England in the 16th century
Christopher Marlowe was obviously quicker and harderworking than I am. Unfortunately, this post is still a work in progress.
Category: Biography
Flushing
The Dutch port town of Flushing (Vlissingen) in the province of Zeeland was one of the three so-called cautionary towns. On 10 August 1585, England and the Dutch signed the Treaty of Nonsuch. It was created in response to the Treaty of Joinville between the Catholic League led by Henri…
London
England’s capital first achieved real greatness during the Renaissance. This is where all the political, intellectual and policy threads came together. Financially, the city benefited from both the fall of Antwerp in 1585 and the economic decline of Genoa and Venice.1 In the early Tudor period, the increased migration to…
Martin Marprelate Controversy
Between October 1588 and September 1589, Puritan pamphlets attacking the Church of England and John Whitgift, the Archbishop of Canterbury, appeared under the pseudonym "Martin Marprelate". Whitgift, a Calvinist, like Elizabeth I, harboured a great dislike for the Puritans. The state church responded by commissioning writers such as Anthony Munday,…
Pembroke’s Men
The Earl of Pembroke’s Men was an Elizabethan acting company about which not much is known. Their patron was Henry Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. He married, in his third marriage, Mary Sidney, a sister of the poet Philip Sidney and a niece of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the long-time…
Plague
Time and again it is referred to as the "Black Death". However, the term first appeared in Sweden in 1555 (swarta döden). About fifty years later also in Denmark (sorte dod).1 In England, this term was first used in 1665 to distinguish between the medieval plague and the "Great Plague".2…
Privy Council
Her/His Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council is the English Crown Council. It consisted of nobles, clerics and high officials. Its powers went far beyond those of an advisory body, as it exercised legislative and judicial functions at times. The latter were partially transferred to the Star Chamber from the 15th…
Rose
Christopher Marlowe was obviously quicker and harderworking than I am. Unfortunately, this post is still a work in progress.
Secret Service
Interestingly, intelligence activities first acquired unprecedented political significance in Elizabethan England. This is all the more surprising when one considers that the geographical location did not make an intelligence service vital for defence. The main task of the spies on the continent was to reconnoitre the military strength and possible…
Star Chamber
The Court of Star Chamber was an extraordinary court that had emerged from the Privy Council. It probably got its name from the venue, a hall with a starry ceiling in Westminster. The members (royal councillors and judges) were appointed by the respective ruler, from whose power the authority of…
