#early modern england

[ilredeiladri]

I just learned, that in Early Modern England the word "passionating" was used interchangeably with "acting" and I totally feel that 🥹

"Acting was quite often known as acting or playing or passionating (...), because one of the things you did, when you got a part, was going through it and work out, what your passions were in each seperate bit." (Tiffany Stern, 2024)

[culpepers-wife]

Nell Gwyn, mistress of Charles II, in virginial white handling some sausages.

Charles II was known for his saucy mistresses and the way he paraded them throughout court. His sex life was no secret, and sharp contrast to the Puritan values of the previous decades in England. This portrait, amongst others, is an example of how Charles treated his mistresses as important figures in the court, and Stuart court attitudes towards sex.

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Please promulgate so we may see everyone’s opinion on the Tudor Era Thomases (Henry VIII edition)

Also, take a shot for each Thomas on the list who was executed!

[mary-tudor]

Selected images from “The Bute Book of Hours”.Above we spot Henry VII, King of England (1485-1509) with his wife, Elizabeth of York, Queen of England (1486-1503) praying with their offspring: Arthur, Prince of Wales (1486-1502), Margaret, Queen of Scots (1489-1541), Henry VIII (1491-1547) and Mary, Queen of France (1496-1533).

We also see Henry VI, King of England (1421-1471) portrayed as saint. Worth noting is that Henry VI was the main link to the Tudors (being the uncle to Henry VII), without whom there would be no dynasty to inherit the claim to English throne. Furthermore, Henry’s sainthood, despite unacknowledged by the Church (notwithstanding Henry VII’s efforts), was already sparkling in the twilight of Edward IV’s reign--much to his dismay as Lauren Johnson, Henry VI’s biographer, states. Yet, to be related to this saint king is also showing how God blessed the rise of a new dynasty. It is also said that Henry VIII was devoted to his great-uncle’s sainthood, in spite of all the reformation process that marked his reign.

This book of hours, probably produced in the last years of the reign of Henry VII, was later given to his son and sucessor, Henry VIII.

[historyartthings]

Hilary mantel putting Walter Cromwell on absolute blast as a crook for watering down his ale when i promise you every brewer and/or seller in early modern England did that to some degree. I’d almost guarantee it

(Not shade at her btw it just tickled me. the poor sod in the afterlife all, ??????? Well id like to meet the bitch who didn’t)

[thoughtportal]

In the 1580s, the remote Essex village of St Osyth was beset by poverty and social tensions – and when a servant accused her neighbour of witchcraft, it sparked a crisis that engulfed the entire community. Speaking with Charlotte Hodgman, Marion Gibson explores what this late 16th-century witchcraft trial can tell us about life in early modern England.

[gwydionmisha]

I will never look at the Beggar's Opera the same way now that I know a bunch of those characters are based on RL queer people from the period.  

In related news, Mother Clap's Molly House is some of the most charmingly written academic writing I've ever seen and the quality an extensiveness of the research is blowing me away.  I wish I were rich because I'd love to buy a copy to have for myself, but even used copies are insanely expensive.

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question : Murder and Disappearance Edition I

Given that Judge Crater, Roanoke, and the Dyatlov Pass Incident are credibly solved, though not 100% provable, I'm leaving them out in favor of things ,ore mysterious. I almost left out Amelia Earhart, but the evidence there is sketchier.

Some people were a little confused. Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury are the Princes in the Tower.

[burningvelvet]

early modern era portrait miniatures

[barbucomedie]

Harquebusier Armour from England dated to about 1680 on display at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, Scotland

During the 17th century harquebusier cavalry were some of the most common in European armies. They were named after the carbine musket they used, the "harquebus" a shorter musket than the ones used by infantry. By 1680 though the Royal Scottish and English armies (later unified as the British Army) were converting these units in regiments of dragoons, mounted infantry who could also charge as cavalry. The armour was phased out of British cavalry regiments by the time of the 18th century.

Photographs taken by myself 2023

[culpepers-wife]

Defining what is popular culture in early modern England is actually proving to be difficult.

What is popular culture? How do we define it? How far does elitism and source survival affect how we define it? What does popular culture tell us about early modern society?

For what is essential a brief paragraph in my introduction it is taking a lot of my energy as it turns out the full thesis is dependent on me giving a good definition.

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Love this not at all biased opinion on English law in the 1460s and 70s. Granted, Fortescue was right in that English law was quite unique amongst monarchical countries in the 15th century as regards how it treated (and sought to curtail to a certain extent) monarchical powers.

[wonder-worker]

"[Matilda of Boulogne's office as Queen of England], initiated and broadly defined by the coronation ordo, gave her royal power and authority to share in governance. Her obligations and activities were shaped by custom established by previous queens and the ad hoc needs of king and realm. [...] [Matilda's] thorough integration into the governance of the realm was not repeated in [Eleanor of Aquitaine’s] years as queen of England. Eleanor's coronation followed a new model that emphasized the queen as progenitor of royal heirs and subordinate to the king rather than as sharer of royal power. Though Eleanor acted as regent in England between 1156 and 1158 and in Poitou on several occasions from 1165 on, her writs suggest delegated rather than shared royal authority. In England, her power was limited by the lack of lands assigned to her use and by the elaboration of financial and judicial administration. Whereas [Matilda of Boulogne's] inheritance allowed her to play an integral role in politics by securing the Londoners' loyalty and a steady supply of mercenaries, Eleanor's inheritance provided her with more extensive power in Poitou and Aquitaine than in England. Until 1163, Eleanor withdrew funds from the Exchequer by her own writ, but unlike her Anglo-Norman predecessors, she was not a member of its council nor did she issue judgments from the royal court. Eleanor's counsel and diplomatic activities, in contrast to Matilda's, are rarely mentioned. She did, however, encourage the 1159 Toulouse campaign and supported Henry in the Becket affair and the coronation of young Henry. Eleanor was not a prominent curialis; she rarely witnessed Henry's charters or interceded to secure the king's mercy. She did follow in Matilda's footsteps in her promotion of her sons, cultivation of dynastic goals through the Fontevraudian tombs, and patronage that reflected her family's traditions. For Matilda, to be queen encompassed a variety of functions-curialis, diplomat, judge, intercessor, and "regent." Through a combination of factors, Eleanor's role as queen was much more restricted."

-Heather J. Tanner, "Queenship: Office, Custom or Ad Hoc", Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady (Edited by Bonnie Wheeler and John Carmi Parsons)

[armthearmour]

A flamberged Smallsword with a delicately pierced hilt,

OaL: 39.5 in/100.25 cm

Blade Length: 32.1 in/81.5 cm

England, ca. 1670-1787, housed with the Royal Collection Trust.

[nothing-new-under-the-sun124]

The Celebrations of Queen Mary’s Rise to the Throne

In London on the 19th, in contrast to the silent reception of the heralds for Jane, Mary’s proclamation was joyously received: ‘bonfires were without number, and what with shouting and crying of the people and ringing of the belles, no one among us could hear what another said, besides banqueting and singing in the street for joy. Another anonymous London chronicle recorded similarly ‘the joy whereof wonderful for some caste money abroad, & some made bonfires through the whole city: the praises were given to God in the churches with te deum & organs, belles ringing & every where the tables spread in the streets, meats & drinks plenty, and wine given freely to many men’…although Guaras’s witty and ironic literary allusion comically exaggerated the people’s love, English sources bear out his reading of the public mood.

Mary and Philip: The Marriage of Tudor England and Hapsburg Spain by Alexander Samson. Page 33