Monday 23 March 1667/68
Up, and after discoursing with my wife about many things touching this day’s dinner, I abroad, and first to the taverne to pay what I owe there, but missed of seeing the mistress of the house, and there bespoke wine for dinner, and so away thence, and to Bishopsgate Streete, thinking to have found a Harpsicon-maker that used to live there before the fire, but he is gone, and I have a mind forthwith to have a little Harpsicon made me to confirm and help me in my musique notions, which my head is now-a-days full of, and I do believe will come to something that is very good. Thence to White Hall, expecting to have heard the Bishop of Lincolne, my friend, preach, for so I understood he would do yesterday, but was mistaken, and therefore away presently back again, and there find everything in good order against dinner, and at noon come Mr. Pierce and she, and Mrs. Manuel, the Jew’s wife, and Mrs. Corbet, and Mrs. Pierces boy and girl. But we are defeated of Knepp, by her being forced to act to-day, and also of Harris, which did trouble me, they being my chief guests. However, I had an extraordinary good dinner, and the better because dressed by my own servants, and were mighty merry; and here was Mr. Pelling by chance come and dined with me; and after sitting long at dinner, I had a barge ready at Tower-wharfe, to take us in, and so we went, all of us, up as high as Barne-Elms, a very fine day, and all the way sang; and Mrs. Manuel sings very finely, and is a mighty discreet, sober-carriaged woman, that both my wife and I are mightily taken with her, and sings well, and without importunity or the contrary. At Barne-Elms we walked round, and then to the barge again, and had much merry talk, and good singing; and come before it was dark to the New Exchange stairs, and there landed, and walked up to Mrs. Pierces, where we sat awhile, and then up to their dining-room. And so, having a violin and theorbo, did fall to dance, here being also Mrs. Floyd come hither, and by and by Mr. Harris. But there being so few of us that could dance, and my wife not being very well, we had not much pleasure in the dancing: there was Knepp also, by which with much pleasure we did sing a little, and so, about ten o’clock, I took coach with my wife and Deb., and so home, and there to bed.
23 Annotations
First Reading
Robert Gertz • Link
Surely there are more Jewish people in London than Mr. Manuel. But Betty and James Pierce continue to impress. I take it Mrs. Manuel's something of a semi-pro singer?
"But there being so few of us that could dance, and my wife not being very well, we had not much pleasure in the dancing..." So the Pembleton lessons paid off and Bess can really cut a rug when in good health?
Interesting...I wonder if any of my friends or family know me as the Jew's husband?
Gay says "Oh, yeah."
Spoiler ahoy...A big one...
I suppose some of us are already monitoring Bess' daily health wondering if there are any coming indications of underlying illness that will play a role in post-Diary time. Of course I refer to anything weakening her, not the actual(you know).
Gus Spier • Link
Jews were expelled from England in 1290 by the Act of Expulsion. The act remained in force til 1656. I suspect that any Jew in country at that time would be something of a curiosity. See WikiPedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edic….
Christopher Squire • Link
The Jews were invited to return by Cromwell, I think, but I do not know how many did.
‘bespeak v. . . 5.a. To speak for; to arrange for, engage beforehand; to ‘order’ (goods).
. . 1688 in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. ii. 367. IV. 143 The six thousand pair of Shoes which he bispoke at Exeter.’ [OED]
re: ‘to take us in’: this means going upriver on the tide, a long way to Barnes from the City, and then returning on the current of the river. This map gives an idea of the trip: http://strangemaps.files.wordpres…
Re: Bess: No more spoilers, please. Some of us are reading this Real Time.
Terry Foreman • Link
Jews in England During Pepys’s lifetime up to now:
1290 -1656 The period between the expulsion of the Jews in 1290 and their readmission in 1656 is generally called ‘The Middle Period’. Although there was no Jewish community during this period, Jews visited Britain from time to time for various reasons and some Marranos established themselves in Britain for periods of time
31 October, 1655 Humble address from Menasseh ben Israel to Oliver Cromwell. A fortnight later on 13 November he submitted a petition for the readmission of Jews to England
December, 1655Whitehall Conference to discuss the petition. Dissolved by Cromwell before it reached a decision
1656 Although no formal agreement on readmission, Jewish residents of London began living openly as Jews
December, 1656 First Synagogue established after Readmission
February, 1657 First Cemetery acquired in Mile End
14 October, 1663 Samuel Pepys visits the Synagogue on Simchat Torah http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
1664 Bylaws (Ascamot) of new community agreed
22 August, 1664 Jews granted Royal protection
January, 1667 Jews allowed to swear in Court on the Old Testament
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.o…
Paul Chapin • Link
Another revelation (to me) from this site. I never knew the Jews had been expelled from England for centuries. Slightly lessens my disdain for Ferdinand and Isabella. And it puts a whole new light for me on The Merchant of Venice. Will S. perhaps never met a Jew, and Shylock was totally a creation of his imagination. If he had actually known some, instead of just the stereotypes, maybe the depiction would have been less nasty.
Robert Gertz • Link
If Mrs. M was a Christian married to a Jew that actually might have been the curiosity for Sam.
I don't know...Shylock was certainly the first Jewish character in English portrayed as something of a human being rather than the caricature of say, Marlowe's "Jew of Malta". Of course many critics have debated whether Shakespeare's gift for creating human characters and personalities overwhelmed his traditional stock Jew villain, notably Harold Bloom in "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human". One can't say Shylock is a sympathetic portrayal by any means but he is certainly grounded in real human motives and his bitterness and wrath have a basis.
Mary • Link
The following link (click on London) gives a brief account of the earlier arrival of Jewish families in 17th century London prior to the 1655 Whitehall Conference.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.o…
Don McCahill • Link
> Will S. perhaps never met a Jew, and Shylock was totally a creation of his imagination
I doubt that. As Terry's note said, in 1656 Jews began living openly in London. I suspect that prior to that time, even back to the late 16th C, there were Jews who feigned Christianity (just as Catholics did during those times).
I know it was nearly 200 years later, but I am reminded of Fagin, from Oliver Twist, living in abandoned buildings and hovels, moving from time to time. I suspect that might have been the life of the average English Jew in the 1550-1650 times.
nix • Link
Did Shakespeare ever meet a Jew?
Here are links to some articles considering the question and concluding (or assuming) that he did not:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12…
http://www.jewishmag.com/134mag/s…
As Terry notes, the expulsion may have prohibited Jews from residing in England, but that didn't necessarily mean no Jews set foot on English soil for brief periods -- London was a center for trade and finance, and even royal decrees have a way of yielding to commerce on these points. (Recall apartheid South Africa's treatment of Japanese businessmen as "honorary whites.")
But I don't think I have ever heard of any actual evidence that Shakespeare would have had interactive contact with these visiting businessmen -- it is farfetched to think he would have socialized with them as Samuel does with the Manuels.
A. De Araujo • Link
"and Mrs Manuel sings very finely"
What could she be singing?the late Victoria de Los Angeles,sephardic songs,come to mind.
Rex Gordon 2 • Link
There are several recent books about Shakespeare - the one by Michael Wood comes to mind - which argue persuasively that Shakespeare not only knew Jews in London, but they were Venetian Jews and fellow boarders at the house in which he lived. One of them may have been his mistress and the Dark Lady of the sonnets. This was precisely the period in which Merchant of Venice was written. The argument is fascinating and worth reading.
Terry Foreman • Link
To His Highnesse The Lord Protector of the Common-Wealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Humble Addresses of Menasseh Ben Israel, A Divine and Doctor of Physick, in Behalf of The Jewish Nation. [1655]
http://www.jewish-history.com/Occ…
For some context.
Australian Susan • Link
Anthony Burgess's fictionalised "biography" of Shakespeare written in the 60s - Nothing Like the Sun - hints at the Dark Lady as being Jewish and that she gave him syphilis from which he died. Then there is a truly dreadful novel by the otherwise excellent crime writer Faye Kellerman The Quality of Mercy which has the dark lady as a Jew and bearing WS's child.
Second Reading
Doug Quixote • Link
The discussion regarding Shylock is given an entirely different slant if Edward De Vere (who went to Italy and Venice in particular for nearly a year) was in fact the Bard. He met and dealt with Jews and those who loved to hate them. The plays set in Italy make a great deal more sense if De Vere the 17th Earl of Oxford was the author.
Terry Foreman • Link
" to Bishopsgate Streete, thinking to have found a Harpsicon-maker that used to live there before the fire, "
L&M: ? Cf. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
San Diego Sarah • Link
March 23. 1668
Falmouth.
Thos. Holden to Hickes.
Sir Edw. Spragg has joined Sir Thos. Allin, who continues cruising about the Lizard.
There is a dispute between them as to who shall bear the flag, and meanwhile both wear it.
The Antelope is now in harbour for repairs to her mast.
[S.P. Dom., Car. II. 237, No. 39.]
'Charles II: March 1668', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles II, 1667-8, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 1893), pp. 262-320. British History Online
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
Will it be daggers at dawn on the quarterdeck, or will they toss for it?
San Diego Sarah • Link
[March.] 1668 -- my best guess for the probable day of writing
H. H. to [Sir Rob. Carr].
[Robert Carr was a MP for Lincolnshire.]
I attended 5 meetings on Sunday; one of the Independents, Presbyterians, and Quakers, and two of the fifth monarchy men;
but there was nothing material beyond their stirring up one another to union, the rather because of the near approach of the great day;
disclaiming the actions of those in the country as giddy, and running without their leader.
A Herefordshire fifth monarchy man, a scholar, said that the great work was to understand the language of their Lord and King, and be always ready to go when He called, and not before;
that to seek by prudential policy to avoid danger is the way to be involved in it, and that if they would save their own or their relations' lives, they were to be valiant for the Lord.
This meeting was in Blue Anchor Alley, Old Street.
The Quakers were much on the same strain at their great meeting at Stepney.
Vavasour Powell, the great metropolitan fifth monarchy preacher, is to preach at Mr. Nye's meeting in Blue Anchor Alley next Sunday.
I have devoted much time to this business, but have not yet found out the press, though by following Beeston's wife, I am confident it is in one of five houses in Blue Anchor Alley; but by reason of so many back doors, bye-holes, and passages, and the sectarians so swarming thereabouts, I have been afraid of being discovered in scouting, but I saw one of Darby's men at the meeting.
Someone should attend a meeting to be held in Five Foot Lane, Horselydown, as it is to be one of the biggest that has been held in Southwark, and the most factious, chiefly consisting of commonwealth fighting Baptists, soundly seasoned with the fifth monarchy principles.
I hear that Nathaniel Strange has preached amongst them 2 or 3 times of late;
they want that small number of old soldiers disbanded who are the only terror of those who are for cutting the ears of all government but their own fancies, and they try to beget evil opinions of parliaments.
[S.P. Dom., Car. II. 237, No. 140.]
Now what's up?
'Charles II: March 1668', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles II, 1667-8, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 1893), pp. 262-320. British History Online
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Up, and after discoursing with my wife about many things touching this day’s dinner,"
On 26th March 1658, Samuel Pepys was "cut for the stone".
Each year on the same date, or near to it, he has a celebration in thanks of being delivered safely from the both the stone and the dangerous operation to remove it.
San Diego Sarah • Link
Today is Easter Monday; it seems Pepys has the day off.
I suppose Bishops held services and preached every day at Whitehall, just in case the Stuart Brothers or courtiers felt like attending. Or has Easter Monday been a holiday for longer than I knew?
David G • Link
On the subject of Jews in London during Pepys's time, The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish, published a few years ago, is an excellent novel about a Jewish woman set in London, mostly in the mid-1660s.
Gillian Bagwell • Link
I had the same thought, Doug Quixote, about Edward De Vere. Who also spent quite a lot of time in Italy, unlike the Stratford man.
Kelvin Hard • Link
I have never understood the drive to find an alternative author for Shakespeare’s works. The “Italy” of his plays is hardly Italian. He had never been to Ancient Rome either, but that didn’t stop him from writing Julius Caesar. There is ample documentary and contemporary evidence that Shakespeare’s works were written by - well - William Shakespeare.
Judith • Link
It would appear that Shakespeare met Jews in London. One Jew, Henry Nunes was famous for being the first person to tell the Royal Court of the Spanish Armada's approach in 1588 and Dr Rodrigo Lopez was famously the only doctor ever to be executed and was Elizabeth I's doctor for over a decade till his execution in 1594. Both of these men were crypto Jews fleeing persecution in Spain/Portugal and there is a lot written as to whether people feared them as Jews or whether they were feared as those coming from the Iberian peninsula. Despite the expulsion in 1290, there are documented Jews in London from 1315 onwards, albeit individuals rather than communities. James I seems to have got rid of them again and the Whitehall Conference established that the 1290 expulsion was a Royal Edict, rather than an Act of Parliament and therefore ceased to be legal after the death of the monarch at that time. Lawyers argued that there was no need for a vote as the expulsion was not legal.