Edmund Matthews

Senior tutor at Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, painted by an unknown artist in 1653. Matthews is wearing standard academic clothing, black cap, a gown with hanging sleeves over a doublet with linen cuffs and falling band. The work on his doubled cuffs and the intricate band strings are particularly fine. The doublet buttons are enormous!

 

The True Effigies of Hezekiah Holland

Minister of the Gospell at Sutton Valance in Kent. This is the frontispiece from his tome entitled An exposition, or, A short, but full, plaine, and perfect epitome of the most choice commentaries upon the Revelation of Saint John, published in 1650. Amongst other bombshells, the book revealed that the end of the world was 216 years away. A comforting result for Hezekiah, but not so much for us. The Reverend Holland was originally from Ireland and an independent cleric who had been appointed a living by Parliament when the previous incumbent Robert Smith was ousted for his Royalist leanings.

The engraving shows a few quirky details, not least the overlarge hand emerging from the folds of his gown holding a book and the odd way his plain falling band corners cross over. Perhaps this is a bit more true to life than the perfect versions we usually see. It gives the minister a bit more character I think. He is also wearing a plain black day cap and a short tabbed doublet of the kind that had been generally worn, but had not been the height of fashion, since the 1630s at least. The tassels on his band strings are nice too.

The manner and form of the Arch-bishops Tryal in the House of Peers

An engraving appended to the end of A breviate of the life, of VVilliam Laud Arch-Bishop of Canterbury: extracted (for the most part) verbatim, out of his owne diary, and other writings, under his owne hand. / Collected and published at the speciall instance of sundry honourable persons, as a necessary prologue to the history of his tryall, for which the criminal part of his life, is specially reserved by William Prynne of Lincolnes Inne, Esquier, published in 1644. The engraving is by Wenceslaus Hollar.

As ever though, the best part of these crowd engravings is the little details that come out when you zoom in.

 

 

At the back of the hall, in the foreground an splendid selection of coats and cloaks, showing the reverse side that you don’t often get in portraits. One or two caps being worn too and a dog seems to have sneaked in on the left hand side.

 

 

An annotated group here. A marks the Archbishop in his gown and a black day cap. Unusual not to see him in his bishop’s robes, the rocket with white sleeves would have stood out had he been wearing it. B is black rod, C the Lieutenant of the Tower, D the council for Laud and E the clark who reads the evidence, looking very pleased with himself in a short cloak and laced band. F is a table.

 

 

 

A small group of women here against the tapestried wall on the right hand side. G is the area reserved for members of the Commons, H is Henry Burton who had had his ears removed for criticising Laud in a pamphlet. Henry looks like he might be wearing a ruff. I marks various witnesses, one of whom was  Susannah Bastwick, smartly attired in linen kerchief and a coif. Susannah was the wife of John Bastwick who had also lost his ears in the pillory.

 

 

 

A New Play

called Canterburie His Change of Diot. Which sheweth variety of wit and mirth : privately acted neare the Palace-yard at Westminster….Anon  (well it would be wouldn’t it?) 1641

Not so much a play, more a short series of sketches which probably lasted no more than five minutes, this is a scurrilous portrait and morality tale of Archbishop Laud in four acts. There are three illustrations that go with the text.

Act 1, the Bishop of Canterbury having a variety of dainties, is not satisfied till he be fed with tippets of mens ears. Enter the Bishop of Canterbury, and with him a Doctor of Physicke, a Lawyer and a Divine; who being set down, they bring him variety of Dishes to his Table…He knocking there enter divers Bishops with muskets on their necks, bandeleeres and swords by their sides.

Here is the jolly crew around the table. Archbish second on the left, I assume the  divine next with the ruff and the lawyer seated to his left. I think the doctor is standing far left, but he also looks like a serving man in doublet and breeches. A doctor ought to be wearing a gown. The  two bishops on the right have the aforementioned muskets and bandoliers.

 

 

Act 2, he hath his nose held to the Grinde-stone. Enter the Bishop of Canterbury into a Carpenters yard by the water side, where he is going to take water, and seeing a Grindle-stone, draweth his knife, and goeth thither to whet it, and the Carpenter follows him.

This is in retaliation for the cutting off of the ears in act one it would seem. The Carpenter is in doublet and breeches with a small brimmed hat and wide linen band. The boy turning the wheel is dressed similarly, though it would seem he has the short “roundhead” hair cut of an apprentice and is also wearing a short apron.

 

 

Act 3 he is put into a bird Cage with the Confessor. Enter the Bishop of Canterbury, and the Jesuit in a great Bird Cage together and a fool standing by, and laughing at them, Ha ha, ha, he, who is the fool now.

Here they are in the cage, the fool on the right is wearing the standard cap with bells and a cloak over doublet and breeches.

 

Act 4 The Jester tells the King the Story.

Sadly no pictures!

 

 

London’s Lamentation

Or a fit admonishment for city and countrey, wherein is described certaine causes of this affliction and visitation of the plague, yeare 1641. which the Lord hath been pleased to inflict upon us, and withall what meanes must be used to the Lord, to gaine his mercy and favor, with an excellent spirituall medicine to be used for the preservative both of body and soule.

Printed in London 1641, this little book was an exhortation to the people of London to act more responsibly in view of another of the periodical visitations of the plague in London. The city had been free of the plague for eleven years and I suspect most people had though it had gone for good. What the text reveals is the deep seated belief that any natural disaster was as a direct result of a lack of piety in the populace. The remedy for making sure the disease didn’t return is particularly telling:

…let the Patient that is in danger of any infection or any other disease take and use this spiritual medicine, first in the morning when thou arisest out of thy bed, fall down on thy knees, and give God thanks, that he hath preserved thee the night past from all dangers, and desire him of his mercy, to preserve thee the day following, bless his holy name and magnify him, for her is thy maker, and thou art his creature, thus passé away the day in the service of the Lord and at night , when thou list down to sleep, desire the Lord be thy keeper and defender.

This is the picture on the front cover. The top image shows how London still honoured the dead, even during the plague; (the one at the top dressed only in his shirt) bodies being carried to the burial grounds in coffins by workmen in short doublets and breeches and followed by mourners, the men in cloaks, the women in waistcoats and petticoat skirts. Graves were still dug by grave diggers (wearing caps). The lower pane shows a more rough and ready method of disposing the dead possibly used outside the city, with the dead being dragged to a communal pit on sleds or just by their boots.

 

 

Good people all pray, fast and pray,

That is the chief and only way,

’twill cause the Lord his wrath to stay,

Let this be done, use no delay

 

Now death doth play an envious part,

He strikes full many to the heart,

Yet from grim death ne’re seeme to start,

 ’tis God that may release our smart

A Sight of the Trans-actions of These Latter Yeares (part 2)

Continuing the images from the book by John Vicars from 1646. This one shows the execution of Mr Tompkins and Mr Challoner (I can find no christian names for either) who were involved in a plot to let a small royalist army into London to take the city for the King. There is an interesting eye witness account here.

The soldiers appear dressed in coats and breeches with broad brimmed hats whilst Tomkins and Challoner are sporting day caps or maybe hoods. Who knows?

Unidentified Family Portrait

Traditionally thought to be that of Sir Thomas Browne by William Dobson. If you look at the picture of Thomas and his wife Dorothy painted by John Souch, there is a resemblance, so there is some reason to think this is John and his family, but no conclusive proof. He could have been in Oxford at the same time as Dobson, though as he was native to Norwich, would he have transported a young family across war torn England to Oxford to have a portrait painted?

Anyway, this is a lovely family group and their clothes put them firmly in the 1640s. They all look unerringly at the viewer, daring us to stare back.  John (or whoever) is wearing a brown, (or what most people would have thought of as black) coat with a plain falling band and a simple black day cap. His wife is wearing a smart wide brimmed hat and what looks like a cream bodice under a dark mantle or wrap. The children are all in petticoats, though I suspect that the two on the right hand side are boys wearing red petticoats with linen aprons, bands and matching caps. The boy on the left has a small sword suspended from a blue ribbon, whilst the lad on the right is more interested in his pet rabbit. The two girls on the right, (they look old enough to have been breeched were they boys) are wearing russet coloured waistcoats with plain linen kerchiefs and black hoods over their coifs possibly indicating that they have lost siblings.  John Browne lost several children at an early age (five out of eleven) so that fits with the Thomas Browne theory, though losing small children was by no means unusual.

Thanks to Chatsworth for permission to post this image. The painting is © Devonshire Collection Chatsworth and reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees.

 

The True Manner of the Sitting of the lords and Commons

of both Howses of Parliament upon the tryal of Thomas Earle of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Etching by Hollar published together with the picture of the subsequent execution in 1641. I’ve already blogged here about the second picture which shows many more common folk in the crowd that gathered, but here are the great and the good of the land in 1641 gathered for the show trial. As ever in these images it’s the details that add to our knowledge.

 

 

 

Here is the good Earl (letter V) in a cloak and daycap with his falling band pulled out to cover his shoulders. This is a common fashion, notice most of the assembly wear their collars in the same fashion, though you don’t often see the reverse view. There are a few caps sprinkled about in the throng but most are bareheaded, much in the fashion recommended for church attendees, only the old and infirm were allowed caps during prayers.

 

 

 

 

This little group foreground right are the plaintiffs, all in cloaks with falling bands visible as before. You can see the construction of the crowns of two of the caps too, some of which are also edged with lace.

 

 

 

The main body of the commons, most have their cloaks gathered about them. It must have been cold in the hall during the trial. A few glimpses of doublets are visible below the cloaks as are one or two round collars which I guess are ruffs. There were worn during this period by the older generation and professional men. Also spot the guy in the middle taking notes.

 

 

 

Here the judges and barons and the Lord High Steward the Earl of Arundel who is still wearing his hat as are the two front rows below the rostra on either side. Maybe they were permitted hats as they didn’t actually block anyone’s view where they were sitting?

 

Sir John Pennington

This portrait was painted by Gerard Soest sometime during the war. Sir John was Admiral of the Fleet to Charles I which meant that he wasn’t over taxed for the most past of  the civil war, because by the time he had returned with the Queen from the Continent, the King had lost most of the navy to Parliament. He did manage to maintain a fleet in the Bristol Channel for a time but that was about the extent of Sir John’s war.

He is pictured in front of a naval engagement in black day cap and back and breastplate over a grey silk doublet. His matching scarf is tied around the waist and patterned with gold threads. He’s also wearing a plain band with a bunch of grapes tassel on the bandstring.

 

I can’t find the whereabouts of the portrait. it was exhibited in the 1800s but since then has disappeared. I presume it is in private hands.

 

Richard Sibbes

The independant cleric engraved posthumously in 1635 for a publication of some of his sermons catchily entitled “Bowels Opened or A  Discovery of the Neere and deere Love, Union and Communion betwixt Christ and the Church, and consequently betwixt Him and every beleeving soule.” His objection to the surplice, signing the cross in baptism and kneeling in church puts him firmly in the puritan category, but he stayed resolutely within the established church, something I suspect might not have proved possible had he lived to see the civil war.

Sibbes is wearing a gown over what is probably a cassock with an elaborate collar ruff and a black day cap edged with lace, perhaps showing his tendencies in his dress, the austere preaching gown for the independents and the lace edging for the established church, though the canons prescribing outdoor wear for clergy specified plain caps only!