No information available at present.
Edward Hyde (1609-1674) was a member of the Short Parliament (April-May 1640), called to finance Charles I's war against Scotland, and the Long Parliament, which opposed Charles during the Civil War. Hyde worked behind the scenes as an adviser of the crown, recommending moderate measures, but was thwarted, however, when Charles I attempted to arrest five members of Parliament in Jan 1642. Joining Charles I at York in May 1642, Hyde became a member of the Royalist council of war, though he never participated in the ensuing conflict. He remained moderate in his views, and, as Chancellor of the Exchequer and a Privy Councillor, tried to reduce the influence of the military leaders and mediate between the two sides. He was appointed guardian to the Prince of Wales (later King Charles II) in 1645 and removed from active political office. Following the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658, Hyde (appointed Chancellor that year), answered the overtures of the Presbyterians for a restoration of the monarchy in the Declaration of Breda (1660). As Lord Chancellor of the new Parliament, he unsuccessfully pressed for the disbanding of the army, religious tolerance, and a lack of royalist vengeance. Hyde was created Earl of Clarendon in 1661, and became linked more closely to the Royal family upon his daughter Anne's marriage to James, Duke of York. In Aug 1667, Clarendon, used as a scapegoat for the disastrous Anglo-Dutch War of 1665, was dismissed from the House of Commons and impeached. He spent the remainder of his life in exile in France, and died there in 1674.
The River Medway is Kent's premier river, rising in the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex and flowing roughly in a north easterly direction for some 70 miles through Kent to its mouth in the Thames estuary at Sheerness. It is tidal up to the lock at Allington, near Maidstone, and is navigable as far as Tonbridge. The first Act Of Parliament enabling a navigation on the Medway was in 1664 and the last was in 1884, the purpose of the Navigation being to facilitate trade.
During the late Middle Ages, the Book of Hours developed as a popular devotional text for the laity, who would recite the particular prayer for the hour of the day and time of year according to the ecclesiastical calendar. The accompanying illuminations and miniatures of saints, the Virgin Mary, and Christ provided an opportunity for spiritual reflection and prayer for salvation.
The Hapsburg family dominated Europe for over 700 years. They were hereditary Archdukes of Austria from 1270 to 1918, and the head of the family was, with only one exception, elected Holy Roman Emperor from 1438 to 1806.
The Court of King's Bench was formerly one of the superior courts of common law in England. King's, or Queen's, Bench was so called because it descended from the English court held coram rege ("before the monarch") and thus traveled wherever the king went. King's Bench heard cases that concerned the sovereign or cases affecting great persons privileged to be tried only before him. It could also correct the errors and defaults of all other courts, and, after the close of the civil wars of Henry III's reign (1216-72), it mainly tried criminal or quasi-criminal cases. In 1268 it obtained its own chief justice, but only very gradually did it lose its close connections with the king and become a separate court of common law. The Court of King's Bench exercised a supreme and general jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases as well as special jurisdiction over the other superior common-law courts until 1830.
A militia was a military organization of citizens with limited military training, which was available for emergency service, usually local defence.
Richard Simon (1638-1712) was a Professor of Philosophy and a Hebrew scholar, who wrote commentaries on the language of the Bible. Isaac-Louis (Le Maistre) de Sacy (1613-1684) was a scripture translator and commentator, and director of the Port Royal Monastery. He was imprisoned for three years in the Bastille for his Jansenist opinions, and translated the Bible during his captivity (1666-1670). Nicolas le Tourneux (1640-1686) was Prior of Villiers sur Fere, and a respected theologian. Adrien Baillet (1649-1706) was a theologian and the librarian to Francois-Chrétien de Lamoignon.
A pontifical is a book of ceremonies performed by a bishop.
Thomas Wentworth was of an ancient and wealthy Yorkshire family, and was born at London, in 1593. He studied at Cambridge, married in 1611, was knighted, and travelled on the continent. He was returned to parliament as member for Yorkshire in 1614, and the next year was named custus rotulorum for the West Riding. He sat in several parliaments for Yorkshire, and without going to extremes, took part with the opponents of the court. In 1628 he went over to the side of the king, and was created Baron Wentworth, then Viscount, Lord President of the Council of the North, and in 1629 Privy-Councillor. In 1633 he was made Lord-Deputy of Ireland (1632-1640), where his harsh government led to the rebellion of 1641. In 1639 Wentworth was created Earl of Strafford, and received the title of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Strafford took his seat in the House of Lords in November 1640 and was immediately impeached of high treason for attempting to raise Irish troops to fight the King's English enemies, and committed to the Tower. In March, 1641 his trial began - Strafford defended himself admirably and, as the impeachment seemed likely to fail, a bill of attainder was proposed. Though he initially refused his assent to the attainder, King Charles I finally gave way and his minister, who had trusted in his promise of protection, was beheaded on Tower Hill, May 12, 1641.
The English Parliament is the main legislative body of the country. The House of Commons has the right to impose taxes and to vote money to various public departments and services.
Thomas Lovell Beddoes was a poet whose work featured strongly in the Elizabethan revival of the late Romantic period. Born in 1803, his father was the radical physician Thomas Beddoes, and his mother Anna Edgeworth, sister of the novelist Maria Edgeworth. Educated at Charterhouse and Pembroke College, Oxford, Beddoes published The Improvisatore (1821) and The Bride's Tragedy (1822) soon after his graduation. Following a spell among the literary circles of London, he attended medical school in Gottingen, Hanover, and Wurzburg, Bavaria. He achieved his medical doctorate in 1831, but was banished from Bavaria the next year for writing anti-establishment pamphlets, and moved to Switzerland, where he was to spend the rest of his life. Beddoes committed suicide in 1849. After his death, his friend and literary executor, Thomas Forbes Kelsall, published his play Death's Jest Book, and a collected volume of his poems.
Sir John Dawnay may have been the son of Sir Guy Dawnay, who died in 1552.
The Exchequer was responsible for receiving and dispersing the public revenue. In time the upper Exchequer developed into the judicial system, while the lower Exchequer became the Treasury.
The Conseil d'Etat is the highest court in France for issues and cases involving public administration. Its origin dates back to 1302, though it was extensively reorganized under Napoleon and was given further powers in 1872. It has long had the responsibility of deciding or advising on state issues and legislative measures submitted to it by the sovereign or, later, by the president, the cabinet, or the parliament. It is the court in which French citizens may bring claims against the administration.
Sir Ralph de Hengham (d 1311) was the Lord Chief Justice of Edward I from 1274-1290, when he was imprisoned and fined for corruption. He continued as a judge of the common pleas, and was the reputed author of the law tracts 'Hengham magna' and 'Hengham parva'.
At a date some time after 1139 (probably 1140), Johannes Gratian compiled the Church laws (`canons') from all available sources and called the collection Concordia Discordantium Canonum (the harmonizing of discordant canons). The collection became known as the Decretum Gratiani.
The Digestum Novum was a section of the Digests or Pandects of the Corpus Iurus Civilis organised by the Roman emperor Justinian I, which compiled the writings of the great Roman jurists such as Ulpian along with current edicts (533).
Aristotle (384-322 BC) was a Greek philosopher who was the student of Plato and tutor of Alexander the Great. His De anima (On the Soul) was a discussion of issues in the philosophy of mind.
Andrew Melville (1545-1622) was a Scottish religious reformer and scholar, who was ardent in his support of civil and ecclesiastical liberty, following in the tradition of John Knox. Melville was Principal of the University of Glasgow, 1574-1580, and the University of St Andrews in Edinburgh. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London from 1607-1611, then exiled to France, where he spent his last years.
One of the first acts of Charles I when he acceded to the throne was the Act of Revocation of 1625, which annulled all gifts made since 1540 of properties which the crown could claim, including the vast ecclesiastical revenues which had fallen into lay hands during the Reformation. In a further attempt to revive the fortunes of the episcopy, Charles insisted on the acceptance of the new Prayer Book in 1637. Many Scots actively opposed the Prayer Book, and a riot at St Giles on 23 July 1637 soon led to widespread and organised agitation. The various grievances against Charles coalesced into the National Covenant of 1638. This Covenant professed loyalty to the crown but asked for a return to ecclesiastical and constitutional practice as it was before Charles' reforms. A General Assembly met in November 1638 in Glasgow and it was decided to abolish Episcopal government. This led to a military confrontation but the kings forces were no match for experienced Scottish veterans and the government army refused to fight. A temporary peace was arranged at Berwick in June 1639.
On the 28 April 1801, the House of Commons appointed a Committee to 'consider acts relative to the Assize of Bread'.
Inspeximus (literally 'We have seen') is a word sometimes used in letters-patent, reciting a grant, inspeximus such former grant, and so reciting it verbatim; it then grants such further privileges as are thought convenient. The term letters patent in its most general form refers to a letter delivered open with the royal seal attached, designed to be read as a proclamation.
The missal is a book which contains the prayers said by the priest at the altar as well as all that is officially read or sung in connection with the offering of the holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the ecclesiastical year.
An antiphoner is a liturgical book containing antiphons, the sung portions of the Divine office, both texts and notation. Such books were often of a large format, to be used by a choir.
A 'stent' was the rate levied on property owners in order to pay for local expenses, such as poor relief.
The Victoria County History of Surrey, Vol.III, dates the grant of the reputed manor of Little Ashtead by Newdegate to Cole as 1604.
Hackney is an area of East London.
Tithes were a tax of a tenth of the income from the agricultural yield of the land and livestock, which was paid to the etablished church for the support of the clergy, or for religious and charitable uses.
The decretals are canonical epistles, written by the pope alone, or by the pope and cardinals, at the instance or suit of some one or more persons, for the ordering and determining some matter in controversy, and have the authority of a law in themselves. Pope Gregory IX (1143-1241) ordered the first complete and authoritative collection of papal decretals, the Corpus Iuris Canonici.
The Vagrancy Act of 1531 made a distinction between those found begging although able to labour, and those incapable of work. Magistrates were allowed to give licences to beggars allowing certain kinds of begging.
Joseph Yorke, younger son of Philip, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, was born in 1724. He entered the military, where he served under the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Fontency, 1745. In 1749 Yorke was appointed Secretary to William Anne, 2nd Earl of Albermarle, then the ambassador extraordinary to France, and later later (1751) the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United Provinces. In 1761, Yorke himself was appointed ambassador extraordinary to the United Provinces, a post which he held until 1780, when he resigned due to the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Great Britain and Holland (caused by the latter giving aid to the US colonists during the War of Independence). During this period he was also elected MP for Dover in 1761 and 1768, and for Grampound, Cornwall, in 1774. He was created a General in 1777 and Baron Dover in 1788. Yorke died in 1792.
Aside from the poor rate, which was set by the overseers of the poor, much of the money for local poor relief came from various charities. The parish of Lutton was in the Thrapston Union of Northamptonshire for Poor Law administration.
The Privy Chamber was created by Henry VII (reigned 1485-1509) as a new department of the Royal Household. It was run by the Lord Chamberlain and consisted of Gentlemen of the Chamber, chosen by the monarch as personal attendants. The roles of Gentlemen were given as political rewards, and were bestowed mainly on members of the aristocracy.
The hearth tax consisted of a half-yearly payment of one shilling for each hearth in the occupation of each person whose house was worth more than 20s a year, and who was a local ratepayer of church and poor rates. It was introduced by Charles II in 1662 and continued to be levied until 1688.
Benjamin Thompson was a dramtist who wrote plays including The Florentines, or Secret Memoirs of the noble family De C** (J. F. Hughes, London, 1808); Oberon's Oath; or, the Paladin and the Princess: a melodramatic romance, in two acts (London, 1816); The Recall of Momus. A bagatelle (G. Robinson, London, 1809); and The Stranger (J. Dicks, London, [1875]).
Merino sheep originated in North Africa descended from a strain of sheep developed during the reign of Claudius, from 14 to 37 A.D. They spread via the Spanish and French royal families to northern Europe. The original Merinos were a wool sheep, who sheared a very heavy, fine fleece.
Patrick Robertson (1794-1855) was a Scottish judge. He produced writings on legal and literary topics.
The University of Copenhagen is the largest institution of research and education in Denmark, founded in 1479. In 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars, the British bombarded Copenhagen and most of the University buildings were destroyed. The new main building was inaugurated in 1836, though building work continued for the remainder of the century.
The English Parliament is the main legislative body of the country.
Colonel (Robert) Thomas de Veil (d 1746) was the founder of the Bow Street court house in 1740. Notorious for the severity of his sentencing and his aversion to the consumption of alcohol, he was portrayed by William Hogarth in the 'Night' section of Four times of the day.
King Charles III (1716-1788) was the ruler of Spain (1759-1788) and Naples and Sicily (1735-1759).
Information not available at present.
The Republic of Venice was created around 1140. It was headed by the Doge, and led by the Great Council, who controlled all political and administrative business. Ludovico Manin, the last doge, was deposed by Napoléon Bonaparte on May 12, 1797.
The House of Commons is the effective legislative authority in Great Britain. It alone has the right to impose taxes and to vote money to, or withhold it from the monarch, public departments and services. The passage of legislation is the House of Commons' primary function.
Gregory King's work was not published until 1802, when George Chalmers added it to a new edition of his Estimate of the comparative strength of Great Britain. It was later reprinted in Two Tracts ed George E Barnett (Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1936).
The English Royal Mint was responsible for the making of coins according to exact compositions, weights, dimensions and tolerances, usually determined by law. Minting in England was reorganised by King Edward I to facilitate a general recoinage in 1279. This established a unified system which was run from the Royal Mint in London by the Master and Warden of the Mint.. There remained smaller mints in Canterbury and elsewhere until 1553, when English minting was concentrated into a single establishment in London. For several centuries control of policy relating to the coinage rested soley with the monarch, with Parliament finally gaining control following the Revolution of 1688. The Mint itself worked as an independent body until that date, when it came under the control of the Treasury.
Petrus Blomevenna (1466-1536) was born at Leyden, and was Prior of the Carthusian monastery of Cologne for 29 years. He composed several religious treatises. Robert de Croy became Bishop of Cambrai in 1519 when his brother Guillaume, who was Bishop of Cambrai and of Toledo, resigned the former office in favour of Robert. Robert died in 1556.
The English Parliament was the main legislative body of the country. William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, military commander and statesman, dominated the government of Henry VI of England. During the Hundred Years War, he was made commander in chief of the English army in France from 1428 to 1431. He secured a two-year truce in 1444, but after the reopening of hostilities in March 1449 the French recaptured almost all of Normandy. Parliament laid the blame for the disaster on Suffolk, who was banished from the realm for five years. Suffolk left England on May 1, 1450, but was intercepted in the English Channel by some of his enemies and beheaded.
John de Cobham, 3rd Baron Cobham, was impeached in 1397 for acting as a commissioner at the trial of King Richard II's favourites in 1388. He was condemned to be hung, drawn and quartered, but this sentence was commuted to perpetual banishment to Jersey. When Richard was deposed in 1399 Cobham was recalled by King Henry IV, and died in 1408.
The Court of Wards was established in 1540 (in 1542, as Wards and Liveries) to deal with monies owed to the king by virtue of his position as a feudal lord; it was also empowered to protect certain rights of marriage and wardship. The Court of Wards and Liveries remained separate from the Exchequer until it was abolished in 1660.
Put forward to King Charles I in the English Parliament of 1628, the Petition of Right asserted four liberties: freedom from arbitrary arrest; freedom from non-parliamentary taxation; freedom from the billeting of troops; and freedom from martial law.
The Council of State was set up by Parliamentary ordinance on 13 February 1649 as a successor to the Derby House Committee which had taken over much of the Privy Council's executive role in the State. It was annually renewed by Parliament and insisted on choosing its own President. From May 1649 it was housed at Whitehall. Membership was reduced from 41 to 15 in 1653 when it became the Protector's Council. By 1656 it was being styled the Privy Council. After Richard Cromwell's abdication in 1659 the Council of State was revived and remodelled twice before it relapsed into a Privy Council. It spawned committees, both standing and ad hoc; the former included the Admiralty Committee, set up in 1649.
The Privy Council is descended from the curia regis, which was made up of the king's tenants in chief, household officials, and anyone else the king chose. This group performed all the functions of government. About the time of Edward I (reigned 1272-1307), the executive and advising duties of the Curia Regis came to be handled by a select group, the king's secret council, which later came to be called the Privy Council. This manuscript shows the attempts of King Henry V to secure the support or at least the neutrality of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, who controlled Flanders, before undertaking an invasion of France in 1415.
The Exchequer was responsible for receiving and dispersing the public revenue. The lower Exchequer, or Exchequer of Receipt, closely connected with the permanent Treasury, was an office for the receipt and payment of money. The upper Exchequer was a court sitting twice a year to regulate accounts. The business of the ancient Exchequer was mainly financial, though some judicial business connected with accounts was also conducted. In time the upper Exchequer developed into the judicial system, while the lower Exchequer became the Treasury.
Richard Payne Knight (1750-1824) was a numismatist. Having travelled in Sicily, in 1777, he began to form a magnificent collection of bronzes, which he bequeathed upon his death to the British Museum. He was MP for Leominster, 1780, and Ludlow, 1784-1806. He was Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries, and wrote extensively on ancient art.