By the time Henry’s marital odyssey had finished he had three children. The first, Mary Tudor, was by Catherine of Aragon and a Catholic. The other two, Elizabeth and Edward, were both brought up as Protestants.
To ignore religion in the 16th century would be as foolish as to ignore politics in the 20th century. Catholics and Protestants hated and killed each other with as much virulence as Fascists, Communists and democrats in this century. Elizabeth came to the throne after the death of her sister Mary who had tried to bring England back into the Catholic Church, partly by burning more than 300 heretics. She had also married Philip II of Spain, the greatest power in Europe at the time. Through this marriage Philip had a claim to the throne of England.
Elizabeth threaded her way through the vicious politics of the time with consummate artistry. She often promised to marry but she never did, mainly because she had no intention of handing over any of her power to the husband who was expected by the mores of the time to be her lord and master. As a result the choice of her successor was a source of constant anxiety to her Councillors, most of whom like the Earl of Leicester and Sir Francis Walsingham were convinced Protestants.
First in line of succession to her, by right of descent, was her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots. A Catholic, she had got herself kicked out of Scotland through a series of blunders and had been Elizabeth’s prisoner since May 1568. The small son she abandoned when she fled became James VI of Scotland and was brought up a Protestant. Eventually he would succeed Elizabeth and become James I of England and Scotland. However this was by no means certain in 1583, especially as Elizabeth refused to make a decision about it.
A kind of cold war had been going on between the premier Catholic power, Spain, and the third-ranking, small, unpredictable, half-barbaric backwater of a power, England. Elizabeth had used every trick in the book and invented a few of her own to avoid coming to hot war with Spain, while France degenerated into civil war and the Netherlands revolted against their Spanish masters. Spain, rich with gold and silver from her possessions in the New World, maintained internal orthodoxy with the ferocious and efficient Inquisition, and had in the tercios the finest troops in Europe. The English Protestants saw themselves as Godly Davids against the Goliath of Spain, but were more interested in the thieving activities of Jack and the Beanstalk. The South American treasure was at its most vulnerable en route to Spain across the Atlantic where many English pirates tried to make their fortunes by capturing it. Sir Francis Drake had pulled off a notable coup during his famous circumnavigation of the globe in 1577-80. He captured so much booty that he brought back a 4,500% return on his investors’ money – a group that included the Queen and most of her Councillors. This naturally enraged Philip despite all Elizabeth’s bland assurances that Drake had acted against her orders. While the two sides jockeyed for position, Mary Queen of Scots became involved in a variety of plots paid for by Philip designed to assassinate Elizabeth and use Spanish troops to put her on the throne.
Elizabeth was in daily danger of her life and knew it. Only a year after the story in this book, William of Orange, the leader of the Dutch rebels, was shot to death by a Catholic assassin.
I read history for pleasure and adventure and it would be pretentious to try and supply a bibliography for a work of fiction. There are books I would recommend to anyone interested in the 16th century: Paul Johnson’s biography of Elizabeth I; Muriel St Clare Byrne’s Elizabethan Life in Town and Country; Spain and the Netherlands 1559 to 1659 by Geoffrey Parker; Sir Walter Ralegh by Robert Lacey; William Starkey’s The Reign of Henry VIII; The Weaker Vessel by Antonia Fraser; Elinor Fettiplace’s Receipt Book by Hilary Spurling; Mr Secretary Walsingham by Conyers Road…. The list could go on for pages.
Anyone wishing to know more about the remarkable Ames family in 16th-century London should read L. Wolf’s article ‘Jews in Elizabethan England’ in Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England, Vol XL.
Tom O’Bedlam’s Song is a genuine Elizabethan ballad, printed around this time but with a different chorus from the one I invented for the book. Nobody knows who wrote it.
The central story of this book, an assassination attempt on Elizabeth during the 1583 Accession Day Tilts is entirely invented. There are, as far as I can make out, no records describing those Tilts, though there is plenty of information on the Tilts of 1582. However Francis Throckmorton’s plot did happen and was one of Walsingham’s first great counter-espionage successes. Reading accounts of it gave me the feeling that there was more to it than the records held and hence helped to inspire my story.
The accounts of Englishmen sailing over to the Netherlands in 1572/3 are based on Walter Morgan’s report to Burghley ‘The Expedition in Holland’ of a particularly inglorious episode in our military history. The siege of Haarlem took place much as was described. The revolt of the Netherlands was Imperial Spain’s Vietnam, and the savagery displayed there by both sides bears comparison even with 20th-century nastiness.
Walsingham and Philip Sidney were in Paris during the Saint Bartholomew’s Eve massacre and there is a story that during it Sir Francis was forced to hide from the mob.
The Topographical Society’s A to Z of Elizabethan London, compiled by Adrian Prockter and Robert Taylor has been my major source for guiding my characters around their city, along with Stowe’s Survey of London.
Cast of Characters
Duc D’Alençon *: a French princeling
Goodwife Alys (Flick): an alewife
Dunstan Ames*: Purveyor and Merchant to Fler Majesty of Grocery, a Marrano gentleman
Francisco Ames *: his brother, a soldier
Benjamin, Jacob and William Ames’: his sons
Simon Ames: another son, clerk and cryptographer to Sir Francis Walsingham
Rebecca Anriques: a Jewish girl
BALFOUR*: a Scottish soldier
MR BARNET: an English pawnbroker
COUNT BATENBURG*: one of William of Orange’s generals
BAYNES: a soldier
David Becket: a soldier of fortune, and Provost of Defence
Goodwife Bickley: a cook
Rocco Bonnetti *: an Italian swordmaster
Richard Broom: a carpenter
Jemmy Burford: a neighbour of Mr Becket’s
Mr Carbury: a tutor
Mrs Carfax: David Becket’s landlady
Corday: Francis Throgmorton’s friend
Mr Custance: a lesser merchant, suitor to Mrs Fumey
Mr Dawkins: keeper of the Records at Gray’s Inn
Dorcas: a wet nurse
Mr Dowl: clerk to Sir Francis Walsingham Edmund Dun*: a ballad seller
Queen Elizabeth I*
Mr Ellerton: one of Sir Francis Walsingham’s men
Henri Estienne*: a Huguenot printer, friend to Sir Philip Sidney
Anthony Fant*: a gentleman, once a soldier Agnes Fant (nee Strangways): his wife Edward, Elizabeth and Mary Fant: his children Sir William Fant: his father, now dead Don Fadrique/Federico*: Duke of Alva’s son Eliza Fumey: a widow
Gabriel: a wild young rogue
Humphrey Gilbert*: a leader of the expedition in Holland Snr Phillippe Gomes’: a pawnbroker Fulke Greville’: gentleman, friend to Sir Philip Sidney Duke of Guise*: a powerful French nobleman
Mr Hardy: a pimp
Sir Christopher Hatton’ : Privy Councillor, the Queen’s ‘Bel-wether’ and old favourite
William Henderson: one of Sir Francis Walsingham’s men Henri of Navarre’: the future Henry IV of France Father Hepburn: a Catholic priest John Holder: a mercenary Pericles Howard: gentleman
John Hunnicutt: Sir Francis Walsingham’s dispatcher
Ilse: a Dutchwoman
Jardin: a bearwarden
Jerome: Rocco Bonnetti’s catamite
Joan: a wet nurse
Thomas Kinsley: one of Sir Francis Walsingham’s men-at-arms
Henry Mall: one of Sir Francis Walsingham’s men-at-arms Marguerite de Valois*: wife of Henri of Navarre Maud
: a serving woman
Catherine de Medici': the Dowager Queen of France Captain Morgan ’: a leader of the expedition in Holland
Simple Neddy: a simpleton Catherine Nesbit: Mrs Fant’s aunt
Thomas ‘Rackmaster’ Norton: a priestfinder and interrogator Dr Hector Nunez': a Marrano physician and trader Leonora Nunez*: his wife
William Page': a Puritan printer, offensive to the Queen Charles Paget': the Queen of Scots’ man in Paris Isaac Pardo: Mr Ames’ cousin
Father Parsons': leader of the English Jesuits on the Continent Pellew: a courier
Thomas Phelippes': Sir Francis Walsingham’s most senior cryptographer
Laurence Pickering': the King of the London Rogues
Walter Ralegh ': the Queen’s new favourite James Ramme: one of Sir Francis Walsingham’s men Mick Reynolds: Clapperdudgeon to the beggars on London Bridge M. Ricard: Sir Francis Walsingham’s majordomo in Paris
Sir Philip Sidney': the premier knight in Christendom, Walsingham’s son-in-law
Frances Sidney (nee Walsingham)’: his new wife
Simier' : a French envoy
Bonecrack Smith: a footpad
Peter Snagge: a pedlar
Adam Strangways: a Catholic traitor
Agnes Strangways: his sister, married to Mr Fant
Ralph Strangways: his brother, a madman (see Tom O’bedlam)
Nicholas Sunningdale: a gentleman
Francis Throgmorton: a Catholic traitor Tom O’Bedlam: a madman and poet, friend to Mr Becket Topcliffe: priesthunter and torturer Tyrrel: another King of London’s Rogues
Sir Francis Walsingham’: Privy Councillor, the Queen’s Secretary and head of her secret service
Frances Walsingham’: his daughter (see Sidney) Ursula Walsingham*: his wife
* * *
* – denotes an actual historical character
Glossary
(TC – denotes Thieves’ Cant) abram – (TC) mad
Agnus Dei — wax disc imprinted with the Lamb of God and the crossed keys of the Papacy and blessed by the Pope ague – malaria aqua fortis – nitric acid aqua vitae – brandy
arquebus – primitive musket fired with a lighted slowmatch
backsword – heavy one-edged short sword bale of dice – (TC) 2-3 matched dice
falling band – Puritan-type plain linen collar worn instead of a ruff bastard sword – could be used one or two-handed biggin – close-fitting cap worn by babies bombast – stuffing for clothes
booze – (TC) traditional English slangword meaning alcoholic drink (originally sp. bouse) boozing ken – (TC) worst kind of pub
bread sippets — slices of toast laid under meat to soak up the juices buck – large wooden tub with a lid buckler – small leather shield
calenture – a stroke
Canary – fortified wine canions — loose breeches
carrel – cubbyhole office in library or cloister
caudle – hot spiced wine drink made with gruel
charger – serving dish
citron – pale yellow colour
clapperdudgeon – (TC) chief beggar
the Clink – debtor’s prison
close stool – chamber pot hidden inside a seat with a lid
clyster thread – inserted in the skin to cause localised irritation believed to draw infection out of another part of the body
cockle – corncockle – a weed of cultivation cog – cargo ship
collops – chops of meat
comfits – sweets
complected – the balance of one’s humours
coneycatch – (TC) to con or cheat
costiveness – constipation
courser – large horse specially bred for tilting
cramoisie – dark blackcurrant red colour
cruse – clay jar
cuirass – piece of armour covering chest and back
dag – early pistol
dish'oficoals – like a frying pan containing hot coals of charcoal with a griddle on top, a sort of mini-barbecue
duds – (TC) clothes
Duke of Exeter’s daughter – nickname for the rack which was imported by the Duke of Exeter in Henry VIII’s reign
Feast of Esther – a minor Jewish feast of great importance to the Marranos
filch – (TC) a thief
flense – to skin
flux – dysentery
to foin – to stab with a spear, also to fuck
footpad – mugger French pox – syphilis
goodman/goodwife — term of respect for a common person, one down from Mr or Mrs
gossip – (lit. God-sibling) old friend, especially female groat – four pence piece
halberd – spearhaft with a blade like a cross between an axe and an old-fashioned tin-opener – still carried by Yeomen of the Guard
highmen/lowmen – (TC) false dice altered to throw high/low
hookman – (TC) thief who uses a long hook to steal things from open windows horse-coper – farrier
humour – basic to Elizabethan medicine: four humours combined to make a man – blood (sanguine h.); phlegm (phlegmatic h.); yellow bile (choleric h.) and black bile (melancholic h.)
Iconoclasts – Protestant religious hooligans who broke up images on the grounds that they were idolatrous
jakes – toilet
leman – (arch.) male or female lover
lour – (TC) money
marchpane – marzipan
Manano – Portuguese Sephardic Jew
melancholia – depression
mint – (TC) gold
murrey – dull purple brown colour
nightrail – nightgown nithing – (arch.) wimp
orangado – a Seville orange, partly hollowed and stuffed with sugar
the ordinary – set meal at an inn, normally stew thickened with vegetables and bread
palliard (TC) beggar
pannum – (TC) bread
passado – early version of fencing lunge
patten — high wooden overshoe worn to keep expensive leather out of the mud
penner — leather pouch worn on the belt and used by clerks to carry pens, penknife and ink
petard – explosive charge used in sieges
piccardils – stiffened strips of cloth to support a ruff on a collar
pike – very long, thick spear used against cavalry by men standing in serried ranks
pillicock – origin of pillock or penis
points – laces for tying clothes shut or together
pottage – stew
posset – warming or medicinal drink prig – (TC) steal
primero – a complicated card game similar to poker punk – (TC) whore
recusant – someone who broke the law by refusing to go to church on a Sunday, usually Catholic
roaring boys – (TC) thugs, hooligans
rushlight – cheap candle made by dipping a dried rush stem in tallow (aka a tallow dip)
sack – sherry samite – heavy satin
San Lorenzo – now known as the Escorial, Philip II’s part-built palace
Secretary hand – old style of handwriting similar to German Gothic
stays – corsets
stews – brothel
stockfish – dried salted herring
stomacher – boned triangular piece of cloth, often embroidered, pinned to the front of the bodice
tawny – orange gold colour tertian fever – three day malaria
tercio – Spanish equivalent of a brigade, including pikemen and arquebusiers, of approximately 3000 men in triangular formation tester – roof of a four-poster bed
tobacco – introduced into England from America by Hawkins (contrary to popular belief) and rapidly becoming very fashionable, it was often cut with incense or other herbs such as the seeds and leaves of the hemp plant trencher – dinner plate, earlier of coarse bread or wood, now usually of pewter or silver
trucklebed – small bed on wheels normally pushed under another bed when not in use
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trull – whore
Tunnage and Poundage men – Customs officers
upright man – (TC) sturdy beggar or vagrant
veney stick — heavy stick like a sledgehammer handle used for sword practice
playing a veney – friendly practice fight with sticks, occasionally ending in broken bones
winding up a jack – winding the clockwork mechanism for turning a spit, latest kitchen technology
[David Becket and Simon Ames 01] - Firedrake's Eye Page 32
