Born: John Loudon
M'Adam, improver of roads, 1756; Louis Bonaparte, king
of Holland, 1778, Ajaccio, Corsica.
Died:
Edward II of
England, murdered at Berkeley Castle, 1327; Sultan Selim I 1520;
Emperor Charles V, 1558, Monastery of
St. Just, Spain; Colonel James Gardiner, killed at
Prestonpans, 1745; John Balguy, eminent divine and
controversial writer, 1748, Harrow-gate.
Feast Day: St. Matthew,
apostle and evangelist. St. Maura, virgin, 850. St. Lo
or Laudus, bishop of Coutances, 568.
QUEEN ISABELLA: ENGLISH DOMESTIC LIFE OF FIVE HUNDRED
YEARS SINCE
One of the most interesting
records of the domestic life of our ancestors that we
remember to have read of late, consists of certain
notices of the last days of Isabella, queen of Edward
II, drawn from an account of the expenses of her
household, in one of the Cottonian manuscripts in the
British Museum, and lately communicated to the Society
of Antiquaries by Mr. E. A. Bond. No Court Circular
ever recorded the movements of royalty more minutely
than does this memorial of the domestic manners of the
middle of the fourteenth century�the private life of
five hundred years since!
It will be recollected that
after the deposition and
murder of King Edward
II, we
hear little of the history of the chief mover of these
fearful events. The ambitious
Mortimer expiates his
crimes on the scaffold. Isabella, the instigator of
sedition against her king, the betrayer of her
husband, survives her accomplice; but from the moment
that her career of guilt is arrested, she is no more
spoken of.
After mentioning the execution of Mortimer, Froissart tells
us that 'the king, by the advice of
his council, ordered his mother to be confined in a
goodly castle, and gave her plenty of ladies to wait
and attend on her, as well as knights and esquires of
honour. He made her a handsome allowance to keep and
maintain the state she had been used to, but forbade
that she should ever go out, or drive herself abroad,
except at certain times, when any shows were exhibited
in the court of the castle; the queen thus passed her
time there meekly, and the king, her son, visited her
twice or thrice a year.' Castle Rising was the place
of her confinement. After the first two years, the
strictness of her seclusion was relaxed, and thence
she was removed to Hertford Castle.
The account of the expenses of
her household embraces, in distinct divisions, the
queen's general daily expenses; sums given in alms;
miscellaneous necessary expenses; disbursements for
dress, purchases of plate and jewellery, gifts,
payments to messengers, and imprests for various
services. In the margin of the general daily expenses
are entered the names of the visitors during the day,
together with the movements of the household from
place to place. From these entries we gain some
insight into the degree of personal freedom enjoyed by
the queen and her connections; the consideration she
obtained at the court of the great King Edward III,
her son; and even into her personal disposition and
occupations.
It appears, then, that at the
beginning of October 1357, the queen was residing at
her castle at Hertford, having not very long before
been at Rising. The first visitor mentioned, and who
supped with her, was Joan, her niece, who visited the
queen constantly, and nursed her in her last illness.
About the middle of October,
the queen set out from Hertford on a pilgrimage to
Canterbury. She rested at Tottenham, London, Eltham,
Dartford, and Rochester, in going or returning,
visited Leeds Castle, and was again at Hertford at the
beginning of November. She gave alms to the nuns-minoresses
without Aldgate; to the rector of St. Edmund's,
London, in whose parish her hostel was situated�it was
in Lombard Street; and to the prisoners in Newgate. On
the 26th of October, she entertained the king and
Prince of Wales at her house in Lombard Street; and we
find recorded a gift of 13s. 4d. to four minstrels,
who played in their presence.
After her return to Hertford
Castle, the queen was visited by the renowned Gascon
writer, the Captal de Buche, cousin of the
Comte de Foix. He had recently come over to England
with the Prince of Wales, having taken part, on the
English side, in the great
battle of
Poitiers; and there are also entries of the
visits of several noble captives, who were taken in
the above engagement. On the 10th of February,
messengers arrive from the king of Navarre, to
announce, as it appears elsewhere, his escape from
captivity; an indication that Isabella was still busy
in the stirring events of her native country. On the
20th of March, the king comes to supper. On each day
of the first half of the month of May, during the
queen's stay in Loudon, the entries show her guests at
dinner, her visitors after dinner, and at supper, as
formally as in a Court Circular of our time.
On May 14, Isabella left
London, and rested at Tottenham, on her way to
Hertford; and there is entered a gift of 6s. 8d. to
the nuns of Cheshunt, who met the queen at the cross,
in the high-road, in front of their house.
On the 4th of June, the queen
made another pilgrimage to Canterbury, where she
entertained the abbot of St. Augustine's; under 'Alms'
are recorded. the queen's oblations at the tomb of St.
Thomas; here, too, are entered a payment to minstrels,
her oblations in the church of St. Augustine, and her
donations to various hospitals and religious houses in
Canterbury.
The entries of 'alms' amount
to the considerable sum of �298, equivalent to about
�3000 of present money. They consist of
chapel-offerings, donations to religious houses, to
clergymen preaching in the queen's presence, to
special applicants for charity, and to paupers. The
most interesting entry, perhaps, is that of a donation
of 40s. to the abbess and minoresses without Aldgate,
in London, to purchase for themselves two pittances on
the anniversaries of Edward, late king of England, and
Sir John, of Eltham (the queen's son), given on the
20th of November. And this is the sole instance of any
mention of the unhappy Edward II.
Among these items is a payment
to the nuns of Cheshunt, whenever the queen passed the
priory, in going to or from Hertford. There is more
than one entry of alms given to poor scholars of
Oxford, who had come to ask aid of the queen. A
distribution is made amongst a hundred or fifty poor
persons on the principal festivals of the year,
amongst which that of Queen Katherine is included; and
doles are made among paupers daily and weekly
throughout the year, amounting in one year and a
month, to �102. On the 12th of September, after the
queen's death, a payment of 20s. is made to William Ladde, of Shene, on account
of the burning of his
house by an accident while the queen was staying at
Shene.
Under the head of
'Necessaries,' we find a payment of 50s. to
carpenters, plasterers, and tilers, for works in the
queen's chamber. Next are half-yearly payments of 25s.
2d. to the prioress of St. Helen's, in London; and
rent for the queen's house in Lombard. Street. Next,
is a purchase of two small 'catastre,' or cages for
birds, in the queen's chamber, and of hemp-seed for
the birds; and under the 'Gifts' are two small birch
presented to Isabella by the king. Here, likewise, are
payments for binding the black carpet in the queen's
chamber; for repairs of the castle; lining of the
queen's chariot with coloured cloth; repairs of the
queen's bath, and gathering of herbs for it; for skins
of vellum for writing the queen's books; and for
writing a book of divers matters for the queen, 14s.,
including cost of parchment. Also, to Richard,
Painter, for azure for illuminating the queen's books.
Here payment is entered of the sum of �200, borrowed
of Richard, Earl of Arundel. Here are entries of the
purchase of an embroidered saddle, with gold fittings,
and a black palfrey given to the queen of Scotland;
and a payment to Louis de Rocan, merchant, of the
Society of Malebaill, in London, for two mules, bought
by him at Avignon, for the queen, �28, 13s.; the mules
arrived after the queen's death, and they were
delivered over to the king.
The entries relating to jewels
show that the serious events of Isabella's life, and
her increasing years, had not overcome her natural
passion for personal display. The total amount
expended in jewels is no less than �1399, equivalent
to about �16,000 of our present currency; 'and,' says
Mr. Bond, 'after ample allowance for the acknowledged
general habit of indulgence in personal ornaments
belonging to the period, we cannot but consider
Isabella's outlay on her trinkets as extravagant, and
as betraying a more than common weakness for these,
vain luxuries. The more costly of them were purchased
of Italian merchants. Her principal English jewellers
appear to have been John de
Louthe and William de Berkinge, goldsmiths, of
London' In a general entry of a payment of �421, are
included items of a chaplet of gold, set with 'bulays'
(rubies), sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, and pearls,
price �105; divers pearls, �87; a crown of gold, set
with sapphires, rubies of Alexandria, and pearls,
price �80; these ornaments being, there is no doubt,
ordered for the occasion of Isabella's visit to
Windsor, at the celebration of
St. George's Day.
Among others, is a payment of �32 for several
articles�namely, for a girdle of silk, studded with
silver, 20s.; 300 doublets (rubies), at 20d. the
hundred; 1800 pearls, at 2d. each; and a circlet of
gold, at the price of �60, bought for the marriage of
Katherine Brouart; and another of a pair of tablets of
gold, enamelled with divers histories, of the price of
�9.
The division of 'Dona,'
besides entries of simple presents and gratuities,
contains records of gifts to messengers, from
acquaintances and others, giving us further insight
into the connections maintained by the queen. Notices
of messengers bringing letters from the Countesses of
Warren and Pembroke are very frequent. Under the head
of ' Prraestita,' is an entry of �230, given to Sir
Thomas de la March, in money paid to him by the hands
of Henry Pickard (doubtless, the magnificent lord
mayor of that name, who so royally entertained King
John of France, the king of Cyprus, and the Prince of
Wales at this period), as a loan from Queen Isabella,
on the obligatory letter of the said Sir Thomas; for
he is known as the victor in a duel, fought at
Windsor, in presence of Edward III, with Sir John
Viscomte in 1350.
Several payments to couriers
refer to the liberation of Charles, king of Navarre;
and are important, as proving that the queen was
connected with one who was playing a conspicuous part
in the internal history of her native country�Charles
of Navarre, perhaps the most unprincipled sovereign of
his age, and known as 'the Wicked.' Among the
remaining notices of messengers and letters, we have
mention of the king's butler coming to the queen at
Hertford, with letters of the king, and a present of
three pipes of wine; a messenger from the king with
three pipes of Gascon wine; another with a present of
small birds; John of Paris, coming from the king of
France to the queen at Hertford, and returning with
two volumes of Lancelot and the Sang Real, sent
to the same king by Isabella; a messenger bringing a
boar's head and breast from the Duke of Lancaster,
Henry Plantagenet; Wilson Orloger, monk of St. Albans,
bringing to the queen several quadrants of copper; a
messenger bringing a present of a
falcon from the
king; a present of a wild-boar from the king, and a
cask of Gascon wine; a messenger bringing a present of
twenty-four bream from the Countess of Clare; and
payments to messengers bringing New-year's gifts from
the king, Queen Philippa, the Countess of Pembroke,
and Lady Wake.
Payments to minstrels playing
in the queen's presence occur often enough, to shew
that Isabella greatly delighted in this entertainment;
and these are generally minstrels of the king, prince,
or of noblemen. We find a curious entry of a payment
of 13s. 4d. to Walter Heat, one of the queen's 'vigiles'
(viol-players), going to London, and staying there, in
order to learn minstrelsy at Lent time; and, again, of
a further sum to the same, on his return from London,
'de scola minstralsie.'
Among the special presents by
the queen are New-year's gifts to the ladies of her
chamber, eight in number, of 100s. to each; and 20s.
each to thirty-three clerks and squires; a girdle to
Edward de Keilbergh, the queen's ward; a donation of
40s. to Master Lawrence, the surgeon, for attendance
on the queen; a present of fur to the Countess of
Warren; a small gift to Isabella Spicer, 'filiolae
regime,' her goddaughter; and a present of �66 to
Isabella de St. Rol, lady of the queen's chamber, on
occasion of her marriage with Edward Brouart.
Among the 'Messengers'
payments we find a letter to the prior of Westminster,
'for a certain falcon of the Count of Tancarville
lost, and found by the said prior.'
Respecting Isabella's death,
she is stated by chroniclers to have sunk, in the
course of a single day, under the effect of a too
powerful medicine, administered at her own desire.
From several entries, however, in this account, she
appears to have received medical treatment for some
time previous to her decease. She expired on the 23
rd
of August; but, as early as February 15th, a payment had
been made to a messenger going on three several
occasions to London, for divers medicines for the
queen, and for the hire of a horse for Master
Lawrence, the physician, and again, for another
journey by night to London. On the same day, a second
payment was made to the same messenger for two other
journeys by night to London, and two to St. Albans, to
procure medicines for the queen. On the 1st of August,
payment was made to Nicholas Thomasyer, apothecary, of
London, for divers spices and ointments supplied for
the queen's use. Among other entries, is a payment to
Master Lawrence of 40s. for attendance on the queen
and the queen of Scotland, at Hertford, for an entire
month.
It is evident that the body of
the queen remained in the chapel of the castle until
the 23rd of November, as a payment is made to fourteen
poor persons for watching the queen's corpse there,
day and night, from Saturday the 25th of August to the
above date; each person receiving two pence daily,
besides his food. The queen died at Hertford on August
22nd, 1358, and was buried in the church of the Grey
Friars, within Newgate, the site of the present Christ
Church. Large rewards, amounting together to �540,
were given after Isabella's death, by the king's
order, to her several servants, for their good service
to the queen in her lifetime.
THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX
On or about the 21st of
September and 21st of March, the ecliptic or great
circle which the sun appears to describe in the
heavens, in the course of the year crosses the
terrestrial equator. The point of intersection is
termed the equinoctial point or the equinox, because
at that period, from its position in relation to the
sun, the earth, as it revolves on its axis, has
exactly one-half of its surface illuminated by the
sun's rays, whilst the other half remains in darkness,
producing the phenomenon of equal day and night all
over the world. At these two periods, termed
respectively, from the seasons in which they occur,
the autumnal and the vernal equinox, the sun rises
about six o'clock in the morning, and sets nearly at
the same time in the evening. From the difference
between the conventional and the actual or solar year,
the former consisting only of 365 days, while the
latter contains 365 days and nearly six hours (making
the additional day in leap-year), the date at which
the sun is actually on the equinox, varies in
different years, from the 20th to the 23rd of the
month. In the autumnal equinox, the sun is passing
from north to south, and consequently from this period
the days in the northern hemisphere gradually shorten
till, on 21st December,
the winter solstice is reached, from which period they
gradually lengthen to the spring or vernal equinox on
21st March, when day and night are again equal. The
sun then crosses the equator from south to north, and
the days continue to lengthen up to the 21st of June,
or summer solstice, from which they diminish, and are
again equal with the nights at the autumnal equinox or
21st of September.
Owing to the spheroidal form
of the earth causing a protuberance of matter at the
equator, on which the sun exercises a disturbing
influence, the points at which the ecliptic cuts the
equator, experience a constant change. They, that is
the equinoxes, are always receding westwards in the
heavens, to the amount annually of 50".3, causing the
sun to arrive at each intersection about 20' earlier
than he did on the preceding year. The effect of this
movement is, that from the time the ecliptic was
originally divided by the ancients into twelve arcs or
signs, the constellations which at that date coincided
with these divisions now no longer coincide. Every
constellation having since then advanced 30� or a
whole sign forwards, the constellation of Aries or the
Ram, for example, occupies now the division of the
ecliptic called Taurus, whilst the division known as
Aries, is distinguished by the constellation Pisces.
In about 24,000 years, or 26,000 from the first
division of the ecliptic, the equinoctial point will
have made a complete revolution round this great
circle, and the signs and constellations as originally
marked out will again exactly coincide. The movement
which we have thus endeavoured to explain, forms the
astronomical revolution called the precession of the
equinoxes, for the proper ascertainment and
demonstration of which, science is indebted to the
great French mathematician, D'Alembert.
In connection with the
ecliptic and equator, the mutual intersection of which
marks the equinoctial point, an interesting question
is suggested in reference to the seasons. It is well
known that the obliquity of the ecliptic to the
equator, at present about 23�, is diminishing at the
rate of about 50 seconds in a century. Were this to
continue, the two circles would at last coincide, and
the earth would enjoy in consequence a perpetual
spring. There is, however, a limit to this decrease or
obliquity, which it has been calculated has been going
on from the year 2000 B. C., and will reach its
maximum about 6600 A. D. From that period the process
will be reversed, and the obliquity gradually increase
till a point is reached at which it will again
diminish. From this variation in the position of the
ecliptic, with regard to the equator, some have
endeavoured to explain a change of climate and
temperature, which it is imagined the world has
gradually experienced, occasioning a slighter contrast
between the seasons than formerly, when the winters
were much colder, and the summers much hotter than
they are at present. It is believed, however, that,
whatever truth there may be in the allegations
regarding a more equable temperature, throughout the
year in modern times, it is not to the variation of
the obliquity of the ecliptic that we are to look for
a solution of the question. The entire amount of this
variation is very small, ranging only from 23� 53'
when the obliquity is greatest, to 22� 54' when it is
least, and it is therefore hardly capable of making
any sensible alteration on the seasons.
As is well known, both the
autumnal and vernal equinoxes are distinguished over
the world by the storms which prevail at these
seasons. The origin of such atmospheric commotions has
never yet been very satisfactorily explained, but is
sup-posed, as stated by Admiral Fitzroy, to arise from
the united tidal action of the sun and moon upon the
atmosphere; an action which at the time of the
equinoxes is exerted with greater force than at any
other period of the year.
THE
CATCHPOLE
Many
appellations perfectly clear in the days of their
origin, lose significance in course of time, and
occasionally become grossly perverted, or absolutely
caricatured. Thus a villain was origin-ally a
distinctive term, applied, with no evil significance,
to a serf upon a feudal domain. A cheater has, like
that, now become equally offensive, though it is
simply derived from the officer of the king's
exchequer, appointed to receive dues and taxes, and
who was called the escheator. One of the best examples
of grotesque change is the appellation beef-eater,
applied to the yeoman of the guard, and which is a
caricature of buffetier, the guardian of the buffet on
occasions of state banqueting. The law-officer whose
business was to apprehend criminals, was long
popularly known as the catch-pole; but few remembered
that he obtained that designation, because he
originally carried with him a pole fitted by a
peculiar apparatus to catch a flying offender by the
neck.
Our cut, [above] copied from a
Dutch engraving dated 1626, represents an officer
about to make such a capture. The pole was about six
feet in length, and the steel implement at its summit
was sufficiently flexible to allow the neck to slip
past the V-shaped arms, and so into the collar; when
the criminal was at the mercy of the officer to be
pushed forward to prison, or dragged behind him.
This
was the simplest form of the catchpole, sometimes it
was a much more formidable thing, as will be more
readily understood from our second cut copied from the
antique instrument itself, obtained at Wurtzburg, in
Bavaria.
The fork at the upper part is
strengthened by double springs, allowing the neck to
pass freely, but acting as a check against its return;
rows of sharp spikes are set round the collar, and
would severely punish any violent struggler for
liberty, whose neck it had once embraced.
The criminal was, in fact,
garrotted by the officer of the law, according to the
most approved fashion of 'the good old times,' when
justice was armed with terrors, and indulged in many
cruelties now happily unknown.
