If, like Dilbert and me, you find meetings an intolerable waste of time, rest assured this is not a new phenomenon. This from Blomefield: Norwich in the reign of James the Second:
"In 1686, on May-Day, the Freemen assembled to choose a new-elect, and presented Mr. John Wrench, the youngest alderman, and Robert Bendish (that had been mayor and was now unqualified), to the mayor and court, who, because they could not take their choice, neither of them being eligible, they went home, and so none was chosen."
A chip off the old block, Jimmy inherited his dad's (Charles the First) strong belief in the divine right of kings and ruled as an absolutist tyrant, constantly proroguing parliament (see Narcissus Luttrell's Diary* in the sidebar for lots of fun with Popish Plotts, murther most foule and battles between king and parliament). Good old Macaulay described James' reign as "tyranny which approached to insanity."**
* I promise I'll transcribe some more of it soon. I got kinda distracted by work on the Castle.
** I hate it when Wikipedia has the same quotes as I would use. Damn their eyes!
Charles the First with the future James the Second, painted by the long-suffering Peter Lely. Of James' battles against church, state (and sanity), many histories have been written. Should you share my Whig views, the classic account is Macauley's hugely entertaining "History of England from the Accession of James the Second" … should your views lean more to the right you shouldn't really be here anyway … Fuck along now, dearie … Shoo!
Norwich Castle, having been partially repaired and refortified during the Civil War, was once again left to rot, together with the unfortunate prisoners within. On James' conversion to Catholicism Blomefield relates that in Norwich …
"In 1687, the King suspended all penal laws respecting religion, and gave free liberty to all Papists and sectaries, to exercise their own way of worship without control; upon which the Papists had the granary granted them at the New-hall, over the sealing hall, for their publick chapel, which they made very handsome; it was opened on Sunday Dec 11, publick mass and a sermon being performed there by Mr. Acton."
"The Presbitarians(sic) built a meeting house from the ground over against the Black Boys; and the Independents repaired a house in St. Edmund's that had been formerly a brew-house."
King James ordered nineteen Norwich common-council members thrown out and ten aldermen, including the sheriff, all replaced by his own chosen men.
James had seven bishops sent to the Tower for refusing to kow-tow to his whims. In June 1688 they were brought to be tried at the King's Bench where to the apoplectic fury of the king they were acquitted, "to the great joy of the kingdom in general, at Norwich particularly the joy was excessive."
We all need a bit of excessive joy from time to time.
By October, James was in deep doo-doo (see the histories for all the shenanigans) and the Duke of Norfolk brought a proclamation from parliament reversing the king's decrees and booting out his chosen men. I shall leave Blomefield to finish him off …
"Nov 5. William, Prince of Orange, arrived at Torbay, and on Dec 16, came to St.James's."
"Dec 1. Henry Duke of Norfolk rode into the market place at the head of 300 knights and gentlemen, and declared for a free parliament, where the mayor and aldermen met him, from the Gild-hall and consented with him."
"Dec 7 & 8. The rabble assembled in a riotous manner, pulled down and burned all the furniture of the Popish chapel lately opened at the New-hall, pillaged several houses of the Papists in the city, but were dispersed by the trained bands; but getting together again on the Friday and Saturday following, they grew so insolent as to threaten to plunder the Bishop's palace, and some of the chief citizen's houses, but several being taken up on Monday and whipped, and others imprisoned, and after punished, they ceased such actions."
Dec 23. James II went into France."
Coming soon, Norwich Castle after the Glorious Revolution.
Sources:
Acts and Monuments: Foxe: Old Dive's 1621 edition.
The History of the Reformation of the Church of England: Gilbert Burnett: Old Dive's 1730 edition.
Clark's Lives - The Marrow of Ecclesiastical History: Samuel Clark: Old Dive's 1675 edition.
A Discourse - Wherein is Examined What is Particularly Lawfull During the Confusions and Revolutions of Government: Anthony Ashcam: 1648 (Old Dive's copy which discusses what the hell to do if you're about to execute the king) in three parts (which influenced the policies of the Protectorate)
Francis
Blomefield: An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of
Norfolk: Volume 3: The History of the City and County of Norwich:
published 1753 to 1775
Norfolk Museums Service and the Norfolk Archæological Society
East Anglian Archæology Vol. 132: Norwich Castle: Excavations and Historical Survey: 1978-1988: Part II: c.1345 to Modern: Elizabeth Shepherd-Popescu: 2009
Cromwell, Our Chief of Men: Antonia Fraser: 1973
Diary and Correspondence of John Evelyn with Life: H. B. Wheatley: 1906: 4 Vols
Samuel Pepys' Diaries: H. B. Wheatley: 1911: 8 Vols (expurgated) bound in a rather lovely cornflower blue
The Diary of Samuel Pepys: Latham and Matthews: Folio Soc. Limited Edition: 11 Vols (unexpurgted)
Narcissus Luttrell's Diaries (ongoing transcription project by Old Dive)
The Interregnum, 1648 - 1660, Studies of the Commonwealth, Legislative, Social and Legal: F. A. Inderwick; 1891 (an exceedingly good read, despite the dull title; I lucked onto an inscribed and signed first edition for next to nothing … yay!)
Notable Historical Trials: Vol 2 of 4: Chapter III: The Trial of Charles I: Justin Lovell (ed) 1999
The History of England Vol 3: Civil War: Peter Ackroyd: 2014
The Printed Plans of Norwich 1558-1840, A Carto-Bibliography: Raymond Frostick: 2002
Norwich Cathedral - Church, City and Diocese: 1096 - 1996: Various Eds. 1996
Norwich Cathedral Close: Roberta Gilchrist: 2005
Norwich Since 1550: ed: Carole Rawcliffe & Richard Wilson: 2004
Norwich - The Growth of a City: Barbara Green & Rachel M R Young: Norfolk Museums Service: 1981
Norwich Houses Before 1700: Vernacular Architecture, Vol 14: 1983
2 comments:
These royals sound a little too much like a certain someone we voters recently told to "Fuck along now, dearie … Shoo!" What hell it must be to live under the rule of a tyrant.
Yup, the glory of the British Royal Family. Ha! Let's hope your own tyrant doesn't make it back into power. Yikes!
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