Did you know?

[William Gosling]

The appearance of Holy Hand Grenade, of Monty Python Fame, is mocking the Sovereign's Orb (the orb in his hand). The Sovereign's Orb was made by Charles II for his coronation and cost 1,150 pounds. I wonder how Charles would have taken the skit?

The Sovereign's Orb, by the way, is a Globus Cruciger. It represented the power of Christ over Earth and was often used in paintings of Christ as Salvator Mundi. In Charles hands it represented the King's power over the Church and State (therefore temporal and spiritual). Prior to Charles, and generally even after, the only person portrayed holding a Globus Cruciger was Jesus Christ. The fact Charles replaced Jesus with himself in the iconography has... strange implications.

[Fluff]

Be careful of wikipedia claims though. The Sovereign's orb is a very traditional (medieval) item for European royal houses, and did neither originate nor end at Charles II's reign. The Habsburg Emperor, most German Kings, the Danish etc. all had orbs and not all of them were the head of the church. The orb generally represents only temporal power over the Christian world, but casts the king in the light of "Defender of the Faith" (also a title for instance of the Habsburg Emperor).

Since Cromwell sold all the Crown Jewels of England (in bits and pieces) in 1649 to pay for his Commonwealth after beheading Charles I they had to be remade in 1660, though some elements were recovered from the previous versions. The Crown Jewels made for the coronation of Charles II are still in use today in Britain and can be seen in the Tower in London. Naturally they contain all traditional elements of royal power (the so called regalia) for while CR liked to pretend he had no desire for pomp and ceremony and was just "one of the people", he knew like no other how to create the symbols of monarchy by using traditional imagery to justify his claim to the throne.

[William Gosling]

I'm sorry, who said I used Wikipedia for this? Obviously, where I did learn it wasn't much better, though.

[Fluff]

Wikipedia provides the main text that is used on the first page that google delivers on "Sovereign's Orb" with several sites merely quoting that site, plus you linked wikipedia. Next time you present something as a pertinent fact, it is handy to provide a link to the source to avoid this confusion

Wikipedia is a great source of information to us, but sadly it sometimes horribly misses the mark.

[William Gosling]

It was a book, actually. So, kind of hard to link, no? And that picture is from the article 'Charles II'.

Anyway, it wasn't exactly scholarly to begin with but I'll be taking it with a grain of salt now.

[Fluff]

*laughs* we'll try the oldfashioned way and you can simply cite your source by naming the book

Btw, Antonia Fraser's authoritative biography on Charles II is a very interesting read (and not at all boring) if you are interested in the period.

[Heather O`Roarke]

Worst Jobs in the Stuart Period:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OikxL1Pu ... re=related

[Alexandra Neuville]

I'd definitely want to be on top of the dung heap instead of a shoveler of feces and collector of urine. >.<

[Charles Whitehurst]

I guess you can't call that a "piss poor" job.

Good information on the period. Nice find Heather.

[Mirtel Hardwick]

Did you know what many of us keep in our homes?

The piano fits into the timeline fudge and is well accepted and spread and used, but do you all know what pianos of the time looked like? Or the ancestors of the piano: the harpsichord (that most resembles the piano as we know now), the clavichord and the hurdy-gurdy.

Clavichords and harpsichords had one jack (a series of wooden peg which moved when you press the keys) for each key, and each jack had a small spike or ‘quill’ in it, which plucked (and vibrated) the string as it went up, and which dampened (or dulled) the string as it came down again. Instruments such as the harpsichord and clavichord produced very twangy, metallic-sounding music, a cross between a piano and a guitar, lute or a harp. Note that harpischords lacked the pedals we associate with pianos. Furthermore, as the harpsichord-jack fell the moment you removed your finger from the key, the damper in the jack immediately dulled the string, preventing harpsichordists from holding notes for very long. This was what Signor Bartolomea Cristofori got annoyed with and why he invited the modern piano.

But I promised pictures:
Harpischord (although from 18th century): http://classical895.files.wordpress.com ... =472&h=550
The Grand Piano as it was in 17th/18th century: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96/La ... 1280996855
The Square Grand, made from the 1700s until the first half of the 1800s:
http://www.shafferpianos.com/hawkey/hawkey6bc.jpg

This link (http://scheong.wordpress.com/category/musical-history/) had the information if anyone wants to read more thoroughly.

[Tierney de Sainte-Maure]

...That standardizing the French language was the great work of the 17th century and the charter purpose of the Academie Française?

Though court and legal French was based on the French spoken in Paris and the Île de France, most Frenchmen actually spoke regional languages first and learned court French as they were schooled. Nobles spoke court French in Paris and Versailles but reverted back to their provincial languages when visiting their estates because their servants would not have understood them otherwise. Thus, Ruvigny, whose estates were in Champagne and Picardy would most likely have been fluent in Champenois and Picard as well as in French, and Louise whose origins are Breton would probably have spoken Breton too. While Provençal (and its base language, Occitan) Gallo, Breton and Alsatian survive to this day, many other regional dialects were successfully eradicated by the drive toward standardization.

</language geekery>

[Blackguard]

We have a young Isaac Newton in our game. Want to know how strange/brilliant he was? Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-maIyowcmo

[Kane Graas]

I happened to stumble onto the webpage of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_hi ... ources.htm) and ended up finding some rather interesting stuff there.
Did you know about Hearth Money Rolls – lists of names of householders who had to pay a tax depending on the number of hearhs or fireplaces in ther houses, with details of the number of hearths on which they were taxed. Careful how mayn fireplaces you build in your homes, folks!

Or what about the Summonister Rolls – copes of fines imposed and recognizances forfeited at Assizes, Quarter Sessions and in the K ing’s courts. Among the reasons for the imposition of fines was non-appearance at court. Have any of our PC’s ever arrived at court to avoid being fined?

There’s also some info about a courtier we have in the game as a NPC – Arthur Annesly. It’s largely about his offspring too, but there’s some nifty bits about him as well. I present The Annesley Papers: http://www.proni.gov.uk/introduction_annesley-3.pdf

[George Hardwick III]

They have hearth tax in London too

[Charles Blount]

Later under the Hanoverians they had a window tax. I suppose after some uppity noble made a big fuss bunches of windows became fashionable in upper class houses so a luxury tax was instituted.

(I suppose I should have kept this fun fact quite till later huh?)

[Hope]

The 'Red Ensign' or 'Red Duster'

In 1674 Charles II confirmed that the Red Ensign was the right flag to be flown worn by English merchant ships - and at the time the ensign showed the English Cross of St George in the top left corner.

[James Winchester]

Rather than a historical excerp, I have something a little different to share. Given all of the recent bloodshed in the Auction thread, I thought now might be a good time to talk about blood.

For those of you who don't know I am not a doctor in real life but my father is, my mother is a nurse and I am a medical scientist working in pathology, specifically in the blood transfusion laboratory. So blood is something of a specialty.

The first thing I have to say about blood is don't believe anything you see on TV. Except for the gory horror movies it's all toned way down because people are programmed by evolution to instinctively react badly to the sight of blood, it means potential danger to you if someone else is injured. That's why red is a danger colour universally.

That scene where a 'corpse' is lying in a small, dark red puddle and the cops are saying he must be dead because of all the blood? Nothing like it. Most rapidly fatal wounds involve arterial blood, lots of it. Arterial blood is bright red, and it comes out in spurts. And it sprays. Wounds that kill more slowly through blood loss (minutes/hours) involve venous blood which is darker. The amount of blood that you have to lose to kill you is considerable.

If you donate blood (and everyone should) they take off 500ml (1 pint) of blood. After sitting for a few minutes to acclimatise to the slight drop in blood pressure you can get up, walk away and go back to work.

Having over time seen several bags of blood commit suicide out of people's hands and off shelves and having dropped one myself I can tell you that one bag of blood will easily cover 4 square metres of floor, thickly enough that you can get plenty of it on your shoes and track it all over the place. I saw a bag of whole blood dropped in the tiny closet that was the blood-fridge-and-blood-gas-machine room at one hospital's operating theatres and it completely covered the floor and splashed up the walls. That is one donation's worth of blood, and the donor walked away afterwards.

I have accidentally spilt 5mLs of blood onto my lab gown and it made a splodge bigger than my hand. 500 mLs of blood is enough to completely soak everything that you are wearing and then drip onto the floor. People who suffer trauma are more likely to go into shock from the injury, which includes a drop in blood pressure and a loss of ability to regulate body temperature, and if the injury is moderate then the shock is far more likely to kill the person than the blood loss.

If you want to get a handle on how much blood I'm talking about, you can conduct the following experiment:

To make the 'blood'
* Put 500mLs of water in a saucepan.
* Add 1/2 a teaspoon of corn flour/starch
* Simmer gently until thickened slightly
* Add enough red food colouring to achieve a blood-like colour.

If you are lazy you can use a 500mL bottle of red cordial, but the consistency won't be the same.

To see the damage:
* Take an old bed sheet outside and lay it down, preferably on a lawn or hoseable surface.
* Pour the 'blood' onto the sheet, making sure to spread it around and cover as much as possible.

Stand back and admire the mess. Remember, you can lose this much and walk away. Mentally extrapolate how big the mess would be if someone bled to death, which would involve loosing 8-10 Litres of blood.

Put the mess in the washing machine, hose the surface and wash the saucepan.

[Fluff]

http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2704/Vid ... nder.dhtml

A very nice detailing of economics of the 17th century.

[Charles Blount]

Quite intriguing… and eye opening I must say.

But… as it is not very complimentary about State run business schems… let us keep this under wraps until after the vote in parliament

[Douglas FitzJames]

In searching the net and various books for more sources and information on the Gaelic and Scots languages for use with my character I have found some interesting information on Scots and it's evolution.

It is not, as I thought, a dialect of modern English. Apparently this is a very common misconception, even held by a lot of Scottish people, due to the efforts following the Union of 1707 to get everyone in Britain speaking English; Gaelic was outlawed and Scots was anglicised.

Scots and Modern English both evolved independantly from Middle English, and what Douglas speaks is actually very watered down and anglicised compared to what was and is still spoken in the area of Scotland where he is from.

There is a lot of info on the subject out there including in several books I've read, but the best summary of the information that I've found was actually on the website of the singer Dick Gaughan, who has a little rant on the subject: http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/songs/scots/index.html It's an interesting read.

So CB is right, Douglas doesn't speak English.

[William Gosling]

Withholding sex in a marriage was considered a sin among Puritans, and a rather serious one. In fact, in New England, one Puritan husband (a James Matlock) refused to have sex with his wife for two years. His wife duly complained and he was eventually excommunicated for this, among other sins. In Puritan communities in the New World, discipling both men and women for withholding sex was actually a reasonably routine if not common occurrence, particularly because certain Puritan interpretations meant that a wife and husband were not allowed to refuse the other's request for sex.

The theological justification for this was Corinthians 7:3-5

The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Or in King Jame's version (which, for this verse at least, seems like it might owe a debt to Wycliffe... fancy that):

Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

[Darlene Hamilton]

Did you know?

The first buttons as we recognize them appeared in the middle ages as pure decoration. The first buttons on the cuffs of sleeves were implemented to keep pages from wiping their noses on their sleeves.

and

Preachers of the 1700’s were known to have discourses on the evils of wearing white stockings. In their minds, wearing white stockings was too close to having a nude leg, and colored stockings that matched one’s dress should instead be worn.

After these discourses, white stockings became immensely popular among young ladies, and some young gentlemen.

[Gawain Tredegar]

Business Card History

Tradecards, considered to precede business cards, were used in all parts of England in the 17th century.
The earliest forms of tradecards were to be found at the beginning of the 17th century in London - they were used as advertising and also as maps with directions to the merchant's stores (and I imagine offices) as there was no formal street numbering system at the time. The earliest forms of tradecards were printed by the woodcut or letterpress method.

You can see more here: http://www.waddesdon.org.uk/searchthecollection/trade_cards_introduction.html

[Hope]

A story of a real highwayman, and a feat he performed in 1676 that made him a national hero.

1676 - James Nevison - Highwayman.

About this time, James Nevison (nicknamed 'Swift Nick') the notorious Highwayman, roamed these parts and his named is still remembered locally more than 300 years later. According to folk law he robbed the rich to give to the poor but in truth he appears to have been nothing more than a very charming common criminal. A deep cutting through the rock between Pontefract and Ferrybridge is still called 'Nevison's Leap' and an Inn was named after him. He was finally captured while drinking at the Magpie Inn at Sandal near Wakefield and executed at York on May 4th., 1684.

Note: Also referred to as John Nevison and William Nevison with his date of death being given as 1682, 1683 and 1684. Nevison was most probably born at Wortley near Pontefract in 1648 and hanged at York in 1684.

It seems that his romantic reputation was sealed through a renowned ride from the south of England to York in 1676. Popular legend says Dick Turpin made this famous ride on a horse called Black Bess fifty years later but this is not true - the highwayman who rode from Kent to York in one day was James Nevison. This is the story:

@}~~

At 4 a.m. one summer morning in 1676, a traveller at Gads Hill in Kent, England was robbed by Nevison. The highwayman then made his escape on a bay mare, crossed the River Thames by ferry and galloped towards Chelmsford. After resting his horse for half an hour, he rode on to Cambridge and Huntingdon, resting regularly for short periods during the journey. Eventually, he found his way to the Great North Road where he turned north for York. It is claimed that Nevison jumped the narrow gorge called 'Nevison's Leap' and then crossed the River Aire at Castleford during this ride.

He arrived in York at sunset after a journey of more than 200 miles, a stunning achievement for both man and horse. He stabled his weary horse at a York inn, washed and changed his travel-stained clothes, then strolled to a bowling green where he knew the Lord Mayor was playing bowls. He engaged the Lord Mayor in a conversation and then laid a bet on the outcome of the match - and Nevison made sure the Lord Mayor remembered the time the bet was laid - 8 p.m. that evening.

Later, Nevison was arrested for the robbery in Gads Hill and in his defence, produced the Lord Mayor of York as his alibi witness. The Lord Mayor could prove Nevison was in York at 8 p.m. on the day of the robbery and the court refused to believe that a man could have committed a crime in the early morning in Kent and ridden to York by 8 p.m. the same day. He was found not guilty of the crime and emerged as a folk hero, even impressing the King of England.

Nevison was a charming man of tall gentlemanly appearance and bearing and it is claimed that he never used violence against his victims.

[Darlene Hamilton]

That Lt-Admiral Michiel De Ruyter was in the First squadron fleet at the Battle of Argosta on the 22nd April 1676, intent to repress the Messina revolt which the French were landing their assistance to - undermining the Spanish throne. The battle was a co-operative between Spain and the Netherlands. He was aboard the Eendracht, his flagship, which was built in Rotterdam by Jan Salmonsz van den Tempel in 1666. The Eendracht was a large ship with dimensions 160ft x 42-1/2ft x 16ft. The height between decks was 7-1/2ft. The Eendracht had 76 guns, and 450 man aboard.

The battle was fouht between a French fleet of 29 man-of-war, plus five frigates and eight fireships under Abraham Duquesne and a Dutch-Spanish fleet of 27 (17 Dutch, 10 Spanish). It was a brief but intense affair. When Michiel De Ruyter's was mortally wounded in the Battle of Etna (or Agosta) on 22 April 1676 when a cannonball hit his left leg. His opponent, Abraham Duquesne stopped fighting upon hearing of De Ruyter's wound and withdrew. While no ships were lost there were many casualties, especially amongst the Dutch.

Michiel de Ruyter was loved by his men, and nicknamed Bestevaêr (old dutch for 'grandfather'). He died on the 29th from his injuries, at the age of 69.

Rest in peace Michiel de Ruyter