Today is the day after the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth 1’s coronation, 1559. She soon developed enduring relationships with the senior members of her Government. For example, William Cecil, Lord Burghley served the Queen for the rest of his life – from 1558 to 1598 when he died. Queen Elizabeth I gave leading members of her Court, nicknames. (Illustrations from a Victorian History of England.)
I had a record of all the nicknames I found. But, could never find the list when I needed it. My interest in the nicknames was revived, last year, by a post in The Chronicles of History. The author is a follower of this blog. The Chronicles mentioned three of them, so I went in search for the rest, and here is what the internet says:
Her chief minister, William Cecil, Lord Burghley, was called her ‘spirit’ and her alleged lover, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was her ‘eyes’. Rather more cheekily, she called François, Duke of Anjou, her ‘frog’.
Elizabeth called Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester her “Eyes” William Cecil was her “Spirit” Robert Cecil was her “pigmy” or “elf” Sir Christopher Hatton was her “mutton” or “lids” Francis Walsingham was her “Moor” Francis, Duke of Alencon, (her French suitor) her “frog”
People on the list of Queen Elizabeth I’s Nicknames
A comment on the same page says the moor was, in fact, Edward De Vere Earl of Oxford. And the attribution to Walsingham is a mistake. De Vere had a house in Clapton, Hackney, very close to where I lived. De Vere is one of the strongest candidates (or so the conspiracy theorists say) to have written Shakespeare’s plays. Queen Elizabeth 1 has also been named a candidate for the world’s greatest playwright.
Robert Cecil was Lord Burghley’s son and largely took over his father’s role. Christopher Hatton was a handsome aristocrat who had a lovely house and garden in Holborn. It is now a street called Hatton Garden, famous for jewellery and jewellery heists.
Francis Walshingham was the ruthless spy master that helped turn late Elizabethan England into a simulacrum of Stasi East Germany. Duke of Alencon was one suitor she seemed to take seriously, although she gently mocked him. Dudley was her favourite and almost her official escort/companion. (Did she have a sexual relationship with him?)
Queen Elizabeth 1 Coronation. Litter at her royal entry, accompanied by footmen and Gentlemen Pensioners. Unidentified engraver. (Wikipedia)
Queen Elizabeth 1 Accession
Queen Elizabeth 1 ascended the throne on 17 Nov 1558. Her accession was greeted with an outbreak of joy by the Protestant population. But the supporters of her dead sister Mary 1 did not want a Protestant monarch. On hearing the news of the death, Elizabeth rushed to occupy the Tower of London. She even risked shooting London Bridge, such was her haste. (see my post of the accession of Queen Elizabeth I)
She consulted lawyers about the legal position. Elizabeth, and her sister Mary, were declared bastards by two Succession Acts passed during Henry VIII’s ‘troubled’ married life. The Third Succession Act of 1543/44, following Henry’s marriage to Katherine Parr, restored Mary and Elizabeth to the Royal line. But it did not restore their legitimacy. Rather than tackle the complex legislation, Sir Nicholas Bacon, the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, advised:
“the English laws have long since pronounced, that the Crown once worn quite taketh away all Defects whatsoever“. (Wikipedia)
Which, when you think about it, basically legitimises any successful ‘coup’! And, from a legal perspective, she was still, arguably, illegitimate.
Queen Elizabeth 1 Coronation
Her courtiers immediately began work on the Coronation, scheduled for January 15th 1559. In terms of Coronations, this was rushed. The precise date was, in fact, chosen by the Royal Astrologer. John Dee, a famous mathematician and credulous astrologer, found a date that the celestial bodies deemed propitious. But it needed to be sooner rather than later because Elizabeth’s position was so insecure.
Queen Elizabeth 1 Coronation Procession
The Coronation began with a procession from the Whitehall Palace in Westminster. Then back to the Tower of London for the Vigil. Followed by a Royal Procession through the City of London to Westminster Abbey for the Coronation service. After the Coronation, there was the traditional Coronation Banquet at Westminster Hall.
The Vigil Procession was on the Thames where she was escorted to the Tower by ‘ships, galleys, brigantines‘ sumptuously decorated. The Royal Entry consisted of 5 Pageants and 11 Triumphal Arches.
The first pageant showed the Queen’s descent from Henry VII and his marriage to Elizabeth of York. This marriage effectively ended the Wars of the Roses by linking the House of York and the House of Lancaster. The pageant also emphasised her ‘Englishness’ as opposed to the Spanish affiliations of Mary. The second pageant demonstrated that the Queen would rule by the four virtues of True Religion, Love of Subjects, Wisdom and Justice. At the same time she was shown trampling on Superstition, Ignorance and other vices.
The Procession at Cheapside
The third pageant, at the upper end of Cheapside near the Guildhall, provided the opportunity for the City to give Elizabeth a handsome present. This was a crimson purse with 1000 marks of gold, showing the closeness of the City and the Crown. The fourth pageant, contrasted a decaying country during the time of Mary with a thriving one under Elizabeth. It featured the figure of Truth, who was carrying a Bible written in English and entitled ‘the Word of Truth’. The Bible was lowered on a silken thread to the Queen. The Queen kissed it and laid it on her breast to the cheers of the crowd. She promised to read it diligently. The final pageant was Elizabeth portrayed as Deborah, the Old Testament prophet. Deborah rescued Israel and ruled for 40 years. So she was an ideal role model for Elizabeth. (For more details, look here.)
‘All the houses in Cheapside were dressed with banners and streamers, and the richest carpets, stuffs and cloth of gold tapestried the streets’.
British History.ac.uk Vol 1 pp315 -332
Queen Elizabeth 1 Coronation in Westminster Abbey
The Coronation was traditional – in Latin and presided by a Catholic Bishop, but there were significant innovations. Important passages were read both in Latin and in English. The Queen added to the Coronation Oath the promise that she would rule according to the:
‘true profession of the Gospel established in this Kingdom.’
This showed the path Queen Elizabeth was going to take. She would introduce innovation gradually into tradition, but emphasizing that the fundamentals had indeed changed. This was going to be a Protestant reign.
Can I remind you that I wrote a best-selling book on the Kings and Queens of Britain? It has sold over 130,000 copies, has been reprinted several times and in several editions and is available here.
‘Negroland and Guinea with the European Settlements, Explaining what belongs to England, Holland, Denmark, etc’. By H. Moll Geographer (Printed and sold by T. Bowles next ye Chapter House in St. Pauls Church yard, & I. Bowles at ye Black Horse in Cornhill, 1729, orig. published in 1727) Source Wikicommons.
Note to the receivers of emails. I published the last couple of days from my laptop but the emails did not get posted. So here is one of the backlog and others to follow.
The Royal Africa Company
The Royal Africa Company was set up with a monopoly on trade with the west coast of Africa in:
“redwood, elephants’ teeth, negroes, slaves, hides, wax, guinea grains, or other commodities of those countries”
On January 10th. 1663 King Charles II affirmed the new charter for the Company that, above all else, was responsible for British continuing involvement in enslavement. Shareholders included his nephew, Prince Rupert, Samuel Pepys, and much of the British Establishment, Aristocracy, and City Merchants. Its headquarters were in Cornhill, not far from the East India Company’s HQ. The company was closed in 1752.
Guineas
Gold from the Gold Coast in Guinea was used to make coins, which became known as ‘guineas’. They were originally made from one quarter of an ounce of gold. Below is a sketch of a two guinea coin from the reign of Charles II. Note the elephant at the bottom of the coin.
Sketch of a two guinea coin from the reign of Charles II showing an elephant below the image of the King.
The guinea was original worth 1 pound but fluctuated with the price of Gold. Pepys records it at 24 or 25 shillings. It was eventually phased out, but it became a posh way of expressing value. Ordinary goods would be priced in pounds, but expensive ones in Guineas. By then valued at 21 shillings. (£1 pound 5 pence). Wikipedia suggests it was used for ‘prices of land, horses, art, bespoke tailoring, furniture, white goods and other “luxury” items‘. I remember going shopping with my parents in London and wondering at the fur coats being priced in Guineas. It died out, as a practice, in the 70s.
Enslavement, Government & the Royal Africa Company
There are many sites giving a history of slavery, and the British involvement with it. But, here, I would just like to point out how involved the British Royal Family was in the trade. One of the instigators of the Trade, in the 16th Century was John Hawkins. He secured investment in his second slaving expedition from: Queen Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley, Edward Clinton, Lord Burghley amongst others. Royal involvement in the foundation of the Royal Africa Company was only one of many connections between Royalty and Slavery.
It should be noted that the British education system has emphasised the role of Britain in the abolition of slavery. We are more reluctant to highlight our involvement in setting it up and continuing it. This has begun to change. A new generation of school children in London can visit the excellent London: Sugar & Slavery Gallery at the Museum of London in Docklands.
Compensation for Slavery & Reparations
University College, London has undertaken a profound project where they took the records of compensation payments to:
The slaves, you are thinking?
No, to the slave owners!
The compensation of £20m pounds was provided by a loan to the Governemt by Rothschilds Bank in the City of London. It probably represents around £16billion in modern terms. I have been unsure of the case for historic ‘reparations’. But when ‘we’ compensated the slave owners, it makes the case for compensation overwhelming. The least we can do is to fund projects to correct the educational and life disadvantages of people and countries impacted by slavery. And £16 billion seems like the right amount.
Legacies of British Slave-ownership project
UCL have created a resource where you can click on the streets of London and other areas, to find out the holders of slaves who were compensated in that street.
I looked at the UCL resource looking for the closest slave owner in my area of the East End of London. The nearest person lived about 500 yards away from me. Here are the abridged details from the database. It is very simple to use. Have a go by following this link.
Solomon Nunes Flamengo of Kingston, living at Mutton Lane in Hackney when he wrote his will in 1778. Merchant. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1779. Slave-ownership at probate: 6 of whom 2 were listed as male and 4 as female. 4 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £21356.26 Jamaican currency of which £332.5 currency was the value of enslaved people.
I guess the value of his compensation was £332.5. Solomon was Jewish, which is unusual for the records, by far the majority being Christian. I chose Solomon simply because he was the closest to my house. The UCL website is at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/.
Britain began regulating the Slave trade in the late 18th Century, abolished the Slave Trade in 1807. Slavery, with the compensation to slave owners in 1833, was abolished but they replaced slavery with apprenticeship – in effect bound labour. This was ended in 1838. For more details look at https://www.parliament.uk/
Slavery or Enslavement
Finally, I have seen several exhibitions and TV documentares in recent months where victims of the pernicious trade are referred to as ‘enslaved’ and not slaves.
It is a profound difference. The victims did not make themselves slaves, they did not identify as slaves. They were forced into lt by violence, kidnap. rape, murder, torture, imprisonment, trafficking, forced exile. They were enslaved.
‘Drawing for Twelfth Cake’ at St. Annes Hill ’12th Night Cruikshank, Isaac, 1756-1811 printmaker. Published Janr. 10, 1807 by Thomas Tegg, 111 Cheapside’
Twelfth Night
Yesterday was Twelfth Night for the modern Church of England, but today is Twelfth Night for the Catholic Church and in England in former times. It is also Epiphany or Three Kings Day and because of calendrical differences, Christmas Eve for the Orthodox Church. In Ireland, it is Nollaig na mBan. This is Women’s Little Christmas; when Women get to rest and let men do the work. This is a typical Saturnalia-style reversal of roles.
I used the print above, three years ago for my post on New’s Day, then moved it to Twelth Night. I also use it for lectures on Christmas and Jane Austen. But the focus of my presentation is explaining the Twelfth Night Cake and the game that was played. But in fact, this is a very political satirical cartoon. More of that, later, let’s begin with the more trivial aspect of the print above.
Twelfth Night and Christmas Cake
It used to be the big party night, featuring the famous Twelfth Night Cake and theatrical entertainments; mumming and wassailing. The cake has disappeared from current Christmas celebration, probably because it transmuted into our present Christmas Cake. This, I regret. I have had a lifetime when a very heavy Christmas Dinner is followed first, by Christmas Pudding. Then, overloading with food, the Christmas Cake is brought out. No one, in their right mind, wants a slice of heavy Christmas Cake at that time. Many of my American friends disparage fruit cake, but they are mistaken. Good Christmas Cake is something to be thoroughly enjoyed, but on the days following Christmas Day.
I gave a recipe for the Twelfth Night Cake in another post, (here it is). But the important point is that it had a bean and a pea in it. The one who got the bean was selected as King for night and the pea the Queen. Traditionally, the women draw a card from a ‘reticule’ (bag) and the men’s from a hat. But there are no women at this satirical party. The cards detailed a role they were to play for the rest of the night. The card began with an introductory speech, or rhyme, for the person to speak. The King and Queen led the way, and for the rest of the evening the party members adopted their persona. They might be an aristocrat, a soldier, a cook, a parson, a dairy maid etc. The French do something similar with their Galette des Rois. The bean is called the feve, and may be replaced by a porcelain model. Other places have a King’s Cake for epiphany.
Twelfth Night Satire
So, as I was rushing to get the original Twelfth Night post done, I failed to examine it in any detail. I assumed the cards gave them satirical occupations which would be funny to the contemporary audience in 1807. But then, I noticed the title mentioned St Anne’s Hill. I looked it up and discovered myself down a deep and very enjoyable research rabbit hole.
St Anne’s Hill & Charles James Fox
Now, let’s go down that rabbit hole and look a little deeper.
The caption mentions St Anne’s Hill. I believe this refers to St Anne’s Hill, near Chertsey (SW of London on the River Thames). Here, there was a grand house which was owed by Charles James Fox. He was the leader of the Whigs, a persistent opponent of King George III. He was a supporter of the American and French Revolutions. This explains the red bonnet used to pull out the cards in the illustration.
The central figure is then, Fox. But he died in September,. 1806. The print is dated January 1807. Just before he died, his Foreign Slave Trade Bill of 1806 began the dismantling of this pernicious trade in the British Empire. He was Foreign Minister who assumed a couple of civil chats with the French would end the long-standing war. But he soon discovered that Napoleon was not to be trusted in negotiations. The war went on for another 9 or so years.
Charles James Fox was a mercurial figure with many radical views. He was also a notorious gambler and loved the high life. One of his many lovers was Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. He eventually married, Elizabeth Armistead, an ex-mistress of the Prince of Wales. St Anne’s Hill was her house. I am pleased to report that she is credited with calming his life-style. He now spent more time at St Anne’s where they would ‘read, garden, explore the countryside and entertain friends’ (Wikipedia).
Isaac Cruikshank’s ‘Drawing for Twelfth Cake’ at St. Annes Hill
Cruikshank’s illustration is, of course, not designed to document quaint Twelfth Night customs but is a political satire and I discovered that the British Museum has the original version of this print, and. It is dated to 1799 which makes much more sense!
At the back right of the print is a notice which says:
‘Rules to be observed at this Meeting 1. That the Cake be decorated with appropriate insignia 2 That the tickets be deposited in a Bonnet Rouge and drawn in Rotation 3 That the Old Fashioned Game of King and Queen be exploded & Catch as Catch can Substituted in its stead.’
The bonnet rouge is defined by the Collins Dictionary as a ‘redcap worn by ardent supporters of the French Revolution’ or ‘an extremist or revolutionary’. The last point relates to Fox’s opposition to the King, and the expression Catch as Catch Can refers to a free form of wrestling without rules.
The characters in the scene (all men) are all political figures. They are associated with the opposition to the very right-wing Government of William Pitt. During the war with France, the opposition was led by a supporter of the French Revolution. For those on the right, which included Pitt’s government, supporting the French Revolution was tantamount to treason. Pitt suspended many civil liberties in ‘Pitt’s Reign of Terror’. He arrested and indeed executed leading members of those demanding political change. The Government even suspended Habeas Corpus to make it easier to arrest their opponents,
Fox is seen drawing a 12th Night Game ticket which is marked ‘Perpetual Dictator’. To his right is Frances Burdett. He was a radical politician, who supported universal male suffrage, equal electoral districts, vote by ballot, and annual parliaments. Note that this is well before these aims became the core of the Chartists campaign for electoral reform. (for other people in the illustration look at the British Museum notes on the print. )
Frances Burdett, Edward and Catherine Despard
Burdett is shown holding a ticket saying ‘Keeper of the Prison in Cold Bath Fields’. This is a satirical reference to a serious political crisis. The Cold Baths Fields was the site of a medical spring in Clerkenwell, London. This was where a prison was situated where radicals were imprisoned. They were held in poor conditions despite the recent rebuilding under the aegis of the prison reformer, John Howard. Burdett exposed the scandalous conditions in the House of Commons. He began a campaign against the magistrates involved in the arrests.
One of the prisoners was Edward Despard who had associations with many radical groups. These included the London Corresponding Society, the United Irishmen and United Britons. Despard was married to Catherine, the daughter of a free black woman from Jamaica. She, with Burdett, led the campaign against these arrests without trial. Catherine wrote a letter to the Attorney General who replied in a demeaning manner:
‘it was a well-written letter, and the fair sex would pardon him, if he said it was a little beyond their style in general’
He did not comment on her colour. She described the imprisonment of her husband as being :
“in a dark cell, not seven feet square, without fire, or candle, chair, table, knife, fork, a glazed window, or even a book”
Execution of Edward Despard
Despard was freed in 1802, went to Ireland. But returned to London, where he was arrested again. But this time he was accused of a being the ringleader of a plot to assassinate the King. There was little real evidence. Horatio Nelson was a character witness, and appealed to the King for clemency. It was given. But only in so far as Despard was not disembowelled but ‘only ‘Hanged and Drawn’ at Horsemonger Lane Gaol (1803). This was the last time someone was drawn through the streets at the tail of a horse before execution for treason. These are his last words:
Fellow Citizens, I come here, as you see, after having served my Country faithfully, honourably and usefully, for thirty years and upwards, to suffer death upon a scaffold for a crime which I protest I am not guilty. I solemnly declare that I am no more guilty of it than any of you who may be now hearing me. But though His Majesty’s Ministers know as well as I do that I am not guilty, yet they avail themselves of a legal pretext to destroy a man because he has been a friend to truth, to liberty, and to justice
(a considerable huzzah from the crowd)
and because he has been a friend to the poor and to the oppressed. But, Citizens, I hope and trust, notwithstanding my fate, and the fate of those who no doubt will soon follow me, that the principles of freedom, of humanity, and of justice, will finally triumph over falsehood, tyranny and delusion, and every principle inimical to the interests of the human race.
(a warning from the Sheriff)
I have little more to add, except to wish you all health, happiness and freedom, which I have endeavoured, as far as was in my power, to procure for you, and for mankind in general.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Despard
After his death, his family denied that Catherine was his wife but merely his ‘house-keeper.’ I assume, was because they wanted the inheritance rather than, or perhaps, as well as naked prejudice.
Francis Burdett married into the fabulously rich banking family the Coutts. His daughter was the famous Angela Burdett Coutts who was a philanthropist who collaborated extensively with Charles Dickens.
@Phew! This is what I love about what I do, you find things out that link disparate parts of your knowledge, creating an ever-interwining web of history.
Here are listed the public guided walks and tours I have currently got in my diary. I will be adding others all the time.
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30 pm Saturday 25th Jan25 To book Jane Austen’s ‘A Picture of London in 1809 Virtual Walk Mon 7.30 27th Jan25 To book Charles I and the Civil War. Martyrdom Anniversary Walk Booking details to follow The Civil War, Restoration and the Great Fire of London Virtual Tour 7:30pm Thurs 30th Jan25To book Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 11.30 am Sat Feb 9th 2025 To Book Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30 pm Sunday 9th February 25 To book A Virtual Tour of Jane Austen’s Bath 7.30pm 10th February 2025 To book Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk To book Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30 pm Saturday 8th March 25 To book Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 11.30 pm Sunday 6th April 25 To book Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk Sun 2:30pm 6 April 2025 to Book Chaucer’s London To Canterbury Virtual Pilgrimage 7.30pm Friday 18th April 25 To book Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 2.30 am Sat May 4th 2025 To book For a complete list of my guided walks for London Walks in 2025 look here
Monday 1st January 2025 7.00 pm On this Virtual Walk we look at how London has celebrated the New Year over the past 2000 years.
The New Year has been a time of review, renewal, and anticipation of the future from time immemorial. The Ancient Britons saw the Solstice as a symbol of a promise of renewal as the Sun was reborn. As the weather turns to bleak mid winter, a festival or reflection and renewal cheers everyone up. This idea of renewal was followed by the Romans, and presided over by a two headed God called Janus who looked both backwards and forwards. Dickens Christmas Carol was based on redemption and his second great Christmas Book ‘The Chimes’ on the renewal that the New Year encouraged.
We look at London’s past to see where and how the New Year was celebrated. We also explore the different New Years we use and their associated Calendars – the Pagan year, the Christian year, the Roman year, the Jewish year, the Financial year, the Academic year and we reveal how these began. We look at folk traditions, Medieval Christmas Festivals, Boy Bishops, Distaff Sunday and Plough Monday, and other Winter Festival and New Year London traditions and folklore.
At the end, we use ancient methods to divine what is in store for us in 2023.
The virtual walk finds interesting and historic places in the City of London to link to our stories of Past New Year’s Days. We begin, virtually, at the Barbican Underground and continue to the Museum of London, the Roman Fort; Noble Street, Goldsmiths Hall, Foster Lane, St Pauls, Doctors Commons, St. Nicholas Colechurch and on towards the River Thames.
The Venerable Bede tells us that King Lucius converted to Christianity in around 180AD. He says that the King asked Pope Eleutherius to send teachers to instruct him. The Venerable Bede (died 735 AD) got this from the Liber Pontificalis of c 590. There is also a tradition that St Peter’s Cornhill in London was set up by King Lucius, and that St Peter’s is the oldest Church in London.
13th Pope
What to make of this? Bede is considered to be a reliable historian and got his information, in this case, from the Vatican. But the tradition has been written off as a legend. Indeed, there are questions to be answered, but there is, arguably, more to it than a legend but, unfortunately, not enough to make it an established fact.
Not the least of the questions to ask about the veracity of this legend is: ‘What does it mean to be called the King of Britain in the middle of the Roman occupation?’
As to the early origin of St Peters, archaeologists dismissed the tradition as St Peter’s is built over the Roman Forum and so how can it have been the site of a Christian Church?
St. Peter’s seen from Cornhill in a rarely seen view as there is normally a building in the way. (Author’s copyright)
But the balance of possibilities, arguably, changed in the 1980s, when archaeologists led by Gustav Milne showed that the Basilica of the Forum was pulled down in about 300AD. So from being practically an impossibility, there is now a possibility that this became the site of a Roman Church. We know London sent at least one Bishop to Constantine the Great’s Council of Arles in 314AD, so a Christian community in London must have predated this time. There must have been Churches. And a site, here, at the prestigious centre of the Capital of Londinium, makes a lot of sense. There are, in fact, three Churches on the site of the Roman Forum: St Peters, St Michael and St Edmund the Martyr.
In AD306, Constantine was acclaimed Emperor on the death of his Father, Constantius Chlorus whose wife was Helena, a Christian. He and his mother were in York when his father died. He was recognised as Caesar, (but not Augustus) by Emperor Galerius and ruled the province for a while before moving to Trier, then Rome, where he accepted the Christian God’s help in becoming the ruler of Rome (after the Battle of Milvian Bridge). This might give a context for the demolition of the Basilica and its replacement by a Church. There is, however, no archaeological evidence for St Peters being Roman in origin other than the demolition of the Basilica and the legends, and nor is there any evidence of the Basilica being turned into a Church as early as the 2nd Century.
Where does that leave King Lucius? There are well attested Christian traditions that Britain was an early convert to Christianity. (The following quotes are from my book ‘In Their Own Words – A Literary Companion To The Origins Of London‘ D A Horizons, 2009 by Kevin Flude and available here.)
‘In Their Own Words – A Literary Companion To The Origins Of London‘ D A Horizons, 2009
So, an early date for an active Christian community is likely. A Church, replacing the Basilica, is plausible, particularly, after Constantine the Great probably passed through London on his way to seize the Roman Empire. But such an early date as the late 2nd Century? And could anyone, claim to be the ‘King of Britain’ at this date?
We do know that King Togidubnus was called Great King of Britain in a Roman Temple inscription in Chichester in the First Century.
Altar Dedication, Chichester
To Neptune and Minerva, for the welfare of the Divine House by the authority of Tiberius Claudius Togidubnus, Great King of Britain, the Guild of Smiths and those therein gave this Temple from their resources, Pudens, son of Pudentinus, presenting the site.
Togidubnos seems to have been placed in control of a large part of Southern England, centred around Chichester, after the invasion of 43AD. He is thought to have been the successor to Verica, who was exiled and called on the Romans to restore his throne. Tactitus says that Togidubnos remained loyal down ‘to our own times’ that is to the 70s AD. So he presumably held the line for the Romans against the Boudiccan revolt in 60AD. The Romans had used Verica’s fall as their excuse for invasion, and so an honorific of Great King to him and his successors makes sense. It is assumed that after Togidubnos’s death after 80AD, the title lapsed. But it might have stayed with the family as an empty honour? Furthermore, we know that Britain had a lot of Kings and Queens before the Roman period, and, as the Romans never conquered the whole of Britain, there were British Kings all the way through the period of Roman control, at least beyond Hadrian’s Wall.
So, it is possible there was someone in Britain who had, or made, a claim to be ‘King’ whether ‘a’ or ‘the’ or merely descended from one, we don’t know. And that that someone, perhaps converted to Christianity, possibly in the time of Pope Eleutherius.
It has been suggested that Lucius of Britain was confused with Lucius of Edessa, but this is not very convincing.
The link to London and St Peters, need not be a contemporary one, it might be two traditions that are linked together at a later period. But, of course, there is a faint possibility that the Basilica shrine room, above which St Peter’s is built, was converted for Christian use at the earlier time necessary to make sense of the King Lucius story.
King Lucius may not be a proper saint, but he has a feast day because of his connections to Chur in Switzerland, which saw him enter the Roman Martyrology. David Knight proposes that the tradition of the martyrdom of Lucius in Chur comes from the transplanting of rebellious Brigantes to the Raetia frontier in the 2nd Century AD, bringing with them the story of Lucius and that, possibly, at the end of the King’s life he travelled to join the exiles in Switzerland where he met his unknown end. If true, this would base the story of Lucius in the North rather than London.
For further reading, see ‘King Lucius of Britain’ by David J Knight.
John Stow in the 16th Century records the tradition, which comes with a list of early British Bishops of London, which are recorded in Jocelin of Furness ‘Book of British Bishops’. This book is discussed by Helen Birkett ‘Plausible Fictions: John Stow, Jocelin of Furness and the Book of British Bishops’. In Downham C (ed) /Medieval Furness: Texts and Contexts/, Stamford: Paul Watkins, 2013.
Her analysis concludes that the book is a ’12th-century confection in support of moving the archbishopric from Canterbury ‘back’ to London.’ (This information was included in a comment to the original post by John Clark, Emeritus Curator of the Museum of London.)
To sum up. We can’t bring King Lucius out of legend, nor link him with St Peters Cornhill, but the site of St Peters is a plausible, though unproven, location for a Roman Church from the 4th Century onwards. It also makes sense of the choice of the Saxons, to name their Church St Pauls. St Peter is more common as a dedication for important Churches and perhaps they chose St Paul as they knew of the ruins of St Peters the old Cathedral.
Archaeologists have also tentatively identified a masonry building in Pepys Street on Tower Hill as the Episcopal Church of late Roman London. The foundations suggest a large aisled building. Its identification as a Cathedral springs from multiplying the found foundations symmetrically by a factor of four and comparing the result to Santa Tecla in Milan. The discovery of Marble and window glass doesn’t sit so well with the alternative suggestion that it is a granary. But, to my mind, it’s not very convincing, although Dominic Perring in his recent book ”London in the Roman World’ makes the most of the case for it being a Cathedral.
On This Day
1660 – Margaret Hughes became the first woman (we know about) to act on the English Stage. She played Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello. It was staged in a converted tennis court called the Vere Street Theatre, which was in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. In 1660 Charles II was restored to the throne, and had got used to watching female actors perform while he was in exile in France. So when he returned, he licensed two theatre managers, Thomas Killigrew and Sir William Davenant to run theatre. Davenant claimed to be the natural son of William Shakespeare, suggesting that Shakespeare stayed in his parents’ Inn, the Crown, in Cornmarket, Oxford on his way home to Stratford-upon-Avon.
First Published on December 3rd, 2022. Revised in December, 2023, and 2024
There is a 0% chance of snow, in London and 20% in Glen Shee, Scotland, according to the Snow Risk Forecast. And here is an appropriate medieval recipe:
To make a dish of Snowe
Take a potte of sweete thicke creme and the white of eight egges and beate them altogether with a spoone then putte them into your creame with a dish full of Rose Water and a dishfull of Sugar withall then take a sticke and make it cleane and then cutt it in the ende fowre square and therewith beate all the aforesayd thinges together and ever as it ariseth take it of and putte it into a Cullander thys done take a platter and set an aple in the middest of it and sticke a thicke bush of Rosemarye in the apple then cast your snowe upon the rosemarye and fill your platter therewith and if you have wafers cast some withall and thus serve them forth
Before fridges, snow gave the chance for ice cream and other cold desserts. The problem was keeping it for longer than the cold spell. So many Stately Homes had ice-houses. The V&A had an ice-house just outside their glorious, Henry Cole commissioned restaurant. There is an ice house preserved at the Canal Museum, in Kings Cross. It was set up by Carlo Gatti in 1857 to store ice shipped in from Norway. Another one, in Holland Park, dates from 1770 and served the infamous Fox family (PM Charles James Fox etc).
The first ice house was in Mesopotamian, but in the UK they were introduced by James 1 at his palaces in, first, Greenwich Park, and then Hampton Court. An ice house generally consists of a pit in the ground, brick lined, which tapered to a point. Above was a circular, often domed building. The ice was protected by insulation such as straw, and this structure would allow ice to be available all through the summer.
Ice House Dillington, Somerset
My great-grandmother hung a basket outside the window in winter to keep things cold. On my fridge-less narrow boat, I have been known to keep milk and butter outside the door, and to suspend and submerge wine in a plastic bag in the canal in high summer. Butteries and Pantry’s were typically cut into the ground to make them cooler. A Roman Warehouse in Southwark, of which the wooden floor still survived, had a ramp down to the floor which was cut into the ground surface. The ramp suggests it was used for storing barrels where they were kept cool.
Sketch of Roman Warehouse found in Southwark.
For more on Icehouses (and an Icehouse in York) and the history of ice cream, see my post from August.
Gervase Markham Hungers Prevention: or, the Whole Art of Fowling by Water and Land. (Printed, London: for Francis Grove, 1655).
This was the period of the year for ‘Night-fowling’ Gervase Markham wrote a whole book about it in the 17th Century. It was called Hungers Prevention: or, the Whole Art of Fowling by Water and Land. (Printed London: for Francis Grove, 1655).
In it, he tells the reader to go to ‘a stubble field in November when the air is mild and the moon not shining. There take a dolorous low bell, and net. Spread the net over the stubble where there may be fowl, ring the bell, light fires of dry straw, and the fowl will fly and become entangled in the net.‘
Title illustration from Gervase Markham Hungers Prevention: or, the Whole Art of Fowling by Water and Land. (Printed London: for Francis Grove, 1655).
In Britain today, the Wild fowling season is from 1 September – to 20th February and largely takes place on the marshes and foreshore.
The following birds are the quarry:
Duck Geese Waders Other Gadwall Canada goose Common snipe Coot Goldeneye Greylag goose Golden plover Moorhen Mallard Pink-footed goose Jack snipe Pintail European Woodcock white-fronted goose
My how time flies! It’s November 19th again and so today is the United Nations’s World Toilet Day again. It is ‘Sustainable Development Goal 6 Safe toilets for all by 2030’. I make a joke of it but it is astonishing that we as a species have ‘3.5 billion people (who) still live without safely managed sanitation, including 419 million who practise open defecation.’ That is a third of the world’s population if my figures are correct. It also impacts particularly badly on women in those areas where decent hygiene cannot be guaranteed.
These are the ‘Key messages you should know on World Toilet Day 2024’
Toilets are a place for peace. This essential space, at the centre of our lives, should be safe and secure. But for billions of people, sanitation is under threat from conflict, climate change, disasters and neglect.
Toilets are a place for protection.By creating a barrier between us and our waste, sanitation services are essential for public and environmental health. But when toilet systems are inadequate, damaged or broken, pollution spreads and deadly diseases get unleashed.
Toilets are a place for progress. Sanitation is a human right. It protects everyone’s dignity, and especially transforms the lives of women and girls. More investment and better governance of sanitation are critical for a fairer, more peaceful world.
On this Day
On this day, in 1660, Charles I was born.
In 1863. President Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address.
First published Nov 19th 2022. Republished Nov 19th 2023, and 2024
St Margaret should be better known in England because of her important rule in the bloodline of the English Monarchy. Her story is also of interest as it intertwines with the events of 1066 and of Macbeth.
She was the granddaughter of King Edmund Ironside. He was the last English King before the Danish Kings took over. This is what a draft of the text for my book on the Kings of Britain says about him:
King Edmund II 1016
Edmund was born in around 988AD and nicknamed Ironside. He was a formidable warrior who spent his short life fighting the Danes. In 1016, he was crowned in St Pauls Cathedral. Although he was defeated in battle by King Canute, the son of King Swein of Denmark, Edmund’s prowess won him a peace treaty in which England was divided between the two Kings. Unfortunately, Edmund died unexpectedly and Canute inherited the Kingdom. Edmund was buried in Glastonbury Abbey.
To buy ‘Divorced, Beheaded, Died – the history of the Kings of Britain in Bite-size Chunks’. click here.
Edmund’s wife Edith and her 2 children were exiled to Sweden and then, somehow, got to Hungary. Edmund’s eldest son was called Edward the Exile and was married to Agatha. Margaret was their third child. In 1056 Edward the Confessor invited the family back to England and soon made Margaret’s father the heir to the throne. Unfortunately, he died in 1057. He was buried in St Paul’s Cathedral.
The rest, as they say, is history. Edward the Exile’s son, Edgar the Atheling was only 6 or 7 and the throne was disputed between William of Normandy, Harald Hadarada of Norway, and Harold Godwinson.
In short, Margaret’s brother Edgar the Atheling was briefly chosen as King after the death of Harold, but was forced to cede the throne to William the Conqueror, after the defeat of Harold Godwinson (Harold II). William was crowned King in December 1066. Margaret was forced to flee and went to Scotland.
You can read what happened, in my detail, in my posts on the three battles that decided England’s fate in 1066.
In 1070, Margaret married the Scottish King Malcolm III ( Mael Column Mac Donnchada).
Malcolm was the son of King Duncan (murdered by Macbeth – see my book Divorced, Beheaded, Died for a short biography). In 1040, Malcolm fled to England, but returned with English help to defeat Macbeth at Dunsinane. After his first wife’s death he married the deeply pious Margaret. Their court was very influenced by Saxon and Norman ways. She helped aligned the Church more closely with the rest of Christendom, and brought up her children piously.
St Margaret’s Chapel at Edinburgh Castle. Built by her son King David. (Photos by the author)
The Royal couple had 6 sons and two daughters. Her son David became one of the most influential Kings of Scotland; introduced Norman ideas of feudalism, and created Boroughs to strengthen the Scottish economy. So, in many ways, Margaret had an influential role in ‘modernising’ the Scottish Monarchy from its Gaelic clan-based structure to a more European style that was ruled from the Lowlands and spoke the Scots version of English, rather than the Gaelic version of the Celtic branch of languages.
She died on 16th November 1093 AD and is ‘particularly noted’ for concern for orphans and poor people. There is an annual procession to her altar, followed by Evensong at Durham Cathedral on the following day. She was buried at Dunfermline following the violent death of her husband. The Abbey has recently celebrated the 950th anniversary of Queen Margaret consecrating the site.
Margaret’s daughter, Matilda, married the son of William the Conqueror, King Henry I. This marriage was important for the Normans because it added a strong dose of English Royal blood to the French Norman Royal line. Their daughter was the formidable Empress Matilda, designated heir to the throne of England and founder of the Plantagenet line of English Kings and mother of Henry II.
Matilda has a plausible claim to having been the first ruling Queen of England. But she was never crowned because of the disruption caused by the usurpation of the throne by King Stephen.
Margaret’s brother Edgar the Atheling had an extraordinary life, living into his 70s. He continued to fight against the Norman rule of England, mostly from Scotland. Eventually, he reconciled with the Norman dynasty but was involved in any number of disputes, rebellions and dynastic fights.
First Published on November 19th 2021. Revised on Nov 15th, 2023, and 2024
