tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/king-charles-i-65217/articlesKing Charles I – The Conversation2024-03-18T19:21:43Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2253562024-03-18T19:21:43Z2024-03-18T19:21:43ZIntimacy, ‘secret service’ and social climbing: meet the real Villiers women behind Mary & George<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582101/original/file-20240315-22-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=61%2C24%2C8181%2C5462&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Binge</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the early 17th century English royal court. </p>
<p>George Villiers rose from humble beginnings to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup-bearer">cup-bearer</a> in 1614, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lords_and_Gentlemen_of_the_Bedchamber">Gentleman of the Bedchamber</a> in 1615, and ultimately to the royal favourite of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_VI_and_I">King James VI & I</a>, amassing many titles and court appointments. In 1623 he was made Duke of Buckingham, the only duke who was not a member of the royal family. </p>
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<p>In Mary & George, Mary moulds George to be James’ lover, where he would become the second-most powerful man in England. But from dizzying heights can come a great fall.</p>
<p>Much of the show is embellished for dramatic effect – it’s unclear if James actually did have sexual relationships with his male favourites, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon">Sir Francis Bacon</a> did not die of syphilis. </p>
<p>However, other aspects of the show are fact. The Earl and Countess of Somerset were tried and found guilty of <a href="https://humanities.uconn.edu/2019/03/06/scandal-and-murder-in-the-folger-archives/">murder through poisoning</a> (though they weren’t executed) and Frances Coke really was abducted and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Coke,_Viscountess_Purbeck">forced to marry</a> John Villiers (witnesses noted her crying in the ceremony just like depicted). </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582421/original/file-20240318-18-4exp03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Oil painting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582421/original/file-20240318-18-4exp03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582421/original/file-20240318-18-4exp03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582421/original/file-20240318-18-4exp03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582421/original/file-20240318-18-4exp03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582421/original/file-20240318-18-4exp03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582421/original/file-20240318-18-4exp03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582421/original/file-20240318-18-4exp03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Villiers Family painted in 1628.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:British_School,_17th_century_-_The_Family_of_the_1st_Duke_of_Buckingham_(1592-1628)_-_RCIN_402607_-_Royal_Collection.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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<p>Although George’s relationship with James is a central focus of the series, the Villiers women – George’s mother, sister and wife – all strategically bolstered the power and influence of their male relatives and ensured their family remained in royal favour.</p>
<p>Here’s what you should know about the real women behind the characters.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-make-friends-and-influence-people-as-a-17th-century-woman-87205">How to make friends and influence people (as a 17th-century woman)</a>
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<h2>The mother: Mary Villiers</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582093/original/file-20240315-22-t6ti75.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Engraving and photograph" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582093/original/file-20240315-22-t6ti75.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582093/original/file-20240315-22-t6ti75.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582093/original/file-20240315-22-t6ti75.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582093/original/file-20240315-22-t6ti75.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582093/original/file-20240315-22-t6ti75.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582093/original/file-20240315-22-t6ti75.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582093/original/file-20240315-22-t6ti75.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">An engraving of Mary Villiers from 1814, and Julianne Moore as Mary Villiers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mary_Villiers,_Countess_of_Buckingham,_by_George_Perfect_Harding.jpeg">Wikimedia Commons/Binge</a></span>
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<p>While the fictional Mary Villiers’ origins are depicted as low-born, the real Mary was from a gentry family with a good name but little money. </p>
<p>Mary’s four children with her first husband, George Villiers, were Susan, John, George and Christopher (“Kit”), who all feature in the show. </p>
<p>She married again to Sir William Rayner, and finally Sir Thomas Compton. She was created Countess of Buckingham in her own right (not tied to a husband) in 1618.</p>
<p>Like many women at this time who could not own property or assets due to the laws of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01440365.2022.2092945">coverture</a>, Mary strategically married and used the other avenues available to her – such as social networking – to rise through the ranks of Jacobean society until her death in 1632. </p>
<p>History has not been kind to Mary. Her ambition for her family marked her as greedy, calculating and ruthless, which the show extends to lesbianism and murder despite the absence of any historical evidence.</p>
<h2>The sister: Susan Villiers</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582402/original/file-20240317-26-45214i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Side by side pictures" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582402/original/file-20240317-26-45214i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582402/original/file-20240317-26-45214i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582402/original/file-20240317-26-45214i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582402/original/file-20240317-26-45214i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582402/original/file-20240317-26-45214i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582402/original/file-20240317-26-45214i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582402/original/file-20240317-26-45214i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Susan Feilding, nee Villers, is played by Alice Grant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royalist_father_and_Roundhead_son;_being_the_memoirs_of_the_first_and_second_earls_of_Denbigh,_1600-1675_(1915)_(14757234486).jpg">Wikimedia Commons/Binge</a></span>
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<p>Mary’s only daughter Susan is portrayed in the show as a quiet, timid and boring teenager. In reality Susan, who went by Sue, learned a great deal from her mother and used strategic connections to improve the social standing of her family. </p>
<p>In 1607, before the rise of the Villiers family at court, she married a country gentleman named William Fielding. Sue and William used George’s favour with the king to obtain many offices and titles; they were made the Countess and Earl of Denbigh in 1622. </p>
<p>After Charles I ascended the throne and married French princess <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/henrietta-maria">Henrietta Maria</a>, Sue was appointed as the most senior <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_the_Bedchamber">Lady of the Bedchamber</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beheaded-and-exiled-the-two-previous-king-charleses-bookended-the-abolition-of-the-monarchy-190410">Beheaded and exiled: the two previous King Charleses bookended the abolition of the monarchy</a>
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<p>These positions gave her vast influence at court. Surviving papers describe how she was frequently paid for “secret service” for the queen.</p>
<p>Over time, Sue developed a close relationship with Charles and Henrietta Maria, godparents to some of her grandchildren. Her letters show she was concerned with the social position of her own son, his education and his advancement at court. </p>
<p>When the queen fled for France during the English civil wars, Sue went with her and remained until her death in 1652.</p>
<h2>The wife: Katherine Manners</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582097/original/file-20240315-30-djpnwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Oil painting and photograph" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582097/original/file-20240315-30-djpnwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582097/original/file-20240315-30-djpnwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582097/original/file-20240315-30-djpnwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582097/original/file-20240315-30-djpnwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582097/original/file-20240315-30-djpnwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582097/original/file-20240315-30-djpnwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582097/original/file-20240315-30-djpnwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Katherine Manners, painted in 1628, is played by Mirren Mack.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw00882/The-Duke-of-Buckingham-and-his-Family?">National Portrait Gallery/Binge</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<p>In the show, George is forced into a partnership with “Katie” Manners when his mother and sister conspire to lock them in a room overnight, risking their reputations. </p>
<p>Young, “fertile” and wealthy, Katie describes herself as the perfect aristocratic wife. </p>
<p>They married in 1620 in a private ceremony witnessed only by James and her father, the Earl of Rutland. Katie became Katherine Villiers, Marchioness and then Duchess of Buckingham. She and George had four children, Mary, Charles, George and Francis. </p>
<p>James was Mary’s doting godfather. In his letters, he called her his grandchild, while Kate and George became his “children” and he their “dear dad”.</p>
<p>As the show depicts, George and the Villiers women became like a new family to James. This intimacy explains the libels which claimed Mary and George killed the king, a rumour the show brings to life. </p>
<p>Katherine, like Mary and Sue, became a Lady of the Bedchamber to Henrietta Maria. Katherine was pregnant when George was assassinated in 1628 and witnessed his death at the Greyhound Inn (where <a href="https://www.yespotteddogge.co.uk/">you can still stay</a>) in Portsmouth. </p>
<p>She went into mourning, commissioning portraits and the <a href="https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/villiers-family">Buckingham monument at Westminster Abbey</a> in a chapel usually reserved for royalty. She continued to live at York House in London, marked today by its <a href="https://londonist.com/london/history/york-watergate">Watergate</a> near Embankment Station. </p>
<p>Although she and her children remained favourites of Charles, her reconversion to Catholicism in 1628 and marriage to the Irish Catholic Randall MacDonnell in 1635 caused a strain. Katherine spent much of the civil wars in relative poverty in Ghent and Ireland, with her husband often imprisoned for his role in the Irish Confederacy. </p>
<p>She died in 1649, shortly after <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromwellian_conquest_of_Ireland">Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland</a>, her life and the rule of Charles I both coming to an end.</p>
<p>But the influence of the Villers women in the royal court continued throughout the 17th century. George and Katherine’s daughter Mary married a Stewart, making their royal connections official. </p>
<p>Later generations of Viliers women, including Sue’s daughter Barbara also served in the households of Henrietta Maria and later, Catherine of Braganza, continuing the tradition of royal service and influence that began under Mary and George. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mary-and-george-homosexual-relationships-in-the-time-of-king-james-i-were-forbidden-but-not-uncommon-223522">Mary & George: homosexual relationships in the time of King James I were forbidden – but not uncommon</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225356/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Bendall receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK and Parold Research Fund.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Shaw does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mary & George depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the early 17th century English royal court.Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic UniversityMegan Shaw, PhD Candidate in Art History, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1903832022-09-13T15:37:09Z2022-09-13T15:37:09ZCharles III: the difficult legacy and political significance of the new king’s name<p>On the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, <a href="https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/statement-his-majesty-king-time-queens-death">the former Prince of Wales</a> was proclaimed <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/charles-king-proclamation-accession-council-b2164275.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=IND_Breaking_News%20charles&utm_term=IND_Breaking_Newsletter">King Charles III</a>. Although it’s been known for decades that Charles would succeed his mother, there were <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/what-prince-charles-called-change-27942745">rumours</a> that he might, once king, choose the name George due to the contentious legacies of Kings Charles I and Charles II. </p>
<p>At a time of political and constitutional uncertainty, Elizabeth II’s choice to name her son Charles is significant in understanding the monarchy’s vision for the future of the United Kingdom.</p>
<h2>Charles I: a tyrant?</h2>
<p>Naming another monarch “Charles” would <a href="https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-general/king-charles-iii-0017248">make most historians cringe</a>. The current king’s full name is Charles Philip Arthur George and he could have chosen any of those names for his official royal designation. </p>
<p>Yet he’s kept the name with two namesake predecessors from the House of Stuart, who arguably lived through some of the most tumultuous days of the now British monarchy (so far).</p>
<p>Charles I was born at Dunfermline Palace, Scotland, in 1600 and ascended the thrones of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1625. From the start of his reign, the parliaments of England and Scotland demanded more power. </p>
<p>But Charles was a believer in the divine right of kings and felt he had been given absolute monarchical power by God alone and could not be held accountable to parliament.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483853/original/file-20220911-57052-s3i724.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Drawing of Charles I with beams of light running from the sky and a floating crown to his head" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483853/original/file-20220911-57052-s3i724.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483853/original/file-20220911-57052-s3i724.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483853/original/file-20220911-57052-s3i724.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483853/original/file-20220911-57052-s3i724.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483853/original/file-20220911-57052-s3i724.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483853/original/file-20220911-57052-s3i724.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483853/original/file-20220911-57052-s3i724.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Charles I, represented as receiving his royal prerogatives from God (on the left) and the Crown (on the right), in Eikon Basilike (1649).</span>
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<p>He’s been described as a man of small stature with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-I-king-of-Great-Britain-and-Ireland">a stammer and a strong Scots accent</a>, which did not work in his favour. Charles married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria, who was French and a Catholic. </p>
<p>It was a major issue for the protestant king, who was supposed to be the head of the Church of England, as were his attempts at religious reform that led to the <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/wars-three-kingdoms">the wars of the three kingdoms</a>, which included the English civil war.</p>
<p>In the end, Charles I refused to create a constitutional monarchy (putting parliament rather than the monarch in control) and was convicted of high treason in 1649. He was <a href="https://www.hrp.org.uk/banqueting-house/history-and-stories/the-execution-of-charles-i/#gs.c4lda8">executed</a> in front of the Banqueting House in London, which became <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/1718/367">a symbol of the fall of the monarchy</a>.</p>
<h2>Charles II: a flighty king?</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483854/original/file-20220911-46817-1uq3wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483854/original/file-20220911-46817-1uq3wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483854/original/file-20220911-46817-1uq3wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483854/original/file-20220911-46817-1uq3wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483854/original/file-20220911-46817-1uq3wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483854/original/file-20220911-46817-1uq3wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483854/original/file-20220911-46817-1uq3wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483854/original/file-20220911-46817-1uq3wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Charles II - The Merry Monarch? by Cecil Doughty (1972). Charles II is shown here dancing with his favourite actress, Nell Gwyn.</span>
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</figure>
<p>His son, Charles II, became a refugee in 1648 and spent considerable time in the Spanish Netherlands, the Dutch Republic and France. While <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/king-charles-ii-public-personal-life-british-monarch">Charles II was in exile</a>, he received financial support and free accommodation at the court of King Louis XIV. </p>
<p>Upon his <a href="https://britishheritage.com/history/charles-ii-restoration">restoration</a> to the throne, Charles II became a patron of the arts and sciences and was <a href="https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/the-magnificent-monarch-charles-ii-and-the-ceremonies-of-power/">a popular king</a>. But he proved to be neither an effective statesman nor a great military leader, and failed to resolve the country’s religious divisions. His scandalous affairs did nothing for his reputation as the “merry monarch”.</p>
<p>Fate was cruel to him as well. Charles II had to rule through the <a href="https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/great-plague/">1665 Great Plague</a> and the <a href="https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Great-Fire-of-London/">1666 Great Fire of London</a>. Overall, the name Charles is not associated with the best of times for the monarchy.</p>
<h2>‘Charles III’: the Stuart pretender</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483852/original/file-20220911-35643-bfwuyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Portrait of a man in 18th century armour next to a crown on a table" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483852/original/file-20220911-35643-bfwuyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483852/original/file-20220911-35643-bfwuyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483852/original/file-20220911-35643-bfwuyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483852/original/file-20220911-35643-bfwuyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483852/original/file-20220911-35643-bfwuyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483852/original/file-20220911-35643-bfwuyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483852/original/file-20220911-35643-bfwuyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Charles Edward Stuart styled as King Charles III by Laurent Pécheux (1770). The crown behind him represents his claims to rightful sovereignty.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There has already been a King Charles III, depending on whom you talk to.</p>
<p>In 1688, Charles II’s brother, the Catholic King James II of England and VII of Scotland, was deposed in a revolution. But his descendants, and their supporters known as the Jacobites, maintained their right to the throne.</p>
<p>James’s grandson, Charles Edward Stuart, popularly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, led the unsuccessful <a href="https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/christopher-duffy/the-45/9780753822623/">Jacobite rising of 1745-6</a>. He eventually adopted the title of Charles III, although it was never acknowledged officially in Great Britain or even by Catholic European leaders.</p>
<h2>Charles III: king of a divided kingdom</h2>
<p>The Jacobite succession has continued to be recognised, particularly in Scotland, by <a href="http://www.jacobite.ca/index.htm">neo-Jacobites</a> and legitimist organisations, including the <a href="http://www.royalstuartsociety.com/">Royal Stuart Society</a>, founded in 1926. Some, therefore, may consider the new king’s choice disrespectful to the memory of the exiled Stuarts. </p>
<p>Reigning as King George VII could have honoured Charles’s grandfather and great-grandfather, Kings George VI and George V. Choosing to forgo this title in favour of Charles III suggests possible political and somewhat controversial undertones. </p>
<p>By the 19th century, Jacobitism came to be viewed as a lost and romantic cause. Queen Victoria, a descendant of King James I of England and VI of Scotland, wrote in her journal that “Stuart blood is in my veins”.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/learning/features/queen-elizabeth-ii-and-scotland">Elizabeth II, like Victoria, had a well known love of Scotland</a>. The recent Queen’s choice of forename for her son and heir may have been a personal one to honour her mother, whose <a href="https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/featured-royal-date-august-4-1900-birth-of-the-honourable-elizabeth-bowes-lyon/">Scottish family</a> has even closer ties to the Stuarts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484143/original/file-20220912-2241-qzlbcy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="King Charles in a kilt stood by the coffin of Queen Elizabeth" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484143/original/file-20220912-2241-qzlbcy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484143/original/file-20220912-2241-qzlbcy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484143/original/file-20220912-2241-qzlbcy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484143/original/file-20220912-2241-qzlbcy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484143/original/file-20220912-2241-qzlbcy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484143/original/file-20220912-2241-qzlbcy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484143/original/file-20220912-2241-qzlbcy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The new king wearing the Prince Charles Edward Stuart tartan and white heather from Balmoral during the vigil for Elizabeth II at St Giles’ Cathedral.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sky News</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Conversely, this decision could be a calculated move by the British monarchy to reconcile the memory of the Stuarts with the legitimacy of the current <a href="https://dukesandprinces.org/2020/07/02/dukes-of-saxe-coburg-and-saxe-gotha-families-of-two-british-consorts/">House of Windsor</a>.</p>
<p>The rise of Scottish nationalism has raised <a href="https://www.thenational.scot/news/20674208.unionists-struggle-identify-scottish-british-murray-pittock-says/">questions</a> about the cohesion of the United Kingdom. The death of the Queen may spur supporters of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/scottish-independence-what-has-changed-since-the-last-referendum-185985">second referendum on Scottish independence</a>.</p>
<p>The choice of the monarchy to call on the royal title of the most well-known Jacobite pretender can be read as an attempt to evoke the last fully Scottish royal family, and emphasise the King’s legitimacy as sovereign of all parts of the United Kingdom.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190383/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There have been three before him, none of whom are exactly the model for a successful reign.Calum Cunningham, PhD Candidate, University of StirlingJérémy Filet, Lecturer in the department of Languages, Information and Communication, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1904102022-09-12T02:56:00Z2022-09-12T02:56:00ZBeheaded and exiled: the two previous King Charleses bookended the abolition of the monarchy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483898/original/file-20220912-69307-dc50ad.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C3%2C2385%2C1932&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">King Charles I's reign ended in execution and an English republic.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_Charles_I_by_Sir_Anthony_Van_Dyck_(2).jpg">Anthony Van Dyck/Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On September 8 2022, King Charles III ascended to the throne. Like his mother Queen Elizabeth II before him, he has opted to keep his own name as his regnal name.</p>
<p>Traditionally, monarchs may choose their own regnal name, which can be different to the name they otherwise use. For example, Charles’s grandfather Albert became George VI (who reigned from 1936 to 1952). This strengthened the connection of his reign to that of his father George V (1910-36) after the abdication of his older brother, Edward VIII (Jan-Dec 1936). Although Edward was his first name, his family called him by the last of his given names, David.</p>
<p>King Charles III could have chosen one of his other names - Philip, Arthur or George - but has decided to remain Charles. Some have lauded this decision for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/08/queen-elizabeth-succession-britain-royal-family/">keeping it simple</a>, although given the history of the two previous King Charleses, one might have forgiven him if he had decided to sidestep it.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/charles-has-been-proclaimed-king-but-who-is-charles-the-man-190342">Charles has been proclaimed king. But who is Charles the man?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Charles I: the king who lost the monarchy</h2>
<p>Charles I, born in 1600, was the second son of King James VI. He became heir apparent (first in line to the throne) after the death of his older brother, Henry. He ascended to the throne in 1625.</p>
<p>Charles I’s policies were frequently unpopular with both his subjects and the parliament. His religious policies were considered too sympathetic to Roman Catholicism, and he levied taxes without parliamentary consent.</p>
<p>Tensions between his supporters, known as Cavaliers, and parliamentary supporters, known as Roundheads, led to the English Civil War. He was defeated in 1645, imprisoned, convicted of high treason, and executed by beheading in 1649. </p>
<p>The Commonwealth of England was established as a republic, and the monarchy was abolished, albeit only for 11 years.</p>
<h2>Charles II: the king without a parliament</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483900/original/file-20220912-68830-4y1o1l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Portrait of King Charles II" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483900/original/file-20220912-68830-4y1o1l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483900/original/file-20220912-68830-4y1o1l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=722&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483900/original/file-20220912-68830-4y1o1l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=722&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483900/original/file-20220912-68830-4y1o1l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=722&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483900/original/file-20220912-68830-4y1o1l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=907&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483900/original/file-20220912-68830-4y1o1l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=907&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483900/original/file-20220912-68830-4y1o1l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=907&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">After 11 years in exile, Charles II was back on the English throne in 1660.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Michael_Wright_(1617-94)_-_Charles_II_(1630-1685)_-_RCIN_404951_-_Royal_Collection_-_1.jpg">John Michael Wright/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although initially proclaimed as king by the Scottish parliament after his father’s execution, Charles II (born in 1630) did not reign until 1660. He lived in exile in Europe until the monarchy was restored and he was invited to return to England.</p>
<p>Relations between the new monarch and the parliament were not smooth. Charles II dissolved parliament, ruling without it for the final four years of his reign before his death in 1685.</p>
<p>Political tensions notwithstanding, Charles II was a more popular king than his father. He was known as the “merry monarch” and presided over a lively and hedonistic court. He had at least 12 illegitimate children by mistresses, but left no legitimate heir. He was succeeded by his brother, James II of England (James VII of Scotland).</p>
<p>In recent days many people have remarked how it’s difficult to hear the phrase “King Charles” without wanting to add the word “spaniel”. So how did this breed of dog get its name? </p>
<p>Spaniels were as ubiquitous in King Charles II’s court as corgis in Queen Elizabeth II’s. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/Cavalier-King-Charles-Spaniel">Cavalier King Charles Spaniel</a>, to give it its full name, was bred in the 20th century to resemble his favoured dogs, and named after his political supporters, the Cavaliers. The dogs’ ears also bear an uncanny resemblance to Charles II’s famous long wig.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483902/original/file-20220912-12-hl7846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cavalier King Charles Spaniel" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483902/original/file-20220912-12-hl7846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483902/original/file-20220912-12-hl7846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483902/original/file-20220912-12-hl7846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483902/original/file-20220912-12-hl7846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483902/original/file-20220912-12-hl7846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483902/original/file-20220912-12-hl7846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483902/original/file-20220912-12-hl7846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hair apparent: it’s easy to see the resemblance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CarterBIS.Tiki.13.6.09.jpg">Andreweatock/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What lies ahead for King Charles III?</h2>
<p>Royal beheadings and exiles may be much rarer these days, but King Charles III faces his own more modern set of challenges. He became king just two days after a new British prime minister was sworn into office. </p>
<p>Conservative Liz Truss may have left <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-06/who-is-liz-truss-britains-next-prime-minister/101404932">her anti-monarchist days</a> behind her, but the United Kingdom is facing a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-tackle-the-uk-cost-of-living-crisis-four-economists-have-their-say-188625">cost of living crisis</a> that could potentially stoke public resentment about <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/372882/uk-royal-family-expenditure-breakdown/">royal family expenses</a>.</p>
<p>While the first two Charleses stood and fought for particular political ideologies, the contemporary British monarch is expected to be apolitical. Indeed, while still Prince of Wales, Charles had previously stated <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/08/prince-charles-me-meddle-as-a-king-im-not-that-stupid">he wouldn’t “meddle” as king</a>. </p>
<p>This was reaffirmed in <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62847191">his first public speech</a>, in which he said, “It will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply.” His challenge here will be remaining silent on politicised issues that are known to be close to his heart, such as climate change.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-would-be-appropriate-for-king-charles-to-remain-strong-on-climate-albanese-190416">It would be appropriate for King Charles to remain strong on climate: Albanese</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>King Charles III starts his reign less popular than both his predecessor and his heir, Prince William. Affection for Queen Elizabeth II is not the sole reason <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/09/republic-debate-flares-as-australia-mourns-its-longest-serving-monarch-queen-elizabeth-ii">republican debates</a> have faltered in the past, but an unpopular monarch could be leveraged to raise questions about the institution as a whole.</p>
<p>In a political and economic climate where the meaning and expense of the monarchy is subject to debate, taking on a regnal name with a legacy of abolished (and restored) monarchy might be tempting fate.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-queens-death-means-for-an-australian-republic-181610">What the Queen's death means for an Australian republic</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190410/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jess Carniel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>King Charles III has been praised for keeping it simple by choosing to reign under his own name. But the royal name of Charles comes with some heavy historical baggage.Jess Carniel, Senior Lecturer in Humanities, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1375762020-05-19T20:08:58Z2020-05-19T20:08:58ZCooking in the coronavirus crisis is much more fun with old secrets from the Queen’s pantry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336185/original/file-20200519-152349-1p8daxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C17%2C1486%2C785&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'The Queens Closet Opened,’ first published in 1655, shared recipes and support for the deposed monarchy. Here, portrait of Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria, by Anthony van Dyck, 1632.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Arcidiecézní muzeum Kroměříž/Wikimedia)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today, many people under lockdown have become <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/article-flour-mills-under-pressure-as-new-home-bakers-take-to-comfort-covid/">COVID bakers</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=(%23quarantinecook)&src=typed_query">#quarantinecooks</a>. Food shopping restrictions and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/nyregion/Coronavirus-supermarkets-items-missing.html">fears of food shortages</a> have contributed to a burst of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pantrycooking">#pantrycooking</a> recipes that require minimal ingredients. </p>
<p>New kinds of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/dining/community-cookbooks-coronavirus.html">online community cookbooks</a> share comfort foods to get us through lockdown, expanding the shape of thriving food blogger or online recipe sharing communities.</p>
<p>My research into <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319408675">English recipe books, women and food in the 16th and 17th centuries</a> shows that centuries ago, cooking served similar social purposes in difficult times.</p>
<p>When we read recipes closely, we can often get a glimpse of historical conditions and responses to challenges such as food insecurity, war and other types of political and cultural upheaval.</p>
<h2>Scarcity cooking</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335889/original/file-20200518-83397-t4p7hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335889/original/file-20200518-83397-t4p7hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335889/original/file-20200518-83397-t4p7hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335889/original/file-20200518-83397-t4p7hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335889/original/file-20200518-83397-t4p7hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=968&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335889/original/file-20200518-83397-t4p7hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=968&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335889/original/file-20200518-83397-t4p7hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=968&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beechmast or beechnut.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>London inventor Hugh Plat’s <a href="http://famineanddearth.exeter.ac.uk/displayhtml.html?id=fp_00165_en_sundrienewandartificiallremedies"><em>Sundrie new and Artificiall remedies against Famine</em></a> was published in the midst of a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/650352?seq=1">four-year crop failure</a> in the 1590s. His recipes are practical experiments aimed at improving the quality of famine food. </p>
<p>One recipe tells readers how to remove the “ranke and unsavourie tast” of “Beanes, Pease, Beechmast,” (beechnut) as well as “Chestnuttes, Acornes” and “Veches” (vetches), <a href="https://www.wildfooduk.com/edible-wild-plants/vetch-3/">a member of the pea family</a>. After boiling in several changes of water, these ingredients could be ground into powder and used, in desperate circumstances, as grain replacements. </p>
<p>Another more ambitious recipe promises “Sweete and delicate cakes made without spice, or Sugar.” In this case, Plat extends the life of wheat flour by cutting it with parsnips beaten “into a powder.” These “tast very daintily,” he claims, and adds that “carots, turneps, and such like rootes” are other handy substitutes.</p>
<p>Part survival manual, Plat’s book also shows how creativity can give pleasure and comfort. He resists the idea that famine cookery must be unpleasant. And he encourages readers to approach cooking with an eye to experimentation and discovery.</p>
<h2>Royalist recipes</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.uta.edu/english/ees/pdf/bassnett2.pdf">group of recipe books published in the 1650s</a> is especially interesting. In this post-Civil War era, royalists mourned <a href="https://www.royal.uk/charles-i">King Charles I</a>, who was beheaded in 1649. <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/henrietta-maria">Queen Henrietta Maria</a> and her son, the future Charles II, escaped into exile in France.</p>
<p>Supporters of the monarchy soon found subversive ways to communicate their resistance to the new republican rule under the military general <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oliver-Cromwell/Military-and-political-leader">Oliver Cromwell</a> — through recipes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336187/original/file-20200519-152311-1ib2c7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336187/original/file-20200519-152311-1ib2c7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336187/original/file-20200519-152311-1ib2c7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336187/original/file-20200519-152311-1ib2c7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336187/original/file-20200519-152311-1ib2c7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336187/original/file-20200519-152311-1ib2c7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336187/original/file-20200519-152311-1ib2c7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Detail from ‘Portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria,’ painted by Cornelius Johnson and Gerard Houckgeest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sally Liddell: Sotherby’s Art at Auction 1988-89/Wikimedia)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Two of the recipe books make direct reference to the former Royals. <a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbc0001.2011bit22419/?sp=7"><em>The Queens Closet Opened</em></a>, first published in 1655, advertises itself as a collection from “the true Copies of her MAJESTIES own Receipt Books.” It’s a companion of sorts to the 1654 <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A34445.0001.001"><em>Art of Cookery Refin’d and Augmented</em></a>, compiled by Joseph Cooper, “chiefe Cook to the Late KING.”</p>
<h2>Community and connection</h2>
<p>We might think of these books as bringing the Royal couple into the heart of the household: England’s kitchens. The nation was still recovering from the years of conflict, but here, a restored Royal couple promises “<a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A34445.0001.001/1:1?rgn=div1;view=fulltext">infallible delight</a>” and “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbc0001.2011bit22419/?sp=7">Incomparable Secrets</a>” to feed and heal a war-weary public.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336190/original/file-20200519-152298-lulkin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336190/original/file-20200519-152298-lulkin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336190/original/file-20200519-152298-lulkin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336190/original/file-20200519-152298-lulkin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336190/original/file-20200519-152298-lulkin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336190/original/file-20200519-152298-lulkin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1428&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336190/original/file-20200519-152298-lulkin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336190/original/file-20200519-152298-lulkin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1428&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Title page of ‘The Queens Closet Opened.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The books also invite readers to join the Royals at the table. Many of the recipes in these books are surprisingly accessible to common as well as elite households.</p>
<p>The <em>Art of Cookery’s</em> “<a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A34445.0001.001/1:4.142?rgn=div2;view=fulltext">An Oatmeal-Pudding</a>” is a savoury recipe that transcends class distinctions with its simplicity: “Take the biggest Oatmeal, and mince what Herbs you like best, and mixe with it; then season it with Salt and Pepper … when it is boyled butter it.”</p>
<p>Households of varying classes could adapt and use other recipes as well. “<a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A34445.0001.001/1:4.16?rgn=div2;view=fulltext">How to boyle a Chicken</a>” begins with a readily available meat and a straightforward process (boiling). The distinctions appear in the details, allowing cooks to choose their approach. </p>
<p>More pricey imports such as dates <a href="https://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?displayID=19">and mace</a> contribute to the flavour of the sauce and introduce a bit of court glamour. But a few herbs from the garden and a bit of butter could easily substitute. Elaborate guidelines for presentation, including placing “on the Chickens yolks of Eggs cut into quarters” and “Sheeps tongues fryed in greene Butter” (butter with herbs) could likewise be adjusted to suit availability and finances.</p>
<p><em>The Queens Closet Opened</em> had a more exclusive emphasis on delicate preserves and sweets. But it was a small pocket book, which would have kept its price down. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1353/ren.2007.0192">Such accessibility</a> allowed literate merchant and artisan families imaginative access to the Queen’s table. And the Queen’s favourite fruits, including pippins, plums, pears <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120288799">and quinces</a> were locally grown and widely available to rural and urban cooks alike.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334528/original/file-20200512-82393-1i18f64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334528/original/file-20200512-82393-1i18f64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334528/original/file-20200512-82393-1i18f64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334528/original/file-20200512-82393-1i18f64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334528/original/file-20200512-82393-1i18f64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334528/original/file-20200512-82393-1i18f64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334528/original/file-20200512-82393-1i18f64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Quince is in the same family as apples and pears.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shaping the new normal</h2>
<p>Recipe books in the Renaissance had the power to bring households together in times of adversity. Food was a way of remembering the good old days, bringing comfort through nostalgia. These recipes gave readers hope, while inspiring long-lasting skills of creativity and experimentation.</p>
<p>Our reaction to COVID-19 is still in the process of being written down. Recipes and food photography will contribute to a political and cultural record of responses to isolation and uncertainty.</p>
<p>These responses can be powerful. Like the recipe books, COVID cooks and bakers bring us back to our roots. They build global communities, crossing national boundaries and reminding us of our collective strength. We can draw on these skills in the future. </p>
<p>Once quarantine orders have loosened, many will be thinking once again about the shared global challenge of climate change. The creative communities generated by cooking won’t solve this challenge, but they’re a good basis for action.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137576/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madeline Bassnett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Recipe sharing is all the rage in the pandemic as in other times of turmoil. English cookbooks of the 16th and 17th centuries promised recipes for comfort with a dash of glamour.Madeline Bassnett, Associate Professor of Early Modern English Literature, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1227032019-09-03T14:00:39Z2019-09-03T14:00:39ZThe American Founders made sure the president could never suspend Congress<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290325/original/file-20190830-166001-10utpy3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=130%2C127%2C2241%2C1485&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The signing of the U.S. Constitution.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uscapitol/6263666566/">Architect of the Capitol</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The British monarch has the right to <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/occasions/prorogation/">determine when Parliament is in session</a> – or, more to the point, when it is not.</p>
<p>Breaking with longstanding tradition, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-queen-said-yes-to-boris-johnsons-request-to-suspend-parliament-122597">possibly with</a> the United Kingdom’s unwritten constitution, new Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked Queen Elizabeth II to suspend, or “prorogue,” the national legislature for five weeks starting on Sept. 9, or shortly after. She agreed.</p>
<p>Freed from having to take pesky questions in the House of Commons, Johnson claims he will be able to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/boris-johnsons-first-speech-as-prime-minister-24-july-2019">concentrate on getting a better deal</a> for Britain as it prepares to leave the European Union on Oct. 31. Many British lawmakers, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/british-leaders-backers-dismiss-outrage-over-parliament-suspension-as-candyfloss/2019/08/29/fa1e2c96-ca3c-11e9-a4f3-c081a126de70_story.html">including some in Johnson’s own party</a>, are furious and <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/boris-johnson-suspend-parliament-no-confidence-election-no-deal.html?via=homepage_taps_top">fighting back</a>. But if the ploy succeeds, it will be one of the <a href="https://royalcentral.co.uk/interests/history/when-charles-i-prorogued-parliament-129797/">longest parliamentary suspensions</a> since the British last cut off their monarch’s head.</p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://foreignpolicynews.org/2017/08/04/united-different-differences-similarities-us-uk/">similarities between the U.S. and U.K. political systems</a> and the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/07/23/744076619/boris-johnson-britains-next-prime-minister-shares-similarities-with-trump">personal parallels</a> – and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/23/trump-boris-johnson-britain-trump-uk-prime-minister">affection</a> – between Johnson and U.S. President Donald Trump, Americans might wonder whether the president has a similar power to suspend Congress. </p>
<p>The answer is a very clear no – thanks to the forethought, and strong historical knowledge, of the country’s Founders.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290327/original/file-20190830-166014-iyvsoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290327/original/file-20190830-166014-iyvsoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290327/original/file-20190830-166014-iyvsoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290327/original/file-20190830-166014-iyvsoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290327/original/file-20190830-166014-iyvsoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290327/original/file-20190830-166014-iyvsoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290327/original/file-20190830-166014-iyvsoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290327/original/file-20190830-166014-iyvsoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Johnson and Trump have similarities but differences too.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/France-G7-Summit/ae5eaba3025c4a0ab3d991b3d2c5894a/27/0">Erin Schaff, The New York Times, Pool</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Breaking up, but still learning by example</h2>
<p>On July 4, 1776, Congress severed all ties to Britain. The <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript">Declaration of Independence</a> included a repudiation of George III, though Americans <a href="https://www.uncpress.org/book/9780807858660/the-kings-three-faces/">had initially admired him</a> when he assumed the throne in 1760. They also rejected the <a href="https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/09/the-statue-of-george-iii/">monarchical form of government</a> that King George embodied. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290331/original/file-20190830-165985-1bonawb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290331/original/file-20190830-165985-1bonawb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290331/original/file-20190830-165985-1bonawb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290331/original/file-20190830-165985-1bonawb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290331/original/file-20190830-165985-1bonawb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290331/original/file-20190830-165985-1bonawb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290331/original/file-20190830-165985-1bonawb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290331/original/file-20190830-165985-1bonawb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Initially admired: George III.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Allan_Ramsay_-_King_George_III_in_coronation_robes_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg">Allan Ramsay/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Compared to other kingdoms in Europe, which were ruled by <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/origins-french-revolution-ancien-regime-1221874">overbearing monarchs and aristocrats</a>, the British monarchy was not that bad. In fact, the institution contained a number of features that Americans quite liked. One was the system of representative government. King George and his ministers could only enact laws, including laws that taxed the British people, <a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/rise_parliament/tax.htm">with the consent of Parliament</a>. The House of Commons, the legislature’s lower chamber, was an elective body, chosen in the 18th century by property-owning men – and occasionally property-owning women – in England, Scotland and Wales. Although Britain wasn’t a democracy, it wasn’t an absolute monarchy, and definitely not a dictatorship.</p>
<p>From the earliest days of English settlement, Americans held the legislative part of the British monarchy in high regard. They <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Burgesses">modeled their own colonial assemblies</a> as far as possible on Parliament, especially the House of Commons. Each colony had a governor and a council, but the most important branch was the representative assembly. Only colonial assemblies could levy taxes, and all other laws required their approval as well.</p>
<p>After independence, the colonies became states. Americans, wrote David Ramsay of South Carolina in 1789, were now a “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/dissertation-on-the-manner-of-acquiring-the-character-and-privileges-of-a-citizen-of-the-united-states/oclc/62803380">free people who collectively</a>” had the right to rule themselves. If they were to have government based on “the consent of the governed,” as the Declaration proclaimed, they still needed legislatures, which needed to be as strong as possible. Parliament remained an example worth following.</p>
<h2>Rejecting royalty</h2>
<p>What Americans did not want was another king. The Founders admitted that even though the British monarchy had failed the colonists, it <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43041298">worked pretty well for the British</a>, with the king’s ministers consulting Parliament on most matters of importance. But they knew that the “constitution” that required them to do so was an unwritten one based primarily in tradition, not legal statutes and documents.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290328/original/file-20190830-165985-1ljhc4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290328/original/file-20190830-165985-1ljhc4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290328/original/file-20190830-165985-1ljhc4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290328/original/file-20190830-165985-1ljhc4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290328/original/file-20190830-165985-1ljhc4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290328/original/file-20190830-165985-1ljhc4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290328/original/file-20190830-165985-1ljhc4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290328/original/file-20190830-165985-1ljhc4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A detail of a portrait of King Charles I, while his head was still attached.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sir_Anthony_Van_Dyck_-_Charles_I_(1600-49)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg">Sir Anthony Van Dyck/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They also knew that just over a century before, a different king, Charles I, had not been so accommodating. In 1629, when <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentaryauthority/civilwar/overview/petition-of-right/">Parliament refused his request for taxes</a>, Charles dissolved the legislature and governed as a personal monarch – not for five weeks, but for <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentaryauthority/civilwar/overview/personal-rule/">11 years</a>.</p>
<p>That didn’t go well for Parliament, the British people or the king. The civil war that ensued ended with Charles’ execution in 1649 on a balcony overlooking what is today Trafalgar Square. <a href="https://www.hrp.org.uk/banqueting-house/history-and-stories/the-execution-of-charles-i/#gs.zxvyxa">The crowd’s gasp</a> as the axe severed his neck was a sound no one ever forgot. The kings and queens who followed him were mindful of it too. When Charles’s son, James II, <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentaryauthority/revolution/overview/reignofjames/">suspended Parliament again</a>, the British sent him packing, and gave the crown to William and Mary.</p>
<p>The lesson, however, was largely a matter of custom. During the 18th century, the king’s ministers knew how to get along with Parliament, but the law did not require them to. British monarchs still had enormous powers, and Parliament usually did what they wanted. Although it was Parliament, not George III, that sparked the American Revolution by <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolution-history">taxing the colonists without their consent</a>, Americans <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/lord-north">placed most of the blame</a> on the king’s ministers, and on the king himself.</p>
<h2>Protecting the legislature</h2>
<p>When Americans started debating what sort of government they wanted for the United States, they knew they needed an executive with <a href="https://jhiblog.org/2019/05/30/12181/">some of the vigor that they associated with a monarchy</a>. What they had in mind, however, was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32741802">different from the British crown</a>. The monarch, as Alexander Hamilton wrote in the “Federalist” essays, was a “<a href="https://billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/primary-source-documents/the-federalist-papers/federalist-papers-no-70/">perpetual magistrate</a>,” who had powers that were limited only by whatever rules he or she chose to observe. </p>
<p>The newly created role of U.S. president, by contrast, had clearly defined powers under the Constitution, as did Congress. Crucially, the power to summon or dismiss Congress belonged to the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together decided when to convene and when to adjourn. The position of president, in other words, was intentionally designed without the authority to reproduce the <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/eleven-years-tyranny">11-year tyranny of King Charles</a> – or the five-week suspension of Queen Elizabeth II and her current prime minister.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eliga Gould has received long-term grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Charles Warren Center for the Study of American History at Harvard, as well as numerous short-term grants from other sources.</span></em></p>The Framers of the Constitution knew their history, and sought to learn from it – and only to repeat the parts they liked.Eliga Gould, Professor of History, University of New HampshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1099932019-01-18T16:41:40Z2019-01-18T16:41:40ZMary Queen of Scots: don’t worry about movie accuracy, historians can’t agree on who she really was either<p>The story of Mary Queen of Scots, packed as it is with drama and tragedy, has always been a favourite of film makers. As far back as 1895, Thomas Edison made <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIOLsH93U1Q">The Execution of Mary Stuart</a>, a short film which was the first ever to use special effects to show Mary having her head chopped off. Since then, the doomed Scottish queen has been the subject of numerous biopics, ranging from Katharine Hepburn’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027948/">Mary of Scotland (1936)</a> to the new Josie Rourke film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2328900/">Mary Queen of Scots</a>, starring Saoirse Ronan as Mary. </p>
<p>When news media cover period dramas, historians are always asked if they are accurate. As far as the new Rourke film is concerned, the answer is no, of course not. Yet again audiences will come away thinking that she met Elizabeth I in person; there was a romantic involvement between Mary’s husband Henry Stewart Lord Darnley and her Italian secretary David Rizzio; and that 16th century Scots were wild and uncultivated. </p>
<p>Compared to its predecessors, however, Rourke’s film does quite well at blending the established narrative about Mary with creative licence. The <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067402/">1971 film</a> of Mary’s life, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson, had the two queens meeting not once but twice. The 1936 movie was generally criticised for its melodramatic portrayal of Mary. And let’s not even address the wildly inaccurate treatment of Mary and the Anglo-Scottish relationship in the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0127536/">1998</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414055/">2007</a> biopics of Elizabeth I, starring Cate Blanchett. </p>
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<p>Yet while tallying points on the historical scorecard in films is always fun, it’s harder to criticise film makers here than over many other historical events. The reality is that it’s highly problematic to think in terms of the “truth” about Mary because right from the beginning, all the historical sources have polarised into two wildly different accounts of to what extent she influenced the events of her demise. </p>
<h2>Mary vs Mary</h2>
<p>Everyone agrees that Mary returned to Scotland from France in 1561 to become the active monarch, and that her reign started well and began to crumble after she married her cousin Lord Darnley in 1565. The marriage soon fell apart and Darnley was murdered by an explosion two years later. </p>
<p>Mary quickly married the Earl of Bothwell, and was forced to abdicate by rival nobles who objected to him becoming so closely interlinked with the throne. She ended up imprisoned before fleeing to England in 1568, where she was <a href="https://www.historyscotland.com/articles/mary-queen-of-scots/where-was-mary-queen-of-scots-imprisoned">jailed</a> again, in large part because of the threat she posed to Elizabeth as a rival to the throne. She remained in captivity until she was executed in 1587. </p>
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<p>The disagreement turns on whether Mary was essentially a blameless victim or scheming perpetrator. Did she have a hand in Darnley’s death, in collusion with his possible murderer Bothwell? Did she marry Bothwell willingly or was she effectively forced because he had raped her? Was she actually involved in the Babington Plot against Elizabeth which resulted in her execution? </p>
<p>The two competing narratives sprang up from the moment Mary was forced off the throne in favour of her 13-month-old son, James VI. The intellectual and poet George Buchanan wrote one version, initially in his scurrilous 1571 tract <a href="http://ota.ox.ac.uk/tcp/headers/A69/A69648.html"><em>De Maria Regina Scotorum</em></a>. He smeared her as a lascivious whore who colluded with Bothwell in Darnley’s murder and helped her lover to seize the Scottish throne. </p>
<p>The victim narrative was created by Catholic writers like John Leslie, Bishop of Ross, who was one of Mary’s leading agents during her English captivity. Leslie’s <a href="https://glasgowuniscotrenaissance.wordpress.com/2018/04/23/john-leslie-a-defence-of-princesse-marie-quene-of-scotlande-and-dowager-of-france-with-a-declaration-as-well-of-her-right-to-the-sucession-of-the-crowne-of-englande-as-that-the/">1569</a> text celebrated her Catholic piety and condemned <a href="https://www.tudorsociety.com/24-july-1567-the-abdication-of-mary-queen-of-scots/">her removal</a> from the Scottish throne as an act of highest treason against the rightful Stewart monarch. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254527/original/file-20190118-100267-1wu3qog.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254527/original/file-20190118-100267-1wu3qog.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254527/original/file-20190118-100267-1wu3qog.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254527/original/file-20190118-100267-1wu3qog.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254527/original/file-20190118-100267-1wu3qog.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254527/original/file-20190118-100267-1wu3qog.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254527/original/file-20190118-100267-1wu3qog.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254527/original/file-20190118-100267-1wu3qog.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Quite contrary.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp02996/mary-queen-of-scots">NPG</a></span>
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<p>The same binary approach to Mary continues to the present day. During the civil wars of the mid-17th century, everyone compared her to her grandson Charles I. Royalists <a href="https://specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=6793">claimed</a> they were both examples of how ambitious opponents have cast down the lawful monarch. Pro-republicans like John Milton <a href="https://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Emilton/reading_room/eikonoklastes/text.shtml">countered that</a> she was the source of Charles’s deceitful and evasive nature, and a moral warning of Stewart tyranny to come. </p>
<p>In the Victorian era, Mary’s <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Mary_Queen_of_Scots.html?id=msZMAQAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">critics</a> built on Buchanan’s negative image of her, influenced to some extent by Presbyterian bias. <a href="https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/skelton-john/mary-stuart/60252.aspx">Defenders</a> excused Mary’s failings on account of her youth, gender, and a French upbringing which ill-prepared her to rule Scotland. Modern historians have been far better at viewing Mary in the context of her gender in a highly patriarchal society, but still divide vehemently. The late <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/29/jenny-wormald">Jenny Wormald</a> received death threats for her unrelentingly harsh <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Mary_Queen_of_Scots.html?id=9bGbnAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">critique</a> in 1988; while John Guy took the process full circle with a staunch <a href="https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/my-heart-is-my-own-mary-queen-scots/author/john-guy/">defence of Mary</a> in 2004. </p>
<h2>Mary in public</h2>
<p>We know less about public perceptions of Mary down the centuries. Indeed, I’m involved in a new two-year <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_629499_en.html">research project</a> at the University of Glasgow, with more than 40 academics and curators, partly to understand this better. We know, for instance, that in the 18th century, Mary was curiously absent from the propaganda of the Jacobites battling to return the Stewarts to the British throne through Bonnie Prince Charlie. This might have been because the attempts to restore her to power had always failed. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254169/original/file-20190116-163286-1ja8ohi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254169/original/file-20190116-163286-1ja8ohi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254169/original/file-20190116-163286-1ja8ohi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254169/original/file-20190116-163286-1ja8ohi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254169/original/file-20190116-163286-1ja8ohi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254169/original/file-20190116-163286-1ja8ohi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254169/original/file-20190116-163286-1ja8ohi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254169/original/file-20190116-163286-1ja8ohi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">En deuil blanc by Franςois Clouet (1559).</span>
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<p>We also know that the imagery of Mary has consistently presented her as a martyr. What are believed to have been authentic likenesses of Mary were produced during her time as a youth in France – most notably the 1559 <em>deuil blanc</em> (white veil) portraits mourning the death of her first husband, François II. </p>
<p>But while Mary was highly fashion conscious and wore a huge range of colours and outfits – a fact captured well in the new film – she’s almost always seen dressed like in the image earlier in the article: a black gown with a widow’s cap, high white collar, tightly bound hair and rosary and crucifix. This is derived from <a href="https://www.mountstuart.com/execution-mary-queen-scots/">contemporary accounts</a> of what she wore in captivity and at her execution. But in a similar way to images of Robert Burns, these details would stay the same over the years while her face, body size and shape have varied hugely. </p>
<p>The films of Mary have also been consistent, depicting her mainly as a sympathetic, strong heroine. It may or may not be the real Mary; we will never know for sure. So there isn’t a lot of point in worrying about historical accuracy when it comes to this Scottish icon. Take her as you find her, and rest assured that it won’t be long before Hollywood decides to serve up another new version for mass consumption.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109993/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Reid receives funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh for the research project described in the article. </span></em></p>The doomed Scottish monarch has divided opinion ever since the days when she was forced off the throne.Steven Reid, Senior Lecturer, Scottish History, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.