Annotations and comments

徽柔 has posted 81 annotations/comments since 30 January 2024.

Comments

Third Reading

About Friday 22 March 1660/61

徽柔  •  Link

Yes, and he can hire a carriage when he needs it. Later on, he would buy a carriage as his status improved.
I think walking on foot those days must have been unpleasant. Most parts of the city were dirty and messy.

About Friday 22 March 1660/61

徽柔  •  Link

By the way, keeping horses was so expensive that I wondered whether Pepys owned a horse at this point. I've read that the earl of Bedford spends more than one pound on his six horses' provisions once a week.

About Friday 22 March 1660/61

徽柔  •  Link

Studies concerning James I and IV's homosexual tendencies often quote from his letter to the first Duke of Buckingham , which wrote about their experience sharing a bed. I wondered if it is possible that they merely shared a bed instead of ... well, doing that thing... like so many others in their time. After all to the best of my knowledge James hated sodomite.

About Friday 22 March 1660/61

徽柔  •  Link

"It seems that in the seventeenth century, architects had not yet invented the corridor, so to get from one part of a building to another one simply walked through a succession of other people's rooms."
Living in such a house must be a nightmare for anyone caring for privacy. I've read that some inns in restoration times even made their customers share a bed.

About Wednesday 20 March 1660/61

徽柔  •  Link

Agrarians,Anabaptists, Antinomians,Baptists, the Anti- Clerics,England was a mosaic of religions.
According to Hobbes in his 《Behemoth》it all thanks to the English Bible that allows every man and woman to understand the scriptures in their way.
An interesting thing about Buckingham was that he advocated toleration and liberty of conscience for all his life, making it one of his few principles.

About Monday 18 March 1660/61

徽柔  •  Link

You are welcome ~
Though not related to the topic I found the best biographies of Buckingham the Second were all written by women.

About Monday 18 March 1660/61

徽柔  •  Link

Also from another Buckingham's biography,《George Villiers, second duke of Buckingham, 1628-1687; a study in the history of the restoration》, Monsieur seemed to have complaint to his mother, but " the passion which his father had cherished in bygone days for the Queen now earned indulgence for the son."

About Monday 18 March 1660/61

徽柔  •  Link

It was from Buckingham's biography,《Great Villiers》by Hester Chapman. Buckingham seemed to talk to the princess in an intimated tone that made Monsieur furious. Though he and the princess were actually talking about another lady at court, Monsieur did not understand English.

About Monday 18 March 1660/61

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Poor Princess Minette is getting married to a gay husband who owns a dozen of male favourites, how thrilling...
Luckily the handsome and married Buckingham was paying court to her all the time before the whole French court. Poor Mary Fairfax must be weeping again.
And when Buckingham was summoned back to England there would be Guiche for her.

About Saturday 9 March 1660/61

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"He took me aside, and asked me what the world spoke of the King’s marriage. Which I answering as one that knew nothing, he enquired no further of me."
I do recall Pepys heard rumors concerning the king's marriage very often(All false)

About Thursday 7 March 1660/61

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“This morning Sir Williams both went to Woolwich to sell some old provisions there.”
Who would buy them? In my imagination the old provisions were like the worn out ships and rotten food...

About Mary Villiers (Duchess of Buckingham)

徽柔  •  Link

To be honest I often imagine what would be like if Mary Fairfax was a man and Buckingham being a woman,and they were still married to each other.Their lives could have been so much better with their gender exchanged. The cool-headed,devoted,kind-hearted Mary Fairfax who grew up in the battlefield serving the country can worked as a successful military officer like her father before her,while Buckingham could go about in all his frivolous ways like every carefree court beauty without causing any harm ,waking up in 11 A.M. as he always did and with no one to blame him.

About Sunday 3 March 1660/61

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Mazarin helped to promoted the peace of Westphalia and saw the Fronde suppressed, paid for the College of the Four Nations as a patron of education. Colbert was a successful comptroller general of finance who leaded the program of economic reconstruction in France. But still,I agree with San Diego Sarah on Louis' wars and scandals.Both of Mazarin and Colbert helped to Consolidate the power of the monarchy but maybe not so on the people's welfare.

About Monday 4 March 1660/61

徽柔  •  Link

Sandwich must trusted Pepys so much that he let Pepys kept his george.
And I thought the knights of garter should take their george with them always...

About Sunday 3 March 1660/61

徽柔  •  Link

Richelieu,Mazarin,Colbert,France always had the best ministers...
On the other hand, poor England had Buckingham, Edward Hyde ,and then the cabal...