In 1654, Oliver Cromwell decided to turn on Spain (which had been the first country to recognise the Commonwealth of England) and seize the island of Hispaniola to make it a base for English expansion in the Caribbean. To do so, 2 fleets were fitted out: one set out for the Caribbean and another to the western Mediterranean (with the stated objective of fighting the Barbary pirates).
The Caribbean fleet failed to seize Hispaniola but took over Jamaica instead in May 1655. The fleet in the Mediterranean sailed off Cádiz to intercept the Spanish treasure fleet, with no success. With the arrival of the winter, the fleet went back to England.
Spain did not declare war on England until February 1656. Shortly afterwards, Cromwell sent a fleet of 49 English warships manned by 10,000 sailors and soldiers sailed through the Straits and reconnoitred Gibraltar. Although they lacked a viable landing force and took no action, Oliver expressed interest in its capture: "if possessed and made tenable by us, would it not be both an advantage to our trade, and an annoyance to the Spaniards, and enable us [to] ... ease our own charge?"
In 1693, during the Nine Years' War, in which Spain and England were allies, the remnants of an English-Dutch escort squadron under the command of Adm. Sir George Rooke took refuge at Gibraltar, pursued by the French, after losing the Battle of Lagos Bay. In 1704, Rooke returned to Gibraltar and captured it. [And it remained British, just to upset everyone. - SDS] FROM History of Gibraltar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His…
And the British occupation of Gibralter did upset a lot of people. For instance, the fright the Vatican received just from Oliver Cromwell's 1650's cruising squadron; a Protestant gatekeeper the mouth of the Mediterranean could only be an abiding menace to Rome.
Control of the Straits of Gibraltar, the mouth of the Mediterranean, was a very big deal. Queen Elizabeth saw it, as did Cromwell, and in the 1660's Charles II was attempting it by accepting Tangier from the Portuguese.
For more about this on-going Mediterranean policy, see ENGLAND IN THE MEDITERRANEAN : A STUDY OF THE RISE AND INFLUENCE OF BRITISH POWER WITHIN THE STRAITS 1603-1713 BY JULIAN S. CORBETT VOL. I. and II LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1904 https://archive.org/stream/englan…
The Spanish and Dutch declared a temporary truce in 1609, but resumed hostilities in 1621 when a joint Dutch and Danish fleet arrived in the Strait to attack Spanish shipping. This time the Spanish succeeded in capturing and sinking some of the attacker's ships in the second Battle of Gibraltar, driving away the rest.
An English military presence was briefly established at Gibraltar for the first time in 1620. The Spanish granted permission for the English fleet to use Gibraltar's port as a base for operations against the Barbary pirates, who were raiding the British and Irish coasts.
Some in England wanted to turn the fleet against Spain rather than the Barbary coast. However, King James successfully resisted Parliamentary pressure to declare war on Spain and the fleet returned to England.
After King Charles ascended the throne in 1625, a second English fleet was sent to the region with instructions to "take or spoil a town" on the Spanish coast. Gibraltar was one of the proposed targets because it was small, could easily be garrisoned, supplied and defended, and was in a highly strategic location.
The English fleet instead attacked Cádiz in the belief that its sacking would be more immediately profitable. The raid turned into a fiasco. The landing force looted the town's wine stores and was evacuated after 4 days of drunkenness without anything useful being achieved.
The presence of Spain's enemies in the Straits prompted the Spanish king Philip IV to strengthen Gibraltar's defences. A new mole and gun platforms were built, although the latter's usefulness was limited due to a lack of gunners. The town was an unsanitary, crowded place, which probably contributed to the outbreak in 1649 of an epidemic – reportedly plague but possibly typhoid – which killed a quarter of the population.
English fleets returned to Gibraltar in 1651–52 and again in 1654–55 as temporary allies of the Spanish against French and Dutch shipping in the Straits.
To continue Terry's thoughts about the history of The Rock:
Gibraltar's inhospitable terrain made it an unpopular place to live. To boost the population in the 16th century, convicts from the kingdom of Granada were offered the possibility of serving their sentence in the Gibraltar garrison as an alternative to prison. Despite its unattractiveness, Juan Alfonso de Guzmán, 3rd Duke of Medina Sidonia, still sought to regain control of the town. In September 1506, following Isabella's death, he laid siege, expectating the gates would quickly open to his forces. After a fruitless 4-month blockade, he gave up. And Gibraltar received the title of "Most Loyal" from the Spanish crown in recognition of its resistance.
Despite continuing threats Gibraltar was neglected by the Spanish crown and its fortifications fell into disrepair. Barbary pirates from North Africa took advantage of the weak defences in September 1540 by mounting a major raid in which hundreds of Gibraltar's residents were taken as hostages or slaves. The Shrine of Our Lady of Europe was sacked and all its valuables were stolen. Many of the captives were subsequently released when a Spanish fleet intercepted the pirate ships near Alborán as they were bringing ransomed hostages back to Gibraltar. The Spanish crown belatedly responded to Gibraltar's vulnerability by building the Charles V Wall to control the southern flank of the Rock and strengthened other parts of the fortifications.
The seas around Gibraltar continued to be dangerous as Barbary pirate raids continued. A small squadron of Spanish galleys was based at the port to counter pirate raids, but proved to be of limited effectiveness and many inhabitants were abducted and sold into slavery by the pirates.
The problem worsened after 1606, when Spain expelled the Moriscos (Muslims who had converted to Christianity). Many of the expellees were evacuated to North Africa via Gibraltar but ended up joining the pirate fleets, either as Christian slaves or reconverted Muslims, and raided as far afield as Cornwall.
The threat to Gibraltar by the Barbary pirates was soon joined by that of Spain's enemies in northern Europe.
On 5 May 1607, during the Eighty Years' War, a Dutch fleet under Adm, Jacob van Heemskerk ambushed a Spanish fleet at anchor in the Bay of Gibraltar. The Dutch won an overwhelming victory, losing no ships and few men while the entire Spanish fleet was destroyed with the loss of 3,000 men.
Catherine of Braganza's father, and Luisa Guzman's husband was John IV (1604, Vila Viçosa — 1656, Lisbon) who was the king of Portugal from 1640 as a result of the national revolution, or restoration, which ended 60 years of Spanish rule. He was also known as as: João o Afortunado, João, 8o duque de Bragança, and John the Fortunate.
Joao IV founded the dynasty of Bragança (Braganza), beat off Spanish attacks, and established a system of alliances.
Joao, duke of Bragança, the wealthiest nobleman in Portugal, married Luisa de Guzmán, daughter of the Spanish duke of Medina Sidonia. The Bragança duchy, founded in 1461, was a collateral of the extinct royal House of Aviz; and, when the restorers of independence overthrew the Spanish governor on Dec. 1, 1640, they offered John the crown.
On December 15, 1640, he was enthroned as Joao IV.
Supported by the Cortes, the national assembly, he entrusted each province with its own defense and sent missions to seek recognition from France, England, and the Netherlands.
His alliance with the English Stuarts (1642) was frustrated by the English Civil Wars, but in 1654 King Joao made a new treaty with the English Commonwealth, which gained him military aid in return for trading privileges.
The Dutch, already in possession of Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil, seized Angola but were expelled from both, while retaining their conquests in the East Indies.
The Spanish were defeated at Montijo (May 26, 1644) and were blocked from further invasion.
Joao IV and his Queen Luisa governed through a royal council and a committee of the Cortes, the Board of Three Estates, and instituted the Overseas Council.
He survived attempts at assassination and Spanish attempts to influence the Vatican to isolate the Portuguese church. Joao IV was a notable composer.
At Joao IV’s death his wife became regent for their son Afonso VI (ruled 1656–83). He was replaced by his younger brother, Pedro II. Their daughter, Catherine of Braganza, married Charles II of England in 1662.
Lisbon lies near the mouth of the Tagus River, which is the longest waterway of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises in the Sierra de Albarracín of eastern Spain, at a point about 90 miles (150 km) from the Mediterranean coast, and flows westward across Spain and Portugal for 626 miles (1,007 km) to empty into the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon.
The Tagus covers the heart of Portugal and Spain and has been of vital importance to the economic development of both nations.
The upper Tagus cuts into limestone rocks and flows generally southwestward through narrow, sinuous valleys with deep canyons and abundant ravines. Near Trillo (Guadalajara province) it runs more peacefully, and just before the town of Bolarque it is now held back by the dams of Entrepeñas and Buendía, forming an artificial lake known as the Sea of Castile, which covers an area of 51 square miles (132 square km).
Again flowing southwestward, the river irrigates the fertile lands of Aranjuez and the areas around Toledo and Talavera de la Reina until it reaches the province of Cáceres. Here it again flows through narrow, steep-edged trenches formed by quartzites and shales.
At Puente de Alcántara another dam on the river has formed one of the greatest artificial lakes in Europe, with a length of 57 miles (92 km).
Less than 10 miles (16 km) downstream the river becomes the frontier between Spain and Portugal for 27 miles (43 km).
It enters Portugal at Beira and the Sierra de Carbajo, then crosses the fertile region of Abrantes.
After flowing across Portugal for 111 miles (179 km), it forms at Vila Franca de Xira the Tagus (or Lisbon) estuary, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.
Toledo is the only large Spanish city that lies along the river, which flows past the cities of Santarém and Lisbon in Portugal and supplies the latter with a fine natural harbor.
He hasn't mentioned owning one, Matt. They were very expensive at the time. Maybe the bookseller had a wall clock? It would probably only have had an hour hand, and you had to guess the minutes. Or maybe he went by the traditional church bell tolling. Pepys doesn't tell us.
"In 1660, when Charles II was restored, the Royal Privy Council was re-established and made up by a small group of advisers."
Charles quickly went further than that: there was a "secret committee" of 9 within the Privy Council. (That number includes Charles; I haven't figured out who the second Secretary of State was.) https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Now to find out who was in the regular, larger Privy Council.
Gen. Schomberg’s advocacy only confirms the wisdom of the other great soldier whose opinion was contrary. But it was fresh testimony that Dunkirk was valueless except in view of the visionary policy of a Protestant conquest. Gen. Schomberg https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
The Elector of Brandenburg, when the sale was known, rightly read it as an abandonment of the Protestant policy. He also bewailed the sale, but on political grounds. Dunkirk would have served as a bridle both to France and Spain, he said. In answer to his reproaches, the Elector of Brandenburg was assured that it was to make the curb more severe that the step had been taken. England's immediate object was to strengthen her naval position, and from that point of view Dunkirk was a hindrance and not a help. It required a costly garrison, and as a naval station it was useless. Its surrender was an economy of strength and money, and the price was to be spent mainly upon the navy or laid up as a war fund. 1. 1. Ranke, iii. 391, cf. Burnet, 173. Burnet's account goes far to confirm Clarendon, although he differs in details. 'The military men,' he says, 'who were believed to be corrupted by France, said the place was not tenable, &c. ... The Elector of Brandenburg https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Based on ENGLAND IN THE MEDITERRANEAN : A STUDY OF THE RISE AND INFLUENCE OF BRITISH POWER WITHIN THE STRAITS -- 1603-1713 By JULIAN S. CORBETT VOL. II LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1904 https://archive.org/stream/englan…
Amb. d’Estrades did not take the bait. He put off the matter by saying his master attached little importance to the place strategically, and then proceeded to encourage Charles II in the dreams of distant empire to which the possession of Jamaica and the Portuguese alliance seemed to open the way. 1. 1. Lettres et Mimoires d'Estrades, Estrades to Louis XIV, July 11/21, 1661.
There can be little doubt that in Charles II's feint and Amb. d’Estrades's riposte we have the real meaning of the sale of Dunkirk. It was a vital factor in the return to the same policy which Cromwell had adopted when he found his dream of a Protestant conquest of Europe impracticable, and which he abandoned when his crusading hopes revived. As the zealot in Cromwell had sacrificed Gibraltar for Dunkirk, so now Albemarle's level head forced the surrender of Dunkirk for Tangier and swung the country definitely into the course that was to lead it to empire.
16 DUNKIRK AND TANGIER There was one serious man who is known to have doubted the wisdom of the sale of Dunkirk to France, and that was Gen. Frederic Armand Mainhardt, Comte de Schomberg. The famous soldier was passing through London in September 1660 on his way to take command of the Portuguese army, and he seized the moment to press Charles II to keep Dunkirk. He did not advocate the seamen's objections or the financiers'. His reasons were purely military, and his aim religious. Schomberg contended Dunkirk was a point of entry always tenable by a power that had command of the sea. The value he attached to such a point of entry is perfectly clear. He was a Calvinist, and his advice to hold Dunkirk was accompanied by an earnest appeal to Charles II to put himself at the head of a Protestant league.
Such is the story as Clarendon tells it, and there seems no reason for doubting its general truth. 1. 1. The only serious contradiction comes from Clarendon's lips. When the Comte d'Estrades came from France as Ambassador Extraordinary to arrange the marriage of Charles II's sister, Henrietta Anne “Minette”, with the Duc d'Orleans, he had secret instructions to negotiate the sale. At the outset Amb. Estrades was staggered by the high price Clarendon asked. Clarendon told him that as yet he had only gained over Charles II and the Duke of York. He had yet to convince Albemarle, Sandwich, and the Treasurer, and it was only by Louis XIV's promising a high price he could hope to do so. Clarendon clearly gave Estrades to understand that the sale was his idea, and that the other 3 men were not yet in the secret.
A week later Clarendon told the Ambassador, to Louis XIV's regret, that they had been informed of what was going on. Clearly, Clarendon, in holding his 3 powerful colleagues in the background was only using an ordinary device to drive a hard bargain. (Lettres et Mimoires d'Estrades, August 17, 21, 27, 1662. Combe's Sale of Dunkirk, pp. 7, 11, 13, etc.)
On the other hand, there are many reasons for believing Clarendon's story. Although he gives no dates at which the prolonged deliberations about Dunkirk, so circumstantially related, took place, it is certain they must have accompanied the Portuguese marriage negotiations.
Sandwich, who was present at all the meetings about Dunkirk, left London to join the fleet on June 10, 1661, and did not return to town until the end of 1662. [AH - NOW I KNOW WHY HE MISSED ALL THOSE HOUSE OF LORDS MEETINGS I NOTED! - My apologies, My Lord, you were not in your bed after all. - SDS]
The Dunkirk meetings must have begun, at the latest, immediately after the question of Charles II's marriage was settled. Also, the marriage treaty contained a clause in which Charles bound himself not to surrender Dunkirk to Spain. Such a proviso could not have been included if Charles had not already decided, in principle at least, to give up Cromwell's Protestant European Conquest idea, and to sell Dunkirk to France. It is certain that Charles lost no time in broaching the subject.
1661 TRUE REASON OF THE SALE 15 In July, 1661, the Comte d'Estrades came over to settle the marriage of Charles II's sister, Henrietta Anne (Minette) with the Duc d'Orleans.
Before French Ambassador Extraordinary d’Estrades made his public entry, Charles II sent for him for a confidential interview. After speaking of the special subject of his mission, Charles casually mentioned Dunkirk and began to talk big about its being a place d'arines [SIC] from which he could step to further conquest.
After several discussions the sale was so far approved that Charles II decided it should be brought before the secret committee of the Privy Council. Beside Charles II and his brother, James, and Chancellor Clarendon, the secret committee consisted of Treasurer Southampton, Albemarle, Sandwich, and Sir George Carteret (who had already won considerable reputation abroad as an admiral and was now Treasurer of the Navy), and the two secretaries of state — one being Albemarle's kinsman and right-hand man, Sir William Morice, who had originally arranged the first meeting with the Portuguese Ambassador. Clarendon https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… Southampton https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… Albemarle https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… Sandwich https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… Carteret https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… Morice https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
As Clarendon was ill, they met at Worcester House. The result of the conference was a unanimous opinion that on financial and strategic grounds, Dunkirk ought to be given up.
The political reasons were as strong. The Cromwellian policy to which they were returning in the Portuguese marriage involved a close alliance with France, and with the almost certain prospect of war with Spain, this alliance was more than ever necessary. So keen was Louis XIV to secure Dunkirk that its retention would probably mean war with France as well as Spain, while its cession would almost certainly buy a French alliance of the closest description. Moreover, Charles II was not satisfied with the merely secret assurance of support for his Portuguese policy that he had received from Louis XIV, and so this was a wise move for him. (By a secret article in the treaty of the Pyrenees France had an engagement with Spain in precisely the opposite sense.) Seeing the far-reaching nature of the policy on which England was about to embark, there was everything to gain and little to lose by giving up Dunkirk to France.
14 DUNKlRK AND TANGIER 1661 It was got rid of an incumbrance which had no place in England's new world-wide scheme of empire, and it acquiring something that was an essential part of the plan -- money. The decision of the secret committee was to lay the matter before the Privy Council, where it was approved with one dissentient voice.
Of all the wise actions taken throughout history, few have been more mercilessly misrepresented than the sale of Dunkirk. Justice in recent times has pointed out the good motives of the Government at the time, but the intimate connection of the surrender with the occupation of Tangier and the return to a strong Mediterranean policy often goes unnoticed. It is documented that in the final stages of the marriage negotiations the 2 ideas were so intimately related as to form one strategic whole, and there is reason to believe that from the first they were regarded as inseparable. 1. 1. Rennet's Register, pp. 91, 770; Echard, History, Car. II. p. 84.
Owing to the passions which the sale of Dunkirk afterwards aroused, note that the published accounts of the start of the affair wear a different color. All agree that Albemarle was, from the first and throughout, the firm advocate of the surrender, and that Sandwich was just as sure. Sandwich used to say that he was the first to propose it, on the grounds that Dunkirk was wholly unsuited for a naval port. All the known facts of the case confirm Clarendon's account of the transaction.
According to Clarendon, the sale of Dunkirk was arranged by Lord Treasurer Southampton, who was at his wit's end to make ends meet, in consultation with Albemarle and 'the best seamen,' and its expediency was practically decided on before the question was ever brought before him. There seems no doubt the unanimous expert opinions regarded the project as highly desirable on strategic grounds. 2. 2. Southwell to Clarendon (Leyhourne-Popliavi MSS. p. 250). Pepys also says Sandwich declared, 'if it should in Parliament be inquired into the selling of Dunkirk, he will be found to be the greatest adviser of it.'
1661 THE SALE OF DUNKIRK 13 Clarendon was shocked, and, when first approached by his colleagues, asked that the matter of the sale go no further until Charles II's opinion was taken. Whereupon Southampton persuaded Albemarle to go with him to Whitehall and broach the subject to Charles II and the Duke of York.
"The admiral being sick and on shore in Alicante for a few weeks can't have helped that situation."
It was only a week, Stephane. Sandwich was tough.
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Europe was watching Sandwich's every move. They thought England and Portugal were going to fight it out against the Dutch Republic and Spain -- with France (which didn't have a fleet to speak of) winning tactically, no matter the outcome. Unlikely partners like the Dutch and the Spanish wanted to protect their empires, and the English wanted to take one over -- the Portuguese empire was as good as any: hence this marriage (Charles is playing the long game with the Portuguese, since King Alfonso is crazy and childless).
Historians politely call this 'the pursuit of trade': why not be blunt about it? These Kings wanted to take lands and their valuable resources -- which are really empires even if they called them plantations and other psydonyms.
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"So the fleet is full of Cromwellian holdovers (reformados were deprived of their commands but allowed to keep their rank), ..."
"For instance, of late he has "taken Algiers", says a letter dated of this day (in the State Papers) from Capt. Dimond of the "Martin", presently in Lisbon. Did we know that?"
Sandwich dispatched the Martin and Capt. Bennett to Lisbon on July 27 and hasn't heard from them since. Diamond isn't mentioned. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
I suspect Diamond is reporting rumors he hears in Lisbon, since we know that Sandwich hasn't taken Algiers.
You go on with: "But all of Europe is talkin' about it, the French Gazette being just now typesetting an Extraordinary, to appear on September 23 (new style), ..."
Old style, Pepys' time, that's the beginning of October, and we aren't there yet in the Diary. Who knows what will have happened by then -- I don't!
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"Those one or two "are gone to assist the King of Portugal's fleet home from Brazil, ..."
That was a rumor about Sandwich's true assignment being the taking of the SPANISH Plate fleet, which is why De Ruyter is lurking, supposedly looking for Barbary Pirates to chase, while really monitoring Sandwich's actions.
This info come from ENGLAND IN THE MEDITERRANEAN : A STUDY OF THE RISE AND INFLUENCE OF BRITISH POWER WITHIN THE STRAITS -- 1603-1713 By JULIAN S. CORBETT VOL. II LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1904 https://archive.org/stream/englan… CHAPTEE XX THE FIRST OCCUPATION OF THE STRAITS
You're welcome, LKVM. I find it fascinating to learn about life, at sea and otherwise, at this time. How about learning your husband is sick, and having to wait a month before finding out he's fine?! Talk about stress.
Your story about your daughter helping to get your boat off the sandbank had me until you put "tied" in quotes. Do you mean the 2 hawsers (which each consists of 2 thick anchor rodes) are attached to the anchor by knots? Tying a hawser would create an enormous and unwieldy knot. Now imagine 2 of these huge knots. Perhaps they wove the ends into the rope to create a loop? But you specifically said tied. Could you find a picture for me please?
Terry's comments probably have you puzzled: "I called in at the Crane tavern at the Stocks by appointment, and there met and took leave of Mr. Fanshaw" "L&M: Cf. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… The Abbe Walter Mountagu (who was to take charge of [Lord Hinchingbrooke and his brother] in France) had sent a man to conduct them on the journey: Carte 73."
The L&M quote belongs here.
But Lyonel Fanshawe meets Pepys on another day, and accepted mail from the family for delivery to Sandwich -- Fanshawe was going to Lisbon to become secretary to the Ambassador, his cousin, Sir Richard Fanshawe. Terry must have thought Lyonel was going to Paris.
Thank you, MartinVT. Guess how I'll be spending Labor Day weekend! I read Vol. I about the Commonwealth years when I was trying to understand the background to Rupert's relationship with Pepys. Then I completely forgot about Vol II. This should explain a lot. The Victorian fascination with the Stuarts is so helpful, and thank you Gutenberg.org for making their work available to us at home and on demand. (I can't imagine going to the library and requesting the hard copy, and waiting 2 weeks for it to arrive. How did we manage?)
For its menu we go to 2 Henry IV, where Prince Hal finds an itemized bill for food in the sleeping Falstaff's pocket: 6
Item, A capon . . . . . 2s. 2d.
Item, Sauce . . . . . 4d.
Item, Sack, two gallons . . . . . 5s. 8d.
Item, Anchovies and sack after supper . . . . . 2s. 6d.
Item, Bread . . . . . ob. 7
Details of tavern / inn life can be found scattered throughout the works of the London playwrights of the late 16th century. Should they be flush with recent payment for a play, they might leave their barely furnished, rented room and meals at from the local “ordinary” to live large at an inn.
1 Hall, Hubert. Society in the Elizabethan Age (1886). 81.
The Tabard, Tabred, or Talbot as it was sometimes called, was one of the ancient hostelries which flanked the great southern road where it widened up to the foot of London Bridge. This was the house that accommodated, Chaucer's Canterbury pilgrims and many other companies bound on the same pious mission, although none, we may well believe their host, "so mery." 1
And “house” it was, albeit a large house.
The Tabard still existed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, already noted as a major literary landmark, but it was not Chaucer's building. It was described in detail in some legal proceedings:
The arrangements about the middle of Elizabeth's reign would be similar to those of any other large hostel. On the ground floor, looking on to the street, was a room called "the dark parlor"; a hall, and a general reception room, called "the parlor." This was probably the dining-room, as it opened onto the kitchen. Below the dark parlor was a cellar. On the first floor above the parlor and the hall were 3 rooms, "the middle chamber," "the corner chamber," and "Maister Hussye's chamber," with "cooklofts" over them. Above the great parlor was another room. There were also rooms called "the Entry chamber," and "the New chamber," "the Flower de Luce," and "Mr. Russell's chamber" the position of which is unspecified. Nearby were a warehouse, a coal-hole, and an oven-house, a double stable with an oat-loft over it, and a similar stable with a hay-loft over it. 2 Like most inns it consisted of a number of buildings called a “messuage”.
In 1584, the year of the lawsuit, Robert Mabbe owned the Tabbard. ...
The provision of linen ... would be lavish, even according to modern ideas. In a contemporary Inn we find 13 pairs of sheets; 15 tablecloths of damask and diapers; 3 cupboard cloths; 5 dozen and 2 table napkins; 6 dozen napkins of damask, diaper, holland, cut-work, and lead-work; 22 hand-towels; 11 towels of the same quality as the napkins; and 7 pillow-cases.
With regard to sleeping accommodation, there were joined bedsteads, with feather, flock, standing, or settle beds; bolsters, pillows, blankets, and coverlets. The remaining furniture included cupboards, side boards, chests, tables, chairs, stools, and forms. Often, too, there were a few pictures and the universal hangings. 5 A London inn was homey enough, it would seem.
September 11. Wednesday. The Hampshire came in from Sallee. Brought news that the Castle is straightly besieged by the Town, they having forts upon the points on each side at the entrance in of the river. [SIC] That from the Fort on the Castle side to the Town within musket [range] of the Castle all along is a line drawn. That a boat cannot go to the Castle but in the night, being it must go in pistol shot of the fort upon the point, and that ere long the Town must master the Castle.
Copied from The Journal of Edward Mountagu, First Earl of Sandwich Admiral and General-at-Sea 1659 - 1665
Edited by RC Anderson Printed for the Navy Records Society MDCCCCXXIX
"That from the Fort on the Castle side to the Town within musket [range] of the Castle all along is a line drawn." -- People have known about deadlines for a long time. This is the origin of our word today, which generally has less dreadful consequences in the office setting.
September 10, Tuesday. Came in a French settee which had been but 15 days from Algiers. Brought news that Sir John Lawson has taken the 2 ships that were lading wood at Bugia and the two other Algiers men-at-war, and run another ashore, and that when we shot against Algiers we killed them many men, and beat down many houses, and that they have made a great heap of our shot in the Palace yard. This day I kissed the hands of the Queen of England and the King and Queen of Portugal.
Copied from The Journal of Edward Mountagu, First Earl of Sandwich Admiral and General-at-Sea 1659 - 1665
Edited by RC Anderson Printed for the Navy Records Society MDCCCCXXIX
Section III - Mediterranean 1661/62
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A French settee -- I have a vision of a chaise longue floating up the river. Stephane, got any idea? The American Google librarian is out to lunch.
Bugia -- Gouraya (2,165 ft [660 metres]) and Cape Carbon, it receives an annual average rainfall of 40 inches (1,000 mm) and is surrounded by a fertile plain. The older town, built on the mountain slope, descends to the French-built sector spread along the road to Algiers .... Ruins remain of the small Roman veterans’ town of Saldae and of the successive Berber (Amazigh) settlement of the Bejaïa tribe, which gained importance as a fortified Ḥammādid capital in 1067. During the Middle Ages, Bougie was a pirate stronghold and was contested by various powers. It traded with Europe and introduced the wax candle (French: bougie). The Spanish occupation (1510–55), the town’s subsequent capture by the Turks, and the predominance of Algiers relegated the port to minor importance until the French occupation (1833) and the improvement of its harbour (1905–09). Bejaïa is a busy market town for the Kabylie area and exports minerals (iron ore, phosphates), foodstuffs (olive oil, wine), and cork. https://www.britannica.com/place/…
Comments
Third Reading
About Gibraltar
San Diego Sarah • Link
CONCLUSION
In 1654, Oliver Cromwell decided to turn on Spain (which had been the first country to recognise the Commonwealth of England) and seize the island of Hispaniola to make it a base for English expansion in the Caribbean.
To do so, 2 fleets were fitted out: one set out for the Caribbean and another to the western Mediterranean (with the stated objective of fighting the Barbary pirates).
The Caribbean fleet failed to seize Hispaniola but took over Jamaica instead in May 1655.
The fleet in the Mediterranean sailed off Cádiz to intercept the Spanish treasure fleet, with no success.
With the arrival of the winter, the fleet went back to England.
Spain did not declare war on England until February 1656.
Shortly afterwards, Cromwell sent a fleet of 49 English warships manned by 10,000 sailors and soldiers sailed through the Straits and reconnoitred Gibraltar.
Although they lacked a viable landing force and took no action, Oliver expressed interest in its capture: "if possessed and made tenable by us, would it not be both an advantage to our trade, and an annoyance to the Spaniards, and enable us [to] ... ease our own charge?"
In 1693, during the Nine Years' War, in which Spain and England were allies, the remnants of an English-Dutch escort squadron under the command of Adm. Sir George Rooke took refuge at Gibraltar, pursued by the French, after losing the Battle of Lagos Bay.
In 1704, Rooke returned to Gibraltar and captured it. [And it remained British, just to upset everyone. - SDS]
FROM History of Gibraltar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His…
And the British occupation of Gibralter did upset a lot of people. For instance, the fright the Vatican received just from Oliver Cromwell's 1650's cruising squadron; a Protestant gatekeeper the mouth of the Mediterranean could only be an abiding menace to Rome.
Control of the Straits of Gibraltar, the mouth of the Mediterranean, was a very big deal. Queen Elizabeth saw it, as did Cromwell, and in the 1660's Charles II was attempting it by accepting Tangier from the Portuguese.
For more about this on-going Mediterranean policy, see
ENGLAND IN THE MEDITERRANEAN : A STUDY OF THE RISE AND INFLUENCE OF BRITISH POWER WITHIN THE STRAITS 1603-1713
BY JULIAN S. CORBETT
VOL. I. and II
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1904
https://archive.org/stream/englan…
About Gibraltar
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 2
The Spanish and Dutch declared a temporary truce in 1609, but resumed hostilities in 1621 when a joint Dutch and Danish fleet arrived in the Strait to attack Spanish shipping. This time the Spanish succeeded in capturing and sinking some of the attacker's ships in the second Battle of Gibraltar, driving away the rest.
An English military presence was briefly established at Gibraltar for the first time in 1620. The Spanish granted permission for the English fleet to use Gibraltar's port as a base for operations against the Barbary pirates, who were raiding the British and Irish coasts.
Some in England wanted to turn the fleet against Spain rather than the Barbary coast. However, King James successfully resisted Parliamentary pressure to declare war on Spain and the fleet returned to England.
After King Charles ascended the throne in 1625, a second English fleet was sent to the region with instructions to "take or spoil a town" on the Spanish coast. Gibraltar was one of the proposed targets because it was small, could easily be garrisoned, supplied and defended, and was in a highly strategic location.
The English fleet instead attacked Cádiz in the belief that its sacking would be more immediately profitable. The raid turned into a fiasco. The landing force looted the town's wine stores and was evacuated after 4 days of drunkenness without anything useful being achieved.
The presence of Spain's enemies in the Straits prompted the Spanish king Philip IV to strengthen Gibraltar's defences.
A new mole and gun platforms were built, although the latter's usefulness was limited due to a lack of gunners.
The town was an unsanitary, crowded place, which probably contributed to the outbreak in 1649 of an epidemic – reportedly plague but possibly typhoid – which killed a quarter of the population.
English fleets returned to Gibraltar in 1651–52 and again in 1654–55 as temporary allies of the Spanish against French and Dutch shipping in the Straits.
About Gibraltar
San Diego Sarah • Link
To continue Terry's thoughts about the history of The Rock:
Gibraltar's inhospitable terrain made it an unpopular place to live. To boost the population in the 16th century, convicts from the kingdom of Granada were offered the possibility of serving their sentence in the Gibraltar garrison as an alternative to prison.
Despite its unattractiveness, Juan Alfonso de Guzmán, 3rd Duke of Medina Sidonia, still sought to regain control of the town. In September 1506, following Isabella's death, he laid siege, expectating the gates would quickly open to his forces.
After a fruitless 4-month blockade, he gave up. And Gibraltar received the title of "Most Loyal" from the Spanish crown in recognition of its resistance.
Despite continuing threats Gibraltar was neglected by the Spanish crown and its fortifications fell into disrepair.
Barbary pirates from North Africa took advantage of the weak defences in September 1540 by mounting a major raid in which hundreds of Gibraltar's residents were taken as hostages or slaves.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Europe was sacked and all its valuables were stolen.
Many of the captives were subsequently released when a Spanish fleet intercepted the pirate ships near Alborán as they were bringing ransomed hostages back to Gibraltar.
The Spanish crown belatedly responded to Gibraltar's vulnerability by building the Charles V Wall to control the southern flank of the Rock and strengthened other parts of the fortifications.
The seas around Gibraltar continued to be dangerous as Barbary pirate raids continued. A small squadron of Spanish galleys was based at the port to counter pirate raids, but proved to be of limited effectiveness and many inhabitants were abducted and sold into slavery by the pirates.
The problem worsened after 1606, when Spain expelled the Moriscos (Muslims who had converted to Christianity). Many of the expellees were evacuated to North Africa via Gibraltar but ended up joining the pirate fleets, either as Christian slaves or reconverted Muslims, and raided as far afield as Cornwall.
The threat to Gibraltar by the Barbary pirates was soon joined by that of Spain's enemies in northern Europe.
On 5 May 1607, during the Eighty Years' War, a Dutch fleet under Adm, Jacob van Heemskerk ambushed a Spanish fleet at anchor in the Bay of Gibraltar. The Dutch won an overwhelming victory, losing no ships and few men while the entire Spanish fleet was destroyed with the loss of 3,000 men.
About Luisa de Guzmán (Queen-Mother)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Catherine of Braganza's father, and Luisa Guzman's husband was
John IV (1604, Vila Viçosa — 1656, Lisbon) who was the king of Portugal from 1640 as a result of the national revolution, or restoration, which ended 60 years of Spanish rule. He was also known as as: João o Afortunado, João, 8o duque de Bragança, and John the Fortunate.
Joao IV founded the dynasty of Bragança (Braganza), beat off Spanish attacks, and established a system of alliances.
Joao, duke of Bragança, the wealthiest nobleman in Portugal, married Luisa de Guzmán, daughter of the Spanish duke of Medina Sidonia. The Bragança duchy, founded in 1461, was a collateral of the extinct royal House of Aviz; and, when the restorers of independence overthrew the Spanish governor on Dec. 1, 1640, they offered John the crown.
On December 15, 1640, he was enthroned as Joao IV.
Supported by the Cortes, the national assembly, he entrusted each province with its own defense and sent missions to seek recognition from France, England, and the Netherlands.
His alliance with the English Stuarts (1642) was frustrated by the English Civil Wars, but in 1654 King Joao made a new treaty with the English Commonwealth, which gained him military aid in return for trading privileges.
The Dutch, already in possession of Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil, seized Angola but were expelled from both, while retaining their conquests in the East Indies.
The Spanish were defeated at Montijo (May 26, 1644) and were blocked from further invasion.
Joao IV and his Queen Luisa governed through a royal council and a committee of the Cortes, the Board of Three Estates, and instituted the Overseas Council.
He survived attempts at assassination and Spanish attempts to influence the Vatican to isolate the Portuguese church. Joao IV was a notable composer.
At Joao IV’s death his wife became regent for their son Afonso VI (ruled 1656–83). He was replaced by his younger brother, Pedro II.
Their daughter, Catherine of Braganza, married Charles II of England in 1662.
FROM https://www.britannica.com/biogra…
AND https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
About Lisbon, Portugal
San Diego Sarah • Link
Lisbon lies near the mouth of the Tagus River, which is the longest waterway of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises in the Sierra de Albarracín of eastern Spain, at a point about 90 miles (150 km) from the Mediterranean coast, and flows westward across Spain and Portugal for 626 miles (1,007 km) to empty into the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon.
The Tagus covers the heart of Portugal and Spain and has been of vital importance to the economic development of both nations.
The upper Tagus cuts into limestone rocks and flows generally southwestward through narrow, sinuous valleys with deep canyons and abundant ravines. Near Trillo (Guadalajara province) it runs more peacefully, and just before the town of Bolarque it is now held back by the dams of Entrepeñas and Buendía, forming an artificial lake known as the Sea of Castile, which covers an area of 51 square miles (132 square km).
Again flowing southwestward, the river irrigates the fertile lands of Aranjuez and the areas around Toledo and Talavera de la Reina until it reaches the province of Cáceres. Here it again flows through narrow, steep-edged trenches formed by quartzites and shales.
At Puente de Alcántara another dam on the river has formed one of the greatest artificial lakes in Europe, with a length of 57 miles (92 km).
Less than 10 miles (16 km) downstream the river becomes the frontier between Spain and Portugal for 27 miles (43 km).
It enters Portugal at Beira and the Sierra de Carbajo, then crosses the fertile region of Abrantes.
After flowing across Portugal for 111 miles (179 km), it forms at Vila Franca de Xira the Tagus (or Lisbon) estuary, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.
Toledo is the only large Spanish city that lies along the river, which flows past the cities of Santarém and Lisbon in Portugal and supplies the latter with a fine natural harbor.
SEE https://www.britannica.com/place/… for the whole thing.
No wonder Spain wanted to keep it and Portugal!
About Thursday 29 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
He hasn't mentioned owning one, Matt. They were very expensive at the time. Maybe the bookseller had a wall clock? It would probably only have had an hour hand, and you had to guess the minutes. Or maybe he went by the traditional church bell tolling. Pepys doesn't tell us.
About Privy Council
San Diego Sarah • Link
"In 1660, when Charles II was restored, the Royal Privy Council was re-established and made up by a small group of advisers."
Charles quickly went further than that: there was a "secret committee" of 9 within the Privy Council. (That number includes Charles; I haven't figured out who the second Secretary of State was.)
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Now to find out who was in the regular, larger Privy Council.
About Dunkirk, France
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 5
Gen. Schomberg’s advocacy only confirms the wisdom of the other great soldier whose opinion was contrary. But it was fresh testimony that Dunkirk was valueless except in view of the visionary policy of a Protestant conquest.
Gen. Schomberg https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
The Elector of Brandenburg, when the sale was known, rightly read it as an abandonment of the Protestant policy. He also bewailed the sale, but on political grounds. Dunkirk would have served as a bridle both to France and Spain, he said.
In answer to his reproaches, the Elector of Brandenburg was assured that it was to make the curb more severe that the step had been taken. England's immediate object was to strengthen her naval position, and from that point of view Dunkirk was a hindrance and not a help. It required a costly garrison, and as a naval station it was useless. Its surrender was an economy of strength and money, and the price was to be spent mainly upon the navy or laid up as a war fund. 1.
1. Ranke, iii. 391, cf. Burnet, 173. Burnet's account goes far to confirm Clarendon, although he differs in details. 'The military men,' he says, 'who were believed to be corrupted by France, said the place was not tenable, &c. ...
The Elector of Brandenburg https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Based on
ENGLAND IN THE MEDITERRANEAN : A STUDY OF THE RISE AND INFLUENCE
OF BRITISH POWER WITHIN THE STRAITS -- 1603-1713
By JULIAN S. CORBETT
VOL. II
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1904
https://archive.org/stream/englan…
About Dunkirk, France
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 4
Amb. d’Estrades did not take the bait. He put off the matter by saying his master attached little importance to the place strategically, and then proceeded to encourage Charles II in the dreams of distant empire to which the possession of Jamaica and the Portuguese alliance seemed to open the way. 1.
1. Lettres et Mimoires d'Estrades, Estrades to Louis XIV, July 11/21, 1661.
There can be little doubt that in Charles II's feint and Amb. d’Estrades's riposte we have the real meaning of the sale of Dunkirk. It was a vital factor in the return to the same policy which Cromwell had adopted when he found his dream of a Protestant conquest of Europe impracticable, and which he abandoned when his crusading hopes revived.
As the zealot in Cromwell had sacrificed Gibraltar for Dunkirk, so now Albemarle's level head forced the surrender of Dunkirk for Tangier and swung the country definitely into the course that was to lead it to empire.
16 DUNKIRK AND TANGIER
There was one serious man who is known to have doubted the wisdom of the sale of Dunkirk to France, and that was Gen. Frederic Armand Mainhardt, Comte de Schomberg.
The famous soldier was passing through London in September 1660 on his way to take command of the Portuguese army, and he seized the moment to press Charles II to keep Dunkirk. He did not advocate the seamen's objections or the financiers'. His reasons were purely military, and his aim religious.
Schomberg contended Dunkirk was a point of entry always tenable by a power that had command of the sea.
The value he attached to such a point of entry is perfectly clear. He was a Calvinist, and his advice to hold Dunkirk was accompanied by an earnest appeal to Charles II to put himself at the head of a Protestant league.
About Dunkirk, France
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 3
Such is the story as Clarendon tells it, and there seems no reason for doubting its general truth. 1.
1. The only serious contradiction comes from Clarendon's lips. When the Comte d'Estrades came from France as Ambassador Extraordinary to arrange the marriage of Charles II's sister, Henrietta Anne “Minette”, with the Duc d'Orleans, he had secret instructions to negotiate the sale.
At the outset Amb. Estrades was staggered by the high price Clarendon asked. Clarendon told him that as yet he had only gained over Charles II and the Duke of York. He had yet to convince Albemarle, Sandwich, and the Treasurer, and it was only by Louis XIV's promising a high price he could hope to do so. Clarendon clearly gave Estrades to understand that the sale was his idea, and that the other 3 men were not yet in the secret.
A week later Clarendon told the Ambassador, to Louis XIV's regret, that they had been informed of what was going on. Clearly, Clarendon, in holding his 3 powerful colleagues in the background was only using an ordinary device to drive a hard bargain. (Lettres et Mimoires d'Estrades, August 17, 21, 27, 1662. Combe's Sale of Dunkirk, pp. 7, 11, 13, etc.)
On the other hand, there are many reasons for believing Clarendon's story. Although he gives no dates at which the prolonged deliberations about Dunkirk, so circumstantially related, took place, it is certain they must have accompanied the Portuguese marriage negotiations.
The match was finally announced to Parliament on May 8, 1661.
https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
Sandwich, who was present at all the meetings about Dunkirk, left London to join the fleet on June 10, 1661, and did not return to town until the end of 1662.
[AH - NOW I KNOW WHY HE MISSED ALL THOSE HOUSE OF LORDS MEETINGS I NOTED! - My apologies, My Lord, you were not in your bed after all. - SDS]
The Dunkirk meetings must have begun, at the latest, immediately after the question of Charles II's marriage was settled. Also, the marriage treaty contained a clause in which Charles bound himself not to surrender Dunkirk to Spain. Such a proviso could not have been included if Charles had not already decided, in principle at least, to give up Cromwell's Protestant European Conquest idea, and to sell Dunkirk to France. It is certain that Charles lost no time in broaching the subject.
1661 TRUE REASON OF THE SALE 15
In July, 1661, the Comte d'Estrades came over to settle the marriage of Charles II's sister, Henrietta Anne (Minette) with the Duc d'Orleans.
Before French Ambassador Extraordinary d’Estrades made his public entry, Charles II sent for him for a confidential interview. After speaking of the special subject of his mission, Charles casually mentioned Dunkirk and began to talk big about its being a place d'arines [SIC] from which he could step to further conquest.
About Dunkirk, France
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 2
After several discussions the sale was so far approved that Charles II decided it should be brought before the secret committee of the Privy Council.
Beside Charles II and his brother, James, and Chancellor Clarendon, the secret committee consisted of Treasurer Southampton, Albemarle, Sandwich, and Sir George Carteret (who had already won considerable reputation abroad as an admiral and was now Treasurer of the Navy), and the two secretaries of state — one being Albemarle's kinsman and right-hand man, Sir William Morice, who had originally arranged the first meeting with the Portuguese Ambassador.
Clarendon https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Southampton https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Albemarle https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Sandwich https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Carteret https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Morice https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
As Clarendon was ill, they met at Worcester House. The result of the conference was a unanimous opinion that on financial and strategic grounds, Dunkirk ought to be given up.
The political reasons were as strong. The Cromwellian policy to which they were returning in the Portuguese marriage involved a close alliance with France, and with the almost certain prospect of war with Spain, this alliance was more than ever necessary.
So keen was Louis XIV to secure Dunkirk that its retention would probably mean war with France as well as Spain, while its cession would almost certainly buy a French alliance of the closest description.
Moreover, Charles II was not satisfied with the merely secret assurance of support for his Portuguese policy that he had received from Louis XIV, and so this was a wise move for him. (By a secret article in the treaty of the Pyrenees France had an engagement with Spain in precisely the opposite sense.)
Seeing the far-reaching nature of the policy on which England was about to embark, there was everything to gain and little to lose by giving up Dunkirk to France.
14 DUNKlRK AND TANGIER 1661
It was got rid of an incumbrance which had no place in England's new world-wide scheme of empire, and it acquiring something that was an essential part of the plan -- money.
The decision of the secret committee was to lay the matter before the Privy Council, where it was approved with one dissentient voice.
About Dunkirk, France
San Diego Sarah • Link
Of all the wise actions taken throughout history, few have been more mercilessly misrepresented than the sale of Dunkirk.
Justice in recent times has pointed out the good motives of the Government at the time, but the intimate connection of the surrender with the occupation of Tangier and the return to a strong Mediterranean policy often goes unnoticed.
It is documented that in the final stages of the marriage negotiations the 2 ideas were so intimately related as to form one strategic whole, and there is reason to believe that from the first they were regarded as inseparable. 1.
1. Rennet's Register, pp. 91, 770; Echard, History, Car. II. p. 84.
Owing to the passions which the sale of Dunkirk afterwards aroused, note that the published accounts of the start of the affair wear a different color. All agree that Albemarle was, from the first and throughout, the firm advocate of the surrender, and that Sandwich was just as sure.
Sandwich used to say that he was the first to propose it, on the grounds that Dunkirk was wholly unsuited for a naval port. All the known facts of the case confirm Clarendon's account of the transaction.
According to Clarendon, the sale of Dunkirk was arranged by Lord Treasurer Southampton, who was at his wit's end to make ends meet, in consultation with Albemarle and 'the best seamen,' and its expediency was practically decided on before the question was ever brought before him. There seems no doubt the unanimous expert opinions regarded the project as highly desirable on strategic grounds. 2.
2. Southwell to Clarendon (Leyhourne-Popliavi MSS. p. 250). Pepys also says Sandwich declared, 'if it should in Parliament be inquired into the selling of Dunkirk, he will be found to be the greatest adviser of it.'
1661 THE SALE OF DUNKIRK 13
Clarendon was shocked, and, when first approached by his colleagues, asked that the matter of the sale go no further until Charles II's opinion was taken. Whereupon Southampton persuaded Albemarle to go with him to Whitehall and broach the subject to Charles II and the Duke of York.
About Wednesday 28 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
"The admiral being sick and on shore in Alicante for a few weeks can't have helped that situation."
It was only a week, Stephane. Sandwich was tough.
@@@
Europe was watching Sandwich's every move. They thought England and Portugal were going to fight it out against the Dutch Republic and Spain -- with France (which didn't have a fleet to speak of) winning tactically, no matter the outcome.
Unlikely partners like the Dutch and the Spanish wanted to protect their empires, and the English wanted to take one over -- the Portuguese empire was as good as any: hence this marriage (Charles is playing the long game with the Portuguese, since King Alfonso is crazy and childless).
Historians politely call this 'the pursuit of trade': why not be blunt about it? These Kings wanted to take lands and their valuable resources -- which are really empires even if they called them plantations and other psydonyms.
@@@
"So the fleet is full of Cromwellian holdovers (reformados were deprived of their commands but allowed to keep their rank), ..."
Just as Penn and Batten (Parliamentarians) planned it -- much to (Royalist) Carteret's dismay:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
@@@
"For instance, of late he has "taken Algiers", says a letter dated of this day (in the State Papers) from Capt. Dimond of the "Martin", presently in Lisbon. Did we know that?"
Sandwich dispatched the Martin and Capt. Bennett to Lisbon on July 27 and hasn't heard from them since. Diamond isn't mentioned.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
I suspect Diamond is reporting rumors he hears in Lisbon, since we know that Sandwich hasn't taken Algiers.
You go on with: "But all of Europe is talkin' about it, the French Gazette being just now typesetting an Extraordinary, to appear on September 23 (new style), ..."
Old style, Pepys' time, that's the beginning of October, and we aren't there yet in the Diary. Who knows what will have happened by then -- I don't!
@@@
"Those one or two "are gone to assist the King of Portugal's fleet home from Brazil, ..."
That was a rumor about Sandwich's true assignment being the taking of the SPANISH Plate fleet, which is why De Ruyter is lurking, supposedly looking for Barbary Pirates to chase, while really monitoring Sandwich's actions.
This info come from
ENGLAND IN THE MEDITERRANEAN : A STUDY OF THE RISE AND INFLUENCE
OF BRITISH POWER WITHIN THE STRAITS -- 1603-1713
By JULIAN S. CORBETT
VOL. II
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1904
https://archive.org/stream/englan…
CHAPTEE XX
THE FIRST OCCUPATION OF THE STRAITS
About Wednesday 28 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
You're welcome, LKVM. I find it fascinating to learn about life, at sea and otherwise, at this time. How about learning your husband is sick, and having to wait a month before finding out he's fine?! Talk about stress.
Your story about your daughter helping to get your boat off the sandbank had me until you put "tied" in quotes.
Do you mean the 2 hawsers (which each consists of 2 thick anchor rodes) are attached to the anchor by knots? Tying a hawser would create an enormous and unwieldy knot. Now imagine 2 of these huge knots. Perhaps they wove the ends into the rope to create a loop? But you specifically said tied.
Could you find a picture for me please?
About Tuesday 27 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
Terry's comments probably have you puzzled:
"I called in at the Crane tavern at the Stocks by appointment, and there met and took leave of Mr. Fanshaw"
"L&M: Cf. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… The Abbe Walter Mountagu (who was to take charge of [Lord Hinchingbrooke and his brother] in France) had sent a man to conduct them on the journey: Carte 73."
The L&M quote belongs here.
But Lyonel Fanshawe meets Pepys on another day, and accepted mail from the family for delivery to Sandwich -- Fanshawe was going to Lisbon to become secretary to the Ambassador, his cousin, Sir Richard Fanshawe.
Terry must have thought Lyonel was going to Paris.
About Thursday 29 August 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
Thank you, MartinVT. Guess how I'll be spending Labor Day weekend!
I read Vol. I about the Commonwealth years when I was trying to understand the background to Rupert's relationship with Pepys. Then I completely forgot about Vol II.
This should explain a lot.
The Victorian fascination with the Stuarts is so helpful, and thank you Gutenberg.org for making their work available to us at home and on demand. (I can't imagine going to the library and requesting the hard copy, and waiting 2 weeks for it to arrive. How did we manage?)
About Southwark
San Diego Sarah • Link
CONCLUSION:
For its menu we go to 2 Henry IV, where Prince Hal finds an itemized bill for food in the sleeping Falstaff's pocket: 6
Item, A capon . . . . . 2s. 2d.
Item, Sauce . . . . . 4d.
Item, Sack, two gallons . . . . . 5s. 8d.
Item, Anchovies and sack after supper . . . . . 2s. 6d.
Item, Bread . . . . . ob. 7
Details of tavern / inn life can be found scattered throughout the works of the London playwrights of the late 16th century. Should they be flush with recent payment for a play, they might leave their barely furnished, rented room and meals at from the local “ordinary” to live large at an inn.
1 Hall, Hubert. Society in the Elizabethan Age (1886). 81.
2 Ibid.
5 Hall. 82.
6 Shakespeare. 2 Henry IV, II.iv.
7 ob. = an obol/obolum, designated a hay-penny
Excerpted from https://vgs-pbr-reviews.blogspot.…
About Southwark
San Diego Sarah • Link
The Tabard, Tabred, or Talbot as it was sometimes called, was one of the ancient hostelries which flanked the great southern road where it widened up to the foot of London Bridge. This was the house that accommodated, Chaucer's Canterbury pilgrims and many other companies bound on the same pious mission, although none, we may well believe their host, "so mery." 1
And “house” it was, albeit a large house.
The Tabard still existed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, already noted as a major literary landmark, but it was not Chaucer's building. It was described in detail in some legal proceedings:
The arrangements about the middle of Elizabeth's reign would be similar to those of any other large hostel.
On the ground floor, looking on to the street, was a room called "the dark parlor"; a hall, and a general reception room, called "the parlor." This was probably the dining-room, as it opened onto the kitchen.
Below the dark parlor was a cellar.
On the first floor above the parlor and the hall were 3 rooms, "the middle chamber," "the corner chamber," and "Maister Hussye's chamber," with "cooklofts" over them.
Above the great parlor was another room.
There were also rooms called "the Entry chamber," and "the New chamber," "the Flower de Luce," and "Mr. Russell's chamber" the position of which is unspecified.
Nearby were a warehouse, a coal-hole, and an oven-house, a double stable with an oat-loft over it, and a similar stable with a hay-loft over it. 2
Like most inns it consisted of a number of buildings called a “messuage”.
In 1584, the year of the lawsuit, Robert Mabbe owned the Tabbard. ...
The provision of linen ... would be lavish, even according to modern ideas. In a contemporary Inn we find
13 pairs of sheets;
15 tablecloths of damask and diapers;
3 cupboard cloths;
5 dozen and 2 table napkins;
6 dozen napkins of damask, diaper, holland, cut-work, and lead-work;
22 hand-towels;
11 towels of the same quality as the napkins;
and 7 pillow-cases.
With regard to sleeping accommodation, there were joined bedsteads, with feather, flock, standing, or settle beds; bolsters, pillows, blankets, and coverlets.
The remaining furniture included cupboards, side boards, chests, tables, chairs, stools, and forms.
Often, too, there were a few pictures and the universal hangings. 5
A London inn was homey enough, it would seem.
About Wednesday 11 September 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
From Sandwich's log, at Lisbon:
September 11. Wednesday.
The Hampshire came in from Sallee.
Brought news that the Castle is straightly besieged by the Town, they having forts upon the points on each side at the entrance in of the river. [SIC]
That from the Fort on the Castle side to the Town within musket [range] of the Castle all along is a line drawn.
That a boat cannot go to the Castle but in the night, being it must go in pistol shot of the fort upon the point, and that ere long the Town must master the Castle.
Copied from
The Journal of Edward Mountagu,
First Earl of Sandwich
Admiral and General-at-Sea 1659 - 1665
Edited by RC Anderson
Printed for the Navy Records Society
MDCCCCXXIX
Section III - Mediterranean 1661/62
@@@
The Hampshire, last heard of on August 28
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Sallye / Sallee / Sale / Sala, Morocco
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
"That from the Fort on the Castle side to the Town within musket [range] of the Castle all along is a line drawn." -- People have known about deadlines for a long time. This is the origin of our word today, which generally has less dreadful consequences in the office setting.
About Tuesday 10 September 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
From Sandwich's log, at Lisbon:
September 10, Tuesday.
Came in a French settee which had been but 15 days from Algiers.
Brought news that Sir John Lawson has taken the 2 ships that were lading wood at Bugia and the two other Algiers men-at-war, and run another ashore, and that when we shot against Algiers we killed them many men, and beat down many houses, and that they have made a great heap of our shot in the Palace yard.
This day I kissed the hands of the Queen of England and the King and Queen of Portugal.
Copied from
The Journal of Edward Mountagu,
First Earl of Sandwich
Admiral and General-at-Sea 1659 - 1665
Edited by RC Anderson
Printed for the Navy Records Society
MDCCCCXXIX
Section III - Mediterranean 1661/62
@@@
A French settee -- I have a vision of a chaise longue floating up the river. Stephane, got any idea? The American Google librarian is out to lunch.
Bugia -- Gouraya (2,165 ft [660 metres]) and Cape Carbon, it receives an annual average rainfall of 40 inches (1,000 mm) and is surrounded by a fertile plain.
The older town, built on the mountain slope, descends to the French-built sector spread along the road to Algiers ....
Ruins remain of the small Roman veterans’ town of Saldae and of the successive Berber (Amazigh) settlement of the Bejaïa tribe, which gained importance as a fortified Ḥammādid capital in 1067.
During the Middle Ages, Bougie was a pirate stronghold and was contested by various powers.
It traded with Europe and introduced the wax candle (French: bougie).
The Spanish occupation (1510–55), the town’s subsequent capture by the Turks, and the predominance of Algiers relegated the port to minor importance until the French occupation (1833) and the improvement of its harbour (1905–09).
Bejaïa is a busy market town for the Kabylie area and exports minerals (iron ore, phosphates), foodstuffs (olive oil, wine), and cork.
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Algiers
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Sir John Lawson
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Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England
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Maria Luisa Francisca de Guzman, Dowager Queen of Portugal
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Alfonso VI, King of Portugal
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