A Slave To Kings

Chapter 2

At the end of the 16th century, Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici dismantled Florence cathedral’s existing, though still unfinished façade, begun at the end of the 13th century. He intended to replace it, but this was never done. The debate around this important work lasted until the end of the 17th century, when Grand Duke Cosimo III, on the occasion of his son’s wedding, commissioned a large mural painting depicting an architectural front. The construction was finally started in 1876 and the façade was officially inaugurated on May 12, 1887, exactly three centuries after the dismantling of the medieval one. In contrast, Siena cathedral’s Tuscan Gothic lower façade, with gargoyles and statues of prophets and apostles built between 1284 -1317, and upper façade begun in 1376, remain intact to this day.

The Grand Tour flourished from the mid 17th century. It was a traditional journey through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by British nobility (typically accompanied by a chaperone such as a tutor or family member) when they had come of age. Its primary value lay in exposure to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to aristocratic society on the continent. In addition, it provided the only opportunity to view specific works of art, and possibly the only chance to hear certain music. It was commonly undertaken in the company of a cicerone, a knowledgeable guide.

ciceroneGian Lorenzo Bernini’s works in Rome were relatively recent additions to its glory at the time my characters viewed them. Raphael notes, when praying in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament inside St Peter’s Basilica, that Bernini is an old man. Work on his design for St Peter’s Piazza was not completed until 1680.

In 17th century London and other cities and larger towns, about one woman died for every forty births. A skilled midwife or surgeon could solve simple malpresentations, and a few could sew up tears, but child-bed fever and haemorrhages were beyond remedy. Religion gave some women a sense of control. Pain took on a spiritual significance, becoming not just a punishment, but a test. If they passed, women could be rewarded with either continued life, or salvation after death. What mattered most about suffering was how it was faced.

The Popish Plot (1678) was a totally fictitious but widely believed plot in which it was alleged that Jesuits were planning the assassination of King Charles II in order to bring his Catholic brother, the Duke of York, to the throne. The allegations were fabricated by Titus Oates, a renegade Anglican clergyman who had feigned conversion to the Roman Catholic church the year before and spent a few months as a student at two English seminaries abroad. The hysteria this provoked had serious consequences for ordinary British Catholics, as well as priests. On 30th October 1678, a proclamation was made that required all Catholics who were not tradesmen or property owners to leave London and Westminster. They were not to enter a twelve-mile radius of the city without special permission. Throughout this period, Catholics were subject to fines, harassment and imprisonment. On 17th November 1680, ‘The Solemn mock procession of the Pope’ took place through the city of London.

In 1680, the long-married James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, did indeed propose to Lady Henrietta Wentworth and move in with her.

Following the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I in 1649, military rule, under puritan Oliver Cromwell, lasted until 1659 when Richard Cromwell ceded power to parliament and Charles Stuart was invited to return. He ascended the throne in 1660 on a wave of support for the monarchy. His return represented a shift in the cultural and social landscape of England. London became the fashionable social hub of the country and the playground of the nobility. Theatres were re-opened with women on the stage for the first time, public taverns and coffee houses flourished.

Charles II turned the previously staid English court at Whitehall into a hedonistic palace of pleasure, publicly acknowledging at least fourteen mistresses, who were given enormous wealth, apartments at the palace, and political influence. Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine, Frances Stuart, Duchess of Richmond, and Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth were amongst the most notable.

Charles also had countless liaisons with other women, including actresses and prostitutes.

With the mistresses came thirteen officially recognised illegitimate children. The King elevated them to the highest ranks of the nobility and provided them with apartments at the palace and estates in the countryside. They also received the most prestigious Offices of State and were granted pensions and annuities from the crown. That Queen Catherine had no children meant that Charles’s brother James, Duke of York, remained heir to the throne.

The King had a wide variety of scientific interests, which led to the founding of The Royal Society and the Royal Observatory. And, in many ways, his style of rule laid the foundations of what is now recognised as the modern monarchical system.

Some time sequences have been adjusted for narrative purposes, and some linguistic choices are intentionally modern. Any historical errors or inconstancies are entirely mine, as are liberties taken with Italian translation.

Dodie Bishop, Upottery, May 2022