Early Modernity Today: 5 January

On today's date:

1579: The Duke of Anjou's agent arrives in England to discuss marriage with Elizabeth.

Sidney and his father went to meet Casimir on the Kent coast and accompanied him to London, where he arrived at the Tower on 22 January. The visit was a social success with extravagant gifts and entertainment, but the queen would not accede to any of the prince's requests, and the party left on 14 February, in such a hurry—‘as if they were taking leave of enemies, not of friends’ (Duncan-Jones, Sidney: Courtier Poet, 158)—that Languet did not have the chance to say farewell properly to Sidney and Dyer. The disappointment of this visit was compounded by the arrival in England on 5 January of Jean de Simier, Anjou's agent, whose task it was to open negotiations for his marriage to the queen. The debates at court and within the privy council over the marriage continued throughout the year: Sidney was bound, not least by family ties, to be part of the anti-marriage faction that gathered around Leicester, Walsingham, Pembroke, and Hatton, and which was opposed by a smaller group, led by Burghley and Sussex, which, if it did not fully support the marriage, did not wish to rule it out immediately. In July Simier revealed Leicester's secret marriage to Elizabeth (who was furious), and the earl's faction received another blow when Anjou himself arrived in England on 17 August.     (Woudhuysen)  

1606: Ben Jonson's Hymenaei presented at court to celebrate Frances Howard's marriage to the Earl of Essex.

Hymenaei was presented at court on 5 January 1606 in celebration of the marriage of the young earl of Essex and Frances Howard—and, through Jonson's deft contrivance, James's parallel ‘marriage’ of the two kingdoms. The printed version of the masque, published later that year, contained Jonson's provocative comparison of the outward ‘show’ of the court masque—Jones's scenes and machines—to the transitory human body, and the poetic text of the masque—his own contribution—to the enduring soul.     (Donaldson)

1641: Henry Walker throws a pamphlet into the king's carriage.

During 1641 Walker was repeatedly in trouble for writings and publications. In March he was briefly committed to the Fleet prison for two libellous pamphlets provocatively conflating episcopacy with popery, The Prelates Pride and Verses on the Wren and Finch. In December 1641 the Commons sent for him as a delinquent. Sudden notoriety came on 5 January 1642 when he threw into the king's carriage a pamphlet (now lost) entitled To Your Tents, O Israel. He was arrested, escaped, and was recaptured before coming to trial. He denied authorship but was convicted on the testimony of the printer. After begging the king's pardon he was sentenced to the pillory.     (Raymond)

1642: George Wither paid by Parliament for his services.

From 1642 onwards Wither struggled to secure adequate compensation for his efforts in support of the parliamentarian cause. According to The Protector (1655) he had attended the house every day for twelve years. At the outbreak of the first civil war, he had borrowed £700 to pay his troops, which was never adequately reimbursed and compounded by the burden of interest repayments. On 5 January 1643 the committee for safety finally paid Wither £128, and on 9 February the House of Commons authorized him to recoup his losses out of delinquents' estates.     (Callaghan)

Works Cited

Donaldson, Ian. “Jonson, Benjamin (1572–1637).” Ian DonaldsonOxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. Sept. 2013. 6 Jan. 2015 <http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/view/article/15116>.

O'Callaghan, Michelle. “Wither, George (1588–1667).” Michelle O'CallaghanOxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. May 2014. 6 Jan. 2015 <http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/view/article/29804>.

Raymond, Joad. “Walker, Henry (fl. 1638–1660).” Joad RaymondOxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. Oxford: OUP, . 6 Jan. 2015 <http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/view/article/40242>.

Woudhuysen, H. R.. “Sidney, Sir Philip (1554–1586).” H. R. WoudhuysenOxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. Sept. 2014. 6 Jan. 2015 <http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/view/article/25522>.