The Knights Templar - Banking and Secrecy

by Scott Higginbotham

Image by Scott Higginbotham

The Knights Templar merged the ideal of a knight with the monastic life.  They observed the hours of service in the same fashion as monks, but relaxed those duties during times of war.  However, these warrior monks had their hands dabbling in more than just warfare and ecclesiastical duties – they were merchants, landowners, and bankers.  And running hard on the heels of their banking innovations, a system of secure communication and codes developed, evoking thoughts of a sophisticated military intelligence network.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land was fraught with danger.  Bandits preyed on the faithful as an easy source of income as most pilgrims would not have the funds to hire a personal army.  Modern travelers use a combination of cash, debit, and credit cards (not all in one purse or wallet) when they travel to spread the risk in case of theft - the wisest course.  There were no banks, ATM’s, or credit cards during the Crusades or along the pilgrimage routes.  Of course not.Or has history proved our ill-conceived notions wrong?

But how can anyone be expected to believe that knights and Crusaders, let alone monks, have the requisite skills to become bankers?  If we can swallow that idea, then believing that they still operate in an underground lair beneath Denver’s airport where they stealthily dominate the world isn’t so far-fetched.  Yes, there are those that hold this view.  

Historical fact is indeed stranger than fiction, though. The Knights Templar were pioneers in more than just their unique role as that of warrior monks; they developed a system of banking, complete with a shadow of the system of checking accounts and credit cards that we enjoy today.  As mentioned before, the Templars were landowners and merchants; moreover, they received donations in the form of land and coin from wealthy nobles and monarchs, but were exempt from paying taxes and homage to any earthly person, save the pope.  Their wealth grew from their humble beginning as their star rose; as a consequence, banking became another revenue stream and a safer means of travel for pilgrims.

Image by Scott Higginbotham

The revenues from their estates funded their operations in Outremer and they had become savvy in business and even owned a fleet of ships to transfer goods, people, soldiers, and gold to the Holy Land.  As a direct result: “The Order also had to develop a sophisticated financial and banking operation. Money raised by its estates had to be transmitted to the 'sharp end' - the Holy Land. As the Templars developed a reputation for the secure transfer of funds, the demand grew for them to do the same on behalf of pilgrims and other travellers. From this developed a system of credit, so that a pilgrim could deposit funds at a Templar preceptory in his home country, and then draw goods and services from other Templar houses along his route. And so, in effect, the Templars invented the principles of the modern chequebook and credit card.”¹

The banking service was not free, but most pilgrims found this method a better alternative than traveling with one’s life savings.  But what about fraud?  Where there is innovation, thieves search for ways around the system, however, these red-crossed monks and savvy bankers knew a little about secrecy – “The other consequence of the banking operations came from a demand for secure communications. As can be seen from today's credit card crimes, a move away from hard cash is open to fraud and forgery - how, for example, could one Templar house be sure that a document presented to them really did come from another Templar house on the other side of Europe? The knights therefore developed a system of codes, both for identification and for the safe passing of information.”²  This system of banking required deposit and withdrawal information, which was secured by coded ciphers – it’s ancillary effects led to a sophisticated network of information exchange from one preceptory to another, chiefly military intelligence.

The Knights Templar were more than just knights following a strict monastic rule.  They were also bankers who developed codes, networks, contacts, and an almost unhealthy obsession with privacy - some would call it conspiracy.  It is this devotion to secrecy that allows the facts and their legend to endure.  
 
Be sure to watch the short slide show of a Templar preceptory in Sussex, UK. 

So, what about their secret lair underneath Denver’s airport?  Find the truth here!

¹Temple of Mysteries (2010-12-01). The Knights Templar (Kindle Locations 534-538). Temple of Mysteries. Kindle Edition.

²Temple of Mysteries (2010-12-01). The Knights Templar (Kindle Locations 541-544). Temple of Mysteries. Kindle Edition.    

Scott Higginbotham is the author of A Soul’s Ransom, a novel set in the fourteenth century where William de Courtenay’s mettle is tested, weighed, and refined, and For A Thousand Generations, where Edward Leaver navigates a world where his purpose is defined with an eye to the future.

Boy actors to the great Queen Elizabeth

by Stephanie Cowell

Nathan Field, boy actor

The world of the theater of Shakespeare’s day was completely masculine. Young boys were trained to play the women’s roles. The first Juliet and the first Ophelia were boys whose voices were not yet broken. It was a very new profession and did not even have a Guild. Professional actors had grown from the medieval theater. When they gathered together to play in the 16^th century, it was first in inn yards. The first real theater was not built until 1576. Within ten years theater had begun to soar, particularly because the Queen and her court patronized it.

Women did not appear on the Elizabethan stage (though they played in court masques); it was considered indecent for a woman to appear in a play. On the contrary, the Puritans felt it was indecent for boys to play women; they were fairly horrified at this cross-dressing and believed it encouraged homosexual lust. So everyone regarded something as indecent on this subject! This tug of war continued to the fall of the king when all theater was forbidden by 1640. Until then, the boys played on in wigs and rouge and petticoats.

But in 1593, theater was blossoming in London.  A new rising playwright from Stratford called Shakespeare was filling the seats of the open-air hexagonal roofless Theater in Shoreditch, and picking up extra money playing for the Court especially on holidays: tender love stories, invigorating histories, riotous comedies. Boys between perhaps 10 and 16 were needed to play the women.

Boys needed a great deal of training very quickly before their voices broke or they grew to bearded men six feet tall. Many of the principle adult actors took a few boys into their households where they were trained in fencing, acting, singing, dancing, playing instruments. To portray credible women, the boys wore wigs and breast padding and makeup. For the first Cleopatra, a role of tremendous difficulty, I imagine they used a boy in his midteens whose voice was light in texture. 

The names of some of the boys have come down to us. Alexander Cooke was apprenticed to John Heminges, an actor and Shakespeare’s dear friend.  Robert Goffe created the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. And then there was the amazingly handsome Nathan Field. His father was a Puritan preacher who preached against the sins of playgiving, and yet (likely to his father’s horror) he was impressed, much as soldiers were then, into appearing with the Queen’s choir and, as a side occupation, with a troupe of all boy players called The Children of the Chapel Royal. What could his outraged father do? The Queen needed the boy’s beautiful face and charm and likely sweet singing voice and what the Queen needed, she was given. (Field grew up to be a true lady’s man and gorgeous.)

The difficulty and delight of their profession! And what fun it must have been and yet what a responsibility to speak great lines, to have an audience weep over you, to idealize you and to perform before the Queen. For noble and royal patronage protected the new acting troupes. Queen Bess loved theater and many times a year, especially around Christmastide, the acting troupes were summoned to play before her.

In the first part of my novel NICHOLAS COOKE, the 13-year-old Nicholas, a boy player with Shakespeare’s theater troupe, is given one of his first speaking roles in a performance before the Queen at Greenwich Palace. As he waits for his part in the play which does not come before the end, he becomes more and more anxious though one of the men actors assures him, “Why, the Queen’s but a woman like my wife!’

While the other actors are playing, the curious Nicholas goes wandering in Greenwich Palace, and stumbles alone into the Queen’s chambers “…The bedroom itself was hung with tapestries, and of the bed I can say I have never seen such a profundity of creamy white satin, of bolster and pillow and feather quilt. Pictures of the Tudor kings hung high on the walls…..from far below came the laughter of the play. I flew down the steps towards the door of our tiring room. Six or seven times I mistook it and was about to try the last when it flung open and I saw [my master’s] anxious face. “The Lady Prioress must appear now!” he whispered. “Go, Nick!” I rushed through the door to the banqueting hall and up the steps to the stage. The brilliance of the torches overwhelming me as I looked into the audience.

“At the end of the hall on a raised chair with steps mounted to it sat an irritable old woman with a brilliant, curling red wig and a bejeweled dress. I thought, oh this is she!...It so stunned me that when I opened my lips, no words came.”

The boy players were serious and dedicated on stage. I imagine them to have been a little like the young actor I saw a few years ago as Billy Elliot, receiving his applause breathless, amazed. Did one of the boy actors who played at Court ever sit by his fire years later and tell his grandchildren, “Aye, I remember acting in a play with Will Shakespeare on a cold night in Greenwich Palace before the great Queen Bess…and after we bowed before her and danced and then we gathered up our costumes and props and took a boat home on the Thames. Those were the great days of theater, my loves! They shall not come again.”

_______________________

Historical novelist Stephanie Cowell’s novel Nicholas Cooke: actor, soldier, physician, priest, first published in 1993, was called “Compelling reading, particularly for its rich and accurate detail,” by the San Francisco Examiner and “a detailed portrait of Shakespearean England,” by Kirkus.  It is now available as a Kindle e-book.  Stephanie also the author of The Physician of London, The Players: a novel of the young Shakespeare, Marrying Mozart and Claude & Camille: a novel of Monet. She is the recipient of the American Book Award. Her work has been translated into nine languages. Her website is http://www.stephaniecowell.com.

What Were the Royals Doing? and Theatre August 16-18, 1819

by Debra Brown

I hope you don't tire of my newspaper reports, because I am enthralled with the wording and the points brought out in ages old papers. I make sure my kitchen counter is spotless and my hands are clean before I bring out my treasures- in this case, an 1819 London Times. Mind you, I also get out a magnifying glass as the print is miniaturized, apparently meant to be read by a grasshopper.

Just as magazines today report on the schedule of the Queen (and the Royal Family) and even inform us of what she had with her tea, there were reports in the old newspapers which were made of, back then, rags. Paper made from trees was yet a couple of decades away.

And now for the royal reports:

"Cowes, August 16.--The Duke of York will certainly be here to-day, and, with his Royal Highness the Prince-Regent, will honour the Earl of Cavan, at Eaglehurst, with their company at dinner. To-morrow, Lord Henry Seymour is to have the honour of entertaining his Royal Highness at his splendid mansion at East Cowes. His Lordship is universally beloved in the island, and his liberal and hospitable spirit has induced him to open his lawn and grounds to the public, who are to be treated with refreshments at his Lordship's entire expense. The Prince-Regent has directed Sir B. Bloomfield to look out for land whereupon he can build; and already the moorings for the Royal Yacht are fixed in our roadstead. He says he shall pay us an annual visit for a month together. The Prince at present intends to remain here a fortnight longer."

"Windor, Aug. 17.--Lord St. Helen's, as a Member of the Council, is in waiting here on the King. Saturday, the Duchess of Glocester, accompanied by the Princess Augusta, rode to Bagshot, to view the alterations, improvements, and repairs, which have been proceeding there for some months past. Their Royal Highnesses returned to the palace for dinner."

"THE DUCHESS OF KENT'S BIRTH-DAY.--Yesterday being the Duchess of Kent's birth-day, the Duke made arrangements for rejoicing on the occasion. In the morning, at half-past six o'clock, the Princess Feodor, attended by her music-master and the whole of the domestics, was in the room adjoining the Duke and Duchess's, to serenade her Royal mother with God Save the King. In the course of the day several distinguished characters called at the Palace, to leave their names and dutiful respects on the happy return of the day. Their Royal Highnesses had a dinner party in honour of the day. Among the company were, the Duke of Sussex, the Princess Augusta, the Duchess of Glocester, the Duchess of York, and the Princess Sophia Matilda. After dinner the company adjourned to the apartments of the Duke of Sussex, in the Palace, where his Royal Highness entertained them with tea, coffee &c. and a select concert, under the direction of Sir George Smart, who presided at the grand pianoforte."

That was it. Not enough? I could share with you some of the Theatre information.

"For the BENEFIT of Mr. WARDE.
THEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET
THIS EVENING, THE FOUNDLING OF THE FOREST.
Count de Valmont, Mr. Warde.
After which, BLUE DEVILS.
To conclude with THE PRISONER AT LARGE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THEATRE-ROYAL, ENGLISH OPERA-HOUSE.
THIS EVENING, THE PADLOCK.
After which, (11th time), an entirely new Operetta called
BELLES WITHOUT BEAUS!
or, The Ladies among themselves.
To which will be added, a new Entertainment, in one act, called
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, BY ADVERTISEMENT.
To conclude with WALK FOR A WAGER.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SADLER'S WELLS.
From the great approbation bestowed on the new
Aquatic Melodrama
It will be repeated every evening till further notice.
THIS and three following EVENINGS
the entertainments will commence with a romantic melo-dramatic burletta, called THE BOLD BUCANIERS; Robinson Crusoe, Mr. Campbell; Friday, Mr. Grimaldi,
Iglou, Mr. Bologna; Paraboo, Mr. Hartland.
After which a new musical interlude,
called the CALIPH AND THE CADI;
or Rambles in Bagdad:
characters by Messrs. Campbell, Mears. Barnes, O'Rourke,
G. Crisp, and Miss Neville;
principle dancers, Mr. W. Kirby, and Mrs. Best.
To conclude with a new Aquatic Melodrama,
called THE IDIOT HEIR.
The whole of the last scene exhibited on real water, representing the overthrow of the usurper, and total destruction of the castle by fire.
Doors open at half-past 5; begin at half-past 6.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VAUXHALL.
Under the Patronage of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent.
THIS EVENING, Aug. 18th, a GRAND GALA;
when Monsieur, Mademoiselle, and Madame Saqui, will go through their surprising evolutions. At the end of the concert, Madame Saqui will make an astonishing ascent on the Tight Rope, amidst a brilliant display of Fire-works by Signora Hengler.
Admission 3s. 6d. Doors open at 7; the concert to begin at 8 o'clock.


There you have it. A brief summary of what was going on in mid-August, 1819, and how it was written up in the newspapers.

Debra Brown is the author of The Companion of Lady Holmeshire, an early Victorian novel.

The Glorious (ish) 1st of June

by Jonathan Hopkins

 When France’s revolutionary government declared war on Britain in 1793, the country breathed a collective sigh of despair. Since being drummed out of America in 1776 things had not gone well for the British, militarily.

They were forced from their toehold on the French mainland at Toulon thanks largely to the clever tactics of a young artillery captain called Napoleon Buonaparte. And the Duke of York’s campaign in Flanders was becoming bogged down after minor early successes.

Britain needed a victory. Something to shout about: to help restore collective morale and take people’s minds off growing social unrest at home. So when in the spring of 1794 the Admiralty got wind of a large enemy grain convoy returning to France from America, the English Channel fleet, under Admiral Lord Howe, was ordered to intercept it.

Sixty-nine years old at that time, Richard Howe joined the navy at thirteen and having been successfully involved in many previous naval actions he was highly regarded, both by his peers and the ordinary seamen serving under him, as a master tactician and humanitarian. Which two didn’t often go together.

Howe’s fleet of 26 ships of the line (battleships) and 12 support vessels sighted the enemy on 27^th May, in heavy seas, four hundred miles out into the Atlantic from the French coast. By next afternoon his leading ships were close enough to trade shots with the rearmost warships of the French escort squadron before rain and fog closed in, effectively putting an end to the action.

The following day the wind had dropped from gale force. With the French fleet still ahead and in more favourable winds Howe ordered his ships to tack. Angling upwind gave the British a speed advantage and they soon caught up with the enemy. But they were still too far away to engage in the most usual form of sea battle, a broadside-to-broadside cannon duel with their opponents.

So Howe determined on a tactic later to be made famous by Nelson at both the battles of the Nile and Trafalgar. With the enemy fleet sailing stretched out line-astern (nose to tail), he ordered his leading ships to turn almost at right-angles to break through their line.

Howe knew only too well this was a risky plan. Approaching the enemy bows-on meant though the British ships made smaller targets they could bring  few guns to bear, while the French could fire all cannon, on one side, at them. The attackers must wait, enduring French gunfire, for it was only as a British ship broke through the enemy line that it could fire back. Then it could use cannon on both sides and so engage the bow of one ship and the stern of another, without much in the way of retaliation possible from either.

When that happened, carnage was the usual result. A ship’s gundeck was one long, clear space, allowing crews as much room as possible in which to work. Any cannonball smashing through bow or stern could in theory travel the whole length of the deck, mangling anything in its path. A French sailor at Trafalgar reported a single shot killing and maiming ten men as it passed through his ship.

The weather then intervened again. A sea mist came down in the evening, prompting Howe to sensibly disengage, avoiding the risk of accidental collision and 'friendly fire'. Several ships on both sides had been badly damaged and during the night jury-rig sails were hurriedly prepared to keep them on the move. By morning the French fleet had moved off and when the fog cleared in the afternoon Howe realised they were now too distant to attack that day.

The 1^st of June dawned cloudy and with a heavy swell. Despite the French having pulled further ahead during the night, with the best of the wind Howe soon caught them and by 9.30am was once again ordering his fleet to turn, in line-abreast this time, to engage the enemy.

The battle lasted four hours. Many ships having fought themselves to a standstill, Howe then signalled a halt. A dozen French warships had been disabled and though the enemy managed to take five under tow, the British captured six. The French 84 gun Vengeur sank, and despite rescue boats launched from a British frigate to pick up survivors many of her sailors drowned.

The loss of any ship this way was classed a major disaster. Oak warships could take a huge amount of punishment and still remain afloat unless fire took hold, exploding the powder magazine. Sinking an opponent in battle was not the idea, rather disablement and capture whence hull and contents could be sailed or towed to a friendly port and sold, providing prize money for the victorious captain and his crew. And since a huge number of sailors were unable to swim, casualties from sinkings were always high.

Talking of which, the British suffered 287 killed and 811 wounded in the whole engagement, the French approximately 1500 killed, 2000 wounded and 3500 made prisoner.

So how ‘Glorious’ was the 1^st of June?

Despite Howe’s prizes, and some captains complained he should have let the action continue until more enemy ships were boarded to be taken in tow, the enemy merchant fleet escaped, prompting the French to count the battle their victory and honour seamen who died when the Vengeur sank as martyrs to the revolutionary cause.

In Howe’s defence he had engaged and half-destroyed a French battle fleet of more heavily armed ships than those he commanded, he was by now 600 miles out to sea, and many of his own vessels needed repairs before they could make for home.

And be fair - at his age, after four days continuous alert and action he was entitled to a rest!

In any event, the battle prompted wild celebration on both sides of the English Channel. Howe was hailed a hero and once again enhanced his reputation as a commander: presented with a jewelled sword by George III he ordered it sent around every ship in the fleet together with a letter of praise from the King which was read out to ordinary sailors, the men who had borne the brunt of the fighting. Knew how to boost men’s morale, did Howe. Apparently one of Nelson’s most treasured possessions was a note of congratulation he received from Howe after the Battle of the Nile.

Anyway, after the Glorious 1st, Britain never lost a major sea battle during the whole Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. That was pretty glorious, really.


Jonathan Hopkins usually writes about British cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars. But since his third story is set partly aboard ship he thought he'd better do some research!

You can find out more here http://www.cavalrytales.co.uk/

The Lady's Monthly Museum

by M.M. Bennetts

During the last years of the 18th century and well into the early 19th century, as female literacy and affluence increased, there was a growing body of publications designed to meet this burgeoning demand for feminine entertainment.

This is an age of when great poetry not only sells, it sells well--Byron's Childe Harold doesn't just sell well, it's a runaway best-seller along the lines of the Da Vinci Code.  Austen's Sense & Sensibility causes such a sensation, Lady Caroline Lamb's mother is writing about it, saying that everyone in the Spencer household is wholly taken up with it and talks of nothing else.

It is--make no doubt--a literate society and whilst the salons of English ladies may not reach the intellectual and political heights achieved by Frenchwomen of the period, that doesn't make them literary slouches.

The Lady's Monthly Museum or Polite Repository of Amusement and Instruction: Being an Assemblage of whatever can tend to please the Fancy, interest the Mind or exalt the Character of The British Fair.  Written "By a Society of Ladies", was one of the immensely popular periodicals published during this period.

(I did not make up that title, I can assure you.  I merely copied what is in the frontispiece of the volume at hand.)

It was published by Vernor and Hood in London, from 1798 until 1832 and provides a rather different window into the world of the early 19th century lady than one might imagine based on novels and histories about the age.

Volume five (being the one I possess) is a good example.  The contents include an article about one Miss Linwood (who apparently is a painter of some note), and the following articles titled:  Impostors, The Generous Host, Habit, a series of invented letters called The Old Woman, three chapters of a  serialised romance by the title of The Castle De Warrenne, the Editor's Reply to Mrs. Saveall's Letter--with some useful hints upon the government of the Temper, On Celibacy and Marriage, A Character, The Poor Sailor Boy, On a Passage in Sterne...and last, but not least, Jane of Flanders; Or, the Siege of Hennebonne, Scene III of a Drama in Two Acts which is continued from Volume IV (perfect for home dramatics).

(Later issues contain a great deal of poetry, a Pattern for a Carpet in Needlework, articles on the Manners of Parisian Ladies and under School of Arts, "To destroy Bugs".  And curiously enough, my copy does not have--with the exception of the needlework pattern--fashion plates or pictures of any kind.)

Equally, it's vital to bear in mind that each of these volumes had an enormous reach.  Though initially received by one household, once read, the volume would have been lent about the neighbourhood, and each of the articles probably read or heard by well over 50 women.

My favourite offering from this particular volume is the Romance--The Castle De Warrenne, possibly because it's so silly, but just as much because it provides an insight into what they were reading, what books and ideas were popular, how they spoke and wrote, and how the early 19th century female perceived themselves, how they perceived heroism and romance.

This is the opening:  "Slowly and heavily the bell of the great clock in the turret tolled out three: the gloomy mists of night were gradually dispersing, while a faint yellow, tinging the eastern atmosphere, already indicated the approach of day.

"Matilda started from her couch yet wet with tears, and which had that night afforded her but broken and imperfect slumbers.  Fearing that she had exceeded the appointed time, she hastily arrayed herself in her simple habit, and, bending mournfully over the bed of the yet sleeping Raymond, bestowed innumerable kisses on his dimpled mouth.

"'Sweet babe!' cried she in an agony of tears: 'perhaps I for the last time view they lovely countenance!--no longer shall I receive pleasure from thy innocent endearments!  Oh!  Why does Virtue demand this painful sacrifice!--My dear Lady, too,----all---all lost!!'

"Again she pressed her lips to those of the child, who opened his eyes, and, fixing them on Matilda, smiled sweetly.  The smile undid all her resolution; and, seating herself by his side, she soothed him with her accustomed tenderness, heedless of the passing time.  The clock again reminded her of her tardiness, and with reluctance, she replaced the child; and, casting a mournful look round her little apartment, departed.

"With trembling steps and perturbed heart she descended the great staircase.  All was yet profoundly still.  At the appointed spot she met Jaques, who waited (faithful to the trust reposed in him) to open the gate for her."

(I shall skip ahead to the description of our heroine now, because you won't want to miss this.)

"Matilda, at this period, had just completed her fourteenth year.  Her figure was elegantly formed, and though it had not yet attained its perfect stature, was nevertheless far from contemptible.  Her complexion, exquisitely fair, was admirably contrasted with a profusion of chestnut-coloured hair, which fell in careless ringlets over her forehead and bosom.  Her eyes were bright and piercing, and the contraction of the eyes at the temples gave an expression of archness highly fascinating.

"Her dress consisted of a gray camlet jacket and petticoat, neatly bound with black ribbon, which served to exhibit to advantage her fine shape.  A net fillet confined the superfluous hair, over which was tied a little black chip hat; and a pair of blue silk mittens completed her dress, at once simple and becoming."

It's great stuff!  She runs away to her parents' house, where she finds her father dying...plenty of opportunity to get lachrymose there...and on it goes.

And whilst we may laugh at the naivety of the writing and the overwrought sensibilities, this is exactly the sort of thing that Marianne Dashwood would have found appealing (and Willoughly too, no doubt) and which was being read (devoured) up and down the country by ladies of all ages.

No wonder Sense & Sensibility was such a hit!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

M.M. Bennetts is a specialist in early 19th century European history and the Napoleonic wars, and is the author of two novels, May 1812 and Of Honest Fame, set during the period.  A third novel, Or Fear of Peace, is due out in 2014.

For further information, please visit the website and blog at www.mmbennetts.com

The London Tornado of 1091

by Richard Denning

 

As a weather phenomena tornedos are not particularly associated with the UK. However a recent report by the the Met office that said that actually the UK gets more per square km than the USA. Yet our tornedos are babies for the most part and of very little power. Occasionally though we do get a whopper!

Such a huge tornedo occurred on October 17th 1091 during the reign of King William II (called Rufus). This was the first recorded tornado in the British isles and it hit London hard. It is estimated to have been about T8 strength. 

The London Tornado of 1091 is reckoned to have only killed two people but dramatically the then wooden London Bridge was completely  demolished (this bridge had been built by William I after the Norman conquest. After the Tornedo William II rebuilt the bridge but this too was short lived as a fire destroyed it only 40 years later).

The nearby church of St. Mary-le-Bow was badly damaged.  There are reports that such was the elemental power unleashed that four rafters recorded as 26 feet long were driven so deeply into the ground  that only 4 feet protruded. Around 600 houses were also destroyed.

William had recently been raiding church treasuries for funds and so there is speculation that the English would have seen this storm as a judgement by God on the wickedness of the king in the same way that some people saw the Great Fire of London as also allowed "by permission of heaven".

Drinking Tobacco - A 17th Century Vice - by Deborah Swift

Nobody in my novel THE GILDED LILY 'drinks' tobacco, which is a pity because that is actually the word that was used for smoking in the 17th century. If I had used that word than the reader would have stopped to think why and it would have brought them out of the story to focus on the writer instead of staying in my 17th century world.

So I used the word 'smoke' even though it is technically incorrect. Cigarettes did not exist of course so all smoking was through a pipe, and the smoke was drunk, sipped or swallowed. Smoking was a word only applied to the tobacco itself when it was alight!

Tobacco was very expensive so pipe bowls were very small, allowing less than an ounce of tobacco. The stem of the pipe was very long and the hole through which you drank very small. You would have had to suck quite hard to get your hit of tobacco.

Painting by Pieter Claesz 1636

Clay pipes were very decorative especially those made for women, and I have an example at home which has flowers around the bowl. The pipes were cast from a mould after the original shape was carved from wood or fashioned from clay. The one below from the Museum of London shows a carved sailing ship.

For more examples you can't do better than to visit the website of Heather Coleman, an amateur archaelogist and expert on clay pipes.

This image of a seventeenth century woman with a pipe is from an article about women and smoking by Beth Maxwell Boyle. She has a collection of pipes and smoking related memorabilia on her website

Pipes were also used by children in the age-old fashion even in the 17th century as Michaelina Woutiers' 'Boys Blowing Bubbles' from the 1640s shows us. This painting is in the Seattle Art Museum, and is a wonderful resource for costume detail. Note the shell used for holding the bubble-blowing liquid. Let's hope the boys did not 'drink' the contents!

Are there things in novels you have read that jumped you out of the story? And if you're a writer have you made decisions that were technically incorrect for the benefit of the reader?

And for more about the THE GILDED LILY, a historical adventure set in rich mansions and dark alleys of 17th century London have a look at the trailer.

THE GILDED LILY is already available on Kindle and will be out in paperback and in other e-formats in the US on 27th November. Read the latest review at TheLittle Reader Library

Victoria's Early Years - Kensington Palace.

Recently I visited Kensington Palace to see the King's Grand Staircase, commissioned by George I in the early 1700's. Kensington Palace is still home to royalty (when in London, Prince William and his wife, Catherine, stay there) and since the 17th century has been entwined with royalty: from William III to Princess Diana, from George II to Princess Victoria - and it is the link to Victoria that struck me as particularly interesting.

 

Kensington Palace's connection to Victoria is obvious as you approach the building; an imposing statue of the young Queen stands outside the east façade. The composition of Victoria in her coronation robes was designed by her daughter, Princess Louise, and unveiled in 1893. The statue is a fitting reminder that three key events in Victoria's life took place at Kensington Palace.

Princess Victoria is born.
At Kensington Palace on 24 May 1819 a princess, Victoria, was born to the Duchess of Kent. The infant Victoria grew up at Kensington and had a somewhat lonely childhood. Her father died before she was a year old, and Victoria was kept isolated, away from the excitement of court life and without friends of her own age to keep her company.

Her mother, the Duchess of Kent, along with an equerry, Sir John Conroy, oversaw her education. They devised "The Kensington System" -which ostensibly was to equip Victoria for her future role as queen - whilst some people muttered it was also a means of keeping the young princess firmly under their control. 

Kensington Palace.

 Victoria's Accession to the Throne.

At 6am on 20 June 1837, Victoria was woken by her mother.  The news was so urgent that the 18 year old Victoria donned her dressing gown to receive the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham. It was their grave duty to announce that the King was dead, and Princess Victoria was now Queen.

"Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle, the King, was no more ,and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen." 

That morning, the new queen held her first council meeting in the Red Saloon at Kensington Palace. This young woman was surrounded by much older men, including the Duke of Wellington and the Dukes of Sussex and Cumberland. The Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne had written a short speech for her and despite the circumstances it was noted that Victoria handled everything:

"With perfect calmness and self-possession."

Statue of William III, outside Kensington Palace.

 Meeting Albert, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

There are few people, who haven't heard of Victoria's love for her husband, Albert. But did you know that the couple first met at Kensington Palace?
On 18 May 1836, Victoria caught sight of her cousin Albert, and his brother Ernest, as she loitered on the stairs at Kensington Palace. Albert made a good impression, as recorded in her diary:

"Albert, who is just as tall as Ernest but stouter, is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same as mine' his eyes large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth."

 The visit went well and Victoria was delighted by the gift of a tame parrot. To encourage the romance, the Duchess of Kent threw a ball at Kensington at which Victoria and Albert danced until three in the morning. But time flew by all too quickly and when on Friday, 10 June, Albert departed Victoria wrote in her journal:

"I embraced both my dearest cousins most warmly, as also my dear Uncle. I cried bitterly, very bitterly…."

The rest of their courtship and marriage is, as they say, history!

Victoria was born, acceded to the throne and then found love at Kensington Palace - quite a legacy for a building still home to royals today!

Author- Grace Elliot ....and Widget.
 

Grace Elliot lives near London, where she works as a veterinarian. By night, Grace writes historical romance, much to the delight of her five cats - all vying for lap space. Her debut novel, ‘A Dead Man’s Debt’ was described as “historical romance at it's best”, by The Romance Reviews.

To find out more about Grace and her novels, please visit:

http://www.amazon.com/Grace-Elliot/e/B004DP2NSU/ref=sr_tc_2_rm?qid=1320779346&sr=1-2-ent

 

or Grace's blog: Fall In Love With History:

http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com

or follow Grace on Twitter: @Grace_Elliot

Hope's Betrayal - click for link.

 

Superstitions and Bodily Health

by Diane Scott Lewis

Before modern medicine lay people and some physicians held the belief that transferring the ailment to another object could cure you of disease. Since antiquity, and well into the eighteenth century, people believed that men reflected aspects of the natural world. It was a dominant strategy that explained the mysteries beyond the ken of the science of the day.

A man in late seventeenth century Somerset claimed that his brother was cured of a rupture by being passed through a slit cut in a young ash tree, three times on three Monday mornings before dawn. When the tree was later cut down, his brother grew ill again.

To cure jaundice, you took the patient’s urine, mix it with ashes and make three equal balls. Put these before a fire, and when they dried out, the disease leaves and he’s cured. In Devon, to cure the quartan ague, you baked the patient’s urine into a cake, then fed the cake to a dog, who would take on the disease.

Even Richard Wiseman—a Barber Surgeon—who wrote Chirurgicall Treatises during the time of Charles II, believed to remove warts you rub them with a slice of beef, then bury the beef.

Color as well played a part in how health was viewed. “Yellow” remedies were used to cure jaundice: saffron, celandine with yellow flowers, turmeric, and lemon rind. John Wesley, who wrote Primitive Physick, in the mid-eighteenth century, suggested that sufferers of this illness wear celandine leaves under their feet.

Health was also governed by astrological explanations. Manuals intended for physicians and apothecaries included this “otherwordly” advice. Nicholas Culpeper detailed which herbs were presided over by which planets in his famous health text, Culpeper’s Complete Herbal. For example, if a headache was caused by the actions of Venus, then fleabane (an herb of Mars) would cure the malady.

However, the Vox Stellarum, the most popular almanac in the eighteenth century, took a more moderate view: “Men may be inclin’d but not compell’d to do good or evil by the influence of the stars.” Yet this same almanac, in 1740, listed which diseases were prevalent in certain months—a vestigial form of astrological medicine.

 

Thank goodness more enlightened physicians, such as brothers William (a leading anatomist and renown obstetrician) and John Hunter (one of the most distinguished scientists and surgeons of his day) in the eighteenth century, came along to bring medical thinking into the modern world. Though superstition among the lay people remained.

I delved into this research for a character, a young physician, in my still unpublished novel, Ring of Stone. Information taken from, Patients, Power, and the Poor in Eighteenth Century Bristol, by Mary E. Fissell, 1991.

To learn more about my novels: http://www.dianescottlewis.org

"SONS AND DAUGHTERS" by Karen V. Wasylowski

Karen Wasylowski is giving away an eBook copy of  "SONS AND DAUGHTERS"

To see more information about the book click HERE.

This giveaway ends at midnight, Sunday, 21st October 2012.
Comment below to enter the draw.
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