The Stuarts in 100 Facts

by Andrea Zuvich

  With the 1640s came the civil war, and Parliamentarian troops used the cathedral as a place to stable their horses (the Roundheads did that quite often). It was so badly damaged and poorly maintained that at the Restoration there were plans to spruce it up and get it back to its former splendour. Christopher Wren proposed a design for a dome to rest atop the cathedral, topped by a strange amalgamation between a pinecone and a pineapple. All such plans came to a fiery end in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The cathedral had been a place where booksellers could store their books, but these caught fire and destroyed the cathedral. On 14 May 1675, Charles approved Wren’s plans and construction began.

  Construction work was not as straightforward as one might imagine. Although it was opened during the reign of Queen Anne in 1708, it was by no means finished. The creation of the cathedral ultimately spanned the reigns of five monarchs, and finally was completed during the reign of King George. Various mason-contractors were hired, including Thomas Strong, Joshua Marshall, Edward Pearce and Edward Strong, among others. Master Baroque woodcarver Grinling Gibbons created the decorative features on the organ. The interiors of the cathedral were entrusted to James Thornhill, who also created the interior of the Painted Hall in the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Approximately £1 million were spent in the construction of the new St Paul’s – a massive sum in the Stuart period!

  As more and more modern skyscrapers begin to dwarf Wren’s Cathedral, it is fascinating and humbling to think of the fact that this cathedral dominated London’s skyline for over 200 years. It is humbling to think that such great beauty of architecture could have been made before modern technology, before computers, before Health and Safety – some might say they did a better job than modern architects. St Paul’s is one of the most beloved buildings in the United Kingdom. Its mathematical beauty, so carefully designed by Wren, has stood tall and strong against many obstacles, including when it was bombed during the Blitz in 1940.

  33. THE STUART ERA HAD THE FIRST POETS LAUREATE

  The Stuart era had some of the greatest poetry in history. With great poets such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, Andrew Marvell, William Congreve, Matthew Prior, it’s hard to find better. A Poet Laureate is a poet who is appointed by a monarch into a post in which the poet writes poems in honour of major national events or royal celebrations, generally a birth, birthday, wedding, etc. Traditionally, this position was to last for the poet’s lifetime, but in the late 1990s this was changed to only last ten years. The office of Poet Laureate often went together with the position of Historiographer Royal.

  Although some claim Ben Jonson (1572–1637) and Sir William Davenant (1606–68) were the first of the Poets Laureate, the first official holder of the prestigious position was John Dryden in 1668. Born in the small village of Aldwinckle in Northamptonshire, England, in 1631, Dryden eventually went to Cambridge University and then became one of the most talented poets and playwrights of the seventeenth century. Although he found work as a poet during the Interregnum, Dryden was really a Royalist, and his true nature was revealed in the panegyric Astraea Redux, in honour of the Restoration in 1660. Absalom and Achitophel, arguably Dryden’s most well remembered poem, controversially satirised various members of Charles II’s court, skilfully turning Charles into King David, Charles’s illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth into Absalom and Shaftesbury as Achitophel.

  Dryden was also a prolific translator of classical literature, including Homer’s Iliad, Virgil’s Georgics and Aeneid, Horace’s Odes, Ovid’s Metamorphoses and works from later writers such as Boccaccio and Chaucer. As for his plays, Dryden wrote several, including All For Love from 1678, which was based on Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. In this play, Dryden’s Cleopatra states, ‘My love’s a noble madness … But I have loved with such transcendent passion, I soared, at first, quite out of reason’s view, and now am lost above it.’ Dryden’s position under Charles II and then Charles’s successor James II was generally pleasant enough, but that changed in 1688.

  Seventeenth-century Britain was not hospitable to Catholics, and especially after the revolution of 1688, Dryden – as a Catholic – soon found himself in an uncomfortable situation. He was ultimately given the boot when he refused to pledge loyalty to the new Protestant sovereigns, William and Mary. Dryden worked with English composer Henry Purcell, who didn’t seem to mind that Dryden was no longer in their good books. When Dryden died in 1700, William III was still on the throne, although by that time he ruled alone. Taking Dryden’s place in 1689 was one Thomas Shadwell. Following Shadwell’s sudden death in November of 1692, Nahum Tate was appointed.

  Neither Tate nor Shadwell made as great an impact on the world of poetry as Dryden had. Indeed, Dryden was later revered by several poets in the nineteenth century. The Romantic historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott was such a fan that he compiled The Works of John Dryden, in 1808.

  34. THE GREENWICH OBSERVATORY WAS CREATED TO SOLVE THE LONGITUDE PROBLEM

  A popular destination for tourists, the Greenwich Observatory sits atop the highest elevated land of Greenwich Park, which overlooks Greenwich Village, the Queen’s House, the Old Royal Naval College and, just beyond that, the mighty River Thames. Inside the Observatory hang two large portraits. One is of King Charles II, under whose command the building began, and the other is of his brother, James II. The Observatory is important for a variety of reasons, not least the fact that it houses one of the best observatories in the world, one that was created to solve a very tricky problem.

  One of the biggest scientific problems that faced the Stuart age was that of longitude. Charles II’s warrant to create the Observatory stated that its aim was to ‘find the so-much desired longitude of places, for perfecting the art of navigation’. It was proposed that in order to accurately determine longitude, an intense study of the stars was crucial.

  On 22 June 1675, John Flamsteed was given the position of Astronomer Royal. This was the first time anyone had been given this position, and while Flamsteed was paid £100 per annum, the twenty-nine year-old apparently had to pay for many instruments himself (no doubt much to his annoyance). Christopher Wren designed the Flamsteed House, and Robert Hooke was involved in the construction. Flamsteed had a rather antagonistic relationship with Isaac Newton, who by some accounts was not a very nice fellow.

  The Scilly Naval Disaster of 1707 proved without a doubt how important creating accurate navigation was for seamen. On the way back from a mission in the Mediterranean, the British ships ran into some very nasty weather, and because they weren’t able to accurately measure longitude, the ships ran into rocks on the south-western part of the Scilly Isles. Considered one of the worst maritime disasters in British history, it left over 2,000 men dead, including Sir Cloudesley Shovell, and several ships destroyed. With so many lives lost, and potentially many more at stake, Queen Anne’s government passed the Longitude Act in 1714, which was an ‘Act for providing a Publick Reward for such Person or Persons as shall discover the Longitude at Sea’.

  After over forty years in the position of Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed died in 1719, without having been able to solve the problem that had been the reason behind building the observatory in the first place. His death paved the way for the next man to hold the post, his former assistant Edmond Halley – the man now best known for Halley’s Comet. By this, time, of course, the Stuart era had ended, following Queen Anne’s death in 1714. Despite great efforts by many of the brightest minds of the Stuart era, the discovery of longitude ultimately belongs to the Georgian period. John Harrison (born in 1693) was not an astronomer but a brilliant clockmaker, whose invention finally made it possible to determine longitude at sea.

  35. MONMOUTH’S REBELLION ENDED AT THE BATTLE OF SEDGEMOOR

  Within months of James II’s accession to the throne in early 1685, his nephew James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, left his exile on the Continent and sailed to England. Thus began the ill-fated Monmouth Rebellion, in which the popular, Prot
estant Duke of Monmouth invaded England in order to take the throne away from his uncle, the Catholic King James II. On board his ship were eighty-odd followers, a truly pitiful number for a rebellion, but Monmouth was certain that all Englishmen would rise up and join him against his uncle. The rebellion lasted a little over a month, but with poorly trained and armed rebels Sedgemoor was the area in which Charles II’s eldest illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, led one last attempt to beat James II’s army.

  Outnumbered by better-trained and better-equipped royalist soldiers, Monmouth’s ragtag army had little chance. Monmouth, a seasoned general, knew the limitations of his rebel army well enough and so had few options. He and Lord Grey climbed the Church of St Mary, Bridgwater, and surveyed the enemy encampment. The tower that these men climbed is now known as Monmouth’s Tower. As an experienced military leader, Monmouth knew that his cause only had one last chance and that was a night attack. They muffled their horses’ hooves and made their way to the encampment, narrowly missing patrolling dragoons. Suddenly shots were fired, their cover was blown and the Battle of Sedgemoor had just begun. What followed was little less than carnage. Although there have been many wars since 1685, the Battle of Sedgemoor remains one of the last pitched battles to take place on English soil.

  Monmouth and several other rebel leaders fled the bloody field but with a £5,000 reward on his head, he was soon caught and punished. Forde, Lord Grey, Monmouth’s friend, got off lightly after he wrote a full confession. Those who weren’t killed on the battlefield were rounded up and marched into a nearby church in Westonzoyland. Some were summarily executed. Some died of their wounds inside the church. The rest faced trial at the Bloody Assizes, presided over by the notorious ‘Hanging Judge’ Jeffreys. Some were executed, some ‘transported’ – meaning sent over to New World colonies pretty much as slaves, while others were severely fined. Monmouth, even though he was King James’s nephew, had a very bad end on Tower Hill. He had one of the worst botched executions in history.

  36. THE DUKE OF MONMOUTH WAS DASHING, BUT DOOMED

  The man who became known as James Scott, Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch, was born on 9 April 1649, in Rotterdam. His mother was a beautiful Welsh Royalist exile, Lucy Walter (or Barlow), and his father was none other than the exiled King Charles II. Although there is debate as to whether or not his parents were married, Monmouth was in all probability illegitimate. James Crofts, as he then was known, had a difficult upbringing in which his father eventually had him kidnapped from his mother, who died in impoverished circumstances.

  Charles indulged his son and the boy proved a poor student, failing to grasp basic writing and mathematics until his teens. Monmouth had some spectacularly nasty aspects to his personality. He was prone to violence upon the slightest provocation or perceived slight against him or his father. In time, however, he became a talented and capable military leader. When he was fourteen, his father married him off to the twelve-year-old Scottish heiress, Lady Anna Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch, and together they had several children. The extraordinarily handsome Monmouth was a libertine and notoriously unfaithful to his wife. His most notable mistress at one time was Eleanor Needham, with whom he had two children. In the decade that preceded his death, however, Monmouth fell in love with Lady Henrietta Wentworth; she became his last mistress and the great love of his life.

  Monmouth’s continual involvement in political intrigues led to his exile, and William and Mary received him at their court in the Dutch Republic. Upon hearing of his father’s death in early 1685, he was persuaded by fellow exiles to take his father’s throne, which had by then passed to his uncle, King James II. Monmouth’s Rebellion was disastrous. Monmouth, fleeing from the Battle of Sedgemoor, was eventually caught near Ringwood and hauled to London where he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

  On 15 July 1685, he was taken from his cell in the Bell Tower and up to Tower Hill, where he ascended the scaffold and gave the executioner a bag of money. This was standard practice in order to hopefully be killed quickly and as painlessly as possible. Unfortunately, the executioner was Jack Ketch, the man who had badly botched the beheading of William, Lord Russell, back in 1683. The thirty-six-year-old rebel leader knelt and laid his head on the block and suffered five strikes of the axe, which still did not sever his head, forcing Ketch to finish him off with a knife. Monmouth’s execution has as a result gone down as one of the most horrific executions in Tower history.

  Following his death, his mutilated corpse was taken back into the Tower and he was interred in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, by the wall behind the altar. Those buried near him include Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard – Henry VIII’s beheaded wives. James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, remains one of the most tragic, popular and romantic figures of the Stuart period.

  37. THE STUARTS HAD SOME PRETTY NORMAL HOBBIES

  The Stuarts enjoyed a variety of pastimes and hobbies, some which you have probably enjoyed at some point yourself. The Stuart family were very athletic and so sports were a popular pastime among them. Mary Queen of Scots was apparently quite keen on golf, it being a Scottish invention. Her grandson, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, was a keen horse rider. He also enjoyed swimming, which seems to have been the cause of his death as he decided to go swimming in the notoriously dirty River Thames and some water got into his mouth.

  Charles II had a boundless amount of energy and he was known for walking very quickly and often. He also enjoyed playing bowls and tennis, something that he had in common with his younger brother Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who was very skilled at playing the game. He liked the game so much, he had Henry VIII’s tennis court at Hampton Court Palace done up and used it regularly. Charles and his other brother, James, were interested in horseracing and would often go up to Newmarket for these. The theatre was also a source of great diversion for the Stuarts and they both went to the playhouses and had private performances at their palaces.

  Charles II also loved sailing and is credited with making yachting a popular hobby, and his favourite yacht was called Jemmy – the same name he gave to his son James, Duke of Monmouth. Dancing was another popular pastime, and one which most Stuart family members were good at. The Duke of Monmouth was an exceptionally good dancer, and Pepys commented once that he was always leaping about and full of energy.

  Mary II was also an accomplished dancer and an excellent walker. William III loved hunting because it gave him an outlet for stress and plenty of exercise and the fresh air that his asthmatic lungs so badly needed. His sister-in-law Anne also loved hunting and riding, but in later years her extreme poor health meant she had to hunt in a carriage.

  However, not all hobbies were so active. Among the more cerebral, there were hobbies that included scientific experiments (Rupert of the Rhine was particularly keen on these) and looking up at the heavens through a telescope. This was a great time of discovery, and these people were fascinated by it all. William III also loved collecting art, something that his grandfather Charles I had enjoyed very much as well. Mary II was crazy about collecting blue and white china. She also enjoyed more sedentary pursuits, such as embroidery and cards. There is a beautiful screen in Mary II’s bedroom in Het Loo Palace in the Netherlands, which was embroidered by Mary and her ladies-in-waiting. Anne had a good ear for music and had guitar lessons when she was growing up.

  Even though these people lived over 300 years ago, it’s nice to know that they enjoyed the same kind of hobbies that we still enjoy today.

  38. NOT ALL MEMBERS OF THE STUART FAMILY WERE BURIED TOGETHER

  Westminster Abbey contains the tombs of many royals dating all the way back to the early 600s. The most well known Stuart tomb is that of Mary Queen of Scots. Although she was originally buried in Peterborough Cathedral following her execution in 1587, her son James VI/I had her reburied here once he came to the English throne. He also had a marvellous marble effigy created to top her grave and it remains a beautiful monument. James himself is buried in the Abbey al
ong with his wife, Anne of Denmark.

  Many of the second most famous Stuarts are buried in the Stuart vault in King Henry VII’s Lady Chapel. Within the vault, Charles II’s tall coffin is by the wall and next to him rests his niece, Queen Mary II; beside her lies her husband, King William III, then Anne’s Prince consort, Prince George of Denmark, followed lastly by Queen Anne herself. In another vault in the Abbey rest Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (d. 1612), Arabella Stuart (d. 1615), two infant children of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, Elizabeth Stuart (the Winter Queen/Queen of Bohemia, d. 1662) and her son Rupert of the Rhine (d. 1683). Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester, younger brother to Charles II and James II who died from smallpox in 1660, also rests with them, as does Anne Hyde (d. 1671) and several of her children with James, Duke of York.

  Not all of the most well-known Stuarts were buried in the Abbey, however. Following his execution on a cold day in late January 1649, Charles I’s corpse and his severed head were sent to Windsor. The former king’s body was then taken to St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, where his body was cleaned and his head stitched back onto his body (pity the person who was entrusted with that job!). With almost none of the Christian burial rites he would no doubt have wanted, he was buried in the same vault, which also houses the remains of King Henry VIII and his third queen, Jane Seymour. Visitors to St. George’s Chapel can walk over the ledger stone, upon which is carved the names and dates of the bodies that lie in the vault below.