters: And more perfectly effected; </span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" ><br />For what he did, was not to be corrected.”</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />“His praise may iustly (then) extend thus farre; </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Hee was <span style="font-weight: bold;">a Man, fit both for Peace and Warre.</span> </span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Whose Monument, while Historie doth last; </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Shall neuer be forgotten or defac'd</span>. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Cyril Tourneur.”</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />These lines are all in elegiac praise of Francis, but one cannot escape the feeling that Cyril Tourneur was talking about the loss of two Veres, one in 1604, and one in 1609.</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com175tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-4190388734257255142009-10-02T13:16:00.008-04:002009-10-02T14:45:07.459-04:00Henry Hudson 'discovers' Manhattan Island<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhhfCV2SikXOVT68ynh9lvDI3ETgkbHGzqbhnfg8lkNcmihZwkDOxK0pX8KAg7gFQqU-1D4h9my2KlW7awKiZEYk3CxcuEzagHnAXN9uirw1V-mi4tt-heUVabBCHsaaS4Zkj2sdJ8RS2/s1600-h/henryhudson.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 272px; height: 317px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhhfCV2SikXOVT68ynh9lvDI3ETgkbHGzqbhnfg8lkNcmihZwkDOxK0pX8KAg7gFQqU-1D4h9my2KlW7awKiZEYk3CxcuEzagHnAXN9uirw1V-mi4tt-heUVabBCHsaaS4Zkj2sdJ8RS2/s400/henryhudson.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388053056176016978" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Henry Hudson</span> (1565-1611), the famed English explorer with the Dutch East India Company, was on a mission to find a Northwest Passage to the Far East in 1609.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The river that now bears his name had been found earlier, by Giovanni <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">da</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Verrazano</span> in 1524.<br /><br />In 1609, Hudson and company founded a settlement at the harbor at the mouth of the river.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hudson recorded a name for the island, “Manna-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Hata</span>,” on his map. Various derivations of this name have been offered. One is that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Manna</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">hata</span> is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Lenape</span> for "many-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">hilled</span> land." [<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Manah</span>= "island" / <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Atin</span>= "hill.") However, the native <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Lenape</span> and Delaware Indians often gave a different (some argue incorrect) account of the name, calling the island “<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Manahachtanienk</span>,” meaning "the island where we all got drunk."</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">A legend has it that their encounter with Hudson was the first time they tasted alcohol and they all got completely plastered, as do many modern-day inhabitants of the isle.<br /><br />Pictured below is a commemorative coin, issued just this year, by the Dutch Royal Mint in honor of the 400<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">th</span> anniversary of Hudson's contact.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The front of the new 5 euro coin shows lower Manhattan. The inscription reads:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Half Moon, 2 October, 1609<br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">It Is On That Side Of The River That Is Called Manna-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Hata</span></span><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoaL-ZdEckg9efbvi9L3_cvmdTSpn5MnRbImCYZtM_E_1hyjcU6jV3-0MsbisDqdhAe-fkFhuPCSMPtfAqjbapXVr3tdQWsdIUW1OhxuRJkPz4zzeFjUdCK4E1htdg8LDX3JaeNjnckTz3/s1600-h/mana-hata.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 338px; height: 333px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoaL-ZdEckg9efbvi9L3_cvmdTSpn5MnRbImCYZtM_E_1hyjcU6jV3-0MsbisDqdhAe-fkFhuPCSMPtfAqjbapXVr3tdQWsdIUW1OhxuRJkPz4zzeFjUdCK4E1htdg8LDX3JaeNjnckTz3/s400/mana-hata.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388056944574323810" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Concerning the date</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />Other accounts of Henry Hudson's landing at Manhattan give various dates in September 1609. I have gone with the date featured on the Dutch coin. The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">problem</span>, as always, is the disparity between the Julian and Gregorian calendars. England did not adopt the new system in 1582. Parts of the Netherlands (Catholic controlled) <span style="font-style: italic;">did</span> adopt the system that year, while Protestant areas kept the Julian calendar, as did the British, until the 18<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">th</span> century. Because Englishman Hudson's voyage was a Dutch enterprise there are multiple sets of dates in the various histories of his voyages.<br /><br />Below, an image of Hudson on the river between upper Manhattan and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Pallisades</span>.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3N1vxa2eg-awEEUVUWV9o7o47zMrkDpd4EvW4c0qa-JVbeCVUCNOXVloD4yXQi7t3sOj8VXkhmmyOj8asLC__ie8pJe4n1l6INCe0HHYdl4LmmMud_7icEZFxKaY9SijodlP3EoKOCNF/s1600-h/hudson-3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 336px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3N1vxa2eg-awEEUVUWV9o7o47zMrkDpd4EvW4c0qa-JVbeCVUCNOXVloD4yXQi7t3sOj8VXkhmmyOj8asLC__ie8pJe4n1l6INCe0HHYdl4LmmMud_7icEZFxKaY9SijodlP3EoKOCNF/s400/hudson-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388057030573848594" border="0" /></a>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com444tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-24822868491766260842009-09-15T17:24:00.003-04:002009-09-21T18:35:01.754-04:00Elizabeth de Vere Stanley, Countess Derby, and the Isle of Man<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIaB92M97SxVFF6nHScoMQeMze3bm9VkITmkGQTgvof3B0Zg92GWj-AtHIN5s-Jtpb3KGEwFvg9kXY9129VtT5ZPx3O3EHNsURmqsEg4MLzq1mCI8T8kqlplC9-j9dGhxioFlOMFYmJc94/s1600-h/liz-4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 317px; height: 354px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIaB92M97SxVFF6nHScoMQeMze3bm9VkITmkGQTgvof3B0Zg92GWj-AtHIN5s-Jtpb3KGEwFvg9kXY9129VtT5ZPx3O3EHNsURmqsEg4MLzq1mCI8T8kqlplC9-j9dGhxioFlOMFYmJc94/s400/liz-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384035101485845746" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Elizabeth de Vere </span>was the eldest child of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, and his wife, Anne Cecil.<br /><br />There was considerable doubt in Oxford’s mind as to whether he had really fathered the girl; she was born (July 2, 1575; christened July 10) while he was overseas… and he did not feel the math added up correctly for his role in her conception. Nevertheless, Oxford did come to accept her, and the three surviving daughters he had with Anne (Elizabeth, Susan and Bridget, all granddaughters of England’s Lord Treasurer Burghley) all married well (i.e., to wealthy aristocrats).</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />Elizabeth married Wiliam Stanley, the 6th Earl of Derby in January, 1594/5, at the Royal Court at Greenwich. There is some thought, even in orthodox Shakespeare theory, that <span style="font-style: italic;">Midsummer Night’s Dream</span> was written for this ceremony and first performed on that occasion.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><a href="http://www.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/midsummer.html" target="blank">This page at the British Library mentions the Derby wedding theory</a> (without mentioning that the bride’s father might very well have written the play). </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=SVTsYd9C274C&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=%22Midsummer+Night%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s+Dream%22+%22William+Stanley%22&source=bl&ots=2yG-k3VTwn&sig=XFkdq6T68l02bzxywf6C1NEXVHg&hl=en&ei=f-CzSr7sDJGv8QbA9rWTDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=%22Midsummer%20Night%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s%20Dream%22%20%22William%20Stanley%22&f=false" target="blank">The purpose of playing : Shakespeare and the cultural politics of the Elizabethan theatre</a> by Louis Adrian Montrose, 1996 has a representative entry.<br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><a href="http://www.shakespeare-oxford.com/?p=70" target="blank">Mark Anderson’s Beauty and the Paradigm</a> goes into more detail about why the Vere-Stanley 1595 wedding is a good candidate for the theme of <span style="font-style: italic;">MND</span>.</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />The Stanley – Derbys were the hereditary “owners” and rulers of the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. However, due to the suspicious death of Ferdinando Stanley in April 1594, Not only was William Stanley’s inheritance in question, but the rulership of Man was brought into dispute. Elizabeth Vere eventually took on many administrative roles appertaining to the Isle, and as early as 1609 we have her attempting to influence business on behalf of the Island.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">What’s interesting is that at exactly this time (1609) the normative management and power of the Isle of Man had completely slipped it’s moorings.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />This list is instructive:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >LORDS OF THE ISLE OF MAN </span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >c 1570 - 1627</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />*Oct. 24, 1572 - Sep. 25, 1593 -- Sir Henry Stanley, Earl of Derby (1531-1593) </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />* Sep. </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">25,</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> 1593 - Apr. 16, 1594 --Ferdinando Stanley, Earl of Derby (1559-1594) </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />* Apr. 16, 1594 – 1607 -- Vacant; disputed by daughters of Ferdinando </span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">* </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >1607 - 1608 Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, (1540-1614) </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" ><br />* 1608 - 1609 Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury (1563-1612) <br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >* Jul. 7, 1609 - 1627 William IV Stanley, Earl of Derby (c.1561-1642) </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" ><br />* 1612 - 1627 Elizabeth, Countess of Derby (1575-1627) </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">(</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">government </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">admin) </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />* Mar. 10, 1627 - Oct. 15, 1651 James I Stanley, Baron Strange (1607-1651) <br />(from 1642, Earl of Derby) (from Sep. 1651, in rebellion)<br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here is Countess Derby’s September 15, 1609, letter to Robert Cecil regarding the Isle of Man</span>.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">The Countess of Derby to the Earl of Salisbury and the Earl of Suffolk</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >1609, Sept. 15.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >I have made choice of John Ireland, esq, your Lordships' lieutenant and captain of the Isle of Man, for the receiving of all moneys henceforth due upon the foot of the accounts of officers there, and to cause the same to be transported to Liverpole for my use. The doing thereof may sometimes prove dangerous by means of piracy or wreck, and I hold it not convenient the loss should be charged upon him. I pray your Lordships by your letters will be pleased to undertake the saving of him harmless from such casualty and danger, so as the same happen not through his own negligence. I hereby promise to discharge your Lordships from all loss that may grow to you by such undertaking. From the Stronde, the 15th day of September, 1609.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Signed: 'Your lordshipes moost loving nece and cosin, E.Derbye.'</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Endorsed "Countess of Derby's undertaking to save my Lord and Lord Chamberlain harmless for the warrant they have given the Lieutenant of the Isle of Man for transportation of money from thence.'<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhLQTjYppvsGBg-xMtRtvHsUJ7kLTUIiRbMhtAHrYxXgLDH-Cy2w58nauEabx-FdTo6p_TQRvvHD057_a40qojG6cWVVUvRnfIrPTx7BfxBG0Ciqj-RPxPjXzRVJUJaGgXt_ftHtSQCFm/s1600-h/Isle_of_Man_map.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 310px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhLQTjYppvsGBg-xMtRtvHsUJ7kLTUIiRbMhtAHrYxXgLDH-Cy2w58nauEabx-FdTo6p_TQRvvHD057_a40qojG6cWVVUvRnfIrPTx7BfxBG0Ciqj-RPxPjXzRVJUJaGgXt_ftHtSQCFm/s320/Isle_of_Man_map.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384052392456522498" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><br /></span><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Note, in the list above the letter, that Countess Derby was the Lord of Man from 1612 to 1627. This is probably the only recorded time in Manx history that a woman was the “ruler” of Mnax affairs. Elizabeth de Vere Stanley, Countess Derby, died in 1627 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">John Ireland </span>(mentioned in the letter) was <span style="font-style: italic;">Governor </span>of Isle of Man 1609 - 1623.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Earl of Suffolk</span> in 1609 was Thomas Howard 1st Earl of Suffolk (fourth and final creation).</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">This Thomas Howard <span style="font-style: italic;">(seen below) </span>was Admiral and a Knight of the Garter. He achieved political prominence in the Jacobean era. At first, King James favored him, making Suffolk his Lord Chamberlain immediately in April 1603. Later, James distrusted him, calling Howard/Suffolk, along with Cecil/Salisbury and Howard/Northampton his “trinity of knaves.” </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqoYnAhOfR5ZfU78R7rS93FSfVb8M1Oa29Dr01dJZigMK1xBn9LPbmyAMPD5uU4OKd7XgUVWtw382l08aPXrN4z-Y-NRQMjs7DdA3vIckZxpIZ5Tua1FKLKfk-uLPTDoOxWWOjXiQ2JUz/s1600-h/T.Howard-suffolk.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 184px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqoYnAhOfR5ZfU78R7rS93FSfVb8M1Oa29Dr01dJZigMK1xBn9LPbmyAMPD5uU4OKd7XgUVWtw382l08aPXrN4z-Y-NRQMjs7DdA3vIckZxpIZ5Tua1FKLKfk-uLPTDoOxWWOjXiQ2JUz/s320/T.Howard-suffolk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384037385214768466" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />The above <span style="font-weight: bold;">Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk</span> was the son of<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk</span> (pictured below), who was imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth in 1569 for scheming to marry Mary Queen of Scots. Next he was involved in the related Ridolfi plot, sent to the Tower, and executed for Treason in 1572. The doomed Norfolk followed in his father’s footsteps. His parents were Henry Howard the poetical Earl of Surrey and his wife, Frances de Vere.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbUPwSkEscTdn0e1IH0enKTgpStXXchGbM3tUNqxM4WySOb-JgQ0U_zquqdXhHbeSOIDACcRrfKs2nA_N-rmKQJsvoOA6469IcpdFgmqk9UExxUpb22BvxWXemXOEpG6YJhvzS7Zbfqs0/s1600-h/T.Howard4Norfolk.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbUPwSkEscTdn0e1IH0enKTgpStXXchGbM3tUNqxM4WySOb-JgQ0U_zquqdXhHbeSOIDACcRrfKs2nA_N-rmKQJsvoOA6469IcpdFgmqk9UExxUpb22BvxWXemXOEpG6YJhvzS7Zbfqs0/s320/T.Howard4Norfolk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384037682907968050" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />So the 1609 Earl of Suffolk in question was a close cousin to Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford, and an uncle or “cousin” to Elizabeth Vere.<br /><br /><br /></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com321tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-45256966049475966832009-08-28T00:01:00.005-04:002009-09-21T18:31:00.234-04:00Sir Francis Vere dies in London<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoJLJaln5mcKRr7msXL8M17Fr6yedd0SGNC6P9hagd9iucXKUoAHW7NxDNcdfgyGpn-LOrP1-RMVHMoaNxhgoGHVX3elKJnOb4KVGmx8CZorZawFgHQ3oL0zmd0C5PlIAzivrUkNBX2pF/s1600-h/FrancisVere3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 348px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoJLJaln5mcKRr7msXL8M17Fr6yedd0SGNC6P9hagd9iucXKUoAHW7NxDNcdfgyGpn-LOrP1-RMVHMoaNxhgoGHVX3elKJnOb4KVGmx8CZorZawFgHQ3oL0zmd0C5PlIAzivrUkNBX2pF/s400/FrancisVere3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374848538258610482" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sir Francis Vere (1560-1609) </span>was a notable military officer who served for years leading English troops in the Netherlands in battles against the Spaniards.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Sir Francis died in London on August 28, 1609</span>.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Born in Essex to a cadet branch of the Vere family, Francis was first cousin to Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />While not a lot is known of Francis' childhood or early years, we know from documents that he traveled to Paris with another young Vere, on behalf of Edward de Vere. A letter from the English ambassador noted the two teenage Veres at Court in the summer of 1577, volunteering to fight in the religious wars. In Francis' journal, written many years later, he recalls that he served the Duke of Guise -- on the Catholic side ! -- until he was called in by command of Queen Elizabeth and persuaded to change his ways. Thereafter, Francis fought only for the Protestant armies. Francis' brother, Sir Horatio Vere, was the much more religious of the two. By all accounts, Horatio and his wife and family were ardent Calvinists. Francis wanted military glory and to be on the right side and the winning side.</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> Around 1580 he traveled to Eastern Europe, visiting Poland, a rare adventure at the time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Francis fist served in the Netherlands as a mercenary in 1581-'82. He is first noted under the command of the Earl of Leicester's forces in 1585 and was active in many skirmishes and battles after that. He showed courage and valor at the siege of Sluys where he served under Sir Roger Williams (1540-1595), the Welsh warrior who was also a friend to Edward de Vere. <a href="http://www.sourcetext.com/sourcebook/library/barrell/04fluellen.htm" target="blank">Williams has also been suggested</a> as the likely model for the character of Fluellen, the Welsh soldier in Shakespeare's<span style="font-style: italic;"> Henry V</span>.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">How do we know that Oxford knew Sir Roger Williams? There’s a letter by Sir Francis Vere to Sir Robert Cecil of November, 160,5 in which he writes:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"I received the enclosed from Thomas Morgan this morning by an Englishman, a stranger to me, but as he says well known to Sir William Waad. It was delivered to him by Sir Robert Dormer. The contents are strange to me, for I never borrowed money of him, nor to my remembrance spake with him; but such a man I saw when I was very young at Paris, by reason of the company I kept with Sir Roger Williams and one Denys a Frenchman, followers of my Lord of Oxford's, to whom he sometimes resorted."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Francis Vere fought at Bergen op Zoom in 1588, where he was knighted on the battlefield by Peregrine Bertie, the 13th Lord Willoughby, who was Edward de Vere’s brother-in-law (by marriage to his sister, Mary).</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Francis sailed with the Cadiz "mission" of the Earl of Essex' in 1596. In 1598 he negotiated on behalf of England with the Dutch to get them to provide more money materiel and men to the war against Spain being fought on their land. Vere's achievement with the Dutch led to him achieving the rank of general and became Governor of Brill.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Vere's moment of greatest military triumph came at the Battle of Neuport in July 1600. General Vere and his associates trounced the best of the Spanish armies. When Spain retaliated against Ostend in 1601-02, Vere bravely defended the city.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">In 1604 King James' commission drafted a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_London_%281604%29" target="blank">treaty of peace </a>with the Spanish Empire. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">This was a marvelous breath of air in the international struggles --- but it shortly left Sir Francis Vere with nothing to do. There were negotiations to have him stay on in governance in the Netherlands, but there was a power struggle. As it worked out, the Dutch and English worked out a severance package to General Francis Vere of £300 per year, for life.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Thus, Sir Francis finally returned to England for good, wrote his military memoirs, and settled into several houses.</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> Aching for more useful work, Sir Francis got himself appointed as Governor of Portsmouth. The years of naval warfare had severely run down England's coastal defenses and strongholds. With active warfare itself abated, much money formerly wasted on bloodshed could now be flowed into military and defense infrastructure spending at home. Vere's mission was to rebuild Portsmouth, a task he threw himself into wholeheartedly.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">And then, out of the blue, Sir Francis fell in love with a girl --- and got married to the very young Elizabeth Dent, step-daughter to Sir Julius Caesar, the jurist, a close friend to Sir Francis. Caesar opened his purse wide and paid for an elaborate wedding, held October 26, 1607. Elizabeth came with a dowry of £2,000. She was 16. General Vere was three times her age. The "age" issue will be treated below, but in 1607 Sir Francis was at least 47 and perhaps as old as 52! Their married bliss must have comforted the old soldier. But less than two years later, Sir Francis died rather suddenly, on August 28, 1609.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Francis was buried the next day. Over the next few years, his young widow arranged for a monument to Sir Francis to be designed and erected in Westminster Abbey where it stands today, in the chapel of St John the Evangelist, on the eastern side of the north transept.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The alabaster and black marble monument shows Sir Francis lying recumbent wearing the clothes of a civilian magistrate. This likeness lies underneath a black-marble bier on which his suit of armour is arranged, in pieces: "a helmet with plumes, breastplate, a shield with eight quarterings, pouldrons, vantbraces, gauntlets, taces, and spurs, all carved in white marble." </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Francis' feet are resting on a wild boar, the crest of the de Vere family.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">This bier is carried on the shoulders of four life-sized knights in armour seen kneeling at the four corners. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The Latin inscription reads, around the outer edge, in gold lettering:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >"Francisco Vero equiti aurato, Galfredi F. Joannis Comitis Oxoniae nepoti, Brieliae et Portsmuthae praefecto, Anglicarum copiarum in Belgia ductori summo. Elizabetha uxor vero charissima, quocum conjunxissime vixit, hoc supremum amicis et fidei conjugatis monumentum maestissima, et cum lacrymis gemens posuit. Obiit xxviii Die Augusti anno salutis MDCVIIII et anno aetatis suae LIIII."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I have translated this anew as it has never been done properly before.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >To Francis Vere, Knight, son of Geoffrey and grandson of John</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:times new roman;" > [15th] </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Earl of Oxford, Governor of Brill and Portsmouth, chief leader of the English forces in Belgium. Elizabeth, his true beloved wife, with whom he lived, has in great sadness and sobbing with tears, placed this supreme monument to conjugal faith and love. He died 28 August, in the year of our savior 1609, and in the 54th year of his age.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">According to <span style="font-style: italic;">The Fighting Veres,</span> the age of Sir Francis, as recorded here, is incorrect. If born in 1560, he was 49 at death. Apparently his own letters suggest he was born in 1560 as does a document in the College of Heralds. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The above mentioned annuity from service in the Dutch wars was not lost. The £300 annual payment continued to Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford (heir of Earl Edward).</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">In addition to the monument inscription there is an additional inscription adjacent to the display:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >"When Vere sought death, aim'd with his sword and shield,</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Death was afraid to meet him in the field;</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" ><br />But when his weapons he had laid aside,</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Death, like a coward, strooke him, and he died."<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTA0us0W0pSieYpGSUBwXO7ECZ3NIPCApHmTX6OUymlLFbEwCayyZDzR_L2nffTWrnp4vxKG6kJeLVYuEzvpbcyrL996KEytN54kqZLOiFyzlde9_-cMQHGzbGAdc6GDyr8pNwnY6lHP_T/s1600-h/vere01m.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTA0us0W0pSieYpGSUBwXO7ECZ3NIPCApHmTX6OUymlLFbEwCayyZDzR_L2nffTWrnp4vxKG6kJeLVYuEzvpbcyrL996KEytN54kqZLOiFyzlde9_-cMQHGzbGAdc6GDyr8pNwnY6lHP_T/s320/vere01m.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374847332762507650" border="0" /></a>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com189tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-34243312718496311092009-08-01T15:32:00.001-04:002009-08-03T20:54:06.059-04:00“Egyptians” (Gypsies) Banished from Scotland<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj677ZVB-pC9l5DaPyVrsGixowA1FS4zf3LDXTA4PHjSvAKP1eRnw-f-XjigB1TwpwK-KNWJZNGKIQ9ip6kK-FtiF9yQPJfYUVsHRprYRBUkYsiIQ5E2Zqx69IEr4YDC0_H-SFK5jjUh5UX/s1600-h/woodcut8g.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj677ZVB-pC9l5DaPyVrsGixowA1FS4zf3LDXTA4PHjSvAKP1eRnw-f-XjigB1TwpwK-KNWJZNGKIQ9ip6kK-FtiF9yQPJfYUVsHRprYRBUkYsiIQ5E2Zqx69IEr4YDC0_H-SFK5jjUh5UX/s400/woodcut8g.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365904895055812690" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The Gypsies or Romani people were spread </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">widely </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">throughout Europe by the 17th century. They were first noted in the British Isles in the 1500s. As with Jews, the Gypsies were feared, persecuted, and exiled.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Scotland and Ireland, being among the westernmost outposts of Europe, have often served the same frontier function that, by analogy, California or Alaska have provided for Americans. Go west to seek freedom.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> On August 1, 1609, by Scots law, Gypsies were banned from Scotland</span>.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The name or descriptive, “Gypsies,” as such, and linked to "Egyptians" (their imagined origin), appear several times in the Shakespeare plays.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Antony & Cleopatra</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />ANTONY ….Betray'd I am.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />O this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm-</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> Whose eye beck'd forth my wars and call'd them home,</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end-</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Like a right gypsy hath at fast and loose</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > Beguil'd me to the very heart of loss.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />What, Eros, Eros!</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />PHILO. ….His captain's heart,</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"> Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper,</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />And is <span style="font-weight: bold;">become the bellows and the fan</span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > To cool a gipsy's lust.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Romeo & Juliet</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Ben. Here comes Romeo! here comes Romeo!</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring.<br />O flesh, flesh, how art </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"> thou fishified!<br />Now is he for the numbers that Petrarch flowed</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"> in.<br />Laura, to his lady, was but a kitchen wench<br />(marry, she had a</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"> better love to berhyme her), <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Dido a dowdy, Cleopatra a gypsy</span>,</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Helen and Hero hildings and harlots...<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">As early as 1541, the Scots King James V (grandfather of James Stuart VI / I) issued an order evicting all gypsies from Scotland. However, After the elder James died in 1542, the gypsies started returning <span style="font-style: italic;">en </span>masse to Scotland, led by their putative ‘king,’ one John Faw, “Lord and Earl of Upper Egypt.” There are several popular ballads extant - usually called “The Gypsy Laddie" - which give memory to the gypsy king, Faw.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">After the younger James ascended to the throne of Scotland in 1567, an act was passed against ‘the idle people calling themselves Egyptians,” with regular renewals from 1592-1603. This final act, concerning the ‘Egyptians’ became <span style="font-weight: bold;">law on August 1, 1609, demanding that all gypsies leave Scotland, never to return on pain of death</span>. After August 1, 1609, any of the King’s subjects could, ‘take, apprehend, imprison and execute to death the said Egyptians, either men or women, as common, notorious and condemned thieves’. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Most gypsies fled Scotland. Others assimilated. In subsequent decades gypsies who were found in Scotland were forcibly emigrated to colonies in Virginia, Jamaica and Barbados.</span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com106tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-90003230621729972632009-07-27T16:38:00.002-04:002009-07-28T13:16:50.413-04:00Ignatius of Loyola Beatified<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsLldhkVpsqNFsNNVkSxzZyHGkNwswkQdKLl0upUbfozuh2KQAeZi6aDQWIic6VvpKXmtk3HFzXALddL2noHSVUR55tBRTvsr0nfDjOOm5ALlrI2PcieA4J0w01ZAim-ayB1dNcg2m0iL/s1600-h/032IgnatiusLoyola.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 136px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsLldhkVpsqNFsNNVkSxzZyHGkNwswkQdKLl0upUbfozuh2KQAeZi6aDQWIic6VvpKXmtk3HFzXALddL2noHSVUR55tBRTvsr0nfDjOOm5ALlrI2PcieA4J0w01ZAim-ayB1dNcg2m0iL/s200/032IgnatiusLoyola.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363561144202526130" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) </span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Ignatius Loyola was a prime mover in the Catholic counter-reformation, the Vatican's formal strategic reaction to the Lutheran-originated reformation of the church. Loyola was the main founder and first superior general of his religious order, the Society of Jesus, also called the Jesuits.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ignatius was beatified by Pope Paul V on July 27, 1609</span>, and canonized (made a Saint) by Pope Gregory XV on March 13, 1622. These dates are on the Gregorian Calendar and would have been ten days out of sync with England’s calendar at the time.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />Loyola is revered by many as a pious man of god. Perhaps there are just as many who despised him as a fanatical gatekeeper of ideology and dogma, a cold persecutor of religious dissenters, philosophers, Latina wise women, and anyone who may have bumped into things that go bump in the night. Loyola, himself harassed by the Spanish Inquisition, created in the Jesuits a vast intelligence operation that served as a model for modern intelligence services. In fact, many of the famous operatives in 20<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span>-century military intelligence were directly influenced by Jesuit education.<br /><br />In England, the fear of Jesuit plots drove Elizabeth I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">bonkers</span>, and James I was also a frequent Jesuit target. (Note previous post.)<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">RSB</span><br /></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com63tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-65804768550728135612009-07-26T16:07:00.000-04:002009-07-29T16:13:25.683-04:00Thomas Harriot Views Moon Through Telescope<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUX3vrHq47FgS42IspOwa8QaKJVS32FDtWbJKtptxMSUcgBiWETIWCO1NBlOkOQ47-dXqIjOxw681fhXyaqz5ha_lOjU3GLKk-FqoKwA3MmVOJTNBBNX4kpp5oOYGAS-54yLdraLktTN0k/s1600-h/harriot-3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 324px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUX3vrHq47FgS42IspOwa8QaKJVS32FDtWbJKtptxMSUcgBiWETIWCO1NBlOkOQ47-dXqIjOxw681fhXyaqz5ha_lOjU3GLKk-FqoKwA3MmVOJTNBBNX4kpp5oOYGAS-54yLdraLktTN0k/s400/harriot-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363976510401065970" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thomas Harriot (1560-1621)</span> was the significant catalyst of science in the English Renaissance. Harriot was a hands-on scientist where Bacon was mostly lofting thought balloons of theory and ideology.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">It is Harriot, not Galileo, who gets the credit (proven by documents) as the first person to look at a celestial object through a telescope. Harriot studied our Moon a few months before the more famous Italian did. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Harriot first aimed his Dutch-made telescope at the Moon on July 26th, 1609, and sketched his findings</span>. The July 26 sketch is pictured below.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitTqJ3iSDrLyGtprt-7cS3JYE77YQRu1IS_rjKS0Z6H8SzyXmAznJ4rD18myFPaKvkuJO5SEsmyHjw63Ba4Xp-BlincmqFEaUlnrEWHiQXzyE3XZyd5fZ1FFsXcq7o6GVvok-TbJflUiRV/s1600-h/Harriots1609-moon.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 396px; height: 347px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitTqJ3iSDrLyGtprt-7cS3JYE77YQRu1IS_rjKS0Z6H8SzyXmAznJ4rD18myFPaKvkuJO5SEsmyHjw63Ba4Xp-BlincmqFEaUlnrEWHiQXzyE3XZyd5fZ1FFsXcq7o6GVvok-TbJflUiRV/s400/Harriots1609-moon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363976862162697986" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" >Thomas Harriot’s historic lunar sketch, dated July 26, 1609, shows the terminator line marking the boundary between day and night on the moon that day. The dark areas show Mare Crisium, Mare Tranquilitatis, and Mare Foecunditatis.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Harriot received his BA at Oxford in 1580, then taught mathematics. He accompanied Raleigh on the first Virginia expedition and was a resident of the famous Roanoke Colony. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">While Harriot’s associates often got in trouble and ended up in the Tower --- or dead (Raleigh, Earl of Northumberland, Marlowe), Harriot managed to stay out of trouble. Perhaps because Harriot remained both low-key and well-off, his story has been eclipsed by the more dramatic tales of persecuted Galileo and martyred Bruno.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZUSSkfLfzHCCloLWf9z1ek_mGySh1IByldUPLRYRFc2sSdb3iwpd6-A5btE65fmLFyKUm-vPVPkvc8Xqt8vU_UCk6AHjeEns5F46u6hFz6QEVheAyj_md_1737rzPCiXmHWiLml2ggbC/s1600-h/harriot-fullmoon.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 365px; height: 362px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZUSSkfLfzHCCloLWf9z1ek_mGySh1IByldUPLRYRFc2sSdb3iwpd6-A5btE65fmLFyKUm-vPVPkvc8Xqt8vU_UCk6AHjeEns5F46u6hFz6QEVheAyj_md_1737rzPCiXmHWiLml2ggbC/s400/harriot-fullmoon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363977467555416338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Thomas Harriot's map of the whole Moon circa 1610.</span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-19896973657005600072009-07-24T16:40:00.001-04:002009-07-28T13:30:29.988-04:00Earl of Worcester writes to Lord Treasurer Cecil<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHG2kDzCpB14LRMf8-niMJIlwkcNk5OdoChp2nJlZ6UmEF-9XsFLYVyMxnX3nZPyySPcDpdvTLRBpVCLKsZAsOmr_nTmC9QDytPmZ-IbISWZP3yvf9hoHKNTBvIPVYw-yGfHO5qSqKpVP/s1600-h/Worcester2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHG2kDzCpB14LRMf8-niMJIlwkcNk5OdoChp2nJlZ6UmEF-9XsFLYVyMxnX3nZPyySPcDpdvTLRBpVCLKsZAsOmr_nTmC9QDytPmZ-IbISWZP3yvf9hoHKNTBvIPVYw-yGfHO5qSqKpVP/s400/Worcester2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363562032448212002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">E. Somerset, 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> Earl of Worcester</span></span> </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />Edward Somerset, 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> Earl of Worcester (c.1568–1628) was an influential aristocrat and office holder in the reigns of both Elizabeth I and James I. Worcester was made Knight of the Garter in 1593. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Knights_and_Ladies_of_the_Garter" target="blank">See Garter Knights roster here</a>. Worcester was one of the investigators of the Earl of Essex after the failed rebellion of 1601. Elizabeth then favored him with Essex’ former position: Master of the Horse. The Stuart king appointed Worcester Keeper of the Great Park and, eventually, Lord Privy Seal.<br /><br />In June 1603 </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Worcester</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> was nominated <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">custos</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">rotulorum</span></span> (keeper of the rolls) for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Monmouthshire</span>. In the 16<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">th</span> century this was the highest position within each county.<br />In Shakespeare’s play, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Merry Wives of Windsor</span>, at Act I, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">sc</span>. 1, Slender jokes about Shallow being a “<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">ratolorum</span>.’<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> SHALLOW: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Ay</span>, cousin Slender, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Custalorum</span>.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> SLENDER: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Ay</span>, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Ratolorum</span> too.</span><br /><br />On September 5, 1604, in spite of his personal preference for the Roman Catholic faith, Worcester was given a seat on a royal commission for the expulsion of the Jesuits; later he examined the conspirators of the "Gunpowder plot" in the Tower.<br /><br />Edward Somerset <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">became</span> a patron of drama; in 1601, Worcester’s Men had comedian Will <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Kempe</span> in its ranks. Worcester’s Men combined with the Earl of Oxford’s Men in 1602 and, due to Oxford’s successful petition. they were able to play the Boars Head Theatre. John Heywood’s controversial pamphlet, <span style="font-style: italic;">An apology for actors</span> of 1612, was dedicated to Worcester.<br /><br />Worcester’s letter to Cecil of July 24, 1609. is an interesting window into the times.<br /><br />He discusses King James' annoyance at the slowness of letter carriers.<br />He discusses the interrogation of Mr. Strange, an accused Jesuit and Papist.<br />He relates the story of a stable fire that killed royal horse, and worried it might have been a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Jesuit</span> plot.<br />He calms down <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Robert</span> Cecil, who was apparently upset at being called a fool... and worse.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Earl of Worcester</span> to the Lord Treasurer,</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">July 24, 1609</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:times new roman;" >"Your letter I received this day, being Tuesday, at 2 in the afternoon, whereby I found great laziness in the posts. The King was very inquisitive all the morning what might be the cause, examining the hours and miles, concluding it could be no other but the post was '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">sonke</span>.' I showed him your letter, wherewith he was well satisfied, saying there needed no dispatch. Not long after he would needs have me write concerning the examination of Strange, that you might be thoroughly resolved by his learned counsel of the state of that cause against your coming to Salisbury. His desire, as you know, is that he might be proceeded with not substantially, mentioning his priesthood or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Jesuitical</span> profession, but finding by his confession main points of treason to be his declared opinion; beside his flying from a direct answer to the interrogatories argues his treasonable heart. For example, at the first examination before the Lords, he confessed the King being excommunicated by the Pope, that it was lawful or at least a happiness for any that could light upon him to kill him. Being put from that by the grossness of his argument, he said it was the common opinion, but he would not be the doer of it. Now being urged to declare his opinion, he believes as the Church does; but being demanded what the Church holds in that point, he does not remember: which forcibly must needs be concluded that he thinks the Church holds so, and he is of the same mind, which no jury in the world will doubt to avow him a traitor. This proceeding of the Jesuit he merrily alludes to Peter's thrice denial of Christ, for three times he has refused directly to deliver his opinion, as bound in duty to his Sovereign.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:times new roman;" >For the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Venetian's</span> cause he will make no judgment until he be advertised what success the confronting will produce: I mean of the priest and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Dabscat</span>.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:times new roman;" ><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Yesternight</span> the King's stable fell on fire</span> by negligence of a candle set on a post, which fell into the litter and burned the stable, 20 or 30 horse being in the stable. There miscarried but 4, and but 2 of them burnt to death, the other 2 unlike to recover. If our coach horses had miscarried, which were in the same place, we had made a short progress. I waited on the King as my duty was. He lost a pad horse, I lost another; he one hunting horse, I another; all our saddles both his and mine burnt, and the Queen's coach harness. While this tragedy was acting, it was a world to hear the report here. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Some said it was a new Powder treason</span>. An Englishman said a Scottish man was seen there with a link and he fired the stable. Some other said it was a device to set the stable on fire to draw all the guard and Court thither, that they might work some practice upon the King. But God be thanked, neither King, Queen or Prince slept the worse or even waked until the morning in due time.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:times new roman;" ><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One word more touching yourself. You take exceptions to be called 'fool,' and as it will be maintained, not only so but a parrot monger and a monkey monger and twenty other names; which fearing the issue of future inconvenience or challenge I will forbear to speak of any more.</span>"<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Farnham</span>, 24 July.</span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-59769665402093418522009-07-22T13:13:00.003-04:002009-07-22T13:24:18.687-04:00Letter from the Bishop of Limerick to the Earl of Salisbury (R. Cecil)<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bernard Adams (1566-1625)</span> held the position of Anglican Bishop of Limerick</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> from 1604–1625.</span> Educated at <span style="font-family:times new roman;"> Trinity College, Adams was a scholar and a liberal churchman. At that time in Ireland, the official Anglican hierarchy was in competition with Catholic priests and bishops who were legion throughout Ireland. Adams' letter to Cecil, on July 22, 1609, gives a remarkably humorous insight into these conditions.<br /><br /></span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >1609, July 22.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />"How 'tranquillous' this country is, there [are] none but know and 'infinite' rejoice at it. What certainty may be expected of the continuance, seeing many buzzing bees, crawling out of the old beehive of treasonous conspiracies, swarm here about daily, your watchful eye can easiest discern. Yet the multitude and presumption of 'mistary' priests (who, more than ever was usual, exercise all papal jurisdiction as confidently as if Italy were in Ireland: prescribe frequent masses almost openly: insolent pilgrimages of many thousands in an assembly, and some of them armed: procure secret offerings for unknown uses: publish toleration by suggestion of warrant from his Highness: proclaim penny pardons for sundry years past and to come: proscribe his Majesty in printed pamphlets to be no Christian), are prologues, as wisest prognosticators here affirm, of some consequences, the catastrophe whereof may prove a tragedy. These things I write but out of my study, and with silence pass them over, as being a mere divine and no politician, assuring myself that whilst the religious pillars of commonwealth stand, Holy Church can never miscarry. Therefore, fearing that these suspicions by the 'understandinger' sages may be called needless carefulness, I only solicit the all-ruling power for continual peace, and for your prosperity as one of the chiefest stays of true religious maintenance and the safety of God's saints. Limerick, July 22, 1609.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">"</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtxl7aGd6ybBZ0TmXGLMWmdX7RWgwhzkMpnqXnE0K_xf_iJm2JduxtsVZ_y5JsAwafV24K-QZ3Y3Ksc_gexNAVy36hN9czzC3_ETSBJzFYTDieZ2uhNE4Epaezzgq6NbyzXeNLAUXB02q3/s1600-h/StMarysLimerickIreland.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 273px; height: 380px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtxl7aGd6ybBZ0TmXGLMWmdX7RWgwhzkMpnqXnE0K_xf_iJm2JduxtsVZ_y5JsAwafV24K-QZ3Y3Ksc_gexNAVy36hN9czzC3_ETSBJzFYTDieZ2uhNE4Epaezzgq6NbyzXeNLAUXB02q3/s400/StMarysLimerickIreland.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361335976083529042" border="0" /></a>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com114tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-7932912861794280372009-07-20T16:47:00.006-04:002009-07-20T17:05:42.243-04:00Federico Zuccaro, court artist, dies July 20, 1609<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifO40SQ8VR4QBUwCvW2f-EluiGlxkFQg5o0aaJJlzMG15c3ubGqtEDgEoV1ZriS1eWRpwDdi5YBaUnbLZbMw2ZLEwiFahNs9WwHuFFauoDUYXXXBnzAd3Yke7373eZxAjY0tQRAVvJJDEK/s1600-h/200px-Zuccaro_selfport.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifO40SQ8VR4QBUwCvW2f-EluiGlxkFQg5o0aaJJlzMG15c3ubGqtEDgEoV1ZriS1eWRpwDdi5YBaUnbLZbMw2ZLEwiFahNs9WwHuFFauoDUYXXXBnzAd3Yke7373eZxAjY0tQRAVvJJDEK/s400/200px-Zuccaro_selfport.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360647683665334098" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Federico Zuccaro</span> (c.1543-1609), also spelled “Zuccari” and "Zucchero" was an Italian painter of the Mannerist school.</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> Zuccaro got his training on various church projects throughout Italy.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">In 1574 he traveled to England, where he quickly earned commissions to paint the </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">royalty and </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">nobility of the Tudor Court. Of his proposed painting of Elizabeth I, we have only the sketch, seen below.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSP_eqs2sb5Mvf4L0L2XTGhyphenhyphen4EwKaBe3ORw5B1dQ9xJc2Qn6CM4w8QCHxWvHCoqf6VPT4zIJjEnxhiSUziJ5SKbF0b_Wo-FqfrQUS-q5FZjnl8SDFbJuVwsxLEKfUTXy8TqCGXqi_hq8Jq/s1600-h/Elizabeth_I_Zucarro_Sketch.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSP_eqs2sb5Mvf4L0L2XTGhyphenhyphen4EwKaBe3ORw5B1dQ9xJc2Qn6CM4w8QCHxWvHCoqf6VPT4zIJjEnxhiSUziJ5SKbF0b_Wo-FqfrQUS-q5FZjnl8SDFbJuVwsxLEKfUTXy8TqCGXqi_hq8Jq/s320/Elizabeth_I_Zucarro_Sketch.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360648330265737154" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Zuccaro’s other commissions included Mary, Queen of Scots, Sir Nicholas Bacon, Sir Francis Walsingham, and Lord Admiral Howard. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />One of Zuccaro’s most interesting legacies is his “Allegory of Calumny,” a recreation of a lost painting by the Greek master, Apelles, based on a description of that lost work in Lucian.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8wSYgfLjFEniJV91K3D7-YjAqJM4al63lmz5KvgU3LwkrBxaDiN3L0qLxWCcMpxiDQkR_3mLNtm5dRZIUjydvuHTIJ4CQjDrO_xRhL2Padbjvnutsi3EnvpG98WuTlizSdrIYSM-MMIi/s1600-h/Calumny-Of-Apelles-1572-C.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 396px; height: 357px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8wSYgfLjFEniJV91K3D7-YjAqJM4al63lmz5KvgU3LwkrBxaDiN3L0qLxWCcMpxiDQkR_3mLNtm5dRZIUjydvuHTIJ4CQjDrO_xRhL2Padbjvnutsi3EnvpG98WuTlizSdrIYSM-MMIi/s400/Calumny-Of-Apelles-1572-C.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360648706400297042" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Zucarro's Calumny allegory</span><br /><br />Calumny is like slander; it is said that this work got Apelles in trouble, and in similar fashion, got Zuccaro exiled from Rome.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">There is also a 16th century engraving by Giorgio Ghisi of the Calumny of Apelles, and paintings by Mantegna and Boticelli.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Apelles was the celebrated painter in ancient Greece. His painting of grapes was said to be so realistic that birds tried to eat the painted fruit. This anecdote is alluded to in Shakespeare’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Venus and Adonis </span>(601-606):</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">“Even so poor birds, deceived with painted grapes, </span></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Do surfeit by the eye and pine the maw;<br /></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Even so she languisheth in her mishaps</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />As those poor birds that helpless berries saw. </span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />The warm effects which she in him finds missing<br /></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >She seeks to kindle with continual kissing.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Roman satirist Lucian gave the only eyewitness description of Apelles’ Calumny, from which the Renaissance painters managed their recreations, though mediated through Alberti (Leon Battista Alberti “<span style="font-style: italic;">On Painting</span>” 1435): </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">“Invention is praised when one reads the description of Calumny which Lucian recounts was painted by Apelles. I do not think it alien to our subject. I will narrate it here in order to point out to painters where they ought to be most aware and careful in their inventions. In this painting there was a man with very large ears. Near him, on either side, stood two women, one called Ignorance, the other Suspicion. Farther, on the other side, came Calumny, a woman who appeared most beautiful but seemed too rafty in the face. In her right hand she held a lighted torch, with the other hand she dragged by the hair a young man who held up his arms to heaven. There was also a man, pale, ugly, all filthy and with an iniquitous aspect, who could be compared to one who has become thin and feverish with long fatigues on the fields of battle; he was the guide of Calumny and was called Hatred. And there were two other women, serving women of Calumy who arranged her ornaments and robes. They were called Envy and Fraud. Behind these was Penitence, a woman dressed in funeral robes, who stood as if completely dejected. Behind her followed a young girl, shameful and modest, called Truth. If this story pleased as it was being told, think how much pleasure and delight there must have been in seeing it painted by the hand of Apelles. </span><span style="font-size:85%;">[Alberti, <span style="font-style: italic;">On painting</span>, Book 3]</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The donkey-man is often described elsewhere as King Midas.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">This theme, Apelles allegory of calumny, was most famously painted by Botticelli, though only he portrays Envy, Malice, and Deceit as women.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />An essay by modern author, Richard Dutton, “<span style="font-style: italic;">The Comedy of Errors</span> and The Calumny of Apelles: An Exercise in Source” argues that the allegory of calumny as transmitted from Apelles, to Lucian, to-Alberti, to Boticelli, Zuccaro, and others, served as inspiration for the plot of <span style="font-style: italic;">Comedy of Errors</span>.<br /><br />The main point is that the ruler or judge is so overcome with bad information that his ears have grown ridiculously long. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Slander is the enemy of Truth</span>.<br /><br />Federico Zuccaro, court artist, died July 20, 1609.<br />(Note, this date is by the Continental or Catholic Gregorian calendar, then 10 days out of sync with the British who were still using the Julian.)<br /></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com46tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-26414500569539004122009-07-08T14:14:00.009-04:002009-07-10T20:34:00.334-04:00Castle Hedingham and Countess Oxford in 1609<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRwRixt88tg32ixwPWPcVf-6mro_UjyVazpv1RlKJxs37EB0VGwUO0EKe-MKXGaOynss3Q4mtMMilmdQwSZr24h3dR0RCJLmjQQ3AJTWIPy4WMkpbFEB2bd9719WCsNVXShiu9-LKgwdHv/s1600-h/hedingham2009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRwRixt88tg32ixwPWPcVf-6mro_UjyVazpv1RlKJxs37EB0VGwUO0EKe-MKXGaOynss3Q4mtMMilmdQwSZr24h3dR0RCJLmjQQ3AJTWIPy4WMkpbFEB2bd9719WCsNVXShiu9-LKgwdHv/s400/hedingham2009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356157040551355842" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Castle Hedingham</span> in county Essex was the ancestral home of the de Vere family. It is the best-preserved Norman-era moated castle in Europe. The keep was built in the 12th century by Aubrey De Vere II.<br /><br />Edward de Vere (1550-1604) was born there and spent a portion of his childhood in and around the imposing castle and estate.<br /><br />In the 1580s-1590s a series of transactions saw the ownership of the castle and grounds leave the hands of the Earl of Oxford: first, in trust to the Queen, then to William Cecil, Lord Burghley, on behalf of Oxford’s three daughters by Anne Cecil: Elizabeth, Susan, and Bridget de Vere.<br /><br />On <span style="font-weight: bold;">July 8, 1609</span>, Countess Elizabeth Trentham Oxford, the 17th Earl’s widow, signed papers that brought Castle Hedingham back into the family.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />But first, some background:<br /><br />1587, July 3: Oxford grants Castle Hedingham to the Queen with the stipulation that Elizabeth re-grant it to him and his three daughters; Oxford entered into a bond of £4000.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />1587, October 6: a follow-up document records Oxford’s transfer of clear title to Castle Hedingham to the Queen.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />1588, March 8: letter from Lord Burghley authorizing Castle </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hedingham to be brought “by extant” into the Queen’s possession to save it from ‘utter spoil’.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />1591, November 25: Oxford transfers clear title to Hedingham and the manors of Hedingham, Shetleford, and Parkes to Lord Burghley and his heirs by fine.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />1591, December 2: authorization for Oxford to alienate the manors </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">of Castle Hedingham and Gosfield to Lord Burghley and to Oxford's </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">three daughters Elizabeth, Bridget, and Susan Vere.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />1592, April 12: Oxford and his second wife, Elizabeth Trentham, transfer clear title to the manors of Castle Hedingham and Gosfield to Lord Burghley and his heirs and to Oxford's three daughters Elizabeth, Bridget, and Susan.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />More detail about these transactions can be found on <a href="http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/documents.html" target="blank">Nina Green’s website</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">After 1592 the paper trail goes cold for some 17 years. At the time of this writing it is not clear to me who, if anyone, resided at Hedingham in the 1590s and the first decade of the 1600s.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">In 1609 we have records that indicate that Countess Elizabeth Trentham Oxford was endeavoring to purchase back the castle and manors of Hedingham on behalf of her son, Henry, the 18th Earl of Oxford.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />A document from 1609 (no precise date) describes a private act of Parliament (HL/PO/PB/1/1609/7J1n33) allowing the sale of the manor of Bretts to help finance Elizabeth Trentham’s apparent 1609 repurchase of Castle Hedingham. (Essex Record Office</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">D/DRg 2/39)</span>:<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><br />Anno 7 Regni Jacobi </span></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >An Act for the sale of the manor of Bretts and farm of Playstowe in the county of Essex, parcel of the possessions of Henry, Earl of Oxenford, towards the repurchasing of the castle, manor, & parks of Hedingham in the same county, being the ancient inheritance and </span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >chief mansion-house of the Earls of Oxenford.</span> <span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><br />Document transcription (<a href="http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/EssexRecordOffice/D-DRg2-39.pdf" target="blank">pdf file</a>) by Nina Green.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">However, there seems to have been an objection to this deal.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">From the Calendar of State Papers Domestic: James I, 1603-1610</span>:<br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">1609 - June 24.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Eston Lodge.</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> Sir Hen. Maynard to Salisbury. Trusts he will not disapprove of his not yielding to the Countess of Oxford's desire in the business of Herringham, though the young Earl, Mr. Trentham, his uncle, and the Countess herself, earnestly pressed his giving up the bargain.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><a href="http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15030" target="blank">Web source here</a>.</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />By “Herringham” is meant Hedingham. The “young Earl” refers to Henry, the 18th earl of Oxford (age 16). "Mr. Trentham" is Francis Trentham, Countess Elizabeth’s brother. On the face of it, this note appears to indicate that Henry Maynard was trying to squash the proposed deal.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Who was Sir Henry Maynard?</span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Henry Maynard (1547-1610), an English politician and bureaucrat, was secretary to Lord Treasurer Burghley. By virtue of his position he was able to take advantage of troubled assets and gradually became a major landowner, especially in Essexshire. He also developed a reputation as a moneylender (see <span style="font-style: italic;">An Elizabethan: Sir Horatio Palavicino</span> - by Lawrence Stone.)</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Maynard also served terms as MP for St. Albans in the parliaments of 1586, 1588, 1592 and 1597. In 1603 Maynard was High Sheriff of Essex and was knighted by Elizabeth’s. In July 1603, </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">James I appointed Maynard as Deputy Lieutenant for Essex.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What and where is Eston Lodge?</span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Eston Lodge is now called <a href="http://www.eastonlodge.co.uk/" target="blank">Easton Lodge</a>, near Great Dunmow, Essex, only a few miles from Castle Hedingham.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sometime around 1590, Elizabeth I granted the 10,000 acre Manor of Estaines to Henry Maynard as a reward for his duties as Private Secretary to the Lord Treasurer. Maynard demolished an existing hunting lodge and constructed a vast, “H”-shaped mansion. In </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">1847, almost the entire Elizabethan part of the mansion was destroyed by fire. The property was rebuilt and is now a tourist destination.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Maynard wrote his will on August 20, 1609. He died in 1610 and was buried at Little Easton, Essex. His epitaph in Little Easton Church reads: “Here resteth, in assured hope to rise in Christ, Henry Maynard, Knight, descended of the ancient family of Maynard, in </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">the county of Devon; and Dame Susan, his wife, daughter and one of the coheirs of Thomas Pierson, Esq. to whom she bear eight sonnes and two daughters. He ended this life the 11th of May, 1610; his lady, six sonnes, and two daughters then living.”<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Thanks to research (conducted independently) by <a href="http://www.jeremycrick.info/TrenthamFamily-1.html" target="blank">Jeremy Crick</a> and Christopher Paul, I learned that an additional detail of the Hedingham saga is found in Philip Morant's <span style="font-style: italic;">The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex (1763-68)</span>.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">I looked at Morant’s <span style="font-style: italic;">History</span> and have transcribed the full passage, presented here on the web for the first time:</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">“For Edward, the 17th Earl of Oxford, having taken to his second wife Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Trentham of that place, Esq; her brother Francis Trentham Esq; advanced ten thousand pounds to clear incumbrances on the Oxford Estates. In consideration whereof, 8 July 1609, by deed inrolled, and recovery suffered pursuant thereto, the three daughters of the said Earl Edward, by his first wife, with their husbands, William Earl of Derby, Francis Lord Norris, and Philip Earl of Montgomery, by the appointment of the forementioned Elizabeth Vere Countess dowager of Oxford, conveyed the Honour of Castle Hedingham to her for life, remainder to her son Henry Earl of Oxford for his life, and to his sons in taile male; remainder to Trustees to perform contingent estates, remainder to Francis Trentham Esq. brother of the said Countess, and his heirs for ever.”</span><br /></span> <span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" >[From Philip Morant's ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex </span>(1763-68)</span><span style="font-size:85%;">]</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">It is not entirely clear what document Morant consulted for these details. Other documents do not support the notion that Francis Trentham paid out ten thousand pounds to clear Oxford’s incumbrances. However, the amounts that Francis Trentham did forward on behalf of his sister and brother in law do add up to significant sums, and perhaps the ten thousand is a fair aggregate amount.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Did the Countess move to Hedingham in 1609?</span> Well, she did sell King’s Place (Hackney) in spring 1609 to Fulke Greville. But the little evidence we have suggests that the Countess continued living in London, at Cannon Row.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The Countess’ letter to Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, Lord High </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Treasurer of England, and the Earl of Northampton, Lord Privy Seal, dated July 22, 1611, is signed by her:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">"</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);font-family:times new roman;" >In the meantime myself for this and sundry other your honourable favours shall now and </span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);font-family:times new roman;" >ever rest exceedingly bound unto your Lordships, and thus craving pardon for this my </span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);font-family:times new roman;" >boldness I humbly take my leave from my house in Cannon Row this 22nd of July 1611. </span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);font-family:times new roman;" >Your Lordships’ assured friend, </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">Elizabeth Oxenford"</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Canon Row, </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">in the White Hall / Downing Street area of London, </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">abuts Derby Gate. This, I think, was the location of the Derby House, </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">home of the 6th Earl of Derby, William Stanley, and his wife, Elizabeth de Vere, daughter of Edward Earl of Oxford.</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> Apparently the older Oxfords were comfortable staying with the next generation. Earl Edward penned a letter in 1596 from Canon Row, which ends:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">"...</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Thus taking my leave from Cannon Row, this 6 of September, 1596...."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Confusing the issue is the larger "Cannon Street" (two "n's"), located further east, that is, </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">indeed, the general location of London Stone and St Swithin where the Vere House in town was </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">located on Candlewick Street. Yet, Oxford is said to have sold this house around 1588.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">So while it is not completely clear where the Countess was living, she does say "Cannon </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Row," not Street, just as her husband did in 1596. It is simply a strong conjecture that she was living with the Stanley-Derbys.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">If any readers can help with the following questions, please post a comment here or send me an e-mail.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Thanks,</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Robert Sean Brazil – July 8, 2009</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />*Why did Henry Maynard try to squelch the Hedingham deal?</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />*What document served as Morant’s source?</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />*Who lived in Hedingham in the 1590s?</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />*Is there any evidence that Countess Oxford moved there in 1609 or at any time before her death?</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Some of the documents in this matter suggest that Hedingham in the 1590s was run down and unlivable. Other documents, however, suggest that the residence(s) were in shape for habitation. Is it possible that no one was living there because the estate was too far in disrepair to provide country comfort?<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fh10GzGFFPcIiA35GZ_7xZ4x2Lpd-sDbhORVCaeLRfviq5wz8uenfkhybOUrFDLE2WFre3SLiY7Qx67K962GNChvFRYLyHaVJlm-THBQi2hE1uKHpJxtStt0lbgmGutWn_kZclg26sG-/s1600-h/hedingham2D.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fh10GzGFFPcIiA35GZ_7xZ4x2Lpd-sDbhORVCaeLRfviq5wz8uenfkhybOUrFDLE2WFre3SLiY7Qx67K962GNChvFRYLyHaVJlm-THBQi2hE1uKHpJxtStt0lbgmGutWn_kZclg26sG-/s400/hedingham2D.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356161125536750562" border="0" /></a>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-82695025786014389692009-06-20T14:49:00.001-04:002009-06-22T15:06:23.300-04:00Old Folks Boogie in Herefordshire<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc46egKGQE0TDUx677MQLDbFhJ_FwDpjAmmiGmboiPwfVkyhkMQ7J6DWR0ejEwPNPiktpATymssFVPnm46rj3f5y2FrfBjTm_u6E-FW0kbCaEmJ5TumWhGOwt5iaz0FDMdBhi10RTYV3Dd/s1600-h/Morris-Dancers2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 389px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc46egKGQE0TDUx677MQLDbFhJ_FwDpjAmmiGmboiPwfVkyhkMQ7J6DWR0ejEwPNPiktpATymssFVPnm46rj3f5y2FrfBjTm_u6E-FW0kbCaEmJ5TumWhGOwt5iaz0FDMdBhi10RTYV3Dd/s400/Morris-Dancers2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350229235866439842" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">What do you get when a dozen octo-, nono-, and cento-genarian senior citizens of Hereford danced the Morris in June 1609? You get a marvelous cultural event more outrageous than the Nine-day Morris, though now almost completely forgotten.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Old Meg of Herefordshire for a Mayd Marian, and Hereford towne for a Morris-dance; or twelve Morris-dancers in Herefordshire of 1200 years old</span> was registered at Stationers’ Hall on <span style="font-weight: bold;">June 20, 1609</span>.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2emXJGTJD71H_l_y38ibEVwpZUed6umENYfdVcPXpzgFOBnZk_lTS5OF6huAQm7XwvWlR4XenmmmIdCU5dmlqpd5MjNzlzffrQ_O7mjqjw1ioCLqwwgOscmCfvbhqIoxfpkcona6idwGo/s1600-h/OldMeg-1609-01.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2emXJGTJD71H_l_y38ibEVwpZUed6umENYfdVcPXpzgFOBnZk_lTS5OF6huAQm7XwvWlR4XenmmmIdCU5dmlqpd5MjNzlzffrQ_O7mjqjw1ioCLqwwgOscmCfvbhqIoxfpkcona6idwGo/s400/OldMeg-1609-01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350229400796322530" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The event had taken place that spring. Although the book was anonymous, one modern source states that the work was by Will Kemp, and a sequel of sorts to his <a href="http://www.uoregon.edu/%7Erbear/kemp.html" target="blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Nine Daies Wonder</span> </a>of 1600. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The men dancing ranged in ages from 80 to 108, or so is claimed. The one woman, named Meg Goodwin, at 80 years old, danced the part of Maid Marian. <a href="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.e.price/lancaster.htm" target="blank">See this page for images related to the Robin & Marian dance</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">“But now give way for the Maide-marrian, old Meg Goodwin the famous wench of Erdisland, of whom Maister Weauer, of Burton that was fourescore &: ten yeares old, was wont to say, she was twentie yeares elder then he, and he dyed ten yeares since. This old Meg was at Prince Arthurs death at Ludlow, and had her part in the dole, she was threescore yeares (she saith) a Maide, and twentie yeares otherwise, thats what you will, and since hath beene thought fit to be a Maide-marrian. "</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.fishleys.co.uk/Oldmeg/OM.HTM" target="blank">Read the full text of Old Meg here.</a></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com66tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-51346346213461024662009-06-18T12:07:00.012-04:002009-06-19T15:15:49.497-04:00Curious Inscribed Slate of 1609 era Discovered at Jamestown in 2009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9uxA1G7YTDVOOjfHCZf6eHMur-A06cvQRB76oRYEJS4TnMNv_8J1v-TTm25FP01wbYeNlk5w22qBIva7cWRuNrYzjgQ07LBw7I2sYxUwCTh8a3GyPa0G102k5VCLAqy99tpfVm4M921F/s1600-h/jamestown2b.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 346px; height: 217px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9uxA1G7YTDVOOjfHCZf6eHMur-A06cvQRB76oRYEJS4TnMNv_8J1v-TTm25FP01wbYeNlk5w22qBIva7cWRuNrYzjgQ07LBw7I2sYxUwCTh8a3GyPa0G102k5VCLAqy99tpfVm4M921F/s400/jamestown2b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348700717296606754" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">On June 8, 2009, the National Geographic news service reported that archaeologists excavating a well in Jamestown, Virginia, have found an inscribed slate tablet dating back to around 1609. The slate is etched on both sides with caricatures of people, flora, and fauna, and features enigmatic words and numbers begging for decipherment. The slate measures approximately 5” x 8” inches.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLcPGaOmjdbvaTGtc5tsIg4uXuia7-OhJocqknncmi1ogq6dqGqHZyHNoSaFOf-XvZs92nL7IrflOlQQt_QI9w-EkOYKToSiHd8G_IGU3pUKqjDr5PD8Xvb29Dl93sZW8zorkTeub9v43/s1600-h/jamestown1b.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 321px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLcPGaOmjdbvaTGtc5tsIg4uXuia7-OhJocqknncmi1ogq6dqGqHZyHNoSaFOf-XvZs92nL7IrflOlQQt_QI9w-EkOYKToSiHd8G_IGU3pUKqjDr5PD8Xvb29Dl93sZW8zorkTeub9v43/s400/jamestown1b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348700514471105442" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The slate was uncovered down a well at James’ Fort. It is known that Captain John Smith dug a well for the settlement in 1609. By 1611 the well’s water went bad and settlers filled it in with trash. This slate was found below the level of general trash, and among a layer that includes early trade trinkets, so it may have been accidentally dropped in, or tossed in to evade discovery.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The slate, now being studied closely, is perhaps the earliest known graffiti record of early English Colonists. (There are earlier inscribed stones in the Americas conventionally described as either native, or forgeries, but in some key instances, may be remnants of early arrivals on the continent by Norsemen, Vikings, Irish, Romans, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Chinese. See links below.)</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />The curious slate tablet is etched with the words: </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />"A MINON OF THE FINEST SORTE." </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Above this sentence are the letters and numbers:</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> "EL NEV FSH HTLBMS 508," and strange symbols that have, so far, resisted interpretation.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"Minon" is, no doubt, intended as "minion" and can mean anything from "follower," to "sycophant," to "ass-kisser," which might make the slate a critique of a camp officer. Complicating that theory is the fact that minion also referred to a type of cannon (weapon) that was used at Jamestown.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Rough sketches on the slate show several flower blossoms and birds that may be attempts to represent native eagles, songbirds, and owls.<br /><br />A cartoon-like image of a settler smoking a pipe adds humor and a contemporary activity.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">An image of a palmetto tree, not native to Virginia at that time --- but widely seen in the Caribbean and more southern areas of North America --- is something a settler might have seen on the way to Jamestown, which often involved a loopy southern route. Another possibility is that the artist of the slate was one of the survivors of the Sea Venture shipwreck.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The slate also has images of heraldic lions rampant, as seen in the Arms of England. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwOvDrJoG7pZBhoqIxMP5RQsgVKAkz9Q_7nMRm-bWkxI_YQ_A2-V9tq1soyL-ap1XXSkbL-fWv660Rdw8jTyQFvKoCZComALLATxjll3RmJ9BVVhDxbGUQCSGADPfNkJGEA_rEwq6DqVd/s1600-h/jamestown3b.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 321px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwOvDrJoG7pZBhoqIxMP5RQsgVKAkz9Q_7nMRm-bWkxI_YQ_A2-V9tq1soyL-ap1XXSkbL-fWv660Rdw8jTyQFvKoCZComALLATxjll3RmJ9BVVhDxbGUQCSGADPfNkJGEA_rEwq6DqVd/s400/jamestown3b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348701108018001778" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Archaeologists relate that slates such as these were used and reused, and while the pencil-like sketch’s surface materials are long gone, the scratches remain, and, as a result, the slate today carries multiple overlapping images. In books and manuscripts such an effect is called a palimpsest. The point is, we are not looking at a single message, but many records overlaid upon each other.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The scientists studying the slate hope to use CT-scan technology to trace the layering and separate out the superimposed images via software. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">By Robert Sean Brazil, June 18, 2009<br /><br />PS- If you are interested in the idea that there may be evidence of Pre-Columbian visitors to the Americas see the following web-pages for starters:<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://epigraphyusa.com/" target="blank">http://epigraphyusa.com/</a><br /><a href="http://all-ez.com/epigraphy.htm" target="blank">http://all-ez.com/epigraphy.htm</a><br /><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/01/001stengel2.htm" target="blank">http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/01/001stengel2.htm</a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_Creek_inscription" target="blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_Creek_inscription</a></span><br /></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com251tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-10858753237358956922009-06-17T16:36:00.006-04:002009-06-17T16:48:58.051-04:00Arabella Stuart's Letter to Shrewsbury<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5IqnmA51fMU7izyg_ozkiVF36s5eIwrnefaJvta5K3rOBgdlRyA-3_uHyNKn28LT6kksc53BJMRpCMkrJI7P8m8zVUFvKG3juUe0UofMCdYczhkgWUtKBTFV8ZRIms6rECvh22xAP_lJg/s1600-h/Arabella-Stuart4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 343px; height: 354px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5IqnmA51fMU7izyg_ozkiVF36s5eIwrnefaJvta5K3rOBgdlRyA-3_uHyNKn28LT6kksc53BJMRpCMkrJI7P8m8zVUFvKG3juUe0UofMCdYczhkgWUtKBTFV8ZRIms6rECvh22xAP_lJg/s400/Arabella-Stuart4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348399280096930146" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Arabella Stuart</span> (1575-1615), cousin of King James I of England, had also been considered a successor to Queen Elizabeth I, as she was also directly descended from Henry VII. In 1582 she became one of the wards of William Cecil, Lord Burghley. She was housed mostly in the care of the famous Bess of Hardwick, but she also must have been a familiar to fellow ward Henry Wriothesley (3rd Earl of Southampton, born 1573) at times.<br /><br />After James’ succession there was a plot (The <a href="http://www.lexscripta.com/articles/raleigh4.html" target="blank">Main Plot)</a>, implicating Raleigh, to get rid of James and put Arabella on the throne.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Arabella (sometimes spelled Arbella) was a prolific letter writer.<br /><br />On<span style="font-weight: bold;"> June 17, 1609</span>, she penned a curious letter to her uncle, the Earl of Shrewsbury. The holograph letter still exists, shown below. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The Earl of Shrewsbury in question was George Talbot 7th Earl, son of George Talbot 6th Earl ((1528–1590) and his wife, Gertrude Manners, daughter of the 1st Earl of Rutland. The 7th Earl married Mary Cavendish, daughter of his stepmother, Bess of Hardwick who had become the 6th Earl’s second wife.<br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4eDrqRsjHam2gOAZFu1Kr4Bcv6tGw50XqRMogLUipBATYKVFQ_fqdN95-pQD5wvvhN6R0Xe2cYtMPvvmUgUQx5C_CNT46Ur_mBca9EGcc9hkEnSitsJrakYoBoNp1oKZQKnWMEPL_iJME/s1600-h/G-Talbot-7th-Earl.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 370px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4eDrqRsjHam2gOAZFu1Kr4Bcv6tGw50XqRMogLUipBATYKVFQ_fqdN95-pQD5wvvhN6R0Xe2cYtMPvvmUgUQx5C_CNT46Ur_mBca9EGcc9hkEnSitsJrakYoBoNp1oKZQKnWMEPL_iJME/s400/G-Talbot-7th-Earl.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348400262541948322" border="0" /><br /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">George Talbot 7th Earl of Shrewsbury</span></span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">While of only minor historic importance, this letter has a few fascinating features. We see Arabella’s literary flair. “Idle lines” resonates with the sonnets of Thomas Watson and Shakespeare’s poetry. We see her wicked dry sense of humor at play as she compares herself to Pope Joan. And I find charming Arabella’s description of some sort of illusion show in which two virginals (small harpsichords) were seen and heard to play by themselves. Another contraption heated a glass invisibly.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoc0q7nNSfH5x-49nxLMmCaemcWfwhanYP7K1QURqFnOFpDZjPKTb92NTcvIDYNDa9MTb2AFknnmRzQwKXxbM7JpzbSl04Sm3-UskABuvDGX4hd7fwxeoWbqvkWAxkp9RRXudbl94lkJr5/s1600-h/arabella2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoc0q7nNSfH5x-49nxLMmCaemcWfwhanYP7K1QURqFnOFpDZjPKTb92NTcvIDYNDa9MTb2AFknnmRzQwKXxbM7JpzbSl04Sm3-UskABuvDGX4hd7fwxeoWbqvkWAxkp9RRXudbl94lkJr5/s400/arabella2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348399854074507682" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />To the right honorable my very good uncle the Earl of Shrowsbury,</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />"Because I know not that your lordship hath forsaken one recreation that you have liked </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">heretofore, <span style="font-weight: bold;">I presume to send you a few idle lines</span> to read in your chair, after you have tired yourself either with affairs or any sport that bringeth weariness; and, knowing you well advertised of all occurrents in serious manner, I make it my end only to make you merry, and show <span style="font-weight: bold;">my desire to please you even in playing the fool, for no folly is greater, I trow, than to laugh when one smarteth</span>; but that my aunt's divinity can tell you <span style="font-weight: bold;">St. Lawrence, deriding his tormentors even upon the gridiron, bade them turn him on the other side, for that he lay on was sufficiently broiled</span>, I should not know how to excuse myself from either insensibleness or contempt of injuries. I find if one rob a house and build a church with the money the wronged party may go pipe in an ivy leaf for any redress ; for money so well bestowed must not be taken from that holy work, though the right owner go a-begging. Unto you it is given to understand parables or to command the comment ; but if you be of this opinion of the Scribes and Pharisees, I condemn your lordship, by your leave, for an heretic, by the authority of Pope Joan; for there is a text saith, you must not do evil that good may come thereof. </span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >But now from doctrine to miracles. I assure you within these few days I saw a pair of </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">virginals make good music without help of any hand, but of one that did nothing but warm, not move, a glass some five or six feet from them. And if I thought thus great folk, invisibly and far off, work in matters to tune them as they please, I pray your lordship forgive me, and I hope God will, to whose holy protection I humbly recommend your lordship</span>. From Broad Street, <span style="font-weight: bold;">June 17, 1609</span>. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />in margin:<br /><br />"I humbly pray your lordship to bestow two of the next good personnages of yours </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">shall fall on me; not that I mean to convert them to my own benefit, for though I go </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">rather for a good clerk than a worldly-wise woman, I aspire to no degree of Pope Joan, </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">but some good ends, whereof this bearer will tell your lordship one. My boldness shows </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">how honourably I believe of your disposing of such livings.<br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Your lordship's niece, </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">"ARBELLA STUART." </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />Although her political ambitions were thwarted, Arabella successfully made a killing in commodities through monopolies granted by James. For a time she had rights to control imports of wine and spirits into Ireland, and sought the the grant for exclusive rights for licensing, brewing and selling beer in Ireland! Now that’s a profitable market!<br /></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com339tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-49304984456728594262009-06-08T19:05:00.003-04:002009-06-19T15:16:16.012-04:00Shakespeare v. Addenbrooke lawsuit ends in Stratford<span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">As previously mentioned <a href="http://1609chronology.blogspot.com/2009/04/jonson-and-ostler-get-paid-wheres.html" target="blank">here</a>, Wiiliam Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon entered into a law case against John Addenbrooke on August 17, 1608. There are numerous surviving Stratford court documents for this case. Not much is known about Addenbrooke. Schoenbaum found a reference dated 1600 for an Addenbroke in Warwickshire who was selling starch licenses. [Which leads me to imagine the following interchange: ‘What are you doing there, ma’am?' – ‘Starching shirts, guvnah.’ – ‘Let me see your starch license!’]</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">In the<span style="font-weight: bold;"> June 7, 1609</span>, final document of the case the name of the plaintiff is spelled, "Willielmus Shackspeare" and "Willielmo Shackspeare."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">What happened is that Addenbrooke, a local tradesman, was sued by Shakespeare in the Stratford court of record to recover a debt of £6. It is not clear whether the six pounds was a straightforward loan or was tied to some prior business dealings.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">On June 7, 1609, the case, now in its tenth month, reached a kind of conclusion. In earlier parts of the case, Addenbrooke was arrested and later released when the local blacksmithand alehouse-keeper, Thomas Hornby, stood “surety” (bondsman) for the defendant. Addenbrooke promptly disappeared from the face of the earth and now, on June 7, “Shackspeare” attempted to get Hornby to pay up. The court had found in favor of Shackspeare, awarding him the original £6, with 24 shillings added for damages. It is unknown whether Shackspeare ever collected from Hornby.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Of these proceedings Samuel Schoenbaum wrote (in <span style="font-style: italic;">A Documentary Life</span>),</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >“His persistence may strike moderns as heartless, but the course Shakespeare followed was normal in an age without credit cards, overdrafts, or collection agencies.” </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">That’s true Sam, but was it normal for a man thought to be the nation’s leading playwright, who could have been making much more money in London, to spend ten months in the boondocks chasing £6 that turned out to be uncollectable? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Prinary Sources: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Office, Misc. Doc. V, 116; Misc Doc V, 139; Misc Doc V, 127a; Misc Doc V, 127b; Misc Doc V, 115; MS. ER 27/6; MS. ER 27/7).</span></span><br /><br />RSBRobert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com265tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-55243318917272853202009-06-02T16:03:00.012-04:002009-06-02T16:58:08.317-04:00The Voyage and Wreck of The Sea Venture<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarUIGZow2tebA8H3S0urx91QpojyUEW16amw1WI1dOONk7jC2-QsO9_lMuntuaU5KIZ6Z3VGSW6Bj9WI7ObLkLPabbJUi11BiA40oEjlGBvm8l1yVovSUpckb4-L1k6YTBMyG7uPArNSn/s1600-h/sea-venture-model.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarUIGZow2tebA8H3S0urx91QpojyUEW16amw1WI1dOONk7jC2-QsO9_lMuntuaU5KIZ6Z3VGSW6Bj9WI7ObLkLPabbJUi11BiA40oEjlGBvm8l1yVovSUpckb4-L1k6YTBMyG7uPArNSn/s400/sea-venture-model.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342823877715033490" border="0" /><br /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Model of the<span style="font-style: italic;"> Sea Venture</span> in Bermuda Maritime Museum</span></span><br /><br />As I have outlined in previous installments, in the spring of 1609 news from the Jamestown Colony in Virginia was bleak. The colony needed more able-bodied workers, soldiers, food, supplies, and money. The Virginia Company council enlisted churchmen to give sermons on the necessity of colonial “outreach” and used contacts in the Stationers’ Guild to rush these sermons and other pro-Virginia propaganda to press. With hordes of new investors, and a sweeping re-chartering of the enterprise on May 23, 1609, the funds were in place to roll out the Third Supply mission, as it was formally named. Sea vessels were already under construction and now were rushed to completion. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />The 1609 fleet comprised eight ships, of which the flagship was the<span style="font-style: italic;"> Sea Venture</span>, built by master shipwright, Christopher Newport. The three men in charge of the mission were Admiral Sir George <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Somers</span>, Samuel Jordan, and Sir Thomas Gates. On board the ships were as many as 600 people.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The <span style="font-style: italic;">Sea Venture </span>is said to have been England’s first built-to-order emigration vessel…a tradition that climaxed in the industrial age when thousands of Scots and Irish were forcibly uprooted and relocated to Nova <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Scotia</span> and other destinations.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The <span style="font-style: italic;">Sea Venture</span> displaced 300 tons and had an innovative new design that placed her 24 defensive cannons on the main deck. However, with all this high technology employed, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sea Venture</span>’s fate was similar to the ill-fated Titanic. Both vessels did not survive their maiden voyages. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Sea Venture</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> set sail from Plymouth on June 2, 1609</span>, bound for Jamestown, Virginia. Everything was going smoothly until the flotilla ran into a monstrous hurricane. By July 24, the winds had driven the vessels apart from each other and it was each ship for herself. Because the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sea Venture</span> was brand new, the caulking and joining was still loose and the great vessel began coming apart and leaking. They threw the heavy guns overboard. On July 25, with water in the hold rising fast, Admiral <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Somers</span> spotted land and purposely drove the ship ashore. He wrecked his vessel but discovered Bermuda.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjniYssvzFcQ4OMeNIhsfnpQ480Q9g0RiFrm6PZfal_LdksWFV256thL1z_K-G8QUWWAB1HSrEaCl7Z6O20A5hgYQ7kOPDTrGH5PT3h1mRZ44uK4x5H_nLVA3apXUq8mKrv57n7yigw_38b/s1600-h/Bermuda-coin-SeaVenture.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 323px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjniYssvzFcQ4OMeNIhsfnpQ480Q9g0RiFrm6PZfal_LdksWFV256thL1z_K-G8QUWWAB1HSrEaCl7Z6O20A5hgYQ7kOPDTrGH5PT3h1mRZ44uK4x5H_nLVA3apXUq8mKrv57n7yigw_38b/s400/Bermuda-coin-SeaVenture.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342837382475714274" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Bermuda's 1987 commemorative $5 coin shows wreck of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sea Venture</span></span><br /><br />About 150 survivors made it safely to shore, including Lieutenant-General Gates, Christopher Newport, Sylvester Jordain, and the voyage’s clerk, William <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Strachey</span>.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The shipwrecked band stayed on Bermuda (at first called the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Somers</span> Isles) for about nine months. Most of their time was spent disassembling what was left of the Sea Venture and using the salvaged rigging, hardware, and other materials -- along with cedar timber from the island -- to build two small ships, which they named the <span style="font-style: italic;">Deliverance</span> and the <span style="font-style: italic;">Patience</span>.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The company also sent out one Henry Ravens and a crew in a small boat to try to find the way to Virginia. They were never heard from again. Thus begins the saga of the Bermuda Triangle. Mariners, Steer Clear!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">On May 10, 1610, almost a year after setting out from England, the<span style="font-style: italic;"> Sea Venture</span> survivors boarded the <span style="font-style: italic;">Deliverance</span> and the <span style="font-style: italic;">Patience</span> and set a course to Virginia, arriving without complications on May 23, 1610. Quite a few <span style="font-style: italic;">Sea Venture </span>colonists had died and were buried in Bermuda including the wife of John Rolfe. This unexpected <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">widower-hood</span> allowed him to woo and win the abducted Pocahontas a few years later. To maintain the Crown’s claim on Bermuda, two colonists were left behind to keep the fort.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_katWXT9j9ilQ-bk8vbEZji3diCXkNFtwqmpJ4dg1ruugQvybaR9ssYQTQ0I6OGo-OtsHqQdQJ5cuyWVORtrNe-Sq1vUXoVJ4w7yMSYbNYHHw-XVmlPcKwmpL13_phkv3PFx8Vgg86B6/s1600-h/bermuda-flag.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_katWXT9j9ilQ-bk8vbEZji3diCXkNFtwqmpJ4dg1ruugQvybaR9ssYQTQ0I6OGo-OtsHqQdQJ5cuyWVORtrNe-Sq1vUXoVJ4w7yMSYbNYHHw-XVmlPcKwmpL13_phkv3PFx8Vgg86B6/s320/bermuda-flag.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342826572394861346" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3oxy2I4faKb4JgMWRowWXM_zs_UOMHk9TCeha-MSHl1YbmX8GXotl0e-Bs82f0cLM9qO9V6uIgqU-GpFPWzblMK9E7mux7A6qoXLFtq5gJFWKaNir_bC0BHFK77qG-Cx-DUB0mvfEr40X/s1600-h/bermuda-arms-w-SV.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3oxy2I4faKb4JgMWRowWXM_zs_UOMHk9TCeha-MSHl1YbmX8GXotl0e-Bs82f0cLM9qO9V6uIgqU-GpFPWzblMK9E7mux7A6qoXLFtq5gJFWKaNir_bC0BHFK77qG-Cx-DUB0mvfEr40X/s320/bermuda-arms-w-SV.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342827007626064466" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;">National flag of Bermuda and close-up of the Bermuda arms, which show the wreck of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sea Venture</span>.</span><br /><br />Arriving in Jamestown, the Virginia Company discovered that there were only about 60 survivors from the 500 who were crossing on the other ships of the fleet. Many of the original colonists had also died. The time was called the “Great Starving” and was the darkest period in Jamestown’s history. As the emigration of skilled workers was one of the prime reasons for the re-supply mission, this was nothing short of a second disaster. The officers decided the project and plantation was doomed for the moment. They decided to abandon the colony and ship all survivors back to London. So much for stiff upper lips and steely resolve.<br /><br />But wait, just as the cowardly brigade was sailing down the James River for open seas, they encountered the relief mission of Governor Baron De La <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Warre</span>! He talked sense into the scurrying scurvy lot, and all turned around back to Jamestown.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Needing more fresh food, Admiral <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Somers</span> volunteered himself to return to Bermuda on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Patience</span> to secure more wild pig. However, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Somers</span> died in Bermuda in 1610. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />The misadventures of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sea Venture </span>flotilla were documented by two of the participants, Sylvester Jordain, and William <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Strachey</span>.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sylvester Jordain's </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">A Discovery of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Barmudas</span></span> was printed in 1610.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Title page below.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPtpeq2KS8-BBg1HVC7K9IW1btYJW55s_GG48yTL06TI5MuFreWrex7zLdgUfsuNScNshFH6phf26yvtqLQ7L3nuNVzDblJdbSCEdKVLeA5R4HTIw6xTeG5oBERYdgdAQy5uOLVetZUG0/s1600-h/DiscoveryBarmudas1610.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 291px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPtpeq2KS8-BBg1HVC7K9IW1btYJW55s_GG48yTL06TI5MuFreWrex7zLdgUfsuNScNshFH6phf26yvtqLQ7L3nuNVzDblJdbSCEdKVLeA5R4HTIw6xTeG5oBERYdgdAQy5uOLVetZUG0/s400/DiscoveryBarmudas1610.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342828479215137346" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">William <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Strachey</span>’s account </span>(in the form of a letter) <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">wasn</span>’t printed until 1625 (in <span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Purchas</span> his <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Pilgrimes</span></span>. v.4. by Samuel <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Purchas</span>, London, 1625).</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">It is widely known and referenced as "<span style="font-style: italic;">A true <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">reportory</span>..</span>."<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVb0DMULGSp04SAh5tJe6CXaVh9z0uoK2sHRzMqmBACDgikvEsmoQPsSW-gc5EdTMUqFgIMgUz1ZtPDrkjWHtscD1WeAX2dQmteix3RtpE-Ab_4zoLmf7mdPygcL4GPsTaP2UqLP7sZTK/s1600-h/Strachey-1625.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 332px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVb0DMULGSp04SAh5tJe6CXaVh9z0uoK2sHRzMqmBACDgikvEsmoQPsSW-gc5EdTMUqFgIMgUz1ZtPDrkjWHtscD1WeAX2dQmteix3RtpE-Ab_4zoLmf7mdPygcL4GPsTaP2UqLP7sZTK/s400/Strachey-1625.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342828738919223922" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">It has been a commonplace in English literary criticism that Shakespeare’s play, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Tempest</span>, was modeled on these accounts. If this were true, Shakespeare would have had to have seen <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Strachey</span>’s report in manuscript.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">However, this common wisdom is almost certainly a falsity. A monumental error. The argument that Shakespeare used these texts would appear to rest on actual similarities between the historical accounts and the narrative in <span style="font-style: italic;">The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Tempes</span></span>t.<br /><br />Research published in the last ten years shows that these alleged parallels are false. Other, earlier books show stronger parallels, and that the likely existence of a staged version of<span style="font-style: italic;"> The Tempest</span>, circa 1600, or nine years before the wreck of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sea Venture,</span> makes such speculation moot.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />Here are some web resources if you are interested in looking into this complex matter more closely.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Researcher Nina Green</span> has published an excellent 94-page paper on the web (note- it’s in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">PDF</span> format) rebutting the claims of Dave <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Kathman</span>, who is a defender of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Strachey</span>-influenced-Tempest theory.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Nina’s argument is comprehensive and well referenced.</span><br /><a href="http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Kathman/Kathmanrefutation.pdf" target="blank"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Kathman/Kathmanrefutation.pdf</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dr. Roger <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Stritmatter</span> and co-author Lynne <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Kositsky</span></span> offered a fresh look on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Strachey</span> claim in 2007:</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">"Shakespeare and the Voyagers Revisited</span> " <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Review of English Studies</span>, 2007; 58: 447-472</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Stritmatter</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Kositsky</span> wrote another article, "Dating The Tempest: A Note on the Undocumented Influence of Erasmus' "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Naufragium</span>" and Richard Eden's 1555 Decades of the New World.</span>" <span style="font-family:times new roman;">This is on the web here:</span> <a href="http://www.shakespearefellowship.org/virtualclassroom/tempest/kositsky-stritmatter%20Tempest%20Table.htm" target="blank"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">http://www.shakespearefellowship.org/virtualclassroom/tempest/kositsky-stritmatter%20Tempest%20Table.htm</span></a> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />And a summary by my colleague, Mark Anderson here:</span><br /><a href="http://shakespearebyanothername.blogspot.com/2008/03/tempest-was-written-before-1604.html" target="blank"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">http://shakespearebyanothername.blogspot.com/2008/03/tempest-was-written-before-1604.html</span></a> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The standard view is found in</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Alden T. Vaughan: William <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Strachey's</span> "True <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Reportory</span>" and Shakespeare: A Closer Look at the Evidence Shakespeare Quarterly - <span style="font-style: italic;">Shakespeare Quarterly</span>, Volume 59, Number 3, Fall 2008<br /><br />And, on the web, Dave <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Kathman's</span> foaming diatribe:<br /><a href="http://www.shakespeareauthorship.com/tempest.html" target="blank">http://www.shakespeareauthorship.com/tempest.html</a><br /><br />In sum, the voyage and wreck of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sea Venture</span> was a momentous event in the history of America, of the emerging British Empire, and of the island of Bermuda. The one hero in the mix, De La <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Warre</span>, became the namesake of the State of Delaware.<br /><br />Robert Sean Brazil c. June 2, 2009<br /></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com387tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-72101885588973185952009-05-23T18:33:00.004-04:002009-05-23T19:09:42.616-04:00The Second Charter of the Virginia Company -- May 23, 1609<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVVR_z1VGEGFqeXdMIzW5E4vLk7Ms_6BogRk3urtGBLrZkNRREiZ_BJFkCgjI5jEWHmS7gRa_ZPptTNqssqEDUdlZBouwnan0toEMXTl3zIEYM0kYVMiLCsAAciKzJfHgtbTAXxYwfgf8/s1600-h/armsVAco.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVVR_z1VGEGFqeXdMIzW5E4vLk7Ms_6BogRk3urtGBLrZkNRREiZ_BJFkCgjI5jEWHmS7gRa_ZPptTNqssqEDUdlZBouwnan0toEMXTl3zIEYM0kYVMiLCsAAciKzJfHgtbTAXxYwfgf8/s320/armsVAco.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339159772712619442" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Virginia Company of London</span>, also known as "The London Company," was formally established by James I's royal charter, granted April 10, 1606. The plan in 1606 was to fund voyages to establish, supply, and resupply colonial outposts in North America. and to seek return through agriculture export, trade, [plunder], and discovery of mineral riches. The main venture became the Jamestown Colony (founded May 24, 1607).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The first few years at Jamestown were extremely difficult. Attrition to disease and hardship was steady and there were no profits to speak of. But it was deemed a national necessity to not let the venture flounder. As we still hear today, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">some things are too</span> important<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" > to allow to fail.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">By the spring of 1609 a new scheme was evolved to emphasize the profit potential and draw in a large group of wealthy investors as well as merchant-class men with a few pounds to risk. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Second </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Virginia </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Charter of May 23, 1609</span>, created a joint stock company -- a group-invested business enterprise. Apparently, <span style="font-weight: bold;">the buy-in price </span>in<span style="font-weight: bold;"> May 1609 was £12 10s per share.</span> Funds were managed by Treasurer of the Virginia Company Sir Thomas Smith.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The Virgina Company was not alone in the new world. It was in direct competition with the Plymouth Company, which had similar goals and corresponding rights.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">At that point in time "Virgina" extended from </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">the 34th parallel -- </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Cape Fear [North Carolina] -- all the way to the 41st parallel (Long Island). On the earliest English maps of the region, Virginia comprised all land north of Spanish Florida and south of "The Maine" or, essentially, the entire present-day US east coast minus FL and ME.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The first Plymouth colony was a failure. Their Popham Colony only lasted a year and, by 1609, the company was caput, leaving more territory available for the Virginia Company.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Jamestown and Virginia did not start showing any profits until about 1612, from improved tobacco exports, but the total debt of the Company and Colony mounted every year and the investors did not get the returns they were promised in 1609. In 1624 England took over Virginia from private company to Royal Colony, property of the crown.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Many familiar names are seen on the May 23, 1609, Charter.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Here are some notable names</span>, <span style="font-family:times new roman;">many who who have already been mentioned on this chononology/blog.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Henry, Earl of Lincoln</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Philip Herbert, Earl of Montgomery</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Henry Nevil</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Thomas Smith</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Anthony Cope</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Horatio Vere </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Thomas Gates</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Henry Carey</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Walter Cope</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Francis Wolley</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Francis Bacon</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir George Somers</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sir Dudley Digges<br /><br />The charter also names its ruling council, which I quote in full:<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >"...AND further, We ESTABLISH and ORDAIN, That <span style="font-weight: bold;">Henry Earl of Southampton, William Earl of Pembrok</span>e, Henry Earl of Lincoln, Thomas, Earl of Exeter, Robert, Lord Viscount Lisle, Lord Theophilus Howard, James, Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells, Lord Edward Zouche, Thomas Lord Lawarr, William, Lord Mounteagle, Edmund, Lord Sheffield, Gray, Lord Chandois, John, Lord Stanhope, George, Lord Carew, Sir Humfrey Weld, Lord Mayor of London, Sir Edward Cecil, Sir William Wade, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sir Henry Nevil</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sir Thomas Smith</span>, Sir Oliver Cromwell, Sir Peter Manwood, Sir Thomas Challoner, Sir Henry Hobert, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sir Francis Bacon</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sir George </span>Coppin, Sir John Scot, Sir Henry Carey, Sir Robert Drury,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Sir Horatio Vere, </span>Sir Edward Conway, Sir Maurice Berkeley, Sir Thomas Gates, Sir Michael Sandys, Sir Robert Mansell, Sir John Trevor, Sir Amias Preston, Sir William Godolphin, Sir Walter Cope, Sir Robert Killigrew, Sir Henry Fanshaw, Sir Edwin Sandys, Sir John Watts, Sir Henry Montague, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sir </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">William </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Homney</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">,</span> Sir Thomas Roe, Sir Baptist Hicks, Sir Richard Williamson, Sir Stephen Poole, Sir Dudley Digges, Christopher Brooke, Esq. John Eldred, and Jolm Wolstenholme <span style="font-weight: bold;">shall be our Council for the said Company of Adventurers and Planters, in Virginia</span>. AND the said Thomas Smith, We Do ORDAIN to be Treasurer of the said Company; which Treasurer shall have Authority to give Order for the Warning of the Council, and summoning the Company to their Courts and Meetings</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">In the above, it has to be considered a remarkable coincidence that Henry Wriothesley and William Herbert are the first named Councillors, and each is a prime candidate for "Mr. WH."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Note also Sir William Homney -- yet another Mr WH!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >The Booty (as promised)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >"And we do also of our special Grace, certain Knowledge, and mere Motion, give, grant and confirm, unto the said Treasurer and Company, and their Successors, under the Reservations, Limitations, and. Declarations hereafter expressed, all those Lands, Countries, and Territories, situate, lying, and being in that Part of America, called Virginia, from the Point of Land, called Cape or Point Comfort, all along the Sea Coast to the Northward, two hundred miles, and from the said Point of Cape Comfort, all along the Sea Coast to the Southward, two hundred Miles, and all that Space and Circuit of Land, lying from the Sea Coast of the Precinct aforesaid, up into the Land throughout from Sea to Sea, West and Northwest; And also all the Islands lying within one hundred Miles along the Coast of both Seas of the Precinct aforesaid; Together with all the Soils, Grounds, Havens, and Ports, Mines, as well Royal Mines of Gold and Silver, as other Minerals, Pearls, and precious Stones, Quarries, Woods, Rivers, Waters, Fishings, Commodities, Jurisdictions, Royalties, Privileges, Franchises, and Preheminences within the said Territories, and the Precincts thereof, whatsoever, and thereto, and thereabouts both by Sea and Land, being, or in any sort belonging or appertaining, and which We, by our Letters Patents, may or can grant, in as ample Manner and Sort, as We, or any our noble Progenitors, have heretofore granted to any Company, Body Politic or Corporate, or to any Adventurer or Adventurers, Undertaker or Undertakers of any Discoveries, Plantations, or Traffic, of, in, or into any Foreign Parts whatsoever, and in as large and ample Manner, as if the same were herein particularly mentioned and expressed; To HAVE AND TO HOLD, possess and enjoy, all and singular the said Lands, Countries and Territories, with all and singular other the Premises heretofore by these Presents granted, or mentioned to be granted to them, the said Treasurer and Company, their Successors and Assigns forever To the sole and proper Use of them, the said Treasurer and Company, their Successors and Assigns forever; To BE HOLDEN of Us, our Heirs and Successors, as of our Manor of East-Greenwich, in free and common Soccage, and not in Capite; YIELDING and PAYING therefore, to Us, our Heirs and Successors, the fifth Part only of all Ore of Gold and Silver, that from Time to Time, and at all Times hereafter, shall be there gotten, had, or obtained, for all Manner of Services.</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Royal Signoff and Date</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >"Although express Mention of true yearly Value or Certainty of the Premisses, or any of then), or of any other Gifts or Grants by Us, or any of our Progenitors or Predecessors to the aforesaid Treasurer and Company heretofore made in these Presents, is not made; Or any Act, Statute, Ordinance, Provision, Proclamation, or Restraint' to the contrary hereof had, made, ordained, or provided, or any other Thing, Cause, or Matter whatsoever in any wise notwithstanding. IN WITNESS whereof, We have caused these our Letters to be made Patent. Witness ourself at Westminster, the 23d Day of May, in the seventh Year of our Reign of England, France, and Ireland, and of Scotland the * * *</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >PER IPSUM REGEM.</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The full charter is here</span>:<br /><a href="http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/va02.asp" target="blank"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/va02.asp</span></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1T8GcBOLirPZ-n_rj4LKvXAq3UIW9LBcEEKES9a4D1n63ErY6mqaLDnK8Tml1axnohlekPJhROVOcDrZsVFhoTDnOKuSWZaLI4pxt2XawZ1IYM-CUY-gKCFkwLyMTPfPpvbXPC1SpA7c/s1600-h/Virginia_quarter.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1T8GcBOLirPZ-n_rj4LKvXAq3UIW9LBcEEKES9a4D1n63ErY6mqaLDnK8Tml1axnohlekPJhROVOcDrZsVFhoTDnOKuSWZaLI4pxt2XawZ1IYM-CUY-gKCFkwLyMTPfPpvbXPC1SpA7c/s200/Virginia_quarter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339159976923352418" border="0" /></a>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-63175363345364525872009-05-22T14:36:00.012-04:002009-05-23T19:33:49.766-04:00Public Reception of Shake-Speares Sonnets 1609 (Sonnets Part Three)<span style="font-family:times new roman;">This may surprise you, but there isn't a single extant record of any contemporary critical response to the appearance of <span style="font-style: italic;">Shake-Speares Sonnets</span> in May 1609. Nor any for the rest of 1609 or for decades to follow. This is odd for several reasons. For one, Shakespeare's other books of poetry, <span style="font-style: italic;">Venus & Adonis</span> 1593 and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Rape of Lucrece </span>1594<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span> had both gone to multiple editions by 1609. They were steady bestsellers. Surely there should have been a ready and appreciative market for the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span>. Additionally, there are perhaps a dozen authentic contemporary allusions to the <span style="font-style: italic;">V&A</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Lucrece</span> poems in printed works and diaries of the time. Yet, nothing similar exists for the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span>.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The only scrap that serves as even an acknowledgement that the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span> were available in 1609 is a back-of-an-envelope notation found among the Edward Alleyn papers. Dated June 19, 1609, in an ad-hoc list</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> of</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> it</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">ems under the heading “Howshold Stuff” a copy of <span style="font-weight: bold;">“Shaksper sonets fivepence" </span>was noted. At best, this </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">stands as the single surviving evidence that someone bought the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span> in 1609. At worst it is a forgery. You</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> see, the envelope in question was discovered by <span style="font-weight: bold;">John Payne Collier</span>, who was notorious for forging allusions to Shakespeare on convenient blank pages of Elizabethan miscellany. Modern scholars consider Collier'</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">s discovery (of Allyn’s alleged chit) to be an out-and-out fraud. The spellings are suspect. The handwriting is quite unlike the abundant examples of Alleyn’s pen. Moreover Alleyn, who did keep expense records, always labeled then "Howshold" or "Howshold charges." The phrase, “Howshold Stuff” seems borrowed from the induction of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Taming of the Shrew</span>!</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span> appear to have slipped by unrem</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">arked.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Oddly, there was no second edition in this format. Perhaps the Sonnet craze was over, or the profound sadness of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span> turned readers off. Yet a big reception was anticipated by publisher Thorpe who used two different sets of booksellers (as evidenced by the title pages of the two variant editions of 1609) to make the product easily available.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">There is at least one bit of early criticism of the 1609 <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span> that survives, though the comment cannot be accurately dated. It could have been a century later. In a copy of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span> quarto once held by the Rosenbach Library/Museum in Philadelphia there is a handwritten annotation following Sonnet 154. It reads, “<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">What a heap of wretched Infidel stuff</span>.” The word "Infidel" is capitalized and double inked. It is thought that this unknown critic found the poems scandalously homoerotic.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My colleague, Marty Hyatt, informs me that the former Rosenbach copy of the Sonnets is now held by the Bodmer Foundation Library in Geneva. <a href="http://www.swisster.ch/multimedia/images/img_traitees/2008/12/Faithfull999_news_zoom.jpg" target="blank">Here's a photo of Marianne Faithfull examining the unique copy</a>.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">And the next version of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span> to appear, in 1640, was mangled in John Benson’s version of <span style="font-style: italic;">Poems written by Wil. Shake-Speare, Gent.</span> Benson put the sonnets in a strange new sequence and altered a few of the love references to a boy or man.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Some think Benson did this to obscure a story that was being told in the original sequence.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidDud_RK3-wuho2ff8HqMGlk9EOaCcHyngKC4NjS1tqSGMzBqVzMH2u74Q_uHBuih2dw_Qi94yVkoA5s23KMcEMk6TtpXUd_mIW1-KVrMbxNi3a1YMEfsq8Cb0l904O2bcDKOlOpvo2r_u/s1600-h/edward-alleyn.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidDud_RK3-wuho2ff8HqMGlk9EOaCcHyngKC4NjS1tqSGMzBqVzMH2u74Q_uHBuih2dw_Qi94yVkoA5s23KMcEMk6TtpXUd_mIW1-KVrMbxNi3a1YMEfsq8Cb0l904O2bcDKOlOpvo2r_u/s200/edward-alleyn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338723065214291090" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Edward Alleyn </span>was the leader of the Lord Admiral's Men for many years. In the early 1590s he played the title role in Titus Andronicus. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Alleyn is also thought to have played Hamlet in a 1594 performance that is recorded but remains off-the-radar in standard Shakespeare studies.<br /><br />Alleyn's father-in-law was Philip Henslowe, the famous Elizabethan theatrical producer. Alleyn kept a voluminous diary and records, and yet, rather amazingly, he never mentions William Shakespeare the playwright. This glaring omission was probably the motivation for Collier’s fraudulent notation. Collier liked to try to fill in these mysterious gaps in the historical record.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">copyright 2009 Robert Sean Brazil</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-73225729491312079642009-05-21T13:16:00.013-04:002009-05-23T19:34:17.134-04:00Sonnets Part Two -- Who was Master WH?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqdQKvR_jY6Kn0L2VAaZy1p5xIcEikuGlyihlySXPTFXsni0ac2doh8QugZYB3Rm4ftQwBswnAhsXE7wEMLDkuMH7e2CiJFCiKLJflyPCVCaBo9FUK1XAF_nQLHiEZurEOxHk9-BzspfHy/s1600-h/SonnetsDed.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 261px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqdQKvR_jY6Kn0L2VAaZy1p5xIcEikuGlyihlySXPTFXsni0ac2doh8QugZYB3Rm4ftQwBswnAhsXE7wEMLDkuMH7e2CiJFCiKLJflyPCVCaBo9FUK1XAF_nQLHiEZurEOxHk9-BzspfHy/s400/SonnetsDed.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338327619961530738" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Over the years many theories have been advanced as to the identity of "Mr. W.H." In early modern usage, "Mr." was "master" not "mister."<br /><br />The following list covers some, but not all, of the WH theories.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Early naiveté - Mr WH is Mr WH</span> --- it doesn’t matter who he was.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh2ANWYU3dGvEVorPEn8qkCOv_zVxg8HdYdP8Hu4zl3kX9cSqyCUxto31dwC9zzYZ7ousG7vr27N6wQB7u_7E5HkSzDE687-qynHNduELhGRWsCMPusr1OmADd7WPixiZazsYiRjymdlEB/s1600-h/w-herbert.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh2ANWYU3dGvEVorPEn8qkCOv_zVxg8HdYdP8Hu4zl3kX9cSqyCUxto31dwC9zzYZ7ousG7vr27N6wQB7u_7E5HkSzDE687-qynHNduELhGRWsCMPusr1OmADd7WPixiZazsYiRjymdlEB/s320/w-herbert.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338330755902410610" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. WH as William Herbert</span>, Earl of Pembroke, who would be a co-sponsor of the Shakespeare</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Foli</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">o in 1623. This identification has been defended by E.K. Chambers and Dover Wilson. One of the arguments often raised in all WH theories is that the dedicatee, WH, is the same person as the man who is encouraged to over</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">co</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">me </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">reluctance and get married --- as featured in the first 17 sonnets.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Defenders of the William Herbert theory, though usually Stratfordians, inadvertently bump into the Oxford theory when they offer, as demonstration, the fact that William Herbert was engaged to Bridget Vere in 1597. This match was favored by Lord Burghley (Bridget’s grandfather), the 17th Earl of Oxford (Bridget’s father), and Mary Herbert, Countess Pembroke (W. Herbert’s mother). Nevertheless, William Herbert procrastinated and wormed his way out of the marriage. The Stratfordians have proposed that Mary Herbert hired Shakespeare to write sonnets to convince her son to marry. Oxfordians need not make that extra supposition. Instead</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">, the 17-sonnet sequence may have been from a father of the bride to a potential (and wealthy) son-in-law. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. WH as Wriothesley, Henry, the 3rd Earl of Southampton</span>. Two earlier Shakespeare poetry p</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">ublications, <span style="font-style: italic;">Venus & Adonis</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Rape of </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Lucrece</span>, were each dedicated to Southampton. This theory has sup</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">po</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxDN6zWrINlKOKFClC0glbrIkdY5ZZgelGPigIvRSpEhbz8PQjRHIn42HHwVykrGRdr8V3zRXgt2iQgXFp6pZbL1wiltfZKayE7Tpn5J9qs4a12YMYsPJLmieSqDgc-BrwvlszkgrNHfS/s1600-h/wriothesley2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 277px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxDN6zWrINlKOKFClC0glbrIkdY5ZZgelGPigIvRSpEhbz8PQjRHIn42HHwVykrGRdr8V3zRXgt2iQgXFp6pZbL1wiltfZKayE7Tpn5J9qs4a12YMYsPJLmieSqDgc-BrwvlszkgrNHfS/s320/wriothesley2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338332039401081362" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">rters in all t</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">he authorship camps. Southampton had also refused a Burghley-engineered marriage with another Vere daughter, Elizabeth, in the early 1590s. If the first 17 sonnets relate to that failed engagement, Oxford again, emerges as a strong candidate. Many readers of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span> see a continuous story throughout all 154 poems; I’m not one of them. Such assumptions force interpretive schemes that can be self-contradicting. For example, most Stratfordian advocates of the Southampton theory (for WH) see Henry Wriothesely as the love-object of Shakespeare’s desire, by assuming that the same man refused a marriage, seduced Shakespeare’s mistress, and then won the Bard’s undying affection. Among Oxfordians there are widely divergent Southampton theories. Joseph Sobran argue</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">s that Oxford was in love with the long-haired Southampton. Hank Whittemore presents the notion that Southampton</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> was Oxford’s secret son.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4.</span> In <span style="font-style: italic;">A Life of William Shakespeare</span>, 1898, Sir Sidney Lee introduced a novel approach: <span style="font-weight: bold;">WH was William Hall</span>, a Stationer who was known for acquiring manuscripts on the sly, who had apprenticed with Anthony Munday, and who had other associations with George Eld, the printer of the 1609 <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span>. In 1923, researcher Colonel B.R. Ward in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Mystery of Mr. W.H. </span>amplified Sidney Lee’s theory, suggesting that the dedication’s “W.H. all” gently encodes the dedicatee’s name. Further, a William Hall was found via a marriage license as being resident in Hackney around 1609. It is not impossible that due to his proximity, he acquired a manuscript from the household of the widowed Countess Oxford (Elizabeth Trentham)</span>.<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5.</span> Oscar Wilde famously advanced the obscure idea of 18th century scholars, Thomas Tyrwhitt and Edmund Malone, that WH must have been one <span style="font-weight: bold;">Willie Hughes</span>, a supposed boy actor with whom the Bard was in love. There is no record of such a Willie Hughes; Tyrwhitt and Wilde were taken by the hews-hues puns in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span>.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. </span>Canadian scholar Leslie Hotson suggested that <span style="font-weight: bold;">WH was William Hatcliffe</span>, who at least was a real person, but otherwise an unlikely candidate.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">7. WH as a misprint for WS</span> (William Shakespeare). Bertrand Russell, Don Foster, and others promoted this. A similar suggestion is that WH = "William Himself."<br /><br />It is strange for me to remain undecided on such an important issue. But I find merit in the William Hall, William Herbert, and Henry Wriothesley theories, in that order. Much of ones decision making on this depends on how one interprets the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span>. The literary view tends to influence the acceptance or rejection of various possible historical contexts.<br /><br />Robert Sean Brazil -- copyright 2009<br /><br />More <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span> analysis to follow!<br /></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-2912912474024365832009-05-20T16:23:00.006-04:002009-05-21T00:38:58.327-04:00Shake-Speares Sonnets Registered -- May 20, 1609<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VLIAmj49_Oo9UBzXvj7UCrMNnlqH2GX9evHdbI6YoFgypXShatOvlsHwkZuryrpZSXWj_LonSQaETc1D0cT_id5OIyio19tSzL6Ep5gXDiMrR5AymDkA2KAnjE6-w468669XFJbVPKQB/s1600-h/Sonnets-1609.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VLIAmj49_Oo9UBzXvj7UCrMNnlqH2GX9evHdbI6YoFgypXShatOvlsHwkZuryrpZSXWj_LonSQaETc1D0cT_id5OIyio19tSzL6Ep5gXDiMrR5AymDkA2KAnjE6-w468669XFJbVPKQB/s400/Sonnets-1609.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338004655647069810" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">On May 20, 1609, a book published as <span style="font-style: italic;">SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS</span> was entered in the Stationers' Register. This is essentially the earliest known date involving the publication of one of the most mysterious books in the world, Shakespeare’s 154-sonnet sequence, which was bound with another poem, <span style="font-style: italic;">A Lover's Complaint</span>. There may be as many theories about the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets </span>as there have been analyses of the Sermon on the Mount.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">We know that Shakespeare's sonnets existed in manuscript form at least eleven years before 1609</span>. Francis Meres' 1598 book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Palladis Tamia</span>, was a compendium of common wisdom and literary critique.</span><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" > In discussing English writers, Meres offered, </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" ><br /><br />"As the soule of Euphorbus was thought to live in Pythagoras : so the sweet wittie soule of Ovid lives in mellifluous & honytongued Shakespeare, witnes his <span style="font-style: italic;">Venus and Adonis</span>, his <span style="font-style: italic;">Lucrece</span>, his sugred Sonnets among his private frinds, &c.”</span><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" > </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOjGRhmR9p3Dz6OLqjOp1JXbgjnDXdNMKbQZXbdyao1EK46y2hpkcbVkaIeY_YhTtVSNZA5mxOwQH4fbqVPGzflEQCCYVSY3ib7NVdpn5N-70FIUnMkuaw60wPKdTCxG6Q8urfbccbW7N/s1600-h/Meres2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 280px; height: 116px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOjGRhmR9p3Dz6OLqjOp1JXbgjnDXdNMKbQZXbdyao1EK46y2hpkcbVkaIeY_YhTtVSNZA5mxOwQH4fbqVPGzflEQCCYVSY3ib7NVdpn5N-70FIUnMkuaw60wPKdTCxG6Q8urfbccbW7N/s400/Meres2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338007367907216002" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">We have no idea how many sonnets were featured in the privately-circulated edition known by Meres. But the following year, 1599, two of these Shakespearean sonnets (#138 and #144) were printed in an anthology, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Passionate Pilgrim</span>. There is massive debate and disagreement on the question of whether or not the full-sequence of 154 sonnets had been completed by 1598, or whether it was a smaller set. Sonnet 107, with the line “The mortal moon hath her eclipse endured” and mention of “Tyrants crests and tombs of brass,” etc., is thought by many to relate to the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Many readers agree that topical allusions in the Sonnets end in 1603.<br /><br />At Stationers' Hall, if you were a licensed freeman of the Guild (whether printer, publisher, bookseller, or bureaucrat), one could copyright a book, or manuscript, or even just a book-title, for a sixpence fee. By comparing the surviving entry-book records with extant books one can draw some conclusions about the process, though there are always exceptions. Sometimes manuscripts were registered in advance of publication. Often, the book was printed first, and the actual book was brought in for copyright/registration.<br /><br />William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon did <span style="font-style: italic;">not </span>bring in the Sonnets for copyright registration. He was in Stratford in 1609, involved in country matters, including a long, protracted lawsuit against the tradesman Addenbrooke. Other poets profited from their publications. Even playwrights like Ben Jonson, who may not have owned certain plays after they were sold to the companies, still could sell their poems to publishers without restriction. It is a great unsolved mystery why Shakespeare did not attempt profit from his Sonnet book. Nor did he sue to stop or recall the publication. Furthermore, it is hard to understand why the Stratford man would allow the deeply personal, romantic, and erotic content of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span>, some of which can be read as sexually ambivalent, to appear in print. The dedication mentions that the poet is <span style="font-style: italic;">ever-living</span>. “Ever-living” means deceased—a denizen of eternal heaven. These complications have led careful readers for several centuries to doubt whether the Stratford man could really have been the author. If, however, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets </span>author was deceased (as was the Earl of Oxford in 1604) we can understand how publishers might have gotten hold of a private manuscript, were able to print it without complaint, and any potential scandal was deflected with the author being dead, as well as veiled behind a brand name.<br /><br />While many scholars and bibliographers of English Renaissance printing assume that the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets </span>book was printed after the May 20 registration, that date may actually represent the culmination of the printing process, not the outset.<br /><br />I'm pretty sure that in the case of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span>, the book was printed before May 20.<br />The entry in the Stationers’ Register reads:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">May 20 [1609] "Thomas Thorpe -- Entred for his copie vnder the handes of master WILSON and master LOWNES Warden, a Booke called Shakespeares sonnettes, vj."</span><br /><br />When the entry refers to a <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Book </span>and the title entered by the clerk matches the known book, the printed book may predate the copyright. In a subsequent post I will give examples of Stationers entries that refer to manuscripts and those that indicate a finished book was brought to the Hall. Elizabethan censorship was <span style="font-style: italic;">supposed </span>to be in advance --- a thorough vetting of each potential book. In practice, this was hardly ever done. The cases of censorship we have on record almost always involve the alteration of a previously allowed book, or a recall of extant copies. However, we have copies of even banned books. In 1599 the Bishops order in London called in all books by Nashe and Harvey for destruction. Yet copies of those books still exist.<br /><br />Since the Sonnets existed in manuscript before 1598 and were already in print by May 20, 1609, it is quite possible that sample copies of the Sonnets could have been seen by elite readers in spring 1609.<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Enigmas of the Sonnets include:<br /><br />1. Who is "Mr. W.H.," the dedicatee, and "onlie begetter" of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets</span>?<br />2. Do the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets </span>tell a story of the poet's life experience?<br />3. If the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets </span>are autobiographical, do all 154 sonnets relate to a single story / motif or to several?<br />4. If one accepts certain personalities in the sequence, the beloved, the Dark Lady, the rival poet, the "fair youth" or "lovely boy," then the temptation is strong to find real people to fit the templates.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM6klHKGDArIQQ2OIEUIxGY_CqypCbfKTqv8ywAZYqCHnAaSPGKLhLE9bKYh0eZs4uOPPc9XJbJYkdgd5YH7js_9cDjywBi1FHOYEEOAmAXGr1fm5B2aMXx10W6zBmo6RaQTJh9XJJM-Gg/s1600-h/SonnetsDed.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 261px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM6klHKGDArIQQ2OIEUIxGY_CqypCbfKTqv8ywAZYqCHnAaSPGKLhLE9bKYh0eZs4uOPPc9XJbJYkdgd5YH7js_9cDjywBi1FHOYEEOAmAXGr1fm5B2aMXx10W6zBmo6RaQTJh9XJJM-Gg/s400/SonnetsDed.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338012123169087314" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">by Robert Sean Brazil copyright 2009</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">More <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonnets </span>analysis to follow!</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> </span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-27955542234226144842009-05-17T14:20:00.006-04:002009-05-19T11:50:14.051-04:00Voyage of Robert Harcourt to Guyana in search of gold<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Robert Harcourt </span>(c.1574–1631) was an English merchant adventurer who traveled to Guyana in 1609 in search of gold and riches, hoping to succeed where Raleigh and Leigh had failed. <span style="font-weight: bold;">He made landfall on May 17, 1609</span>.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">His 1613 book related his adventure:</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8jfqM5MCxvulepeGGMnpXjCMYWPcu16xvwwK0ztLVPbIz6mpZxoXmLO3xQTJLZnO838QZK1wtUguuqtMpZ_Tk-bisoW4K_pV1idj7QMZs8WcKMtOcUNhaLGnjGNisPfnXmuq44mR8O9n/s1600-h/harcourt-bk-smalll2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 334px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8jfqM5MCxvulepeGGMnpXjCMYWPcu16xvwwK0ztLVPbIz6mpZxoXmLO3xQTJLZnO838QZK1wtUguuqtMpZ_Tk-bisoW4K_pV1idj7QMZs8WcKMtOcUNhaLGnjGNisPfnXmuq44mR8O9n/s400/harcourt-bk-smalll2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337231295671953442" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Harcourt was from Staffordshire, kin to some historic Harcourts and the Fitzherberts, all traditionally Catholic families. He eventually settled in Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Harcourt attended Oxford University and, in 1593, was admitted to the Middle Temple (law school), then dropped off the map for some years. Robert had an early marriage to an Elizabeth Fitzherbert, but they had no children and she died young. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Harcourt’s second wife is more interesting. She was Frances Vere, the daughter of Geoffrey de Vere, who was the fourth son of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford (c. 1488–1539-40)</span>. Robert Harcourt and Frances Vere married sometime around 1600. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">This Frances, being the 15th Earl's grandaughter, was thus a close cousin to Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, who was also a grandson to the 15th Earl. Since the Harcourt-Vere marriage preceded the 17th Earl’s death by about four years it is reasonable to surmise that Harcourt met the poetic Earl, who was also interested in voyages of discovery to the New World.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Robert and Frances Harcourt had three sons: Simon Harcourt, b. 1601, Francis, b. 1605, and Vere, b. 1606; and three daughters, Jane, Dorothy, and Margaret.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">By 1609 Harcourt was earning income from ironworks he developed at the manor of Chebsey, Staffordshire.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />On 13 February 1609, via the patronage of his strongest supporter at court, young Prince Henry Stuart, Robert Harcourt along with ‘”freinds and Associats’” were granted a commission to pursue “many and sundrie longe journeys by Sea and Shippinge unto the South parte of America … knowne by the name of Guiana” [PRO, C66/1986]. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Robert Harcourt set sail for Guyana in April 1609 with crew of 30 Englishmen and two Guyanese, (one who had been brought to England by Raleigh, another by Leigh). He kept a ship’s log/diary, which was published as a book in 1613. This is how we know the date of his arrival. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Robert Harcourt made landfall at the mouth of the Wiapoco Rover on May 17, 1609</span>.<br /><br />His record relates:</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">“When wee came to the latitude of two degrees and a halfe, we anchored in a goodly bay, by certaine Islands, called Carripapoory I did at that time forbeare to make particular discovery of this coast, intending (if God spare me life) to make a perfect discovery of the famous river of Amazones, and of her seuerall branches, and countries bordering upon it, and of all this tract of land from the Amazones, unto the river of Wiapoco, which containeth many goodly Provinces, and Signiories, which are in this discourse, but briefely mentioned: For at this time I purpose onely to prosecute my first proiect, which hastened mee vnto another place. From hence I stood along the coast, and the seventeenth of May, I came to anchor in the Bay of Wiapoco: where the Indians came off unto vs in two or three Canoes, as well to learne of what Nation wee were, as also to trade with vs…”</span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />Harcourt arrived in the rainy season and had to wait a few months before continuing inland.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">In July 1609 Harcourt and an inland chief ventured forth <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">“in search of those Golden Mountaines, promised unto us before the beginning of our voyage.”</span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">However, no city of gold, or even goldmines were found. Facing potential mutiny among his men, Harcourt sent them all out to look for other commodities of value. Harcourt then decided, in August, to return to England. He left his brother, Michael, and a Captain Edward Harvey to command the 30 men left behind. After some mishaps, Harcourt arrived back in Bristol on December 17, 1609.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />On August 28, 1613, King James granted Harcourt and descendants all the land between two key rivers in South America, nowadays comprising French Guiana, Suriname, and British Guiana: "betweene the Ryver of Amazones [Amazon] and the Ryver of Dessequebe [Essequibo]." The Harcourts were never able to make good on the grant, however!</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />Harcourt’s book is called: <span style="font-style: italic;">A relation of a voyage to Guiana: Describing the climat, scituation, fertilitie, prouisions and commodities of that country, containing seuen prouinces, and other signiories within that territory: together, with the manners, customes, behauiors, and dispositions of the people. Performed by Robert Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt Esquire. The pattent for the plantation of which country, his Maiestie hath granted to the said Robert Harcourt vnder the Great Seale. </span>At London : Printed by Iohn Beale, for W. Welby, and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Churchyard at the signe of the Swan, 1613.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />Harcourt’s final voyage was 20 years after the first, arriving in Guyana in February 1629. Searches for gold and jewels were again fruitless. Robert Harcourt died on May 20, 1631, and was buried there, along the river</span>.<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><><><></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><><><><><><><br /><br />There is apparently a painting of Robert Harcourt by Marcus Gheerardts, who also painted the Earl of Oxford, Essex, and other Court notables. I have not yet been able to trace the location of the painting to its present location. There is also a line-drawing of Harcourt, based on the painting, that appeared in a later reprint of his book. I will try to get that.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><><><></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><><><><><><></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">An odd coincidence</span></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />There’s apparently only two places in the world named “Hackney” (there may be others but I haven’t found them yet).</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">One is in the north of London, and was the final home of the 17th Earl of Oxford during the years 1593-1604.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The other Hackney is in Guyana. I have not been able to discover how that Hackney, Guyana, got its name, but Harcourt’s presence in that country is the only credible explanation. In the map section below notice the names of towns to the north of Georgetown:</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hackney, Marlborough, Bounty Hall. None of these names were present on Raleigh’s earlier map of the region. In the absence of further data, I think it is a reasonable hypothesis that Harcourt named Hackney, Guyana, in honor of his cousin in-law. The fact that he named one of his sons “Vere Harcourt” lends credibility to the postulate.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhXuBQYzXi-61CyQxK4vHaLNQdTg48yHPbLhpQn1EsAEayxxhH5yvzq6gpxn0EY-TN9weTwnBbXo9bmj92Y-QpUr9nhs3JFyCPswhvya558441-Jlg51vBIrHz-7qhHhjUEqxhzCjsXhG/s1600-h/hackney-guyana2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhXuBQYzXi-61CyQxK4vHaLNQdTg48yHPbLhpQn1EsAEayxxhH5yvzq6gpxn0EY-TN9weTwnBbXo9bmj92Y-QpUr9nhs3JFyCPswhvya558441-Jlg51vBIrHz-7qhHhjUEqxhzCjsXhG/s400/hackney-guyana2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337232438485968034" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><><><></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><><><><><><></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Original copies of Harcourt’s book are rare and valuable.</span><br /><a href="http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5115273" target="blank"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Here’s a copy that sold for $ $25,602!</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Robert Sean Brazil c. 2009</span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com189tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-49652426544593351662009-05-10T16:52:00.001-04:002009-05-11T16:59:54.306-04:00The Stationers’ Company and the Virginia Company<span style="font-family:times new roman;"> </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The 1609 push for investors, sponsors, and financial “adventurers” brought in participation from aristocrats, businessmen, and even the trade guilds. The Worshipful Company of Stationers, on <span style="font-weight: bold;">May 10, 1609</span>, invested 125 pounds towards the efforts of the Virginia Plantation. Their buy-in entitled them to a proportionate share of any profits ("scale") from the agricultural output of the plantations and any discovered precious metals, etc. The wording also implies that they would own a share of any plundered commodities as well.<br /><br />This close link between the Stationers and the Virginia Company adds to our understanding of the hand-in-hand relationship between the two entities. In 1609 the Virginia </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Company</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> needed the participation of the publishers to produce the required propaganda pamphlets. The Stationers were also securing a foothold into the New World, which would, no doubt, soon be a growing market for books, in addition to earning returns on risk. We also may have here a path of interaction by which an early proof of<span style="font-style: italic;"> Shakespeare’s Sonnets</span>, either emerging from the Stationers' vaults or men of the Virginia Company, may have changed hands. As we will see in an upcoming entry, Men of the Virginia Company included William Herbert Earl of Pembroke and Henry Wriothesley Earl of Southampton, two of the leading contenders for the mysterious “Mr. WH.” General Horatio Vere was also a prominent member of the Virginia Company. The signer of the document below, Richard Atkinson, was the Clerk of the Virginia Company in 1609.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">From the Stationers’ records:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"Here followeth the copy of the bill of Adventure under Scale, to the Stationers </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Company.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"Whereas the Master and keepers or Wardens and Comonalty of the Mysterie or Art of </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Stacioner of the city of London have paid in ready money to Sir Thomas Smythe Knight, </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Treasurer for Virginia the sum of one Hundred & twenty ffive pounds for their adventure </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">towards the said Voyage. It is agreed that for the same they the said Master and keepers or </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Wardens and their successors (for the time being) shall have ratably according to their </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">adventures their full part of all such lands, tenements and hereditaments as shall from </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">time to time be there recovered, planted and inhabited: And of all such mines & minerals </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">of Gold Silver & other metalls or treasure, pearls, precious stones or any other Kind of </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Wares or merchandise, comodities or proffitte whatsoever which shall be obtained or </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">gotten in the said Voyage according to the porcion of money by them imployed to that use </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">in as ample manner as any other adventurer therein shall receive for the like sum." </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Written this 10th daye of Maye 1609.</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> Richard Atkinson"</span><br /><br />- RSBRobert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-27829139703342901912009-05-07T16:56:00.002-04:002009-05-07T17:03:26.701-04:00Conversion of the Native Virginians – A sign of 'end times' – and that’s a good thing?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip9U_uodrsUK7kWxdsMUPfXZ9v_H_1QOVJSdFtLvuPIiUULTWG4gMIq8Io4ZUy_7woWk4Z6ci68rW747rLrHJbZmocAForLYtGFTbjGWyNujg81K1xoCsq2k8b9QQh3cKNdZ6wRd1yuMzu/s1600-h/May7-BensonSermon-c.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip9U_uodrsUK7kWxdsMUPfXZ9v_H_1QOVJSdFtLvuPIiUULTWG4gMIq8Io4ZUy_7woWk4Z6ci68rW747rLrHJbZmocAForLYtGFTbjGWyNujg81K1xoCsq2k8b9QQh3cKNdZ6wRd1yuMzu/s400/May7-BensonSermon-c.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333189267978777570" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">George Benson </span>(c.1568-1648) was another preacher loosely associated with the Virginia Company enterprise. Like Robert Gray, almost nothing is known about him. His single book is <span style="font-style: italic;">A Sermon preached at Paules Crosse the Seaventh of May MDCIX</span>. London, 1609.</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">In this sermon of <span style="font-weight: bold;">May 7, 1609</span>, Benson adds another tweak to the growing list of proposed reasons to emigrate, colonize, and evangelize the New World. Benson cites Revelation from the New Testament in claiming that the conversion of the American Indians is a sign of the end of the world, and kingdom come! And that’s supposedly a good thing. Here’s what Benson said:</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"> <br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">“These signs are past and gone: when the sun will be darkened, and the moon turned into blood, we cannot tell: but for the publication of the Gospel over the world, it may be proved by many instances. One most pregnant, most fresh, is that of Virginia which now (by God grace) through our English shall hear news of Christ, the gospel of Christ shall be published, no doubt the sound of the preachers will go out into that corner of the world, and make it as a well watered garden. There were a people of the like quality (with the natural inhabitants of Virginia) poor and naked things, (I call them so, the more to indeare your affections) when they were conquered, there was that cruelty used unto them, that scandal was given unto the name of Christ, the name of Christianity grew odious unto them, by reason of that cruelty they would let it have no room in their thoughts. I hope our English are of that metall that having in their hands the key of the kingdom of God, they will not keep those weake ones out, but rather make way for the Gospel (as I hope they may) by their gentle & humane dealing.”</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Again we encounter a historical phenomenon that has a modern echo. Benson warns that if the English conquer the world with cruelty, and without true Christian compassion, that such colonialism would bring scandal to the name of Christ. Today, the issue is inhumane treatment of state prisoners. In the USA, these might be suspected Muslim terrorists, or even suspected Christian-Identity “Liberty movement” American citizens. Bottom line, don’t bring the gospel with force and violence, and don’t impose “democracy” with the tools of fascism!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Just a thought.<br /><br />Still, one cannot help but notice the funny paradox in Benson's logic. It's bad to evangelize by force and violence, but if conversions are done with compassion, then the glorious End of the World is Near!<br /><br />RSB<br /></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-84327613472050218682009-05-06T16:54:00.004-04:002009-05-06T21:53:33.159-04:00Fear of Infection<span style="font-family:times new roman;">Does history repeat itself? Yes, endlessly. Today, anxiety about “foreign infections” causes panics, school closings, and disrupts commerce. The “plague” served a similar societal function 400 years ago. 1609 was a plague year in London; the fear, and the plague itself, affected all strata of society. Back then, the word, “plague” was something of a catch-all. Any epidemic might be called the plague. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">On May 6, 1609, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Richard Neile</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> (1562-1640) Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster, wrote to Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury, asking to be excused from attending King James on the following day. In the words of the official summary, “Though he and all his people stand without suspicion of infection, yet in the house of one Chaunter, who has his dwelling within the College walls, two young gentlemen who boarded with him are sick; and he is enforced by fear of the inconvenience that might ensue to the 140 or rather 160 children who have daily concourse to the School, to dismiss all the Oppidalls and to send away all the foundation scholars to the College house at Cheswicke, where they shall remain all this summer. He desires to take a week of airing, either at Cheswicke or at Bromeley, before he again attends his Majesty. At Westminster College, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >May 6, 1609</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Richard </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Neile became Royal Chaplain to King James in July1603. </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">On his way to the top, Neile had powerful patrons, chiefly Lord Burghley, to whom he was household chaplain in the 1590s. After Burghley’s death in 1598, Neile continued to serve as household chaplain to his son, Robert Cecil, along with Samuel Harsnet, whose book: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >A Declaration of egregious Popish Imposture</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> (<span style="font-style: italic;">to with-draw the harts of her Maiesties Subiects from their allegeance, and from the truth of Christian Religion professed in England, under the pretence of casting out deuils. Pracised by Edmunds, alias Weston a Iesuit, and diuers Romish Priests his wicked associates. Whereunto are annexed the Copies of the Confessions, and Examinations of the parties themselves, taken upon oath before her Maiesties Commissioners, for causes Ecclesiasticall, James Roberts, Barbican, 1603</span>) serves as a link between the text of <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">King Lear</span>, and the Hackney household of the 17th Earl of Oxford.<br /><br />See: </span><a href="http://www.sourcetext.com/sourcebook/library/bowen/16hackney.htm" target="blank"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">http://www.sourcetext.com/sourcebook/library/bowen/16hackney.htm</span></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyGoLjbavHX26_LaDj0inih0eDFop0pA_88rXzVvMK0FVlaTV7wqoQ3id77-We7fhenSYJIPsr0n5vX6nKONQLrFnlUKKf6mqIiPa1GrpvNBBqQe8-9kXFl6yJSE7JQgusb2JZtISvdQE/s1600-h/harsnett-1603.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyGoLjbavHX26_LaDj0inih0eDFop0pA_88rXzVvMK0FVlaTV7wqoQ3id77-We7fhenSYJIPsr0n5vX6nKONQLrFnlUKKf6mqIiPa1GrpvNBBqQe8-9kXFl6yJSE7JQgusb2JZtISvdQE/s400/harsnett-1603.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332819756978394962" border="0" /></a><br /><br />RSBRobert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748495714103730867.post-78543258643195042602009-05-05T18:41:00.011-04:002009-05-05T19:28:20.548-04:00Captain Argall sets sail for Virginia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0t_FqUIzDubWS_BJdpRsdbwSg83aub7J5zd1VepOdRbs1Y0Phf1VO-GKqwloX2pbFngXzmHRiWSsPmLmTKjGWrnTsk9HAgB_LPeo8MyFoHFp85Ss_1s2GMCpDB2-MkvbbHHCp6AodwINi/s1600-h/Argall-4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0t_FqUIzDubWS_BJdpRsdbwSg83aub7J5zd1VepOdRbs1Y0Phf1VO-GKqwloX2pbFngXzmHRiWSsPmLmTKjGWrnTsk9HAgB_LPeo8MyFoHFp85Ss_1s2GMCpDB2-MkvbbHHCp6AodwINi/s400/Argall-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332474202371471346" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Captain Samuel Argall (1580-1626)</span> was an English merchant adventurer, naval officer, and agent of the Virginia Company. He was a cousin to Sir Thomas Smith, the scholar, and, at that time, Governor of the Virginia Company. In 1608-1609 word had arrived from the Jamestown Colony that things were not going so well. They needed supplies and more colonists. The entire financial future of the Virginia enterprise hinged on a successful plantation at Jamestown. The failure of Raleigh's Roanoke colony was still a potent memory and warning. Thus, the principal investors in the Virginia Company launched a public relations campaign in the spring of 1609 </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> (as has been documented on this blog) </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">to develop greater interest in investment, and to sign up English men and women to go to Virginia. Several voyages and resupply missions were planned for 1609. Argall's was the first. </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Captain Samuel Argall and crew set sail from Portsmouth on <span style="font-weight: bold;"> May 5, 1609</span>. His orders were to sail to Jamestown by way of Barbuda and to deliver sturgeon to the colonists. In an interesting twist that has had vast repercussions in history, Argall disobeyed orders. He decided to take a chance on a different route to the New World. Instead of heading for the tropics and following the trade winds, Argall & Co. tried a new route: first to the Azores, from thence to Bermuda, and then to Virginia. This route sliced off many days of travel and kept English vessels out of the Spanish highway across the Atlantic.<br /><br />Argall decided not to go fishing for sturgeon before docking at Jamestown. Instead, always the benevolent humanitarian, and finding the Jamestown colonists starving and near death, he <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">sold </span>them the ship's extra biscuits and wine. Then he hurried off to the Carolina Banks and caught a heap of sturgeon. Argall, smartly salvaging his reputation, gave the colonists some of the fish but kept all the caviar for private sale back in London.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> It's always about the money with these Merchant Adventurers!</span> Argall wasted no time, departing back for England on August 31, 1609.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">A few years later, Argall displayed his heroism and forthright dealings when he deviously arranged for the abduction of Pocahontas (1613). Inviting her to tour his vessel, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Argall and his men showed their bravery by capturing the unarmed, teenage Indian girl.</span> Pocahontas was later brought back to London where she met King James and Ben Jonson and died of fever and heartbreak just as she was about to leave to return to Virginia (1617).<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxVimh75uL_4KoihgD2LRF4o7uY4-cGTuhqy4BfC7W5omXpXwbty_FeWRgOpHzV9H6G8nbNVMyPRkKHODlSzxZGUFK6_28P4xzcI-60aV5sh3lb9WGCbBFbvshItq54p6yfFV5IGufxjV/s1600-h/argall-pocahontas.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 334px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxVimh75uL_4KoihgD2LRF4o7uY4-cGTuhqy4BfC7W5omXpXwbty_FeWRgOpHzV9H6G8nbNVMyPRkKHODlSzxZGUFK6_28P4xzcI-60aV5sh3lb9WGCbBFbvshItq54p6yfFV5IGufxjV/s400/argall-pocahontas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332475300578678114" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" ></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Detail from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Abduction of Pocahontas </span>by Jean Ferris, c. 1910.<br />Captain Samuel Argall (left) at Jamestown with Pocahontas as his captive.<br /><br />By RSB copyright 2009<br /></span></span>Robert Sean Brazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05583852274492607761noreply@blogger.com36