The colors of the mourning dress are different in different countries. In Europe, the ordinary color for mourning is black; in China, it is white; in Turkey, blue, or violet; in Ethiopia, brown; in Egypt, it is yellow; and kings and cardinals mourn in purple. -- A new complete English dictionary. J. Marchant, 1760.
When Henry, Duke of Gloucester died in 1660, Charles II dressed in purple.
Pepys went to court the next day and saw the king, so he ordered a new mourning suit, but didn't mention what color it was. Since all his office suits were black anyways, I wonder what color it was.
The flying of black flags was also associated with death and mourning, although Pepys does not comment on their use after the death of the Duke of Gloucester.
But in February 1649, when Prince Rupert commanded the royalist fleet in Kinsale, Southern Ireland, he hoisted black flags and sails on all his ships in memory of the executed King Charles.
St. Dionis Backchurch was located on the southwest side of Lime Street on the border between Langbourn Ward and Billingsgate Ward (Stow 1633, sig. V1r-V1v).
The church is dedicated to the patron saint of France, St. Denys or Dionysius, which, as Harben notes, is the only church in the City with this dedication, and suggests the French influence which prevailed in England during the 11th and 12th centuries (Harben).
The church was built in the reign of Henry VI and rebuilt following its destruction in the Great Fire (Harben).
St. Dionis Backchurch was dismantled in August 1878 after its materials were sold at auction (Harben). Its parish was thereafter joined to the Parish of All Hallows (Lombard Street) (Harben). https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/STDI1…
If you would like to take a dive into how the Hanseatic League traded all over Europe without moving any cash, and the Duke of Burgundy nearly bankrupted everyone by insisting on all transactions in his province be paid for in cash, see https://historyofthegermans.com/2…
It's before Pepys' time, but the Bills of Exchange and how the wealthy merchants negotiated credit and hedged their bets are basically the same.
So much in life basically depends on people keeping their word, and being honorable.
"... bill for my employment of Secretary to the 4th of this month, it being the last money I shall receive upon that score."
Despite what L&M says, Pepys says this was his pay until 4 September, at which time he stopped being secretary to the Earl of Sandwich. No more after work treks to Whitehall and going home at midnight. What a relief.
On the 4th Pepys records: "From thence to my Lord’s and despatched Mr. Cooke away with the things to my Lord." Sandwich is at sea, and Pepys isn't. Therefore, no work.
In the 1600s, the Dutch, British, and French governments all gave charters to companies with East India in their names. On the cusp of imperialism's high point, it seems like everyone had a stake in the profits from the East Indies and Asia except the people living there.
Sea voyages bringing back goods from the East were extremely risky — on top of Barbary pirates, there were the more common risks of weather and poor navigation.
To lessen the risk of a lost ship ruining their fortunes, ship owners had long been in the practice of seeking investors who would put up money for the voyage —outfitting the ship and crew in return for a percentage of the proceeds if the voyage was successful. These early limited liability companies often lasted for only a single voyage. They were then dissolved, and a new one was created for the next voyage. Investors spread their risk by investing in several different ventures at the same time, thereby playing the odds against all of them ending in disaster.
When the East India companies were formed, they changed the way business was done. These companies issued stock that would pay dividends on all the proceeds from all the voyages the companies undertook, rather than going voyage by voyage. These were the first modern joint-stock companies. This allowed the companies to demand more for their shares and build larger fleets. The size of the companies, combined with royal charters forbidding competition, meant huge profits for investors.
FROM: Reinhold C. Mueller. "The Venetian Money Market: Banks, Panics, and the Public Debt, 1200-1500," Download Full Book, Pages 403-406. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019. https://www.investopedia.com/arti…
Lombard Street has its origins in one of the main Roman roads of Londinium. It later formed a plot of land granted by King Edward I (1272–1307) to the Lombard bankers, merchants and lenders from northern Italy (a larger area than the modern Lombardy region). Lloyd's Coffee House, which eventually became the global insurance market Lloyd's of London, moved to Lombard Street … from Tower Street in 1691. https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
"... to Westminster and dined with Mr. Dalton at his office, where we had one great court dish, ..."
Richard Dalton is Serjeant of the wine-cellar to Charles II. That would be the Palace of Whitehall, not Westminster. I guess he went by water, and walked to Whitehall.
Pepys' great court dish was one that had been prepared for the Court which contained lots of meat (not all of them did), but made its way to the servants' quarters instead. Whitehall had large kitchens which fed hundreds of people daily -- the monarch, the invited guests and courtiers, the staff (not in the Great Hall, as here), and the poor (leftovers afterwards). The "Top Table" probably had their own kitchen, of course, with the best of everything -- which again was always generously over-supplied.
"Met very early at our office this morning to pick out the twenty-five ships which are to be first paid off."
Phil tells us sunrise is 5:51 a.m. today; I guess their early meeting was 6 a.m. I wonder why -- no Parliamentary sitting today. Maybe the other Commissioners wanted to go hunting, or name your passtime. Maybe there were services for Gloucester for them as MPs to attend? Maybe Charles II is holding Court to receive condolences from Ambassadors and people of quality?
By making these decisions early in the day, the Commissioners can tell their clerks what paperwork needs to be prepared, and take off leaving them at work. When they return, the documents will be ready for signature and seals and whatever else has to happen.
The ships have to be selected, and their current location identified; Obviously the ships in the worst condition will be the top of the list to be mothballed. These are new Commissioners -- how do they know the ships' conditions? Hopefully the outgoing Commissioners' files were well kept. The Ports need to be notified of what will happen when; the Treasury needs to know where to transport how much cash in barrels guarded by soldiers when; the Captains need to be recalled (in duplicate on different ships -- if one surcomes to pirates, the other hopefully won't) -- if they are in the Mediterranean it can take 6 weeks for the orders to arrive; give them a week to get ready to sail, and another 6 weeks to get home -- that's 3 months. Longer for the Caribbean. If they are escorting coal ships from Hull, that process will be quicker. Copies of everything need to go to Coventry (for the Lord High Admiral), and to the Admiralty. Probably they needed a chart for the wall as a visual reminder of which ship is due where, when, and what happens to it next.
No emails, no phones, no FAX machines, no xerox machines, no ditto machines, no carbon paper, make your own ink, cut your own quill. And no coffee machine or store-bought donuts to sweeten the tasks. Happy Saturday.
Or maybe they just made the list, and sent it over to Coventry for approval when James returns from Dover, and Whitehall will do all the clerk work?
I wonder if James will wait for Mary at Dover, or if he is recalled.
Mourning clothes would come in useful quite often, unfortunately. I don't assume they would be cheap.
Right now the Pepys family have 5 dead children in the family, plus poor Gloucester to pay respects to. Did they mourn children?
Also, why assume John Pepys Snr. is a poor tailor? He can only handle so much work, and if Sam finds he needs faster service, he needs to go elsewhere.
Also as I recall one of the suits he went to Sandwich's tailor for was made of velvet -- which is tricky to deal with. Maybe his dad prefers not to do that type of work any more?
None of which makes John a bad tailor. Just a busy one.
Pauline McG: "I am hoping to show that these John R. Snows knew Pepys at some point."
I'm confused. Pepys lived 100 years earlier than the folks you are posting about ... take a deep breath and please post what you want us to know re: 17th century Snows, and forget the 18th century ones. Sam died in 1703.
At the bottom of the page is Phil Gyford's email link -- if you ask really nicely, and give him the links you want to go away, he can usually help you.
Yes, Jude, Pepys' friends and colleagues were mostly well-educated people -- we're not dealing with many dunces here. And even they could speak 3 languages. What I find interesting is the growth of philosophy with mathematics. Apparently as our brains accept the inevitability and logic of maths, so goes our rejection of magical thinking and our desire to understand our world. And the 17th century is where that happened. Slowly but surely, progress towards the enlightenment.
Can you believe it -- no one has paid for the BCW-Project website?! It's gone.
I thought it had been recognized as a national treasure, and had the status of something like a museum. I'm furious. This is a great loss for historical accuracy and global education. I've started sending emails, but someone in California complaining only goes so far. BRITS, TIME TO SPEAK UP TO YOUR MP AND ANYONE ELSE IN THE EDUCATION AND HISTORY BUSINESS PLEASE. (I know, they are busy!)
"Why has William Hewer never been to common prayer before?"
Hewer was born in 1642 -- since his uncle was a Commissioner on the Navy Board, we can assume the family were reasonable good Presbyterians. https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
The 1604 Book of Common Prayer was outlawed by Parliament in 1645 to be replaced by the Directory of Public Worship, which was more a set of instructions than a prayer book. https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
So Hewer was 3 when it was banned.
The Church of England is struggling to be revived. Hewer is typical of young England. This is not an easy change.
Just suppose for a minute that Gloucester had lived -- Monmouth would never have been spoiled by Charles II, and so many resulting shenanigans would not have happened. No William III and Mary II, Anne and Hanovarians. Sigh.
This event took place September 13, 1660. He died of the smallpox. [Pepys says, "by the great negligence of his doctors."] "Though mankind," as Mr. Macpherson observes, "are apt to exaggerate the virtues of princes who happen to die in early youth, their praises seem to have done no more than justice to the character of Gloucester. He joined in himself the best qualities of both his brothers; the understanding and good nature of Charles, Prince of Wales to the industry and application of James, Duke of York. The facility of the first was in him, a judicious moderation. "The obstinacy of the latter was, in Gloucester, a manly firmness of mind. Attached to the religion, and a friend to the constitution of his country, he was most regretted, when his family regarded these the least. The vulgar, who crowd with eminent virtues and great actions the years which fate denies to their favorites, foresaw future misfortunes in his death; and even the judicious supposed that the measures of Charles might have derived solidity from his judgment and promising parts. The king lamented his death with all the vehemence of an affectionate sorrow."
James, Duke of York was much affected by the loss of a brother, whose high merit he much admired. "He was a prince," says James, "of the greatest hopes, undaunted courage, admirable parts, and a clear understanding.”
He had a particular talent of languages. Besides the Latin, he was master of the French, the Spanish, the Italian, and Low Dutch. He was, in short, possessed of all the natural qualities, as well as acquired accomplishments, necessary to make a great prince. -- Macpherson's History of Great Britain, ch. 1.
Sir Alexander Frazier, one of Charles II's physicians from his days in exile, had a poor reputation as a healer since he let Prince Henry of Gloucester die in 1660, but, possibly doing better as a pox doctor, by 1664 he confidently ran his own department at court.
L&M: Sir Alexander Frazier MD FRS (1610 - 1681) kt 1667, bt. 1673. Physician-in-ordinary to Charles II in exile and after; royalist agent during the Interregnum. F.R.C.P. 1641; F.R.S. 1663. According to Clarendon, 'good at his business otherwise the maddest fool alive.'
And where's his brother James and sister Mary? On opposite sides of the Channel, planning a family reunion. How very sad.
“The latter supposes the ceremony of abjuration to have occurred when Charles II was at Fuentarabia, at the time of the Treaty of the Pyrenees. There is much reason in a remark which is made by Welwood: "The truth is, Charles II was neither bigot enough to any religion, nor loved his ease so little, as to embark in a business that must at least have disturbed his quiet, if not hazarded his crown."[13] 13 ↑ Memoirs, p. 131. https://books.google.com/books?id…
This may surprise you. On this day in Paris, St. Vincent de Paul died:
“On Sunday, September 16/26, 1660 Fr. Vincent de Paul was taken to the chapel to assist Mass and receive Holy Communion. In the afternoon he was completely lucid when he received the Anointing of the Sick.
“In the morning Vincent de Paul gave his final blessing to the priests of the Mission, the Daughters of Charity, the abandoned children, and all the poor.
“Fr. Vincent de Paul died on September 17/27, shortly before 4:00 AM, the time at which he used to wake up to serve God and the poor.
“The work of Vincent de Paul’s Seminarists was taken up by one of his most attentive disciples, Fr. Jean-Jaques Olier (born in 1608) and attached to the Parisian church of St. Sulpice in 1642.” For St. Vincent’s bio, see http://www.piercedhearts.org/theo…
Remember Fr. Jean-Jaques Olier’s name:
“When Charles II was at Paris, after the flight from the second battle of Worcester, he received instruction in religion from Fr. Jean-Jacques Olier, the celebrated founder of the seminary of St. Sulpice. His conferences were no secret, for Olier informed his friends of his hopes, and entreated their prayers. ... Charles wrote from Paris to the Pope to ask for assistance in recovering his dominions. Pope Innocent would have been satisfied, under the circumstances, with a private abjuration; but this was refused, and the king could not even obtain an answer to his application.[11] 11 ↑ Vie de M. Olier, ii. 489, from the French Archives.
“But although Charles II was not received into the Church, he had advanced so far in his opinions that he might, as John Thurloe affirmed, in his communications with the Spanish Government have declared himself in private to them to be a Catholic.[12] 12 ↑ Carte, ii. 102.
“Neither France nor Spain had any inducement to publish what would diminish the chances of monarchy in England, and strengthen a Government they feared and hated. “The story that James Butler, Earl of Ormonde discovered Charles II on his knees hearing mass in a church at Brussels comes to us through two independent channels, Carte and Echard.
In 2013 Bill shared background information the alcohols available in London in the 17th centuries -- whether the "rebellion" was the Civil Wars or the so-called Glorious one, I don't know. I've updated the spelling:
"Since the Iate Rebellion, England hath abounded in variety of Drinks (as it did lately in variety of Religions) above any Nation in Europe.
"Besides all sorts of the best wines from Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Grecia, there are sold in London above 20 sorts of other Drinks, as Brandy, Coffee, Chocolate, Tea, Aromatic, Mum, Cider, Perry, Mead, Metheglin, Beer, Ale, many sorts of Ales, very different, as Cock, Stepony, Stich-back, Hull, North-Down, Sambidge, Betony, Scurvy-grass, Sage-Ale, Colledge-Ale, &c. a piece of wantonness whereof none of our Ancestors were ever guilty." -- Angliae Notitia: Or The Present State Of England. E. Chamberlayne, 1684.
"Wantonness" indeed -- Mr. Chamberlayne should see what we have available today!
Comments
Third Reading
About Funerals
San Diego Sarah • Link
The colors of the mourning dress are different in different countries.
In Europe, the ordinary color for mourning is black;
in China, it is white;
in Turkey, blue, or violet;
in Ethiopia, brown;
in Egypt, it is yellow;
and kings and cardinals mourn in purple. -- A new complete English dictionary. J. Marchant, 1760.
When Henry, Duke of Gloucester died in 1660, Charles II dressed in purple.
Pepys went to court the next day and saw the king, so he ordered a new mourning suit, but didn't mention what color it was. Since all his office suits were black anyways, I wonder what color it was.
The flying of black flags was also associated with death and mourning, although Pepys does not comment on their use after the death of the Duke of Gloucester.
But in February 1649, when Prince Rupert commanded the royalist fleet in Kinsale, Southern Ireland, he hoisted black flags and sails on all his ships in memory of the executed King Charles.
About St Dionis Backchurch
San Diego Sarah • Link
St. Dionis Backchurch was located on the southwest side of Lime Street on the border between Langbourn Ward and Billingsgate Ward (Stow 1633, sig. V1r-V1v).
The church is dedicated to the patron saint of France, St. Denys or Dionysius, which, as Harben notes, is the only church in the City with this dedication, and suggests the French influence which prevailed in England during the 11th and 12th centuries (Harben).
The church was built in the reign of Henry VI and rebuilt following its destruction in the Great Fire (Harben).
St. Dionis Backchurch was dismantled in August 1878 after its materials were sold at auction (Harben). Its parish was thereafter joined to the Parish of All Hallows (Lombard Street) (Harben).
https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/STDI1…
About Henry Fetters (jun.)
San Diego Sarah • Link
L&M doesn't give us anything on this watchmaker. Does anyone know about records from his guild?
About Benjamin Palmer
San Diego Sarah • Link
L&M has nothing on Ben Palmer.
About Nathaniel Hardy
San Diego Sarah • Link
Nathaniel Hardy (1618–1670) was an English churchman, Dean of Rochester from 1660.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat…
About A bill of exchange
San Diego Sarah • Link
If you would like to take a dive into how the Hanseatic League traded all over Europe without moving any cash, and the Duke of Burgundy nearly bankrupted everyone by insisting on all transactions in his province be paid for in cash, see
https://historyofthegermans.com/2…
It's before Pepys' time, but the Bills of Exchange and how the wealthy merchants negotiated credit and hedged their bets are basically the same.
So much in life basically depends on people keeping their word, and being honorable.
About Friday 14 September 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... bill for my employment of Secretary to the 4th of this month, it being the last money I shall receive upon that score."
Despite what L&M says, Pepys says this was his pay until 4 September, at which time he stopped being secretary to the Earl of Sandwich. No more after work treks to Whitehall and going home at midnight. What a relief.
On the 4th Pepys records: "From thence to my Lord’s and despatched Mr. Cooke away with the things to my Lord." Sandwich is at sea, and Pepys isn't. Therefore, no work.
About Royal Exchange
San Diego Sarah • Link
In the 1600s, the Dutch, British, and French governments all gave charters to companies with East India in their names. On the cusp of imperialism's high point, it seems like everyone had a stake in the profits from the East Indies and Asia except the people living there.
Sea voyages bringing back goods from the East were extremely risky — on top of Barbary pirates, there were the more common risks of weather and poor navigation.
To lessen the risk of a lost ship ruining their fortunes, ship owners had long been in the practice of seeking investors who would put up money for the voyage —outfitting the ship and crew in return for a percentage of the proceeds if the voyage was successful. These early limited liability companies often lasted for only a single voyage. They were then dissolved, and a new one was created for the next voyage. Investors spread their risk by investing in several different ventures at the same time, thereby playing the odds against all of them ending in disaster.
[By Pepys; day they could also negotiate some sort of insurance – see
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… - BOTTOMRY
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
and probably more]
When the East India companies were formed, they changed the way business was done. These companies issued stock that would pay dividends on all the proceeds from all the voyages the companies undertook, rather than going voyage by voyage. These were the first modern joint-stock companies. This allowed the companies to demand more for their shares and build larger fleets. The size of the companies, combined with royal charters forbidding competition, meant huge profits for investors.
FROM: Reinhold C. Mueller. "The Venetian Money Market: Banks, Panics, and the Public Debt, 1200-1500," Download Full Book, Pages 403-406. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019.
https://www.investopedia.com/arti…
Lombard Street has its origins in one of the main Roman roads of Londinium. It later formed a plot of land granted by King Edward I (1272–1307) to the Lombard bankers, merchants and lenders from northern Italy (a larger area than the modern Lombardy region).
Lloyd's Coffee House, which eventually became the global insurance market Lloyd's of London, moved to Lombard Street … from Tower Street in 1691.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
About Saturday 15 September 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... to Westminster and dined with Mr. Dalton at his office, where we had one great court dish, ..."
Richard Dalton is Serjeant of the wine-cellar to Charles II. That would be the Palace of Whitehall, not Westminster. I guess he went by water, and walked to Whitehall.
Pepys' great court dish was one that had been prepared for the Court which contained lots of meat (not all of them did), but made its way to the servants' quarters instead.
Whitehall had large kitchens which fed hundreds of people daily -- the monarch, the invited guests and courtiers, the staff (not in the Great Hall, as here), and the poor (leftovers afterwards).
The "Top Table" probably had their own kitchen, of course, with the best of everything -- which again was always generously over-supplied.
About Saturday 15 September 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Met very early at our office this morning to pick out the twenty-five ships which are to be first paid off."
Phil tells us sunrise is 5:51 a.m. today; I guess their early meeting was 6 a.m.
I wonder why -- no Parliamentary sitting today.
Maybe the other Commissioners wanted to go hunting, or name your passtime.
Maybe there were services for Gloucester for them as MPs to attend?
Maybe Charles II is holding Court to receive condolences from Ambassadors and people of quality?
By making these decisions early in the day, the Commissioners can tell their clerks what paperwork needs to be prepared, and take off leaving them at work.
When they return, the documents will be ready for signature and seals and whatever else has to happen.
The ships have to be selected, and their current location identified;
Obviously the ships in the worst condition will be the top of the list to be mothballed. These are new Commissioners -- how do they know the ships' conditions? Hopefully the outgoing Commissioners' files were well kept.
The Ports need to be notified of what will happen when;
the Treasury needs to know where to transport how much cash in barrels guarded by soldiers when;
the Captains need to be recalled (in duplicate on different ships -- if one surcomes to pirates, the other hopefully won't) -- if they are in the Mediterranean it can take 6 weeks for the orders to arrive; give them a week to get ready to sail, and another 6 weeks to get home -- that's 3 months. Longer for the Caribbean.
If they are escorting coal ships from Hull, that process will be quicker.
Copies of everything need to go to Coventry (for the Lord High Admiral), and to the Admiralty.
Probably they needed a chart for the wall as a visual reminder of which ship is due where, when, and what happens to it next.
No emails, no phones, no FAX machines, no xerox machines, no ditto machines, no carbon paper, make your own ink, cut your own quill. And no coffee machine or store-bought donuts to sweeten the tasks. Happy Saturday.
Or maybe they just made the list, and sent it over to Coventry for approval when James returns from Dover, and Whitehall will do all the clerk work?
I wonder if James will wait for Mary at Dover, or if he is recalled.
About Saturday 15 September 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
Mourning clothes would come in useful quite often, unfortunately. I don't assume they would be cheap.
Right now the Pepys family have 5 dead children in the family, plus poor Gloucester to pay respects to. Did they mourn children?
Also, why assume John Pepys Snr. is a poor tailor? He can only handle so much work, and if Sam finds he needs faster service, he needs to go elsewhere.
Also as I recall one of the suits he went to Sandwich's tailor for was made of velvet -- which is tricky to deal with. Maybe his dad prefers not to do that type of work any more?
None of which makes John a bad tailor. Just a busy one.
About John Snow
San Diego Sarah • Link
Pauline McG: "I am hoping to show that these John R. Snows knew Pepys at some point."
I'm confused.
Pepys lived 100 years earlier than the folks you are posting about ... take a deep breath and please post what you want us to know re: 17th century Snows, and forget the 18th century ones. Sam died in 1703.
At the bottom of the page is Phil Gyford's email link -- if you ask really nicely, and give him the links you want to go away, he can usually help you.
About Wednesday 12 September 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
Yes, Jude, Pepys' friends and colleagues were mostly well-educated people -- we're not dealing with many dunces here. And even they could speak 3 languages.
What I find interesting is the growth of philosophy with mathematics. Apparently as our brains accept the inevitability and logic of maths, so goes our rejection of magical thinking and our desire to understand our world.
And the 17th century is where that happened. Slowly but surely, progress towards the enlightenment.
About Sunday 9 September 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
Can you believe it -- no one has paid for the BCW-Project website?! It's gone.
I thought it had been recognized as a national treasure, and had the status of something like a museum. I'm furious. This is a great loss for historical accuracy and global education. I've started sending emails, but someone in California complaining only goes so far. BRITS, TIME TO SPEAK UP TO YOUR MP AND ANYONE ELSE IN THE EDUCATION AND HISTORY BUSINESS PLEASE. (I know, they are busy!)
About Sunday 16 September 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Why has William Hewer never been to common prayer before?"
Hewer was born in 1642 -- since his uncle was a Commissioner on the Navy Board, we can assume the family were reasonable good Presbyterians.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
The 1604 Book of Common Prayer was outlawed by Parliament in 1645 to be replaced by the Directory of Public Worship, which was more a set of instructions than a prayer book.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
So Hewer was 3 when it was banned.
The Church of England is struggling to be revived. Hewer is typical of young England. This is not an easy change.
About Thursday 13 September 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
Just suppose for a minute that Gloucester had lived -- Monmouth would never have been spoiled by Charles II, and so many resulting shenanigans would not have happened. No William III and Mary II, Anne and Hanovarians. Sigh.
About Thursday 13 September 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
The death of the Duke of Gloucester:
This event took place September 13, 1660. He died of the smallpox. [Pepys says, "by the great negligence of his doctors."]
"Though mankind," as Mr. Macpherson observes, "are apt to exaggerate the virtues of princes who happen to die in early youth, their praises seem to have done no more than justice to the character of Gloucester. He joined in himself the best qualities of both his brothers; the understanding and good nature of Charles, Prince of Wales to the industry and application of James, Duke of York. The facility of the first was in him, a judicious moderation.
"The obstinacy of the latter was, in Gloucester, a manly firmness of mind. Attached to the religion, and a friend to the constitution of his country, he was most regretted, when his family regarded these the least. The vulgar, who crowd with eminent virtues and great actions the years which fate denies to their favorites, foresaw future misfortunes in his death; and even the judicious supposed that the measures of Charles might have derived solidity from his judgment and promising parts. The king lamented his death with all the vehemence of an affectionate sorrow."
James, Duke of York was much affected by the loss of a brother, whose high merit he much admired. "He was a prince," says James, "of the greatest hopes, undaunted courage, admirable parts, and a clear understanding.”
He had a particular talent of languages. Besides the Latin, he was master of the French, the Spanish, the Italian, and Low Dutch. He was, in short, possessed of all the natural qualities, as well as acquired accomplishments, necessary to make a great prince.
-- Macpherson's History of Great Britain, ch. 1.
Sir Alexander Frazier, one of Charles II's physicians from his days in exile, had a poor reputation as a healer since he let Prince Henry of Gloucester die in 1660, but, possibly doing better as a pox doctor, by 1664 he confidently ran his own department at court.
L&M: Sir Alexander Frazier MD FRS (1610 - 1681) kt 1667, bt. 1673. Physician-in-ordinary to Charles II in exile and after; royalist agent during the Interregnum. F.R.C.P. 1641; F.R.S. 1663. According to Clarendon, 'good at his business otherwise the maddest fool alive.'
And where's his brother James and sister Mary? On opposite sides of the Channel, planning a family reunion. How very sad.
About Monday 17 September 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 2
“The latter supposes the ceremony of abjuration to have occurred when Charles II was at Fuentarabia, at the time of the Treaty of the Pyrenees. There is much reason in a remark which is made by Welwood: "The truth is, Charles II was neither bigot enough to any religion, nor loved his ease so little, as to embark in a business that must at least have disturbed his quiet, if not hazarded his crown."[13]
13 ↑ Memoirs, p. 131. https://books.google.com/books?id…
Abbe Ludovick Stuart, Lord Aubigny, to whom Bishop Gilbert Burnet attributes the conversion of Charles II, appeared at Whitehall immediately after the Restoration.
See:
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Hi…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
The game's afoot ...
About Monday 17 September 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
This may surprise you. On this day in Paris, St. Vincent de Paul died:
“On Sunday, September 16/26, 1660 Fr. Vincent de Paul was taken to the chapel to assist Mass and receive Holy Communion. In the afternoon he was completely lucid when he received the Anointing of the Sick.
“In the morning Vincent de Paul gave his final blessing to the priests of the Mission, the Daughters of Charity, the abandoned children, and all the poor.
“Fr. Vincent de Paul died on September 17/27, shortly before 4:00 AM, the time at which he used to wake up to serve God and the poor.
“The work of Vincent de Paul’s Seminarists was taken up by one of his most attentive disciples, Fr. Jean-Jaques Olier (born in 1608) and attached to the Parisian church of St. Sulpice in 1642.”
For St. Vincent’s bio, see
http://www.piercedhearts.org/theo…
Remember Fr. Jean-Jaques Olier’s name:
“When Charles II was at Paris, after the flight from the second battle of Worcester, he received instruction in religion from Fr. Jean-Jacques Olier, the celebrated founder of the seminary of St. Sulpice. His conferences were no secret, for Olier informed his friends of his hopes, and entreated their prayers. ... Charles wrote from Paris to the Pope to ask for assistance in recovering his dominions. Pope Innocent would have been satisfied, under the circumstances, with a private abjuration; but this was refused, and the king could not even obtain an answer to his application.[11]
11 ↑ Vie de M. Olier, ii. 489, from the French Archives.
“But although Charles II was not received into the Church, he had advanced so far in his opinions that he might, as John Thurloe affirmed, in his communications with the Spanish Government have declared himself in private to them to be a Catholic.[12]
12 ↑ Carte, ii. 102.
“Neither France nor Spain had any inducement to publish what would diminish the chances of monarchy in England, and strengthen a Government they feared and hated.
“The story that James Butler, Earl of Ormonde discovered Charles II on his knees hearing mass in a church at Brussels comes to us through two independent channels, Carte and Echard.
About Beer
San Diego Sarah • Link
In 2013 Bill shared background information the alcohols available in London in the 17th centuries -- whether the "rebellion" was the Civil Wars or the so-called Glorious one, I don't know. I've updated the spelling:
"Since the Iate Rebellion, England hath abounded in variety of Drinks (as it did lately in variety of Religions) above any Nation in Europe.
"Besides all sorts of the best wines from Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Grecia, there are sold in London above 20 sorts of other Drinks, as Brandy, Coffee, Chocolate, Tea, Aromatic, Mum, Cider, Perry, Mead, Metheglin, Beer, Ale, many sorts of Ales, very different, as Cock, Stepony, Stich-back, Hull, North-Down, Sambidge, Betony, Scurvy-grass, Sage-Ale, Colledge-Ale, &c. a piece of wantonness whereof none of our Ancestors were ever guilty."
-- Angliae Notitia: Or The Present State Of England. E. Chamberlayne, 1684.
"Wantonness" indeed -- Mr. Chamberlayne should see what we have available today!