DOCSLIB.ORG

DAVID STARKEY Court, Council, and Nobility in Tudor England

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
DAVID STARKEY Court, Council, and Nobility in Tudor England DAVID STARKEY Court, Council, and Nobility in Tudor England in RONALD G. ASCH AND ADOLF M. BIRKE (eds.), Princes, Patronage, and the Nobility: The Court at the Beginning of the Modern Age c.1450-1650 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991) pp. 175–203 ISBN: 978 0 19 920502 7 The following PDF is published under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND licence. Anyone may freely read, download, distribute, and make the work available to the public in printed or electronic form provided that appropriate credit is given. However, no commercial use is allowed and the work may not be altered or transformed, or serve as the basis for a derivative work. The publication rights for this volume have formally reverted from Oxford University Press to the German Historical Institute London. All reasonable effort has been made to contact any further copyright holders in this volume. Any objections to this material being published online under open access should be addressed to the German Historical Institute London. DOI: 7 Court, Council, and Nobility in Tudor England DAVID STARKEY 'IT is difficult to realize that the king's Council was part of the king's household, ... and that we have to trace the develop- ment of the Council with the help of household books and ordinances.' This is A. F. Pollard's most striking insight into the history of the council. It is also the one that has least affected the historiography. This chapter aims to redress the balance by treating the development of the Tudor privy council as an aspect of the history of the Tudor court. One reason for Pollard's dictum falling on stony ground was that the evolution of the Tudor household itself was imperfectly understood. 1 But the broad outlines are now clear. The medieval English household, like other European courts, had been divided into two main departments, the household ('below stairs') and the chamber ('above stairs'). In the early Tudor period, however, a new third department, the privy chamber, appeared. This was responsible for the king's personal body service. Three main factors were involved. The first was behavioural: there was a new taste for privacy, whose architectural expression was the creation of an extensive 'privy lodging' for the king. The second was political, as 1 A. F. Pollard, 'Council, Star Chamber, and Privy Council under the Tudors', English Historical Review, 37 ( 1922), 337-60, p. 340. The other reason for the neglect of Pollard's point was that Sir Geoffrey Elton, the most recent authority on the 16th cent., chose to follow Newton's curious theory that the reign of Henry VIII saw the definitive separation between 'government' and 'household' (A. P. Newton, 'Tudor Reforms in the Royal Household', in R. W. Seton-Watson (ed.), Tudor Studies (London, 1924), 231-56, esp. p. 232). Elton's recent attempt to reassert the full purity of his early doctrine of a 'Tudor Revolution in Government' does not convince: G. R. Elton, 'Tudor Government', Historicaljoumal, 31 (1988), pp. 425-34, answered by D. Starkey, 'Tudor Government: The Facts', ibid. 921-31. In view of this exchange it seemed unnecessary to draw attention here to most ofmy points of disagreement with Elton. DAVID STARKEY Henry VIIl's great ministers Wolsey and Cromwell sought to bridle their ever-changeable master by packing this 'privy lodging' with their creatures. And the third and most important was the king's own desire to mould his personal service for his own ends: to preserve his privacy on the one hand and his freedom of action on the other. The course of change was as complex as its causes. The foundations of the privy chamber's organization were laid by Henry VII in about 1495; in 1518-19 a series of ad hoc changes created a hierarchy of new offices and fees; in 1526 the new department was, for the first time, the subject offull and formal regulation in the Eltham ordinances; and in 1539-40 another great set of household ordinances gave the final touches. 2 But what of the council in all this? Pollard's dictum would suggest that major change in one part of the royal entourage-- the privy chamber-would have its counterpart in alteration in another-the council. And so it proves. The time-scale of innovation is similar; the same dates, and even the same documents, appear as milestones. And some of the same causes were at work: the royal itinerary and the planning of the king's palaces on the one hand, and his strategies of power on the other. But the role of the ministers is not prominent. Instead, involvement in conciliar reform appears as the particular field of action of the group most strenuously opposed to ministerial power: the Tudor nobility.3 Or at least it does under Henry VIII. Under Henry VII the story is very different. His council presents a double aspect: on the one hand, it was large and diverse in membership; on the other, it met in a series of smaller councils or courts. There. were several of these, of which the three most important were the council in star chamber, the council attendant, and the council-learned-at-law. There was much overlap in personnel 2 A convenient summary of all this will be found in D. Starkey, 'Intimacy and Innovation', in idem (ed.)., The English Court.from the Wars of the Roses to the Civil War (London, 1g87), pp. 71-118. 3 The role of the ideology of 'aristocratic conciliarism' in the development of the council is more fully considered in D. Starkey, 'The Lords of the Council: Aristocracy, Ideology and the Formation of the Tudor Privy Council', Proceedings of the One Hundred First Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association ( 1986), sess. 31, andJ. Guy, 'The King's Council and Political Participation', in A. Fox andJ. Guy (edd.), Reassessing the Henrician Age (Oxford, 1986), pp. 121-47. Court and Council in Tudor England 177 between these councils, but they also led substantially separate lives. They met in different places and at different times of the year; they had different presiding officers, records, and record keepers; finally, they differed substantially in function. 4 But underlying the apparent tendency of the council to fragment into a series of separate councils was an opposed development which concentrated most important business-of whatever sort and wherever it was transacted- into the hands of a small group of inner councillors. The membership of the 'inner ring' emerges fleetingly from ambassadorial reports and the like while Henry was still alive; it becomes manifest at his death when the eighteen 'inner councillors' were listed as the executors of his will. And, just as it would be under the terms of Henry VIII's own will, the dead king's executors became the councillors of the new king. 5 One of their first acts was to decide on the repudiation of the old king's 'fiscal tyranny': Empson and Dudley, the two leading lights of the council learned and both members of the inner ring were arrested, and the council learned itself dissolved. But the rest of the 'inner councillors' went from strength to strength. Henry was seventeen years and ten months old at his accession. This made him barely of age and indeed the 'inner ring' of his council behaved 'almost after the fashion of councillors during a royal minority'. Councillors countersigned both the cancellation of recognizances and the issuing of grants; letters patent were also made 'by advice of the 4 C. G. Bayne and W. H. Dunham, Select Cases in the Council of Henry Vil (Se;ldcn Society, 75; 1958), pp. xxiv-xxviii, xxxvi-xl, lxxviii-lxxix; M. Condon, 'Ruling Elites in the Reign of Henry VII', in C. Ross (ed.), Patronage, Pedigree and Power in Later Medieval England (Gloucester, 1979), 109-42, pp. 130-4; cadcm, 'An Anachronism with Intent? Henry VII's Council Ordinance of 1491/2', in R. A. Griffiths et al. (edd.), Kings and Nobles in the Later Middle Ages (London, 1986), 228--53, p. 246 item 9; J. Stow, A·Survl!JI of London, ed. C. L. Kingsford (2 vols.; Oxford, 1908), ii. 119; L. M. Hill' (ed.), The Ancient State Authoritie, and Proceeding~ of the Court of Requests (Cambridge, 1975), PP,· 3g-40; Pollard, 'Council', pp. 344-5. 5 Condon, 'Ruling Elites', pp. 128--30; J. Guy, 'The Privy Council: Revolution or Evolution?', in C. Coleman and D. Starkey (edd.), Revolution Reassessed (Oxford, 1986), 5g-86, p. 62. 6 G. R. Elton, 'Henry VII: Rapacity and Remorse', in idem, Studies in Tudor and Stuart Government and Sociery (3 vols.; Cambridge, 1974-83), i. 45--66, p. 6s; L[etters and] P[apers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII], ed. J. S. Brewer, J. Gairdner, and R.H. Brodie (21 vols. and addenda; London, 1862-1932), I. i. 11/10. ii. DAVID STARKEY Council'.7 It was the same with policy. Henry VIII had come to the throne committed to war with France; yet Vergil depicts him having to fight every inch of the way against the preponderant peace party on his council. And when the decision was finally taken to attack 'his ancient enemy the French king', the army was raised 'by advice of the Council'.8 This is more like the behaviour of a fifteenth- than a sixteenth- century council. And there are many other echoes of 'Lancastrian constitutionalism' in these years as well, with both the Modus Tenendi Parliamentum-the arch text of aristo- cratic concilarism-and Magna Carta itself reappearing in political discourse.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Catalogue of the Earl Marshal's Papers at Arundel
    CONTENTS CONTENTS v FOREWORD by Sir Anthony Wagner, K.C.V.O., Garter King of Arms vii PREFACE ix LIST OF REFERENCES xi NUMERICAL KEY xiii COURT OF CHIVALRY Dated Cases 1 Undated Cases 26 Extracts from, or copies of, records relating to the Court; miscellaneous records concerning the Court or its officers 40 EARL MARSHAL Office and Jurisdiction 41 Precedence 48 Deputies 50 Dispute between Thomas, 8th Duke of Norfolk and Henry, Earl of Berkshire, 1719-1725/6 52 Secretaries and Clerks 54 COLLEGE OF ARMS General Administration 55 Commissions, appointments, promotions, suspensions, and deaths of Officers of Arms; applications for appointments as Officers of Arms; lists of Officers; miscellanea relating to Officers of Arms 62 Office of Garter King of Arms 69 Officers of Arms Extraordinary 74 Behaviour of Officers of Arms 75 Insignia and dress 81 Fees 83 Irregularities contrary to the rules of honour and arms 88 ACCESSIONS AND CORONATIONS Coronation of King James II 90 Coronation of King George III 90 Coronation of King George IV 90 Coronation of Queen Victoria 90 Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra 90 Accession and Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary 96 Royal Accession and Coronation Oaths 97 Court of Claims 99 FUNERALS General 102 King George II 102 Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales 102 King George III 102 King William IV 102 William Ewart Gladstone 103 Queen Victoria 103 King Edward VII 104 CEREMONIAL Precedence 106 Court Ceremonial; regulations; appointments; foreign titles and decorations 107 Opening of Parliament
    [Show full text]
  • "This Court Doth Keep All England in Quiet": Star Chamber and Public Expression in Prerevolutionary England, 1625–1641 Nathaniel A
    Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 8-2018 "This Court Doth Keep All England in Quiet": Star Chamber and Public Expression in Prerevolutionary England, 1625–1641 Nathaniel A. Earle Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Recommended Citation Earle, Nathaniel A., ""This Court Doth Keep All England in Quiet": Star Chamber and Public Expression in Prerevolutionary England, 1625–1641" (2018). All Theses. 2950. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/2950 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. "THIS COURT DOTH KEEP ALL ENGLAND IN QUIET" STAR CHAMBER AND PUBLIC EXPRESSION IN PREREVOLUTIONARY ENGLAND 1625–1641 A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts History by Nathaniel A. Earle August 2018 Accepted by: Dr. Caroline Dunn, Committee Chair Dr. Alan Grubb Dr. Lee Morrissey ABSTRACT The abrupt legislative destruction of the Court of Star Chamber in the summer of 1641 is generally understood as a reaction against the perceived abuses of prerogative government during the decade of Charles I’s personal rule. The conception of the court as an ‘extra-legal’ tribunal (or as a legitimate court that had exceeded its jurisdictional mandate) emerges from the constitutional debate about the limits of executive authority that played out over in Parliament, in the press, in the pulpit, in the courts, and on the battlefields of seventeenth-century England.
    [Show full text]
  • Challenging the Whiteness of Britishness: Co-Creating British Social History in the Blogosphere
    Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies Special Issue – September 2015 Challenging the Whiteness of Britishness: Co-Creating British Social History in the Blogosphere Deborah Gabriel, Bournemouth University, UK Abstract Blogs are a valuable medium for preserving cultural memory, reflecting the various dimensions of human life (O’Sullivan, 2005) and allowing ordinary individuals and marginalised groups the opportunity to contribute to the ‘dialogue of history’ (Cohen, 2005:10). The diverse perspectives to be found in the blogosphere can help deepen understanding of historical moments. Such examples include 9/11 (Cohen, 2005), the London bombings in 2005 (Allan, 2006) and Hurricane Katrina (Brock, 2009). Using critical race theory (CRT) as a theoretical framework and cultural democracy as the conceptual framework, this study examines the symbolic power of counter-storytelling through the blogosphere. The findings reveal that in relation to coverage of the UK ‘riots’ in 2011 and the Stephen Lawrence verdict in 2012, African Caribbean bloggers advanced alternative perspectives of the events and appropriated blogs as a medium for self-representation through their own constructions of Black identity. In so doing they performed a vital role as co- creators of British social history. 1 Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies Special Issue – September 2015 Introduction Historical archives in Britain often exclude or fail to capture the presence and experiences of people of colour (which dates back to the 17th century with the first arrival of slaves from the west coast of Africa), resulting in a ‘whitenening of Britishness’ Bressey (2006:51). The term is defined as a process through which the exclusion of a person’s skin colour in historical records results in the assumption of a white identity (Bressey, 2006).
    [Show full text]
  • Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster
    BRIEFING PAPER Number 07898, 3 December 2018 Restoration and Renewal By Richard Kelly of the Palace of Westminster Contents: 1. Overview of the Restoration and Renewal Programme 2. Pre-feasibility study (2012) 3. Independent Options Appraisal (2014) 4. Joint Committee review of the Options (2016) 5. Debate on the Joint Committee’s report 6. Draft Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill 7. Earlier debate on and other proposals for R&R 8. Reviewing the Joint Committee’s proposals 9. Opportunities arising from R&R 10. Restorations of other public buildings www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary 2 Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster Contents Summary 4 Legislating for Restoration and Renewal 4 Recommendations on Restoration and Renewal to the two Houses 4 Debating R&R 5 Further inquiries 5 How were the options developed? 5 1. Overview of the Restoration and Renewal Programme 7 1.1 Refurbishment to date 8 1.2 Timeline of the R&R Programme 8 1.3 The scale of the problem 11 Costs of delay 13 1.4 Decisions already taken 13 R&R Programme Spending 16 1.5 Next steps for the Restoration and Renewal Programme 17 Joint Committee’s timeline, September 2016 17 Timeline, January 2018 18 Legislation timetable 19 2. Pre-feasibility study (2012) 20 3. Independent Options Appraisal (2014) 22 3.1 Outcome of the appraisal 22 4. Joint Committee review of the Options (2016) 26 4.1 A full decant 26 4.2 Temporary accommodation 27 4.3 Governance arrangements 28 4.4 Decisions following the Joint Committee report 29 5.
    [Show full text]
  • 2224 Supplement to the London Gazette, March 17, 1879
    2224 SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, MARCH 17, 1879. Third Carriage. His Royal Highness The Prince Albert Victor of Wales. Her Royal Highness The Princess Beatrice. THE QUEEN. The Clerk Marshal, the Equerries, the Groom, the Maids of Honour, and the Woman of the Bedchamber in Waiting, and the Groom of the Robes, met The Queen at the Chapel. On arrival at the West Entrance, The Queen was received by the Great Officers, and conducted to the Haut Pas by The Lord Chamberlain, Her Majesty's Procession being formed in the following order:— Heralds. York, Lancaster, Mr. John de Havilland. Mr. George E. Cokayne. Clerk Marshal, Lieutenaut-General The Lord Alfred Paget. Equerry in Waiting, Equeny in Waiting, Colonel ' Major-General The Honourable H. W. J. Byhg. The Lord Charles Fitzroy, C.B. Comptroller of the Household, Treasurer of the Household, The Earl of Yarmouth. The Lord Henry Thynne. Keeper of Her Majesty's Privy Purse, Lieutenant-General Sir H. F. Ponsonby, K.C.B. The Groom in Waiting, The Lord in Waiting, . Major C. E. Phipps. The Viscount Hawardeii. The Gentleman Usher in Garter. The Gentleman Usher in Waiting, Sir Albert Woods. Waiting, Mr. Alpin Macgregor. Mr. Con way Seymour. The Vice-Chamberlain, The Viscount Barrington. The Lord Chamberlain, The Lord Steward, The Marquis of Hertford, G.C.B. The Earl Beauchamp. THE QUEEN, . Her Majesty's Train borne by The Groom of the Robes, Mr. H. D. Erskine of Car dross, and ' Two Pages of Honour, Honourable V. A. Spencer. Count A. E. Gleichen. Her Royal Highness His Royal Highness THE PRINCESS BEATRICE.
    [Show full text]
  • Directions for Britain Outside the Eu Ralph Buckle • Tim Hewish • John C
    BREXIT DIRECTIONS FOR BRITAIN OUTSIDE THE EU RALPH BUCKLE • TIM HEWISH • JOHN C. HULSMAN IAIN MANSFIELD • ROBERT OULDS BREXIT: Directions for Britain Outside the EU BREXIT: DIRECTIONS FOR BRITAIN OUTSIDE THE EU RALPH BUCKLE TIM HEWISH JOHN C. HULSMAN IAIN MANSFIELD ROBERT OULDS First published in Great Britain in 2015 by The Institute of Economic Affairs 2 Lord North Street Westminster London SW1P 3LB in association with London Publishing Partnership Ltd www.londonpublishingpartnership.co.uk The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. Copyright © The Institute of Economic Affairs 2015 The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photo- copying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-0-255-36682-3 (interactive PDF) Many IEA publications are translated into languages other than English or are reprinted. Permission to translate or to reprint should be sought from the Director General at the address above. Typeset in Kepler by T&T Productions Ltd www.tandtproductions.com
    [Show full text]
  • Lyings in State
    Lyings in state Standard Note: SN/PC/1735 Last updated: 12 April 2002 Author: Chris Pond Parliament and Constitution Centre On Friday 5 April 2002, the coffin of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was carried in a ceremonial procession to Westminster Hall, where it lay in state from the Friday afternoon until 6 a.m. on Tuesday 9 April. This Standard Note gives a history of lying in state from antiquity, and looks at occasions where people have lain in state in the last 200 years. Contents A. History of lying in state 2 B. Lyings in state in Westminster Hall 2 1. Gladstone 3 2. King Edward VII 3 3. Queen Alexandra 5 4. Victims of the R101 Airship Disaster, 1930 5 5. King George V 6 6. King George VI 6 7. Queen Mary 6 8. Sir Winston Churchill 7 9. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother 7 C. The pattern 8 Annex 1: Lyings in state in Westminster Hall – Summary 9 Standard Notes are compiled for the benefit of Members of Parliament and their personal staff. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff but cannot advise others. A. History of lying in state The concept of lying in state has been known from antiquity. In England in historical times, dead bodies of people of all classes “lay” – that is, were prepared and dressed (or “laid out”) and, placed in the open coffin, would lie in a downstairs room of the family house for two or three days whilst the burial was arranged.1 Friends and relations of the deceased could then visit to pay their respects.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sovereign and Parliament
    Library Note The Sovereign and Parliament The Sovereign fulfils a number of ceremonial and formal roles with respect to Parliament, established by conventions, throughout the parliamentary calendar. The State Opening of Parliament marks the beginning of each new session of Parliament. It is the only routine occasion when the three constituent parts of Parliament—that is the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons—meet. The Queen’s Speech during State Opening is the central element around which the ceremony pivots, without which no business of either the House of Lords or the House of Commons can proceed. Each ‘Parliament’ lasts a maximum of five years, within which there are a number of sessions. Each session is ‘prorogued’ to mark its end. An announcement is made in the House of Lords, to Members of both Houses following the Queen’s command that Parliament should be prorogued by a commissioner of a Royal Commission. At the end of the final session of each Parliament—which is immediately prior to the next general election—Parliament is also dissolved. Following the Prime Minister’s advice, the Sovereign issues a proclamation summoning the new Parliament, appointing the day for the first meeting of Parliament. All bills must be agreed by both Houses of Parliament and the Sovereign before they can become Acts of Parliament. Once a bill has passed both Houses, it is formally agreed by the Sovereign by a process known as royal assent. Additionally, Queen’s consent is sometimes required before a bill completes its passage through Parliament, if the bill affects the Sovereign.
    [Show full text]
  • Of a Princely Court in the Burgundian Netherlands, 1467-1503 Jun
    Court in the Market: The ‘Business’ of a Princely Court in the Burgundian Netherlands, 1467-1503 Jun Hee Cho Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Jun Hee Cho All rights reserved ABSTRACT Court in the Market: The ‘Business’ of a Princely Court in the Burgundian Netherlands, 1467-1503 Jun Hee Cho This dissertation examines the relations between court and commerce in Europe at the onset of the modern era. Focusing on one of the most powerful princely courts of the period, the court of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, which ruled over one of the most advanced economic regions in Europe, the greater Low Countries, it argues that the Burgundian court was, both in its institutional operations and its cultural aspirations, a commercial enterprise. Based primarily on fiscal accounts, corroborated with court correspondence, municipal records, official chronicles, and contemporary literary sources, this dissertation argues that the court was fully engaged in the commercial economy and furthermore that the culture of the court, in enacting the ideals of a largely imaginary feudal past, was also presenting the ideals of a commercial future. It uncovers courtiers who, despite their low rank yet because of their market expertise, were close to the duke and in charge of acquiring and maintaining the material goods that made possible the pageants and ceremonies so central to the self- representation of the Burgundian court. It exposes the wider network of court officials, urban merchants and artisans who, tied by marriage and business relationships, together produced and managed the ducal liveries, jewelries, tapestries and finances that realized the splendor of the court.
    [Show full text]
  • Audience Attitudes to the Licence Fee and Public Service Broadcasting Provision Beyond the BBC
    Audience attitudes to the licence fee and public service broadcasting provision beyond the BBC A report by Human Capital Based on data collected by Ipsos MORI and the Knowledge Agency December 2008 Audience attitudes to the licence fee and public service broadcasting beyond the BBC: A report by Human Capital, December 2008 Contents 1 Executive summary ..........................................................................................3 2 Introduction.....................................................................................................13 3 The licence fee research ................................................................................16 4 Future priorities and willingness to pay for PSB on commercially funded PSBs .......................................................................................................................36 2 Audience attitudes to the licence fee and public service broadcasting beyond the BBC: A report by Human Capital, December 2008 1 Executive summary 1.1 Introduction This report sets out the audience research commissioned by the BBC to inform its submission to Ofcom as part of Phase 2 of the Second Review into Public Service Broadcasting (PSB). Human Capital, an independent media consultancy, was commissioned to analyse and draw together all strands of research, including data collected by Ipsos MORI and the Knowledge Agency as part of the BBC’s Phase 2 response to this Review. Building on a large body of existing evidence around PSB, this research focused specifically on two
    [Show full text]
  • The Prerogative and Environmental Control of London Building in the Early Seventeenth Century: the Lost Opportunity
    The Prerogative and Environmental Control of London Building in the Early Seventeenth Century: The Lost Opportunity Thomas G. Barnes* "What experience and history teach is this-that people and governments never have learned anything from history or or acted on principles deducted from it." Undaunted by Hegel's pessimism, Professor Barnes demonstrates that our current concern for the environment is not as new as we might suppose. The most considerable, continuous, and best docu- mented experiment in environmental control in the Common Law tradition was conducted before the middle of the seventeenth century. An almost accidental circumstance determined that this experiment would become a lost opportunity. Now if great Cities are naturally apt to remove their Seats, I ask which way? I say, in the case of London, it must be West- ward, because the Windes blowing near . [three-fourths] of the year from the West, the dwellings of the West end are so much the more free from the fumes, steams, and stinks of the whole Easterly Pyle; which where Seacoal is burnt is a great matter. Now if [it] follow from hence, that the Pallaces of the greatest men will remove Westward, it will also naturally fol- low, that the dwellings of others who depend upon them will creep after them. This we see in London, where the Noble- mens ancient houses are now become Halls for Companies, or turned into Tenements, and all the Pallaces are gotten West- ward; Insomuch, as I do not doubt but that five hundred years hence, the King's Pallace will be near Chelsey, and the old building of Whitehall converted to uses more answerable to their quality, .
    [Show full text]
  • Grenzeloos Actuariaat
    grenzeloos actuariaat BRON: WIKIPEDIA grenzeloos actuariaat: voor u geselecteerd uit de buitenlandse bladen q STATE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT In the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an the Commons Chamber due to a custom initiated in the seventeenth annual event that marks the commencement of a session of the century. In 1642, King Charles I entered the Commons Chamber and Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is held in the House of Lords attempted to arrest five members. The Speaker famously defied the Chamber, usually in late October or November, or in a General King, refusing to inform him as to where the members were hiding. Election year, when the new Parliament first assembles. In 1974, Ever since that incident, convention has held that the monarch cannot when two General Elections were held, there were two State enter the House of Commons. Once on the Throne, the Queen, wearing Openings. the Imperial State Crown, instructs the house by saying, ‘My Lords, pray be seated’, she then motions the Lord Great Chamberlain to summon the House of Commons. PREPARATION The State Opening is a lavish ceremony. First, the cellars of the Palace SUMMONING OF THE COMMONS of Westminster are searched by the Yeomen of the Guard in order to The Lord Great Chamberlain raises his wand of office to signal to the prevent a modern-day Gunpowder Plot. The Plot of 1605 involved a Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, who has been waiting in the failed attempt by English Catholics to blow up the Houses of Commons lobby.
    [Show full text]