A JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURYThe most wonderful thing about historical novels is that they help us to imagine the lives of the people who came before us, people who lived very differently than we do today. At one time, historians wrote mostly about people at the top of society: its rulers and leaders. But today historians are very interested in the daily lives of all the people who lived in past centuries, which is a big help to those of us who love this form of literature.
WHERE AND WHEN?Both At the Sign of the Star and A True and Faithful Narrative are set in what is sometimes called Restoration London. It's not a well known era, and people sometimes itch to call it something it's not, such as medieval London or Elizabethan London.
In 1660 the population of London was about 300,000, almost 1/16 of the people living in England. It was bigger than any of the European capitals except Paris, and by the year 1700 it was bigger than Paris, too. The City of London was headed by the Mayor, who was elected by the city livery companies, such as the Stationers' Company, to which Meg's father belonged, and the Vintner's Company, of which Anne's father was a member. The governing of the Kingdom took place at Whitehall Palace in Westminster, which at the time was considered a separate city. Now "the City" and Westminster are both part of central London. The middle years of the seventeenth century were dominated by dramatic events as a civil war was fought between Royalists and Puritans. Royalists supported the King (Charles I) and the Church of England. Puritans wanted English Christianity to follow strictly biblical practices and believed that the King's power was too great. In the course of the war Charles I was captured and beheaded, and the Puritans were victorious. The form of government was changed from a monarchy to a republic which was headed by Oliver Cromwell. But the new system failed to handle all the challenges of government, and in 1660, two years after Cromwell's death, the dead king's son was invited back from exile to resume the throne. He was crowned Charles II, and the monarchy was thus restored. That is the reason the time period is known as the Restoration. In many ways the years between 1660 and 1700 have more in common with the century that followed than with the years 1600-1659. For that reason, historians sometimes study the years 1660-1800 together, calling it "the long 18th century." THE MERRY MONARCHKing Charles II was known to his people as the Merry Monarch. He was famous for his love of pleasure. He loved to play tennis, to walk in St. James's Park with his many spaniels, to go to the races at Newmarket, and to see plays performed.
When Charles came to the throne the theaters of London had been closed for many years. The King not only reopened the theaters, but introduced an innovation he had seen during his years of exile in France. For the first time in England, women, not boys dressed as women, played the female parts. The King was very fond of female company, and one of his many mistresses, Nell Gwynn, attracted the King's eye when she appeared upon the stage at the Drury Lane Theatre. WOMEN IN RESTORATION LONDONPeople often make the mistake of believing that because in this era there had not yet been any organized movement to extend the rights of women, no such desire existed. But there have always been individual women who have tried to break through societal constraints on their behavior. In the 17th century Margaret Fell Fox wrote a work called Women's Speaking Justified which argued that women should be allowed to preach. Aphra Behn not only earned her living writing plays but was also sent on an intelligence-gathering mission for the government. Bathshua Makin tutored the daughters of Charles I in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and mathematics, among other subjects; in 1673 she wrote a work titled Essay to Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen. Mary Beale was a popular portrait painter. Christian Davies dressed as a man and became a soldier; she fought in several battles before her identity was revealed when she was wounded.
The rights of Englishwomen in the 17th century were certainly more limited than they are today. For example, no woman could sit in Parliament. However, they could serve in local government as churchwardens, Overseers of the Poor, parish clerks, or even constables, though they did so only rarely. Some of these offices required a woman to be a property holder, and married women couldn't hold real property (land) in their own names. The rights of married women were more restricted than those of spinsters, but the economic situation of spinsters could be very grim. Widows were in the most enviable position legally, but to become a widow you had to be married first! CRIMES OF THE CENTURYMany things were illegal in late 17th century London that are not illegal there today. Things that were against the law included being a Catholic; commiting adultery; giving birth to a child out of wedlock; and casting the King's horoscope. People could be fined for not going to church services.
There were two kinds of courts, church courts, which were supposed to try cases of immorality, and secular or common law courts, which were supposed to deal with matters of public order and property. However, this division wasn't a strict one. For example, an adulterous woman was tried in common law court as it was believed that in the act of adultery she had committed theft against her husband by giving to another something supposed to be his "property." The law was not equally enforced. For example, the laws against what was then known as bastardy were only enforced when the child in question could not be raised without help from the parish, which levied taxes in order to care for the poor. This means that the parents who were prosecuted were always poor, and were often single mothers. The court might decide to cut off the mother's hair, to have her whipped, or even to incarcerate her. Stealing was common, and if the item stolen cost more than 12d. (12 pennies) the crime was punishable by death. For less than that you might be branded on the hand. Another crime punishable by death was treason, which might encompass not only plans and deeds but remarks that were felt to be injurious to the King. Freedom of opinion was not yet protected. Criminal trials in London were held at the Old Bailey. Trial by jury was an established right. Juries were made up only of men. In the course of their deliberations, jury members weren't allowed to eat, drink or rest. This assisted them in coming to speedy decisions! The records of these trial are now online at oldbaileyonline.org. They make fascinating though sometimes chilling reading. MEDICAL MATTERSLondon physicians were trained at universities, often on the European Continent. Their treatments were based on the theory of humours, which originated with Hippocrates and was further developed by Galen. In this model, there were four "humours" or fluids in the body, each corresponding to one of the four elements (earth, fire, air and water). Each humour also corresponded to an organ of the body and to a particular temperament. For example, the humour known as phlegm was said to correspond to the gall bladder and to be associated with a calm, unemotional temperament (also called phlegmatic).
When a person became ill it was believed that her humours were out of balance, and that the way to restore the humoural balance was to get rid of the excess fluid. This could be done through blood-letting, enemas, purges, medications to make the patient sneeze, and so forth. Contagion was very poorly understood. It was known that disease could be transmitted, but not how. Many doctors believed that contamination came from a "miasma" of foul air. The last epidemic of bubonic plague in London was in 1666, but Londoners had many other diseases to worry about, including smallpox, measles, typhus, malaria, and tuberculosis. Not everyone could afford to be treated by a physician, many people relied on apothecaries or surgeons (spelled chirurgeons). These practitioners didn't study at university, but served an apprenticeship to master their arts. HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW?Historians use many sources to learn about the past. They look at wills and inventories that list and sometimes describe the personal possessions people left behind at their deaths. They study court records of trials. We learn a lot about the past by reading the books and broadsides that were published then, including books on cookery, medicine, and housewifery. But we also learn a lot by reading things that were written but were not published, such as letters and diaries.
All of these sources are called primary sources. Books written about the past by people who didn't live during the era they're writing about are called secondary sources. When I'm writing a book, I use both primary and secondary sources in my research. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WRITE IN YOUR DIARY!The most famous diarist of 17th-century England was Samuel Pepys (pronounced "peeps"), who never dreamed that his words would one day be published and studied. In fact, he did everything he could to keep his diary private by writing it in shorthand, and when he was writing about something extremely private he tossed in foreign phrases to make his entries even more difficult to decode. He wrote about fashion and food, politics and theater, about his grave concerns and his pet peeves. He even wrote frankly about quarrels with his wife and his own sexual adventures. And he left unforgettable accounts of several major historical events, including the Great Fire of 1666. After his death in 1703 the diaries ended up at the library of Magdalene College at Cambridge, where he had been a student in his youth. But no one bothered to transcribe them for over a hundred years! They were published for the first time in 1825, and they are now regarded as a valuable resource for anyone studying the era. Today Sam's diary can be read online, a day at a time, at www.pepysdiary.com. |
FOOD AND DRINKIn London food was not usually sold in shops, but in markets, which were regulated by city authorities. There were about a dozen of these. Meg lives not far from Smithfield Market, which specialized in livestock. Other markets specialized in poultry or fish; at Cheapside you could buy almost anything edible. Markets were open six days a week, usually from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in summer, and from dawn to dusk in winter. The first two hours were reserved for housewives; after that the retailers could come in.
Food could also be bought from street vendors. Edibles that could be purchased that way included rabbits, oysters, eels, lemons, cherries, baked apples, asparagus, onions, biscuits and vinegar. The water available in London was too contaminated to drink, so ale or beer was the common beverage. Even the children drank it. People with a little more money drank wine, and the well-to-do also enjoyed coffee, tea, and chocolate. WHAT TO WEAR?Clothing was terribly important in Restoration England, and is thought by some historians to have consumed a greater part of the budget than household furnishings and decoration. Because they were so valuable, clothes were passed from one owner to another many times, or sold to second-hand clothes dealers. A single handkerchief was valuable enough to be worth stealing, at least if it was a nice one.
For this reason relatively little clothing survives from the period--most of it was worn until it was turned into rags. And the portraits painted at the time are not always a reliable guide to what people wore every day, as those sitting for them often dressed up in unusual ways for effect. However, there are many wonderful written descriptions of what people wore. In 1683, for example, a runaway apprentice was described as wearing "a periwig and a sad-colored freeze coat with great gold buttons, the sleeves and cape faced with black velvet." By "freeze" the writer meant frieze, a coarse woollen cloth, and a "sad" color was a color that was dark or sober. Even so, it sounds pretty fancy for an apprentice! Men's clothing was as colorful as women's and just as likely to be trimmed with ruffles and lace; a well-to-do man's suit might be of red and blue silk, for example. Boys wore frocks or "coats" (short for petticoats) until they were about six, when, with much ceremony, they put on a miniaturized version of adult male garb, even including a sword or walking stick, depending on the boy's class. Masters were responsible for clothing their apprentices, and from records kept of this we can get an idea of what was considered necessary. Ann Castleman began an apprenticeship in 1698, and was given "two new gowns, two new petticoats and one pair of bodyes, two paire of stockings, one pair of shoos, two new shifts, two new aprons, one staw hat, two suites of headclothes and two handkerchiefs..." Those "bodyes" were stiffened bodices. THE CALENDARDuring this era most of Europe used what we call the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar used in most of the world today. It was named for Pope Gregory XIII, who decreed its use in 1582. But Britain didn't adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752. Until that time they used the Julian calendar, which began with Julius Caesar. The two calendars were ten days apart.
For legal purposes the new year began on Lady Day, which was March 25, but by general custom it was celebrated on January 1. Many people used both years when dating letters written between January 1 and March 25, writing the old above the new with a line between, as we do with fractions. FUN AND GAMESThe people of 17th century London did many of the same things we do today to entertain themselves. They went to plays, they danced, they played card games. But they also did some things that may strike us as odd or even cruel. A man named Francis Willughby (1635-1672) collected the names and descriptions of many games. He was a naturalist and a member of the Royal Society, and many of his papers were published after his death, but his Book of Games wasn't published until 2003! In it are found many fascinating accounts of 17th century games. One category of these is titled "Tricks to Abuse and Hurt One Another." This category includes the games Buying of Bees and A Fool Who Bobbed Thee, in which players strike at one another. |
