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The reconstitution of the royal court in 1660 brought with it the restoration of fears that had been associated with earlier Stuart courts: disorder, sexual liberty, popery and arbitrary government. This volume illustrates the ways in which court culture was informed by the heady politics of Britain between 1660 and 1685.
This volume brings together ten distinguished scholars of history, literature, music, theatre, and art to explore the political and cultural implications of the court's transgressive new character.
Abandoned pregnant and penniless on the teeming streets of London, 16-year-old Amber St. Clare manages, by using her wits, beauty, and courage, to climb to the highest position a woman could achieve in Restoration England—that of favorite mistress of the Merry Monarch, Charles II. From whores and highwaymen to courtiers and noblemen, from events such as the Great Plague and the Fire of London to the intimate passions of ordinary—and extraordinary—men and women, Amber experiences it all. But throughout her trials and escapades, she remains, in her heart, true to the one man she really loves, the one man she can never have. Frequently compared to Gone with the Wind, Forever Amber is the other great historical romance, outselling every other American novel of the 1940s—despite being banned in Boston for its sheer sexiness. A book to read and reread, this edition brings back to print an unforgettable romance and a timeless masterpiece.
According to the great diarist, John Evelyn, Charles II was 'addicted to women', and throughout his long reign a great many succumbed to his charms. Clever, urbane and handsome, Charles presided over a hedonistic court, in which licence and licentiousness prevailed.Mistresses is the story of the women who shared Charles's bed, each of whom wielded influence on both the politics and cultural life of the country. From the young king-in-exile's first mistress and mother to his first child, Lucy Walter, to the promiscuous and ill-tempered courtier, Barbara Villiers. From Frances Teresa Stuart, 'the prettiest girl in the world' to history's most famous orange-seller, 'pretty, witty' Nell Gwynn and to her fellow-actress, Moll Davis, who bore the last of the king's fifteen illegitimate children. From Louise de Kéroualle, the French aristocrat - and spy for Louis XIV - to the sexually ambiguous Hortense Mancini. Here, too, is the forlorn and humiliated Queen Catherine, the Portuguese princess who was Charles's childless queen. Drawing on a wide variety of original sources, including material in private archives, Linda Porter paints a vivid picture of these women and of Restoration England, an era that was both glamorous and sordid.
The calculated use of media by those in power is a phenomenon dating back at least to the seventeenth century, as Harold Weber demonstrates in this illuminating study of the relation of print culture to kingship under England's Charles II. Seventeenth-century London witnessed an enormous expansion of the print trade, and with this expansion came a revolutionary change in the relation between political authority—especially the monarchy—and the printed word. Weber argues that Charles' reign was characterized by a particularly fluid relationship between print and power. The press helped bring about both the deconsecration of divine monarchy and the formation of a new public sphere, but these processes did not result in the progressive decay of royal authority. Charles fashioned his own semiotics of power out of the political transformations that had turned his world upside down. By linking diverse and unusual topics—the escape of Charles from Worcester, the royal ability to heal scrofula, the sexual escapades of the "merry monarch," and the trial and execution of Stephen College—Weber reveals the means by which Charles took advantage of a print industry instrumental to the creation of a new dispensation of power, one in which the state dominates the individual through the supplementary relationship between signs and violence. Weber's study brings into sharp relief the conflicts involving public authority and printed discourse, social hierarchy and print culture, and authorial identity and responsibility—conflicts that helped shape the modern state.
To refer to the private life of Charles II is to abuse the adjective. His personal life was anything but private. His amorous liaisons were largely conducted in royal palaces surrounded by friends, courtiers and literally hundreds of servants and soldiers. Gossip radiated throughout the kingdom. Charles spent most of his wealth and his intellect on gaining and keeping the company of women, from the lowest sections of society such as the actress Nell Gwyn to the aristocratic Louise de Kérouaille. Some of Charles' women played their part in the affairs of state, colouring the way the nation was run. Don Jordan and Michael Walsh take us inside Charles' palace, where we will meet court favourites, amusing confidants, advisors jockeying for political power, mistresses past and present as well as key figures in his inner circle such as his 'pimpmasters' and his personal pox doctor. The astonishing private life of Charles II reveals much about the man he was and why he lived and ruled as he did. The King's Bed tells the compelling story of a king ruled by his passion.
Exam board: AQA Level: GCSE Subject: History First teaching: September 2016 First exams: Summer 2018 Target success in AQA GCSE (9-1) History with this proven formula for effective, structured revision. Key content coverage is combined with exam-style questions, revision tasks and practical tips to create a revision guide that students can rely on to review, strengthen and test their knowledge. With My Revision Notes every student can: - Plan and manage a successful revision programme using the topic-by-topic planner - Enjoy an interactive approach to revision, with clear topic summaries that consolidate knowledge and related activities that put the content into context - Build, practise and enhance exam skills by progressing through revision tasks and Test Yourself activities - Improve exam technique through exam-style questions and sample answers with commentary from expert authors and teachers - Get exam ready with extra quick quizzes and answers to the activities available online This revision guide covers the British depth study 'Restoration England, 1660-1685' (Paper 2, option BD).
The regal courts of the English Stuart Kings, from James I (1603-1625) to the ill-fated James II (1685-1689), were magnificent affairs. In a country otherwise given to increasingly austere Puritan ways of living, the royal court shone with a brilliance usually associated with the courts of the Catholic kings of mainland Europe. They were centres of great culture, patronage, ceremony and politics. The real importance of the courts, though down-played for many years, is now beginning to be fully recognised and this first major study of the Stuart courts in England, Scotland and Ireland examines them in their full cultural and historical context. Scholars of international reputation and up and coming, younger scholars have been brought together to give us an insight into many aspects of the Stuart courts. This book includes essays on culture and patronage of the arts and social history. What was it really like at the court? What rules applied? How did the courtiers behave? Finally, the crucial interplay between court life and political life, and politics, is examined in detail. This book is a major contribution to a flourishing area of scholarship and will be required reading for anyone interested in seventeenth-century history, court studies or the arts in the early modern period.
The late seventeenth and early eighteenth century was a period of great social and political change within Ireland, as the Protestant Ascendancy gained control of the country, aided by the English government and aristocracy, withwhom the ruling class in Ireland mixed through marriage and travel. The resulting Anglo-Irish elite, with its distinct transnational identity, differed markedly from the preceding Irish elite, but, at the same time, because of itsIrish dimension, was very different also from the contemporary English and Scottish upper classes. Women played key roles in this Anglo-Irish elite, and the nature of the Protestant Ascendancy can only be completely understood byconsidering women's roles fully. This book provides a thorough examination of the role of women in Ascendancy Ireland. It discusses marriage, family and social life; explores women's roles in economic and political life and in charitable activities; and places Irish elite women of this period in their wider historiographical context. The book is based on extensive original research, including among the papers of aristocratic families in Ireland and Britain, and provides a wealth of detail on elite women's lives in this period. Rachel Wilson completed her doctorate in modern history at Queen's University, Belfast.
Charles Beauclerk brings to this book on his ancestress a rich and deep knowledge of the period conveyed in warm, unstuffy and amusing style' Daily Mail 'Succeeds in capturing Nell Gwyn's vivacity, originality and essential sweetness' - The Guardian 'Beauclerk tells Nell's story with obvious relish... a biography that feels like a good long gossip' - The Mail on Sunday Revealing and entertaining.' The Literary Review 'Beauclerk paints a lively and detailed picture of Restoration London... very enjoyable.' - The Independent "Mr. Beauclerk writes of a time when, if it was good to be a king, it was good to be his mistress too. He does not fashionably cut his characters down to modem size-and is himself directly descended from the union of Charles II and Nell Gwyn, of which he writes with such humor, spirit, and erudition." - FAY WELDON "Shining beauty and dazzling wit brought orange-seller Nell Gwyn to the attention of Charles II. For seventeen years, as lovers and loyal friends, the two shared the pleasures of the bed and the play, of falconry, fishing, and walking in the woods at night. Charles Beauclerk has the blood of Nell and Charles in his veins, and, through his easy, erudite pen, Restoration England comes alive. A book to be savored, slowly." - GILLIAN GILL, AUTHOR OF NIGHTINGALES: THE EXTRAORDINARY UPBRINGING AND CURIOUS LIFE OF MISS FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE "As well as being a cracking good read, this is both a scholarly, sympathetic, mature, and thought-provoking biography of our finest folk heroine and a well-rounded portrait of Restoration England." -HUGH MASSINGBERD, THE SPECTATOR "Charles Beauclerk's grasp of Restoration literature and culture is impressive and there is nothing he doesn't know about the politics. . . . Nell Gwyn has about it a humanity, empathy, and freshness of which his subject would undoubtedly approve." -FRANCES WILSON, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH "Charles Beauclerk interweaves the development of Nell's character with a vivid portrayal of the social worlds of court and stage, in which she played such a memorable part. In spite of his obvious affection for his ancestress, he provides a well-rounded view of her character and an objective account of the role she played as a woman who crossed the social boundaries and created an unforgettable, romantic comedy in her life as well as in her art." - BETKA ZAMOYSKA, THE LITERARY REVIEW "Beauclerk tells Nell's story with obvious relish. He is particularly good on the odd mind-set of Stuart England." - KATHRYN HUGHES, THE MAIL ON SUNDAY Beautiful, quick-witted and sexually magnetic, Nell Gwyn remains one of England's great folk-heroines. The story of her exceptional rise from an impoverished, abusive childhood, to the wealth and connections that came with being Charles II's mistress is a dramatic mix of lust, money, high politics and love. Famously spotted selling oranges in the Theatre Royal, Drury Line, Nell's wit and charm brought her to the attention of one of the theatre's leading actors. Under his patronage, she soon established herself as the greatest comedienne of her day, and so caught the eye of Charles II, the newly restored 'merry monarch' of a nation in hedonistic reaction to puritan rule. Their seventeen-year affair is one of the great love stories of our history, played out against a backdrop of fire, plague, court intrigue and political turmoil. This vivid, personal portrayal brilliantly recreates the licentious, yet politically charged atmosphere of Charles II's court and casts fresh light on the real Nell Gwyn, on Charles and on the restoration period.