In the summer of 1662 Catherine of Braganza, arrived in England with a train of three hundred attendants, including some very odd-looking maids of honor, “ six frights ”, according to Anthony Hamilton, escorted by a duenna and several gentlemen of whom one, Don Pedro da Silva, was called Peter of the Wood by Buckingham. When poor Don Pedro left England in disgust at the tricks played on him by Buckingham “ the happy Duke,” says Hamilton, “ inherited [from him] a Portuguese nymph . . . whose appearance was still more appalling than that of the Queen’s maids of honor.”
Thanks , Chrissie and Stephane Chenard ,for your information~ I understand Spain's intentions to reclaim Portugal but the reason the Ambassador used to stir up the crowd was so absurd, considering they were Catholics themselves. But it is understandable that the Ambassador should come to such an extent. "The most decisive initiative of all involved wedlock, as the treaty which sealed Charles II’s marriage to Catherine of Braganza in 1662 also sealed the fate of thousands of veterans. Apart from offering the Portuguese possessions of Tangier and Bombay as part of Catherine’s dowry, Portugal requested troops in order to resume its struggle for independence from Spain“ —— G. Chalmers, A Collection of the Treaties between Great Britain and Other Powers
My favorite poem by Cowley: The Prophet by Abraham Cowley Teach me to love? Go, teach thyself more wit: I chief professor am of it. Teach craft to Scots and thrift to Jews; Teach boldness to the stews; In tyrants' courts teach supple flattery; Teach Jesuits, that have travelled far, to lie; Teach fire to burn and winds to blow; Teach restless fountains how to flow; Teach the dull earth, fixed, to abide; Teach womankind inconstancy and pride; See if your diligence here will useful prove: But, prithee, teach not me to love.
The god of love, if such a thing there be, May learn to love from me. He who does boast that he has bin In every heart since Adam's sin, I'll lay my life, nay mistress on't (that's more) I'll teach him things he never knew before. I'll teach him a receipt to make Words that weep and tears that spark; I'll teach him sighs like those in death, At which the souls go out too with the breath: Still the soul stays, yet still does from me run, As light and heat does with the sun.
'Tis I who love's Columbus am; 'tis I Who must new worlds in it descry: Rich worlds that yield of treasure more Than all that has been known before. And yet like his, I fear, my fate must be To find them out for others, not for me. Me times to come, I know it, shall Love's last and greatest prophet call. But, ah, what's that if she refuse To hear the wholesome doctrines of my muse? If to my share the prophet's fate must come, Hereafter fame, here martyrdom.
"he only person to excite any opposition was the Spanish Ambassador, Carlos, Baron de Watteville, who tried to stir up excitement by distributing papers, stating alarming evils to England likely to occur from a popish Queen" LOL, the Spanish were Catholics too.
"Little did the annotators know what was brewing somewhere near the Silk Road."COVID-19? For deadly infections during the 1660s, Daniel Defoe wrote a book called 《A Journal of the Plague Year》.
“These are Lauderdale, Buckingham, Hamilton, Fitz-Harding (to whom he hath, it seems, given 2,000l. per annum in the best part of the King’s estate); and that that the old Duke of Buckingham could never get of the King.” Was Pepys' suggesting that George Villiers the elder cannot even get 2,000l. per annum from the king?(That doesn't make sense, old George was the sweetheart of James I and Charles I) Or was "old Duke of Buckingham " actually the second duke?
Perhaps the most moving proof of Mary Fairfax's devotion to her worthless husband: Edward Pierce II was commissioned by her to design a monument to Buckingham after Buck's death. It was never erected and both Mary Fairfax and Buckingham were eventually buried alongside the first Buckingham. However, a dead infant was shown in the foreground of the drawing, lying with a coronet on its pillow. The official note from the British Museum expresses dismay at the dead baby on this headstone, as it is well known that poor Mary Fairfax and Buckingham had no children. It may be that there was an unrecorded stillborn baby. But it suddenly strikes me that it may be the dead infant of Buckingham and Anna Maria Talbot. In the latter conjecture, the Duchess's fondness for her unfaithful late husband even led her to be willing to place the bastard child on their common tombstone. (At this point Anna Maria herself had long left England)Hopefully in death, they can finally united as a family. The drawing can be found on the website of the British Museum.https://www.britishmuseum.…
“Good news: There was a fourth husband in her future.” I believe Mall had only 3 husbands, Herbert, Stuart, and Howard. (Though she did have more than one lover) Strangely enough, "the death of both children" is correct even with little Mary Stuart alive. According to the record in Westminster Abbey, there was also one kid "Charles" buried in the vault of Mall and James Stuart. It was buried in 1640. Very likely Mall had a miscarriage or the infant died very young.
“What was Mall thinking?” According to some of the studies on Mall(Ephelia) by Maureen E. Mulvihill, Mall has borne a secret feeling for the Earl of St. Albans. Maybe she thought the union could bring them closer. I don't think Buck would agree with Mall on such an arrangement. The girl was his heiress, too important to marry a mere Baron.(At this point he must have already realized his inability to produce offspring)
"That the King hath done himself all imaginable wrong in the business of my Lord Antrim, in Ireland; who, though he was the head of rebels, yet he by his letter owns to have acted by his father’s and mother’s, and his commissions; but it seems the truth is, he hath obliged himself, upon the clearing of his estate, to settle it upon a daughter of the Queene-Mother’s (by my Lord Germin, I suppose,) in marriage, be it to whom the Queene pleases; which is a sad story. It seems a daughter of the Duke of Lenox’s was, by force, going to be married the other day at Somerset House, to Harry Germin; but she got away and run to the King, and he says he will protect her. She is, it seems, very near akin to the King: Such mad doings there are every day among them!“ The little girl was the eleven-year-old Mary Stewart, step-granddaughter of Antrim and niece of Buckingham. It seems that she was not very close to her uncle George (As she ran to her cousin the King when in trouble)though she was George Buckingham's closest relative by blood. It is comforting to see the king protecting his little orphan cousin.
During the Yorkshire rebellion---"Lord Fairfax also wrote to his son-in-law, urging clemency for the rebels, many of whom had been his comrades in the Civil War. The Duke was merciful; of the thousands of prisoners only eighteen were executed, the judges who had been sent to Yorkshire were recalled, and when Buck¬ ingham returned in the autumn of ’65 to put down a minor rising he did so on a wave of popularity which carried him over his preparations for the coastal defences against the Dutch a year later. At such times as these he was at his best, able, energetic, open-handed and gay." 《Great Villiers》By Chapman, Hester W
"Great talk now how the Parliament intend to make a collection of free gifts to the King through the Kingdom; but I think it will not come to much" I remembered seeing silvers and golds given to Charles as gifts both in the London tower and in the British Museum. They seem a lot to me.
"I went with the Comptroller to the Coffee house" I am not sure of the price of coffee at that time. Surely it should be expensive since coffee beans were imported? The first coffee house in London was opened in 1652. In 1672, Charles II proclaimed “Restrain the Spreading of False News, and Licentious Talking of Matters of State and Government,” which stated: “Men have assumed to themselves a liberty, not only in Coffee-houses, but in other Places and Meetings, both public and private, to censure and defame the proceedings of State by speaking evil of things they understand not.”
"the Villiers and the Fairfax families were distant relatives" I think I know why >-< LOL. Fairfaxes were not relatives of the Villiers. They were relatives of the Manners (Buckingham's mother was Manners) . One earl of Rutland married his daughter into the Fairfax family.Thomas Fairfax was said to be proud of the relationship and mentioned it a lot.(Cited from Brian Fairfax's biography of Buckingham).
Dear San Diego Sarah, thanks for the information~ According to his biography he was once under house arrest in York House shortly after his marriage. And Mary Fairfax lived with him. "The property stayed in the family" sounds interesting. I thought the royalists' lands and estates confiscated during the commonwealth would be returned to their owners legally after restoration. So Buckingham can get his property back anyway after restoration whether married into the Fairfax family or not. In that case, from a political and financial point of view, did the Fairfax marriage be a faulty stroke for him after the restoration? (Though character-wise he doesn't deserve his bride）
“The only Fairfax House that I know of is in York ” Yes it was in York~ George spent many good times in York, taking his wife and mistress with him. I wonder whether he often goes to Nun Appleton (Where Thomas Fairfax lived). Strangely, while he was unfaithful towards Mary Fairfax, he loved spending time in her hometown and her house, adoring her family.
"So where did he live? Maybe at Buckingham House (not to be confused with Buckingham Palace which was known in the 1660s as Arlington House)." He might also have lived in Wallingford house, where he was born. He built for himself Cliveden. He also rents several apartments in London to hide in so others cannot find him. He loved spending time in his wife's estate Fairfax House. He also brought his notorious mistress Anna Maria there. I wondered what Thomas Fairfax thought about that.
Comments
Third Reading
About Sunday 30 June 1661
徽柔 • Link
I apologize for posting on the wrong date by mistake. I will ensure that it doesn't happen again. it doesn't happen again.
About Sunday 30 June 1661
徽柔 • Link
In the summer of 1662 Catherine of Braganza, arrived in England with a train of three hundred attendants, including some very odd-looking maids of honor, “ six frights ”, according to Anthony Hamilton, escorted by a duenna and several gentlemen of whom one, Don Pedro da Silva, was called Peter of the Wood by Buckingham. When poor Don Pedro left England in disgust at the tricks played on him by Buckingham “ the happy Duke,” says Hamilton, “ inherited [from him] a Portuguese nymph . . . whose appearance was still more appalling than that of the Queen’s maids of honor.”
About Sunday 23 June 1661
徽柔 • Link
Thanks , Chrissie and Stephane Chenard ,for your information~
I understand Spain's intentions to reclaim Portugal but the reason the Ambassador used to stir up the crowd was so absurd, considering they were Catholics themselves. But it is understandable that the Ambassador should come to such an extent.
"The most decisive initiative of all involved wedlock, as the treaty which sealed Charles II’s marriage to Catherine of Braganza in 1662 also sealed the fate of thousands of veterans. Apart from offering the Portuguese possessions of Tangier and Bombay as part of Catherine’s dowry, Portugal requested troops in order to resume its struggle for independence from Spain“
—— G. Chalmers, A Collection of the Treaties between Great Britain and Other Powers
About Abraham Cowley
徽柔 • Link
My favorite poem by Cowley:
The Prophet
by Abraham Cowley
Teach me to love? Go, teach thyself more wit:
I chief professor am of it.
Teach craft to Scots and thrift to Jews;
Teach boldness to the stews;
In tyrants' courts teach supple flattery;
Teach Jesuits, that have travelled far, to lie;
Teach fire to burn and winds to blow;
Teach restless fountains how to flow;
Teach the dull earth, fixed, to abide;
Teach womankind inconstancy and pride;
See if your diligence here will useful prove:
But, prithee, teach not me to love.
The god of love, if such a thing there be,
May learn to love from me.
He who does boast that he has bin
In every heart since Adam's sin,
I'll lay my life, nay mistress on't (that's more)
I'll teach him things he never knew before.
I'll teach him a receipt to make
Words that weep and tears that spark;
I'll teach him sighs like those in death,
At which the souls go out too with the breath:
Still the soul stays, yet still does from me run,
As light and heat does with the sun.
'Tis I who love's Columbus am; 'tis I
Who must new worlds in it descry:
Rich worlds that yield of treasure more
Than all that has been known before.
And yet like his, I fear, my fate must be
To find them out for others, not for me.
Me times to come, I know it, shall
Love's last and greatest prophet call.
But, ah, what's that if she refuse
To hear the wholesome doctrines of my muse?
If to my share the prophet's fate must come,
Hereafter fame, here martyrdom.
About Sunday 23 June 1661
徽柔 • Link
"he only person to excite any opposition was the Spanish Ambassador, Carlos, Baron de Watteville, who tried to stir up excitement by distributing papers, stating alarming evils to England likely to occur from a popish Queen"
LOL, the Spanish were Catholics too.
About Wednesday 19 June 1661
徽柔 • Link
"Little did the annotators know what was brewing somewhere near the Silk Road."COVID-19?
For deadly infections during the 1660s, Daniel Defoe wrote a book called 《A Journal of the Plague Year》.
About Monday 22 February 1663/64
徽柔 • Link
“These are Lauderdale, Buckingham, Hamilton, Fitz-Harding (to whom he hath, it seems, given 2,000l. per annum in the best part of the King’s estate); and that that the old Duke of Buckingham could never get of the King.”
Was Pepys' suggesting that George Villiers the elder cannot even get 2,000l. per annum from the king?(That doesn't make sense, old George was the sweetheart of James I and Charles I) Or was "old Duke of Buckingham " actually the second duke?
About Mary Villiers (Duchess of Buckingham)
徽柔 • Link
Perhaps the most moving proof of Mary Fairfax's devotion to her worthless husband:
Edward Pierce II was commissioned by her to design a monument to Buckingham after Buck's death. It was never erected and both Mary Fairfax and Buckingham were eventually buried alongside the first Buckingham. However, a dead infant was shown in the foreground of the drawing, lying with a coronet on its pillow.
The official note from the British Museum expresses dismay at the dead baby on this headstone, as it is well known that poor Mary Fairfax and Buckingham had no children. It may be that there was an unrecorded stillborn baby. But it suddenly strikes me that it may be the dead infant of Buckingham and Anna Maria Talbot. In the latter conjecture, the Duchess's fondness for her unfaithful late husband even led her to be willing to place the bastard child on their common tombstone. (At this point Anna Maria herself had long left England)Hopefully in death, they can finally united as a family.
The drawing can be found on the website of the British Museum.https://www.britishmuseum.…
About Friday 10 August 1660
徽柔 • Link
“Good news: There was a fourth husband in her future.”
I believe Mall had only 3 husbands, Herbert, Stuart, and Howard. (Though she did have more than one lover)
Strangely enough, "the death of both children" is correct even with little Mary Stuart alive. According to the record in Westminster Abbey, there was also one kid "Charles" buried in the vault of Mall and James Stuart. It was buried in 1640. Very likely Mall had a miscarriage or the infant died very young.
About Monday 22 February 1663/64
徽柔 • Link
“What was Mall thinking?”
According to some of the studies on Mall(Ephelia) by Maureen E. Mulvihill, Mall has borne a secret feeling for the Earl of St. Albans. Maybe she thought the union could bring them closer.
I don't think Buck would agree with Mall on such an arrangement. The girl was his heiress, too important to marry a mere Baron.(At this point he must have already realized his inability to produce offspring)
About Monday 22 February 1663/64
徽柔 • Link
"That the King hath done himself all imaginable wrong in the business of my Lord Antrim, in Ireland; who, though he was the head of rebels, yet he by his letter owns to have acted by his father’s and mother’s, and his commissions; but it seems the truth is, he hath obliged himself, upon the clearing of his estate, to settle it upon a daughter of the Queene-Mother’s (by my Lord Germin, I suppose,) in marriage, be it to whom the Queene pleases; which is a sad story. It seems a daughter of the Duke of Lenox’s was, by force, going to be married the other day at Somerset House, to Harry Germin; but she got away and run to the King, and he says he will protect her. She is, it seems, very near akin to the King: Such mad doings there are every day among them!“
The little girl was the eleven-year-old Mary Stewart, step-granddaughter of Antrim and niece of Buckingham. It seems that she was not very close to her uncle George (As she ran to her cousin the King when in trouble)though she was George Buckingham's closest relative by blood. It is comforting to see the king protecting his little orphan cousin.
About Tuesday 4 June 1661
徽柔 • Link
"Lord of Kent" possibly Henry Grey, an official witness at the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
About Saturday 21 September 1661
徽柔 • Link
During the Yorkshire rebellion---"Lord Fairfax also wrote to his son-in-law, urging clemency for the rebels, many of whom had been his comrades in the Civil War. The Duke was merciful; of the thousands of prisoners only eighteen were executed, the judges who had been sent to Yorkshire were recalled, and when Buck¬ ingham returned in the autumn of ’65 to put down a minor rising he did so on a wave of popularity which carried him over his preparations for the coastal defences against the Dutch a year later. At such times as these he was at his best, able, energetic, open-handed and gay."
《Great Villiers》By Chapman, Hester W
About Friday 31 May 1661
徽柔 • Link
"Great talk now how the Parliament intend to make a collection of free gifts to the King through the Kingdom; but I think it will not come to much"
I remembered seeing silvers and golds given to Charles as gifts both in the London tower and in the British Museum.
They seem a lot to me.
About Monday 27 May 1661
徽柔 • Link
"I went with the Comptroller to the Coffee house" I am not sure of the price of coffee at that time. Surely it should be expensive since coffee beans were imported?
The first coffee house in London was opened in 1652.
In 1672, Charles II proclaimed “Restrain the Spreading of False News, and Licentious Talking of Matters of State and Government,” which stated: “Men have assumed to themselves a liberty, not only in Coffee-houses, but in other Places and Meetings, both public and private, to censure and defame the proceedings of State by speaking evil of things they understand not.”
About Sunday 19 May 1661
徽柔 • Link
"the Villiers and the Fairfax families were distant relatives"
I think I know why >-< LOL. Fairfaxes were not relatives of the Villiers. They were relatives of the Manners (Buckingham's mother was Manners) . One earl of Rutland married his daughter into the Fairfax family.Thomas Fairfax was said to be proud of the relationship and mentioned it a lot.(Cited from Brian Fairfax's biography of Buckingham).
About Sunday 19 May 1661
徽柔 • Link
Dear San Diego Sarah, thanks for the information~ According to his biography he was once under house arrest in York House shortly after his marriage. And Mary Fairfax lived with him.
"The property stayed in the family" sounds interesting. I thought the royalists' lands and estates confiscated during the commonwealth would be returned to their owners legally after restoration. So Buckingham can get his property back anyway after restoration whether married into the Fairfax family or not. In that case, from a political and financial point of view, did the Fairfax marriage be a faulty stroke for him after the restoration? (Though character-wise he doesn't deserve his bride）
About Sunday 19 May 1661
徽柔 • Link
“The only Fairfax House that I know of is in York ”
Yes it was in York~
George spent many good times in York, taking his wife and mistress with him. I wonder whether he often goes to Nun Appleton (Where Thomas Fairfax lived). Strangely, while he was unfaithful towards Mary Fairfax, he loved spending time in her hometown and her house, adoring her family.
About Sunday 19 May 1661
徽柔 • Link
"So where did he live? Maybe at Buckingham House (not to be confused with Buckingham Palace which was known in the 1660s as Arlington House)."
He might also have lived in Wallingford house, where he was born. He built for himself Cliveden.
He also rents several apartments in London to hide in so others cannot find him.
He loved spending time in his wife's estate Fairfax House. He also brought his notorious mistress Anna Maria there. I wondered what Thomas Fairfax thought about that.
About Tuesday 21 May 1661
徽柔 • Link
“ he having been down the river with his yacht this day for pleasure to try it”
the HMY Mary, gifted to Charles II by the Dutch in 1660.