Giovanni Cornaro, Venetian Ambassador in Spain, to the Doge and Senate.
Of the [PLATE] fleet they have no news, but it is always expected.
The ships of England which are staying in these seas, and some other squadron which they say may arrive here, do not serve to dissipate their fears. Madrid, the 10th August, 1661.
FROM 'Venice: August 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1932), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk… [Italian.]
The enclosed memorial (fn. 5) has been presented to us by a colonel of some experience concerning offers, which your Excellencies may care to examine. We send them as they are, that you may be able to give such orders to the Resident Giavarina as you see fit. FOOTNOTE 5. The enclosure is lacking; the text being from the letter book.
London, the 5th August, 1661. [Italian.]
Perhaps we can better judge how stressed Pepys was by the combination of the will complexity and by his parents/Pall/John's needs from his actions: that he thought leaving town while so much unrest was happening, much with naval involvement, was clearly not a good idea. My theory that the other Commissioners were keeping him in the dark increasingly seems correct.
His Majesty was to attend parliament this morning, so the present session is supposed to be over and it will soon be known what acts are passed.
It was desired that for the future the king and not the counties should appoint the members. This project originated with the Upper House for his Majesty's advantage; but the House of Commons, would have received too severe a blow and refused its consent.
So ill humour is reappearing and these last days a scandalous libel against the parliament's proceedings has been circulating, as too complaisant towards the king. Enquiries were made and its author discovered, who proved one of the most perverse Presbyterians. He would have been punished as he deserved had he not confessed his error and promised utter fidelity to the royal name and party, whereupon his Majesty dispensed with the penalty. (fn. 4)
FOOTNOTE 4. On 12 July a pamphlet entitled “Sundry reasons humbly tendered to the most honourable House of Peers by some citizens and members of London and other cities, boroughs, corporations and ports against the new intended bill for governing and reforming Corporations” was brought to the notice of the House of Commons. Three days later William Prynne confessed himself the author. He submitted to the judgment of the House, that it was an illegal, false, scandalous and seditious libel, and was duly admonished. Mercurius Politicus July 11–18. Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. viii., pp. 301–2. William Prynne MP https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Last week the Scottish parliament made pressing application to the king for the complete removal from that country of all the troops in garrison there, as they thought it strange to be guarded by the English in time of peace. As the matter was of importance his Majesty sought the opinion of this parliament, but before hearing it he decided to satisfy the Scots, a decision that may be regretted since as the first disturbance proceeded from Scotland it seemed only right that they should be the last to enjoy the complete liberty which they demand.
The governor of Dunkirk is here by the king's order, with whom and with the chancellor he has had several private conferences, which excite curiosity at Court, especially as it is reported that they have begun to levy the taxes which were disputed, which was the very thing that seemed likely to start trouble again.
[The Gov. of Dunkirk was Col. Edward Harley; he’s in London to discuss the secret future -- catches you up with SPOILERS: https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… ]
In the matter of coaches our searches in Holland and France proved fruitless, so we had decided to buy them here, but by good fortune and the favour of some gentlemen of rank we succeeded in obtaining those of the king, though they had been refused to France and Spain and latterly to Florence. The king said he made a distinction between other ambassadors and those of Venice, who coming from a distance could not have sufficient notice of his new decrees. The confidant added that this reason was given to prevent the concession being urged as a precedent. We were much cheered by this favour both for the honour and being relieved of the expense.
Even the Spanish ambassador now admits that the marriage with the Infanta is established, in spite of his efforts to prevent it. He complains openly of having been deceived in his negotiations for the marriage of the princess of Parma and says that the earl of Bristol's commissions were changed, while his own remained fixed and clear.
However he says he has orders to remain and that Count Strozzi, if not prevented by the king's ministers, would have arrived to carry out his instructions, and would have aided us, both in order to help the emperor against the Turks and to show his devotion to your Excellencies.
But he also thinks that we shall get nothing but hope from this quarter for the present, as they are too fixed in their determination against any infraction of the good understanding with the Turk. He even delivered the opinion that the English, as a consequence of our mission, will claim great merit with the Turks for having resisted our importunities, in order not to interrupt their good understanding with the Porte, and possibly the will is wanting and the reason given touching trade may be an obvious pretext, though, if the king is inclined to neglect such considerations, he cannot, as stated, so easily supply a lack of money, and we see that even the Portuguese, when they want to levy troops enjoy no other advantage than the bare permission to take them, and should your Serenity desire this, at great cost, it would not be difficult to obtain a grant.
In spite of this M. d'Estrades persisted in his intention to send and blusteringly made a levy not only of Frenchmen but of their dependants, while Batteville did the like, so that there would have been over 3,000 men under arms, with danger of some serious outrage among the parties concerned and of starting worse disturbance, since there are many eagerly watching for such opportunities. The king, learning that our expedient, which he approved, had not sufficed to stay them, prevented the contest by his own authority sending word to both that he wished them not to stir, and so it fell out.
In the evening they sent their compliments, saying they had been prevented from sending their coaches.
We recently received your Serenity's letters of the 9th and 15th ult. We note the requests of our merchants for relief for the fraud practised on them over the goods unloaded at Algiers. Here also the parties injured keep complaining of the perfidy of the captains, and with their consent we have decided to speak strongly to the king to-morrow, leaving a memorial, although the captains urge many excuses in their favour.
[Adm. Sir John Lawson started plying before Algiers on August 8, and we’ve established that it takes a month for a ship to sail from the Med. to London. So this “fraud” must have happened almost as soon as he arrived. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… ]
We hope that a remedy will be applied for the future since it is certain that the fleet now gone into the Mediterranean in making arrangements with these pirates has orders to stipulate that English ships shall henceforward pass free, whatever their cargoes may be. The king is now well aware how prejudicial the former stipulations were, which merely compelled the pirates to respect English ships and English goods; whence the irregularities complained of. The Signory will understand from these facts how anxious this country is to keep on good terms with the Turks, subordinating all pious considerations to the safety of its trade, on which the wealth of these kingdoms depends, as well as the entire subsistence of countless persons.
We shall punctually follow the other instructions.
We then thanked him for the honours received, referring to our pleasure in renewing an ancient obeisance to him
Upon this he embraced us, saying he had given special orders for our entertainment
After a suitable acknowledgment we went to the apartments of the duke of York, to whom we presented your Serenity's letters and performed our office. The duke said he deeply regretted the troubles of the republic and was most anxious to relieve them, to which we replied that the Signory would greatly value his courteous remarks in the assurance that the proofs would not be less when the opportunity came
We found the Chancellor suffering from gout. After compliments we discoursed at great length about the present emergencies of Christendom and of our confidence that through his good counsel the king might be encouraged to undertake its defence. We showed how easily this could be done from the number of troops he could collect and transport to the necessary spot by his numerous ships. He listened attentively, but his replies were very brief and utterly devoid of spirit, merely expressing good will after which he changed the subject and tried to stop our rejoinder
This minister, being vastly inferior in birth to the office he now enjoys, seeks nothing but its increase and confirmation and accordingly applies himself exclusively to the country's internal affairs. From what we learn he does not wish the king to undertake any foreign engagements, save those connected with Dunkirk, which are inevitable
His Majesty, having scarce the means to maintain himself and being unable to raise money save through parliament, cannot depart from its wishes, and as many of the members of the Lower House are deeply interested in the Turkey trade, they would with difficulty consent to measures, not less costly than repugnant and hazardous, from the confusion they would entail in maritime affairs; indeed these gentlemen are so obviously averse from all interference that no one can mistake them
To make more sure of the king's intentions we made enquiries through a confidant and are confirmed in the belief that no important undertaking can be determined by him without the consent of parliament. Nevertheless at our private audience we shall not neglect to make the most earnest representations. London, the 5th August, 1661 [Italian]
@@@ The Same to the Same.
The ambassadors of France and Spain proposed to honour us in the usual way by sending their coaches, but as the question of precedence between them is insoluble, and it began to be whispered that they would take this opportunity of disputing it, we decided not to announce our entry to any of the foreign ministers, reserving it until we were in London, after the example of the last ambassadors extraordinary from France and Spain.
'Venice: Aug. 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
The Venetian Ambassadors Extraordinary, Angelo Correr and Michiel Morosini, both wrote to the Doge and Senate today: Amb. Angelo Correr 1605-1678 – no bio, but Pepys bought and read his book in 1667 https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo… https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… Amb. Michiel Morosini 1611 – 1678 (older brother of Francesco Morosini, who later became the 108th doge of Venice) https://www.britannica.com/topic/… - has SPOILERS
On Saturday last, as arranged, we made our public entry into this city. The Master of the Ceremonies came with the king's barges to fetch us from Greenwich and at the Tower we were met by the earl of Peterborough, the same who introduced the Spanish ambassador
He took us in the royal coaches to Westminster, a house of his Majesty where, as is customary, he caused us to be lodged and entertained for three days. Immediately on our arrival Lord Bellasis came in the king's name to offer his services, to which we replied suitably, and asked him to be our interpreter. He expressed his delight at renewing the acquaintance of two persons whom he had known before, one here and the other in France
On Tuesday the earl of Hemby, who as Lord Feldin was ambassador at Venice, conducted us to audience of the king, who received us in the Great Hall, which was lined with guards, with every mark of honour
In conformity with our instructions we expressed your Serenity's satisfaction at his happy restoration. We thanked God for this provision of so great a monarch's aid at the moment of Christendom's greatest troubles, as his power could easily put down the pride of the infidel and so forth, ending with congratulations on his marriage
[The Ottoman–Venetian wars between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice 1396 - 1718. In 1661 they have been defending Crete since 1645. It’s called the Battle of Candia later in the Diary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cre… ]
The king listened with every sign of friendliness and said he never feared that the republic would withdraw its love from a family which for so many centuries had borne it a singular amity. He expressed his satisfaction that your Serenity through us had given him an assurance that your grief for his misfortunes was matched by your joy at his felicity and asked us to testify to his cordial reciprocation
'His Excellency expressed his desire to serve me. 'I [Padavin] spoke of the peril I [PRESUMABLY Giovanni Battista Ballarino. Venetian Grand Chancellor AKA Pera] might be in, here in the capital of an enemy, rather than as a minister. According to him the essential point is that his king, at the previous request of your Serenity, had given him a special commission that if any misfortune befell me or if I had need of his Excellency's assistance, he should act with vigour and sincerity, particularly for the conclusion of the peace, for although he would have done as much even without orders, yet he said it was of very great importance for a minister to operate freely, to be able to use the name of his king with absolute liberty. 'He did not conceal that he had written to his Majesty by the present despatch on this subject, which I see he has greatly at heart, whether it be from hope of advantage or reputation, or both. 'Padavin thanked his Excellency profusely, but without committing himself.'
I venture to think that a letter from the Senate would confirm him in his opinion of the appreciation of your Excellencies and of the value set by the most serene republic on his merits.
[Italian; deciphered.]
FROM 'Venice: August 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1932), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
And I venture to think Winchilsea somewhat exaggerated his involvement in Charles II's affairs. I post this to show how England's fleet being in the Mediterranean, and Charles II's marriage to a Portuguese princess, was rocking all sorts of relationships. The Venetian envoy was in fear for his life from a "Moorish" backlash.
28. Giovanni Battista Ballarino. Venetian Grand Chancellor at the Porte, to the Doge and Senate. (Where is Porte? - The letter is signed "Pera of Constantinople, the 4th August, 1661", so it is probably close to that city.)
The English ambassador, though far away because of the plague, and most distracted at the loss of his daughter. (fn. 1) sent to inform me of the marriage arranged between his king [CHARLES II] and the Infanta of Portugal.
FOOTNOTE 1. Lady Mary Finch, his third daughter, had died of the plague. Hist. MSS. Comm. Finch Papers, Vol. i., page 139. The English ambassador to Constantinople was Heneage Finch, 2nd Earl of Winchilsea https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
I sent Padavin to the villa at Belgrade where his Excellency is staying, with congratulations. He returned thanks and went on to speak as follows:
'I have a two-fold reason for feeling gratified at this happy event because the transactions all took place from the beginning by my hands, just as that of the liberty and restitution to the royal possession of his throne was also transacted by me. so I ought to thank God that I have put the crown on his head and the bride in his bed. 'My wife is related in blood to his Majesty. (fn. 2) and this places me under a double obligation to procure every good for my country and the one who now rules it with felicity.
FOOTNOTE 2. Winchilsea's wife was Mary, daughter of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, directly descended from Mary Tudor, younger daughter of Henry VII, who married the Duke of Suffolk.
'As a further confirmation of my satisfaction I learn also that a defensive and offensive alliance has been established between his Majesty, Sweden and Denmark. I see everything taking the right direction, with solid hopes of very great progress. 'Because of this I have decided to send my steward (fn. 3) to London with despatches and many negotiations and particulars.
FOOTNOTE 3. Knevet. Finch Papers, Vol. i., page 140.
France corresponds perfectly with treaties of confidence, but the incompatibility of temperament, and considerations of interest will always stand in the way of greater advantages.
Holland is near to an adjustment of her differences with Portugal over trade and although England may be jealous to them, their immediate interests will not permit any resolutions contrary to the peace.
The assistance which the English will give to Portugal will render the war difficult, lengthy and costly. Madrid, the 3rd August. 1661. [Italian.]
FROM 'Venice: August 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1932), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
The Venetian Ambassador to Madrid writes today of the discomfort being caused by the Sandwich's activities:
Giovanni Cornaro, Venetian Ambassador in Spain, to the Doge and Senate.
The English fleet under the command of Montagu is now in these seas. Don Luis told me that his Majesty has received letters from that king [CHARLES II] acquainting him with the reasons for this expedition, and expressing the desire for the continuance of good relations, but he cannot understand how the reputation of the monarchy and the interests of Spain can possibly permit this if the marriage takes place.
The fleet is made up of 14 frigates of war, four fireships and two ships (bastimenti.) Its destination is Algiers with the determination to recover from those barbarians the slaves of their nation. If they find any difficulty about this they mean to do them all the hurt they can, bombarding the town with their guns and burning the ships in the ports.
At Malaga and Alicante, where the fleet put in, it was received with demonstrations of courtesy and the best possible treatment.
The route taken, and the weakness of the force of which it is composed have relieved their minds here, which were troubled by fears of unhappy encounters, with the approaching arrival of the fleet.
Nevertheless, in their talk they do not give up the hope that the negotiations of Batteville, the interest of the king there that the peace shall not be broken, some unexpected accident occurring to that government, which is not very solid, and the lack of money from which Portugal is suffering, may upset the completion of the marriage.
These are chimeras which present themselves in their serious infirmity or to their artificial imaginings, to moderate the bitterness of the people, or else the nursing of considerations where there is no remedy, and they are incapable of any resolution, things being already brought to such a pitch that they cannot be changed whatever efforts they may make and with Montagu's return it is known that the bride is to proceed to England.
The Spaniards are in no case to have powerful forces at sea. They have no means of doing any harm to England, and although some ships are arming at Cadiz and in Biscaya it does not appear that they can be brought together to form a fleet of any consequence.
Portugal in this way will receive succour; the breach of the agreements made with this crown, the tearing up of the treaties will be dissimulated, without abandoning the name of peace.
Hostilities will be practised, and by causing concern for the safety of Flanders they will tacitly confer a benefit on Braganza by the diversion.
The ministers of the government indeed talk otherwise, but necessity is a councillor from whom there is no appeal and the lack of force makes them helpless to attack.
"So to bed, my mind very full of business and trouble."
Aunt Julian Kite Clarke dictated to Pepys her will 5 days ago, but no mention was reported by him of the daughter she had verbally indicated she wanted to entrust to his care. Is that part of the trouble he is referring to?
He may need another bedroom shortly! Will there be more entries about supervising the carpenters? Or will he move to Gauden's house and let Slingsby open up 2 houses to make a mansion? Only time will tell ...
The Use of all these Potato's The Spanish Potato's are roasted under the embers, and being pared or peeled and sliced, are put into sacke with a little sugar, or without, and is delicate to be eaten. They are used to be baked with Marrow, Sugar, Spice, and other things in Pyes, which are a daintie and costly dish for the table. The Comfit makers preserve them and candy them as diuers things, and so ordered, is very delicate fit to accompany such other banquetting dishes. The Virginia Potato's being dressed after all these waies before specified maketh almost as delicate meate as the former. The Potato's of Canada are by reason of their great increasing, growne to be so common here with us at London that even the most vulgar begin to despise them, whereas when they were first received among us, they were dainties for a Queene. -- Paridisi In Sole Paradisus Terristris. J. Parkinson, 1629.
There would eventually be 13 forts — Anne, Belasyse, Bridges, Cambridge, Charles, Fountain, Giles, Henrietta, James, Kendal, Monmouth, Pole, and Pond. Most were clustered to the south of the town, and only 200 or 300 yards beyond the walls; they were meant to slow down an enemy advance.
The 2 biggest, Henrietta and Charles, were more formidable, bastioned blockhouses, whichh could hold garrisons of 150 men. Charles Fort, which was built on a hill 600 yards from the town — a spot from which the Moors had liked to watch in the town — carried enough victuals and ammunition for a 6-month siege and was armed with 13 heavy guns.
Henrietta Fort stood on a neighboring hill about 300 yards away.
Dogs guarded the outer perimeters, and snares and spiked balls were placed in the communicating trenches to slow down the Moors, who usually went barefooted. Teviot ordered the long grass beyond the lines be cut short so snipers had no cover, and each night he went out to set ambushes “to prevent surprisals, it being the Moors’ custom to plant their ambuscade a little before day.”
Stories of Teviot’s courage began to circulate inside and outside the walls, and he did his best to live up to them. Within days of his arrival at Tangier he had his men open the city gates, and rode out — alone — to reconnoiter the ground, “marking the best grass for hay, and the fittest places to essay a fortification.”
Teviot's sense of honor earned respect: when two of al-Ghailan’s men were killed in a skirmish one Sunday morning, he ordered their bodies shrouded in white linen, placed on biers, and covered with flowers. Then he rode out under a white flag with his troops in formation until he reached the Moors’ lines, where he ceremoniously handed over their dead.
By the spring of 1664 the Moors were saying that he was the Devil, that he had ships which could fly in the air and guns which fired without human intervention, that “he never sleeps but leaning against some part of the works; and that having scaped so many dangers ... it is in vain to resist and impossible to worst him.”
Teviot’s charmed life came to an end on May 3, 1664, a year and 2 days after his arrival and exactly 2 years after a force under Major William Fiennes had been massacred during a minor sortie against al-Ghailan’s men. Warning his men to take special care on the anniversary of the day when “so many brave Englishmen were knocked on the head by the Moors,” Teviot took 400 horse to cut down a wood which the enemy used as cover about 1-1/2 miles out of town; his scouts reported there was no enemy activity in the area, but his scouts were wrong. The party rode straight into an ambush; only 30 men survived.
Teviot wasn't one of them.
In London, they said it was a miracle Teviot had survived so long: “Every day he did commit himself to more probable danger than this.”
The town was dominated by a vast Portuguese citadel which glowered down from a hill to the northwest of the residential district and occupied almost 1/3 of the entire area within the walls. Reinforced and partly rebuilt by the English after they arrived, its lower ward ran down to the bay and was used as a parade ground for the garrison.
The seaward perimeter was guarded by a little fortified blockhouse and magazine, renamed York Castle, which dated from before the Portuguese occupation and was once a refuge for pirates.
The Upper Castle was much grander. It contained the governor’s house — a Portuguese dungeon which had been transformed into a “noble, large and commodious” Restoration mansion, with formal gardens and spectacular views out over the Straits.
Ranged against the ramparts of the Upper Castle were storehouses for munitions and provisions, and a neat row of officers’ houses lay behind the governor’s.
To the west, a heavily fortified gatehouse and lookout post named Peterborough Tower, opened onto a broken, hilly no-man’s-land.
The governorship was not a passport to success in the world. The Earl of Peterborough was recalled to England after 11 months in office, amidst allegations of corruption and incompetence. (He foolishly took home with him the only plan of the wells and springs that supplied Tangier with fresh water, which had been given to him by Don Luis — and, even more foolishly, he lost it.) Peterborough’s successor, the Earl of Teviot, managed a year in the post before he was killed in a Moorish ambush. During a bout of diarrhea the Earl of Middleton, who took up the governorship in 1668, got up in the middle of the night to hunt for a candle, fell over his sleeping manservant, and broke his arm; he died two days later. The Earl of Inchiquin was recalled in disgrace after allowing the Moors to overrun the outer defenses, although he managed to calm the king’s anger by giving him a pair of ostriches. The Earl of Ossory fell into a fit of depression when he heard of his appointment as governor, and succumbed to a fever before he could even leave England. One lieutenant governor was killed in action against the Moors; another died of dysentery, the “bloody flux.”
Despite his short tenure, Teviot was the most successful of the 9 governors who tried to rule Tangiers during England’s struggle to maintain its Barbary Coast outpost. A professional soldier and ex-governor of Dunkirk, he arrived in the colony on May Day 1663 and immediately set about reviewing the garrison and opening peace talks with Abd Allah al-Ghailan. These proved unfruitful — al-Ghailan responded that “the Mahometan law prohibited them to suffer the Christians to build any fortifications in Africa” — and against a background of constant skirmishing Teviot began a network of redoubts, outworks, and trenches which extended as a buffer for nearly half a mile beyond the walls.
At noon on Wednesday, January 29, 1662, Lord Peterborough’s fleet sailed into the Bay of Tangier, bringing with it 2,000 horse and 500 foot.
Peterborough took formal possession of the town the next day, and Don Luis de Almeida presented him with the keys to the gates, a pair of silver spurs, and a Challenge which would tax the English for the next 20 years..
Wenceslaus Hollar made his drawings of Tangier when he visited in 1669 with Henry Howard, who was on a diplomatic mission to Morocco. By this time it had achieved some normality, but it had been a struggle.
When the Portuguese left in 1661, they took everything that wasn’t nailed down — and some things that were, including doors, windows, and floors. Therefore large parts of the town were remodeled or rebuilt when the English moved in.
The bulk of the population, which fluctuated between 1,800 and 2,600 men, women, and children, consisted of British soldiers and their families. There was also some quarrymen and engineers who worked on building of the harbor; most were from Yorkshire and had also brought their families with them.
There was also a community of around 600 English, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian merchants, attracted by Charles II’s decision in 1662 to make Tangier a free port. (Fairly free, at least: merchants plying the East Indies trade were barred, as were ships from English plantations in the Americas.)
Houses were generally low, after the Spanish fashion, with walls of stone and mud, low-pitched roofs of tile, and interior walls and ceilings paneled with pine planks. The officers and senior officials had rather grander homes, but almost everyone had a little garden full of sweet herbs and shady orange trees. Vines were trained to run up pillars and along lattices of reeds, and they were heavy with grapes in the hot summers.
Of the Catholic churches which served the town under the Portuguese, only 2 survived: the “Cathedral,” a plain aisled building without steeple or bells, about 30 yards square with 10 side chapels, which belonged to the Dominicans; and St. Jago’s, which had been turned into an Anglican church, rededicated to Charles the Martyr (the king’s father, Charles I), and “very well filled on Sundays.”
Some of the Portuguese street names were retained — Terreiro do Contrato, Escada Grande, Rua Nabo. Others were reminders of home: Butcher Row, Cannon Street, Salisbury Court, even Pye Corner.
A pavilion which stood between the town walls and the outer defenses, “where the ladies, the officers, and the better sort of people do refresh and divert themselves with wine, fruits, and a very pretty bowling-base,” was called “Whitehall.”
The quarries just along the coast, where the North Yorkshire stonemasons had their base, was “Whitby.”
"... Captain Hayward of the Plymouth, who is now ordered to carry my Lord Winchelsea, Embassador to Constantinople."
The voyage to Constantinople and back took a year. On his return, Capt. Allin -- according to Francesco Giavarina. Venetian Resident in England, to the Doge and Senate -- shared this story:
[CHARLES II] "told me later of what happened with the ship of war (fn. 3) which took the Ambassador Winchelsea and is now returned, saying that the captain was obliged to keep good guard for fear that the Turks would force the ships to serve, in which case he was determined to resist and rather blow it up than do so." • FOOTNOTE 3. The Plymouth, Capt. Thomas Allin
Captains blew up their ships to stay out of the hands of the Barbary pirates, to avoid being held hostage or forced to sail for the pirates!? It might also be that they didn't want the latest warship building technology to be captured by said pirates. I wonder if this was on the way out or return journey.
FROM 'Venice: September 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1932), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
"So I went to White Hall, and there hear that my Lord General Monk continues very ill: ..."
And Albemarle did not recover fast. This is an excerpt from Francesco Giavarina, Venetian Resident in England, to the Doge and Senate, written on September 2: "There was great fear these days for the life of General Monck owing to the gravity of his disorder, but it seems that since yesterday he has somewhat improved, to the general satisfaction, although he cannot yet be said to be out of danger. He is suffering from a burning non-intermittent fever, which is common at this season in this city and the whole kingdom as it is this year, with a death rate in London of several hundreds a week, but, thank God, without any sign of plague or contagious disease."
I wonder what it was, if not the plague.
FROM 'Venice: September 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1932), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
Pepys complains about sickness again to Sandwich on August 25 (yes, it's in the future, but doesn't contain any material spoilers. It just indicates that for 6 or 8 weeks in the summer of 1661 a substantial number of Londoners were ill -- very ill, with more deaths than usual being recorded). https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
"Though it was an office day, yet I was forced to go to the Privy Seal, ..."
An office day means that the Navy Board sat this morning, discussing their business. It only took 2 to make a quoram, and since the House of Commons isn't in session, both Batten and Penn could have been available. But I'm glad to see Pepys wasn't happy about missing a session.
Comments
Third Reading
About Saturday 10 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
Giovanni Cornaro, Venetian Ambassador in Spain, to the Doge and Senate.
Of the [PLATE] fleet they have no news, but it is always expected.
The ships of England which are staying in these seas, and some other squadron which they say may arrive here, do not serve to dissipate their fears.
Madrid, the 10th August, 1661.
FROM 'Venice: August 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1932), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
[Italian.]
About Monday 5 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
CONCLUSION:
The enclosed memorial (fn. 5) has been presented to us by a colonel of some experience concerning offers, which your Excellencies may care to examine. We send them as they are, that you may be able to give such orders to the Resident Giavarina as you see fit.
FOOTNOTE 5. The enclosure is lacking; the text being from the letter book.
London, the 5th August, 1661.
[Italian.]
Perhaps we can better judge how stressed Pepys was by the combination of the will complexity and by his parents/Pall/John's needs from his actions: that he thought leaving town while so much unrest was happening, much with naval involvement, was clearly not a good idea. My theory that the other Commissioners were keeping him in the dark increasingly seems correct.
About Monday 5 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 5:
His Majesty was to attend parliament this morning, so the present session is supposed to be over and it will soon be known what acts are passed.
It was desired that for the future the king and not the counties should appoint the members. This project originated with the Upper House for his Majesty's advantage; but the House of Commons, would have received too severe a blow and refused its consent.
So ill humour is reappearing and these last days a scandalous libel against the parliament's proceedings has been circulating, as too complaisant towards the king.
Enquiries were made and its author discovered, who proved one of the most perverse Presbyterians. He would have been punished as he deserved had he not confessed his error and promised utter fidelity to the royal name and party, whereupon his Majesty dispensed with the penalty. (fn. 4)
FOOTNOTE 4. On 12 July a pamphlet entitled “Sundry reasons humbly tendered to the most honourable House of Peers by some citizens and members of London and other cities, boroughs, corporations and ports against the new intended bill for governing and reforming Corporations” was brought to the notice of the House of Commons.
Three days later William Prynne confessed himself the author. He submitted to the judgment of the House, that it was an illegal, false, scandalous and seditious libel, and was duly admonished. Mercurius Politicus July 11–18. Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. viii., pp. 301–2.
William Prynne MP https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Last week the Scottish parliament made pressing application to the king for the complete removal from that country of all the troops in garrison there, as they thought it strange to be guarded by the English in time of peace.
As the matter was of importance his Majesty sought the opinion of this parliament, but before hearing it he decided to satisfy the Scots, a decision that may be regretted since as the first disturbance proceeded from Scotland it seemed only right that they should be the last to enjoy the complete liberty which they demand.
The governor of Dunkirk is here by the king's order, with whom and with the chancellor he has had several private conferences, which excite curiosity at Court, especially as it is reported that they have begun to levy the taxes which were disputed, which was the very thing that seemed likely to start trouble again.
[The Gov. of Dunkirk was Col. Edward Harley; he’s in London to discuss the secret future -- catches you up with SPOILERS: https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… ]
About Monday 5 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 4
In the matter of coaches our searches in Holland and France proved fruitless, so we had decided to buy them here, but by good fortune and the favour of some gentlemen of rank we succeeded in obtaining those of the king, though they had been refused to France and Spain and latterly to Florence.
The king said he made a distinction between other ambassadors and those of Venice, who coming from a distance could not have sufficient notice of his new decrees.
The confidant added that this reason was given to prevent the concession being urged as a precedent. We were much cheered by this favour both for the honour and being relieved of the expense.
Even the Spanish ambassador now admits that the marriage with the Infanta is established, in spite of his efforts to prevent it.
He complains openly of having been deceived in his negotiations for the marriage of the princess of Parma and says that the earl of Bristol's commissions were changed, while his own remained fixed and clear.
George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
However he says he has orders to remain and that Count Strozzi, if not prevented by the king's ministers, would have arrived to carry out his instructions, and would have aided us, both in order to help the emperor against the Turks and to show his devotion to your Excellencies.
Count Peter Strozzi (1626–1664), Austrian general???? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Str…
But he also thinks that we shall get nothing but hope from this quarter for the present, as they are too fixed in their determination against any infraction of the good understanding with the Turk.
He even delivered the opinion that the English, as a consequence of our mission, will claim great merit with the Turks for having resisted our importunities, in order not to interrupt their good understanding with the Porte, and possibly the will is wanting and the reason given touching trade may be an obvious pretext, though, if the king is inclined to neglect such considerations, he cannot, as stated, so easily supply a lack of money, and we see that even the Portuguese, when they want to levy troops enjoy no other advantage than the bare permission to take them, and should your Serenity desire this, at great cost, it would not be difficult to obtain a grant.
[This use of this “the Porte” : the government of the Ottoman empire https://www.merriam-webster.com/d… ]
About Monday 5 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 3
In spite of this M. d'Estrades persisted in his intention to send and blusteringly made a levy not only of Frenchmen but of their dependants, while Batteville did the like, so that there would have been over 3,000 men under arms, with danger of some serious outrage among the parties concerned and of starting worse disturbance, since there are many eagerly watching for such opportunities.
The king, learning that our expedient, which he approved, had not sufficed to stay them, prevented the contest by his own authority sending word to both that he wished them not to stir, and so it fell out.
French Ambassador Godefroi, Comte d'Estrades was Marshal of France and Viceroy of America https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Spanish Ambassador Carlos, Baron de Vatteville, or Watteville, or Batteville https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
In the evening they sent their compliments, saying they had been prevented from sending their coaches.
We recently received your Serenity's letters of the 9th and 15th ult. We note the requests of our merchants for relief for the fraud practised on them over the goods unloaded at Algiers.
Here also the parties injured keep complaining of the perfidy of the captains, and with their consent we have decided to speak strongly to the king to-morrow, leaving a memorial, although the captains urge many excuses in their favour.
[Adm. Sir John Lawson started plying before Algiers on August 8, and we’ve established that it takes a month for a ship to sail from the Med. to London. So this “fraud” must have happened almost as soon as he arrived. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… ]
We hope that a remedy will be applied for the future since it is certain that the fleet now gone into the Mediterranean in making arrangements with these pirates has orders to stipulate that English ships shall henceforward pass free, whatever their cargoes may be.
The king is now well aware how prejudicial the former stipulations were, which merely compelled the pirates to respect English ships and English goods; whence the irregularities complained of.
The Signory will understand from these facts how anxious this country is to keep on good terms with the Turks, subordinating all pious considerations to the safety of its trade, on which the wealth of these kingdoms depends, as well as the entire subsistence of countless persons.
We shall punctually follow the other instructions.
About Monday 5 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 2
We then thanked him for the honours received, referring to our pleasure in renewing an ancient obeisance to him
Upon this he embraced us, saying he had given special orders for our entertainment
After a suitable acknowledgment we went to the apartments of the duke of York, to whom we presented your Serenity's letters and performed our office.
The duke said he deeply regretted the troubles of the republic and was most anxious to relieve them, to which we replied that the Signory would greatly value his courteous remarks in the assurance that the proofs would not be less when the opportunity came
We found the Chancellor suffering from gout. After compliments we discoursed at great length about the present emergencies of Christendom and of our confidence that through his good counsel the king might be encouraged to undertake its defence.
We showed how easily this could be done from the number of troops he could collect and transport to the necessary spot by his numerous ships. He listened attentively, but his replies were very brief and utterly devoid of spirit, merely expressing good will after which he changed the subject and tried to stop our rejoinder
This minister, being vastly inferior in birth to the office he now enjoys, seeks nothing but its increase and confirmation and accordingly applies himself exclusively to the country's internal affairs.
From what we learn he does not wish the king to undertake any foreign engagements, save those connected with Dunkirk, which are inevitable
Dunkirk – https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… SPOILERS!
His Majesty, having scarce the means to maintain himself and being unable to raise money save through parliament, cannot depart from its wishes, and as many of the members of the Lower House are deeply interested in the Turkey trade, they would with difficulty consent to measures, not less costly than repugnant and hazardous, from the confusion they would entail in maritime affairs; indeed these gentlemen are so obviously averse from all interference that no one can mistake them
Levant India Company https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
To make more sure of the king's intentions we made enquiries through a confidant and are confirmed in the belief that no important undertaking can be determined by him without the consent of parliament. Nevertheless at our private audience we shall not neglect to make the most earnest representations.
London, the 5th August, 1661
[Italian]
@@@
The Same to the Same.
The ambassadors of France and Spain proposed to honour us in the usual way by sending their coaches, but as the question of precedence between them is insoluble, and it began to be whispered that they would take this opportunity of disputing it, we decided not to announce our entry to any of the foreign ministers, reserving it until we were in London, after the example of the last ambassadors extraordinary from France and Spain.
About Monday 5 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
'Venice: Aug. 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
The Venetian Ambassadors Extraordinary, Angelo Correr and Michiel Morosini, both wrote to the Doge and Senate today:
Amb. Angelo Correr 1605-1678 – no bio, but Pepys bought and read his book in 1667 https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Amb. Michiel Morosini 1611 – 1678 (older brother of Francesco Morosini, who later became the 108th doge of Venice) https://www.britannica.com/topic/… - has SPOILERS
On Saturday last, as arranged, we made our public entry into this city. The Master of the Ceremonies came with the king's barges to fetch us from Greenwich and at the Tower we were met by the earl of Peterborough, the same who introduced the Spanish ambassador
Henry Mordaunt, 2nd Earl of Peterborough: https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
He took us in the royal coaches to Westminster, a house of his Majesty where, as is customary, he caused us to be lodged and entertained for three days. Immediately on our arrival Lord Bellasis came in the king's name to offer his services, to which we replied suitably, and asked him to be our interpreter. He expressed his delight at renewing the acquaintance of two persons whom he had known before, one here and the other in France
Thomas Belasyse, Earl Fauconberg https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
On Tuesday the earl of Hemby, who as Lord Feldin was ambassador at Venice, conducted us to audience of the king, who received us in the Great Hall, which was lined with guards, with every mark of honour
Basil Feilding, 2nd Earl of Denbigh, Amb. to Venice 1634-9 https://dev.historyofparliamenton…
In conformity with our instructions we expressed your Serenity's satisfaction at his happy restoration. We thanked God for this provision of so great a monarch's aid at the moment of Christendom's greatest troubles, as his power could easily put down the pride of the infidel and so forth, ending with congratulations on his marriage
[The Ottoman–Venetian wars between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice 1396 - 1718. In 1661 they have been defending Crete since 1645. It’s called the Battle of Candia later in the Diary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cre… ]
The king listened with every sign of friendliness and said he never feared that the republic would withdraw its love from a family which for so many centuries had borne it a singular amity. He expressed his satisfaction that your Serenity through us had given him an assurance that your grief for his misfortunes was matched by your joy at his felicity and asked us to testify to his cordial reciprocation
About Sunday 4 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
CONCLUSION:
'His Excellency expressed his desire to serve me.
'I [Padavin] spoke of the peril I [PRESUMABLY Giovanni Battista Ballarino. Venetian Grand Chancellor AKA Pera] might be in, here in the capital of an enemy, rather than as a minister. According to him the essential point is that his king, at the previous request of your Serenity, had given him a special commission that if any misfortune befell me or if I had need of his Excellency's assistance, he should act with vigour and sincerity, particularly for the conclusion of the peace, for although he would have done as much even without orders, yet he said it was of very great importance for a minister to operate freely, to be able to use the name of his king with absolute liberty.
'He did not conceal that he had written to his Majesty by the present despatch on this subject, which I see he has greatly at heart, whether it be from hope of advantage or reputation, or both.
'Padavin thanked his Excellency profusely, but without committing himself.'
I venture to think that a letter from the Senate would confirm him in his opinion of the appreciation of your Excellencies and of the value set by the most serene republic on his merits.
[Italian; deciphered.]
FROM
'Venice: August 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1932), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
And I venture to think Winchilsea somewhat exaggerated his involvement in Charles II's affairs.
I post this to show how England's fleet being in the Mediterranean, and Charles II's marriage to a Portuguese princess, was rocking all sorts of relationships. The Venetian envoy was in fear for his life from a "Moorish" backlash.
About Sunday 4 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
28. Giovanni Battista Ballarino. Venetian Grand Chancellor at the Porte, to the Doge and Senate. (Where is Porte? - The letter is signed "Pera of Constantinople, the 4th August, 1661", so it is probably close to that city.)
The English ambassador, though far away because of the plague, and most distracted at the loss of his daughter. (fn. 1) sent to inform me of the marriage arranged between his king [CHARLES II] and the Infanta of Portugal.
FOOTNOTE 1. Lady Mary Finch, his third daughter, had died of the plague. Hist. MSS. Comm. Finch Papers, Vol. i., page 139.
The English ambassador to Constantinople was Heneage Finch, 2nd Earl of Winchilsea https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
I sent Padavin to the villa at Belgrade where his Excellency is staying, with congratulations. He returned thanks and went on to speak as follows:
'I have a two-fold reason for feeling gratified at this happy event because the transactions all took place from the beginning by my hands, just as that of the liberty and restitution to the royal possession of his throne was also transacted by me. so I ought to thank God that I have put the crown on his head and the bride in his bed.
'My wife is related in blood to his Majesty. (fn. 2) and this places me under a double obligation to procure every good for my country and the one who now rules it with felicity.
FOOTNOTE 2. Winchilsea's wife was Mary, daughter of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, directly descended from Mary Tudor, younger daughter of Henry VII, who married the Duke of Suffolk.
'As a further confirmation of my satisfaction I learn also that a defensive and offensive alliance has been established between his Majesty, Sweden and Denmark. I see everything taking the right direction, with solid hopes of very great progress.
'Because of this I have decided to send my steward (fn. 3) to London with despatches and many negotiations and particulars.
FOOTNOTE 3. Knevet. Finch Papers, Vol. i., page 140.
About Saturday 3 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
CONCLUSION:
France corresponds perfectly with treaties of confidence, but the incompatibility of temperament, and considerations of interest will always stand in the way of greater advantages.
Holland is near to an adjustment of her differences with Portugal over trade and although England may be jealous to them, their immediate interests will not permit any resolutions contrary to the peace.
The assistance which the English will give to Portugal will render the war difficult, lengthy and costly.
Madrid, the 3rd August. 1661.
[Italian.]
FROM
'Venice: August 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1932), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
About Saturday 3 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
The Venetian Ambassador to Madrid writes today of the discomfort being caused by the Sandwich's activities:
Giovanni Cornaro, Venetian Ambassador in Spain, to the Doge and Senate.
The English fleet under the command of Montagu is now in these seas. Don Luis told me that his Majesty has received letters from that king [CHARLES II] acquainting him with the reasons for this expedition, and expressing the desire for the continuance of good relations, but he cannot understand how the reputation of the monarchy and the interests of Spain can possibly permit this if the marriage takes place.
The fleet is made up of 14 frigates of war, four fireships and two ships (bastimenti.) Its destination is Algiers with the determination to recover from those barbarians the slaves of their nation. If they find any difficulty about this they mean to do them all the hurt they can, bombarding the town with their guns and burning the ships in the ports.
At Malaga and Alicante, where the fleet put in, it was received with demonstrations of courtesy and the best possible treatment.
The route taken, and the weakness of the force of which it is composed have relieved their minds here, which were troubled by fears of unhappy encounters, with the approaching arrival of the fleet.
Nevertheless, in their talk they do not give up the hope that the negotiations of Batteville, the interest of the king there that the peace shall not be broken, some unexpected accident occurring to that government, which is not very solid, and the lack of money from which Portugal is suffering, may upset the completion of the marriage.
These are chimeras which present themselves in their serious infirmity or to their artificial imaginings, to moderate the bitterness of the people, or else the nursing of considerations where there is no remedy, and they are incapable of any resolution, things being already brought to such a pitch that they cannot be changed whatever efforts they may make and with Montagu's return it is known that the bride is to proceed to England.
The Spaniards are in no case to have powerful forces at sea. They have no means of doing any harm to England, and although some ships are arming at Cadiz and in Biscaya it does not appear that they can be brought together to form a fleet of any consequence.
Portugal in this way will receive succour; the breach of the agreements made with this crown, the tearing up of the treaties will be dissimulated, without abandoning the name of peace.
Hostilities will be practised, and by causing concern for the safety of Flanders they will tacitly confer a benefit on Braganza by the diversion.
The ministers of the government indeed talk otherwise, but necessity is a councillor from whom there is no appeal and the lack of force makes them helpless to attack.
About Friday 13 September 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
"So to bed, my mind very full of business and trouble."
Aunt Julian Kite Clarke dictated to Pepys her will 5 days ago, but no mention was reported by him of the daughter she had verbally indicated she wanted to entrust to his care. Is that part of the trouble he is referring to?
He may need another bedroom shortly! Will there be more entries about supervising the carpenters? Or will he move to Gauden's house and let Slingsby open up 2 houses to make a mansion? Only time will tell ...
About About fruit and vegetables
San Diego Sarah • Link
Pepys never mentions potatoes in the Diary.
Bill on 14 Sep 2014 may have told us why:
The Use of all these Potato's
The Spanish Potato's are roasted under the embers, and being pared or peeled and sliced, are put into sacke with a little sugar, or without, and is delicate to be eaten.
They are used to be baked with Marrow, Sugar, Spice, and other things in Pyes, which are a daintie and costly dish for the table.
The Comfit makers preserve them and candy them as diuers things, and so ordered, is very delicate fit to accompany such other banquetting dishes.
The Virginia Potato's being dressed after all these waies before specified maketh almost as delicate meate as the former.
The Potato's of Canada are by reason of their great increasing, growne to be so common here with us at London that even the most vulgar begin to despise them, whereas when they were first received among us, they were dainties for a Queene.
-- Paridisi In Sole Paradisus Terristris. J. Parkinson, 1629.
About Tangier, Morocco
San Diego Sarah • Link
CONCLUSION
There would eventually be 13 forts — Anne, Belasyse, Bridges, Cambridge, Charles, Fountain, Giles, Henrietta, James, Kendal, Monmouth, Pole, and Pond.
Most were clustered to the south of the town, and only 200 or 300 yards beyond the walls; they were meant to slow down an enemy advance.
The 2 biggest, Henrietta and Charles, were more formidable, bastioned blockhouses, whichh could hold garrisons of 150 men.
Charles Fort, which was built on a hill 600 yards from the town — a spot from which the Moors had liked to watch in the town — carried enough victuals and ammunition for a 6-month siege and was armed with 13 heavy guns.
Henrietta Fort stood on a neighboring hill about 300 yards away.
Dogs guarded the outer perimeters, and snares and spiked balls were placed in the communicating trenches to slow down the Moors, who usually went barefooted.
Teviot ordered the long grass beyond the lines be cut short so snipers had no cover, and each night he went out to set ambushes “to prevent surprisals, it being the Moors’ custom to plant their ambuscade a little before day.”
Stories of Teviot’s courage began to circulate inside and outside the walls, and he did his best to live up to them.
Within days of his arrival at Tangier he had his men open the city gates, and rode out — alone — to reconnoiter the ground, “marking the best grass for hay, and the fittest places to essay a fortification.”
Teviot's sense of honor earned respect: when two of al-Ghailan’s men were killed in a skirmish one Sunday morning, he ordered their bodies shrouded in white linen, placed on biers, and covered with flowers. Then he rode out under a white flag with his troops in formation until he reached the Moors’ lines, where he ceremoniously handed over their dead.
By the spring of 1664 the Moors were saying that he was the Devil, that he had ships which could fly in the air and guns which fired without human intervention, that “he never sleeps but leaning against some part of the works; and that having scaped so many dangers ... it is in vain to resist and impossible to worst him.”
Teviot’s charmed life came to an end on May 3, 1664, a year and 2 days after his arrival and exactly 2 years after a force under Major William Fiennes had been massacred during a minor sortie against al-Ghailan’s men.
Warning his men to take special care on the anniversary of the day when “so many brave Englishmen were knocked on the head by the Moors,” Teviot took 400 horse to cut down a wood which the enemy used as cover about 1-1/2 miles out of town; his scouts reported there was no enemy activity in the area, but his scouts were wrong. The party rode straight into an ambush; only 30 men survived.
Teviot wasn't one of them.
In London, they said it was a miracle Teviot had survived so long: “Every day he did commit himself to more probable danger than this.”
Excerpted from https://weaponsandwarfare.com/201…
About Tangier, Morocco
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 2
The town was dominated by a vast Portuguese citadel which glowered down from a hill to the northwest of the residential district and occupied almost 1/3 of the entire area within the walls. Reinforced and partly rebuilt by the English after they arrived, its lower ward ran down to the bay and was used as a parade ground for the garrison.
The seaward perimeter was guarded by a little fortified blockhouse and magazine, renamed York Castle, which dated from before the Portuguese occupation and was once a refuge for pirates.
The Upper Castle was much grander. It contained the governor’s house — a Portuguese dungeon which had been transformed into a “noble, large and commodious” Restoration mansion, with formal gardens and spectacular views out over the Straits.
Ranged against the ramparts of the Upper Castle were storehouses for munitions and provisions, and a neat row of officers’ houses lay behind the governor’s.
To the west, a heavily fortified gatehouse and lookout post named Peterborough Tower, opened onto a broken, hilly no-man’s-land.
The governorship was not a passport to success in the world. The Earl of Peterborough was recalled to England after 11 months in office, amidst allegations of corruption and incompetence. (He foolishly took home with him the only plan of the wells and springs that supplied Tangier with fresh water, which had been given to him by Don Luis — and, even more foolishly, he lost it.)
Peterborough’s successor, the Earl of Teviot, managed a year in the post before he was killed in a Moorish ambush.
During a bout of diarrhea the Earl of Middleton, who took up the governorship in 1668, got up in the middle of the night to hunt for a candle, fell over his sleeping manservant, and broke his arm; he died two days later.
The Earl of Inchiquin was recalled in disgrace after allowing the Moors to overrun the outer defenses, although he managed to calm the king’s anger by giving him a pair of ostriches.
The Earl of Ossory fell into a fit of depression when he heard of his appointment as governor, and succumbed to a fever before he could even leave England.
One lieutenant governor was killed in action against the Moors; another died of dysentery, the “bloody flux.”
Despite his short tenure, Teviot was the most successful of the 9 governors who tried to rule Tangiers during England’s struggle to maintain its Barbary Coast outpost.
A professional soldier and ex-governor of Dunkirk, he arrived in the colony on May Day 1663 and immediately set about reviewing the garrison and opening peace talks with Abd Allah al-Ghailan. These proved unfruitful — al-Ghailan responded that “the Mahometan law prohibited them to suffer the Christians to build any fortifications in Africa” — and against a background of constant skirmishing Teviot began a network of redoubts, outworks, and trenches which extended as a buffer for nearly half a mile beyond the walls.
About Tangier, Morocco
San Diego Sarah • Link
At noon on Wednesday, January 29, 1662, Lord Peterborough’s fleet sailed into the Bay of Tangier, bringing with it 2,000 horse and 500 foot.
Peterborough took formal possession of the town the next day, and Don Luis de Almeida presented him with the keys to the gates, a pair of silver spurs, and a Challenge which would tax the English for the next 20 years..
Wenceslaus Hollar made his drawings of Tangier when he visited in 1669 with Henry Howard, who was on a diplomatic mission to Morocco. By this time it had achieved some normality, but it had been a struggle.
When the Portuguese left in 1661, they took everything that wasn’t nailed down — and some things that were, including doors, windows, and floors. Therefore large parts of the town were remodeled or rebuilt when the English moved in.
The bulk of the population, which fluctuated between 1,800 and 2,600 men, women, and children, consisted of British soldiers and their families. There was also some quarrymen and engineers who worked on building of the harbor; most were from Yorkshire and had also brought their families with them.
There was also a community of around 600 English, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian merchants, attracted by Charles II’s decision in 1662 to make Tangier a free port. (Fairly free, at least: merchants plying the East Indies trade were barred, as were ships from English plantations in the Americas.)
Houses were generally low, after the Spanish fashion, with walls of stone and mud, low-pitched roofs of tile, and interior walls and ceilings paneled with pine planks. The officers and senior officials had rather grander homes, but almost everyone had a little garden full of sweet herbs and shady orange trees. Vines were trained to run up pillars and along lattices of reeds, and they were heavy with grapes in the hot summers.
Of the Catholic churches which served the town under the Portuguese, only 2 survived: the “Cathedral,” a plain aisled building without steeple or bells, about 30 yards square with 10 side chapels, which belonged to the Dominicans; and St. Jago’s, which had been turned into an Anglican church, rededicated to Charles the Martyr (the king’s father, Charles I), and “very well filled on Sundays.”
Some of the Portuguese street names were retained — Terreiro do Contrato, Escada Grande, Rua Nabo. Others were reminders of home: Butcher Row, Cannon Street, Salisbury Court, even Pye Corner.
A pavilion which stood between the town walls and the outer defenses, “where the ladies, the officers, and the better sort of people do refresh and divert themselves with wine, fruits, and a very pretty bowling-base,” was called “Whitehall.”
The quarries just along the coast, where the North Yorkshire stonemasons had their base, was “Whitby.”
About Thursday 9 August 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... Captain Hayward of the Plymouth, who is now ordered to carry my Lord Winchelsea, Embassador to Constantinople."
The voyage to Constantinople and back took a year. On his return, Capt. Allin -- according to Francesco Giavarina. Venetian Resident in England, to the Doge and Senate -- shared this story:
[CHARLES II] "told me later of what happened with the ship of war (fn. 3) which took the Ambassador Winchelsea and is now returned, saying that the captain was obliged to keep good guard for fear that the Turks would force the ships to serve, in which case he was determined to resist and rather blow it up than do so."
• FOOTNOTE 3. The Plymouth, Capt. Thomas Allin
Captains blew up their ships to stay out of the hands of the Barbary pirates, to avoid being held hostage or forced to sail for the pirates!? It might also be that they didn't want the latest warship building technology to be captured by said pirates. I wonder if this was on the way out or return journey.
FROM 'Venice: September 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1932), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
About Sunday 18 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
"So I went to White Hall, and there hear that my Lord General Monk continues very ill: ..."
And Albemarle did not recover fast. This is an excerpt from Francesco Giavarina, Venetian Resident in England, to the Doge and Senate, written on September 2:
"There was great fear these days for the life of General Monck owing to the gravity of his disorder, but it seems that since yesterday he has somewhat improved, to the general satisfaction, although he cannot yet be said to be out of danger. He is suffering from a burning non-intermittent fever, which is common at this season in this city and the whole kingdom as it is this year, with a death rate in London of several hundreds a week, but, thank God, without any sign of plague or contagious disease."
I wonder what it was, if not the plague.
FROM 'Venice: September 1661', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 33, 1661-1664, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1932), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
Pepys complains about sickness again to Sandwich on August 25 (yes, it's in the future, but doesn't contain any material spoilers. It just indicates that for 6 or 8 weeks in the summer of 1661 a substantial number of Londoners were ill -- very ill, with more deaths than usual being recorded).
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
About Graveley
San Diego Sarah • Link
L&M: Mr. Sedgewick of Cambridge was the Steward of Graveley manor. Pepys consulted with him about Uncle Robert Pepys' will.
About Thursday 12 September 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Though it was an office day, yet I was forced to go to the Privy Seal, ..."
An office day means that the Navy Board sat this morning, discussing their business. It only took 2 to make a quoram, and since the House of Commons isn't in session, both Batten and Penn could have been available.
But I'm glad to see Pepys wasn't happy about missing a session.