The National Covenant of Scotland

On February 28, 1638, the National Covenant was signed in opposition to King Charles I and Archbishop Laud's attempts to impose the Book of Common Prayer, including the episcopacy on the Kirk of Scotland.

According to this site,

The document contained an intriguing mixture of citations from the law and allusions to the Bible. It concluded by calling "...the LIVING GOD, THE SEARCHER OF OUR HEARTS" to be a witness..." God, they said, knew their sincere desire and that they weren't faking their determination. They knew they had to give an account to Jesus Christ in the judgment day, and said so. To break the covenant would be to come under God's everlasting wrath, and to lose the respect of the world. Therefore, they humbly pleaded with the Lord to strengthen them by his Holy Spirit, "and to bless our desires and proceedings with a happy success; that religion and righteousness may flourish in the land, to the glory of GOD, the honour of our King, and peace and comfort of us all."

It was read and signed at Greyfriars Church in Edinburgh. The subsequent Covenants in Scotland continued to protest and unite in opposition against Charles I's drive for unity in the Church of England and Scotland.

Greyfriars Church, obviously named after previous Franciscan friars, is also famous for "Greyfriars Bobby" the faithful Skye Terrier who remained at his master's grave in the churchyard for many years.

Back on the Air

I'll discuss the first Ordinariate, Our Lady of Walsingham, under the guidance and protection of Blessed John Henry Newman with Al Kresta on Kresta in the Afternoon in the context of Reformation History on Monday, February 28 from 4:35 to 4:55 p.m. Eastern/3:35 to 3:55 p.m. Central. You can listen live here and view the show's blog here.

I talked to Al Kresta last July to discuss my book in general--we barely made it past Henry VIII! The interview is the last half/third of this podcast. I hope to focus on later centuries Monday as we look at the historic events in September last year and January this year.

Then early Tuesday morning, March 1, I'll be on the Son Rise Morning Show, talking about the great 19th Century Gothic architect and Catholic convert, Augustus Welby Pugin, at 7:45 a.m. Eastern/6:45 a.m. Central. Sacred Heart Radio provides a Listen Live! link here.

FYI: Casting Nets has posted the podcast of my discussion on their radio show here.

The Former Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Executed

The latter years of Elizabeth I's reign were the scene of a great conflict between her last favourite, Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex and her principal secretary William Cecil, Baron Burghley, ending in the former's execution on February 25, 1601.

Essex rose quickly at Court after the death of Elizabeth's long-time favourite, his step-father, Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leceister. He was about 21; she was in her early 50s. She granted him many honors and he disobeyed her direct orders many times, but it was his unfortunate performance in Ireland that got him in such trouble that he dared plot against his mentor.

He went to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant, charged with putting down the revolt of the Catholic Lords of Ulster in 1599. Essex did not lead his 16,000 forces very well, and seemed more bent on developing his personal popularity by knighting many soliders. He negotiated a truce with Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone with unfavorable terms for England. Hearing that the Queen was displeased with him Essex left his post and returned to England to make sure she heard his side of the story. He ended up in house arrest for a time and was stripped of his Court offices.

Once he was released, he hoped to be back in her good graces. Because he could not regain one of the lucrative monopolies he had formerly held, Essex panicked and led a poorly designed rebellion against Elizabeth. At his treason trial on February 19, 1601 one of the charges laid against him was that he tolerated religious dissent (i.e. Catholics) but he said that Catholics were making up evidence against him! He was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Two operas, Donizetti's Roberto Devereux and Britten's Gloriana tell the story, the former rather romantically ending with Elizabeth's abdication. Bette Davis twitches and snaps as Queen Elizabeth and Errol Flynn is very handsome while Olivia de Havilland, as Lady Penelope Grey, intercepts his letters to the Queen out of jealousy in the 1939 movie The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, based on Maxwell Anderson's play and Lytton Strachey's dual biography.

The commander who succeeded him in Ireland, Lord Mountjoy, defeated the Ulster Lords as Queen Elizabeth was dying in England. They fled Ireland for the Continent and James I proceeded with the development of the Ulster Plantation.

This site relates this conflict with Essex to the decline of Elizabeth I's reign--and reminds us of the Earl of Essex' use of Shakespeare's Richard II, describing the deposition of a King of England, as inspiration:

Now mark me, how I will undo myself;

I give this heavy weight from off my head

And this unwieldy sceptre from my hand,

The pride of kingly sway from out my heart;

With mine own tears I wash away my balm,

With mine own hands I give away my crown,

With mine own tongue deny my sacred state,

With mine own breath release all duty's rites:

All pomp and majesty I do forswear;

My manors, rents, revenues I forego;

My acts, decrees, and statutes I deny:

God pardon all oaths that are broke to me!

God keep all vows unbroke that swear to thee!

Make me, that nothing have, with nothing grieved,

And thou with all pleased, that hast all achieved!

Long mayst thou live in Richard's seat to sit,

And soon lie Richard in an earthly pit!

God save King Harry, unking'd Richard says,

And send him many years of sunshine days!

And Elizabeth got the point--"Know you not, I am Richard?" she asked/told her counsellors.

Evangelical Ladies of the Sixteenth Century

Via Once I Was a Clever Boy comes this analysis of a group of Evangelical noblewomen in sixteenth century England, including Queen Catherine Parr (portrait on the right), the Grey family: mother Frances and daughters Jane, Catherine, and Mary, Anne the Duchess of Somerset (wife of Edward VI's first Protector), and Anne the Countess of Sussex, implicated in the heresy of Anne Askew toward the end of Henry VIII's reign.

To quote:

One other thing, apart from good birth and controversial religious opinions, which links them as a group is that most of them managed, despite their noble, or at least good, birth to contact marriages with second or subsequent husbands well below their own station. This, which was so often a worry for families with daughters of marriageable age, was something they discarded. Not for them the traditional life of the pious widow or vowess. Some of the marriages seem surprising given the background of the ladies and their husbands, who were not in a position to aid their wives as Lord Stanley had been able to support Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Katherine Parr's fourth marriage as Queen Dowager to Lord Seymour raised eyebrows, and, although not without parallel (Adeliza of Louvain and Katherine of Valois come to mind), appears hasty and unusual. In the case of the Grey sisters their position as heirs or potential heirs made their marriages ones of immediate concern to the monarch at the time.

Determination to achieve what they wanted, be it in religious, political or personal terms seems to be the distinguishing mark of these women. the cost might be high, indeed fatal on occasion, but they were not to be deterred.

Mr. Whitehead recommends Leanda de Lisle's book on the Grey sisters which I have highlighted before.

Eric Gill, born February 22, 1882

(Specimen of the typeface Gill Sans by Jim Hood)

The controversial Eric Gill was born on February 22, 1882. He was a sculpter, type-face designer and printer maker--an artist-craftsman like William Morris. He designed the Stations of the Cross at Westminster Cathedral. Raised in a cult, he became an Anglican and then joined the Catholic Church in 1913. He was also a Distributist, like Chesterton, Belloc and other Catholics about that time. The Eric Gill Society publishes this biography, but revelations of his personal behavior, based on his diaries, in Fiona MacCarthy's 1981 biography were shocking. The British Museum is currently presenting an exhibition of some of his works and the description mentions that controversy:

The exhibition features work by Gill intended for both public use and private delight, including stamp designs for the Post Office, coin designs for the Royal Mint, drawings for the Stations of the Cross, and his own engravings and publications on religion, politics and art. The centrepiece of the display is his famous sculpture Divine Lovers, on loan from Ditchling Museum in East Sussex. The display also examines Gill’s work on the British Museum building itself, including the war memorial at the main entrance.

The display concentrates attention on Gill’s art and ideas, rather than focusing on the sensational aspects of his private life which have become dominant in recent years. The showcasing of both Gill’s private work and his little-known public commissions deals with the entwining complexities of his art, life and ideals, and the contradictions that often emerged.

The revelations of his personal behavior (which I am not going to name here; you can see what Fiona MacCarthy found linked above) have given rise to attacks on his art, on his being a Catholic and the Church sponsoring his art, and even on Distributism--as though his personal sins make that economic theory untenable. When his behavior was revealed, some called for the removal of the Stations of the Cross at Westminster. Such a debate resembles that over Wagner's music--perhaps symphony orchestras can perform his music in Israel now--and identifications with the Nazi regime. Or the case of Elia Kazan and the Communist scare in Hollywood: the art tainted by personal associations. I saw one blogger comment that we know Eric Gill never had remorse or a purpose of amendment, but I don't think we CAN know that!

Casting Nets Local Radio "Gig"

I'll be on the radio for an hour long talk and call-in show airing on the El Dorado/Wichita Kansas affiliate of EWTN Radio (KAHS 1360 AM) this Wednesday, February 23rd, from 5:00-6:00 p.m. (Central Time). The hosts, Chris Stewart and Tony Brandt, and I will discuss current events in England regarding the Ordinariate, evangelization in England, and of course, the historical context. The Casting Nets website includes links for listening live. You can call into the show at (316) 320-1360 with questions or comments.

This article provides some background to the discussion.

Happy Birthday to Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

[Having posted so much on Mary I lately I will just say Happy Birthday to her today in passing (February 18, 1516), although I will talk about her on the Son Rise Morning Show, broadcasting on the EWTN Radio network this morning.]

Instead, let us consider Edward Hyde, the 1st Earl of Clarendon, born February 18, 1609. He was the father of Anne Hyde, whom the exiled James, the Duke of York married in less than favorable circumstances and thus the grandfather of James II's "ungrateful daughters" Mary (of William and Mary fame) and Anne.

A member of both the Short and Long Parliaments before the Civil War, he became a royalist serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer during the conflict and as guardian of the Prince of Wales. He began to write his History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars while Charles II was in Scotland defending his throne there, but rejoined the royal court in exile when Charles returned to France. He was named Lord Chancellor in 1658 and he served as King Charles II's Lord Chancellor after the Restoration of 1660.

While the Court was in exile, however, James seduced Clarendon's daughter Anne who was serving as Maid of Honour to Mary, the Princess Royal, so Charles forced his brother to marry her. Their first child, a boy, died soon after being born seven months after their wedding. James had not wanted to marry a commoner; Edward Hyde was named the Earl of Clarendon and Anne became the Duchess of York.

The Clarendon Code passed by the Restoration Parliament restored the Church of England. It included the Corporation Act, the Act of Uniformity, the Conventicle Act, and the Five Mile Act. This Parliament was not in the reconciling mood, as Winston Churchill commented in his history of the era: Puritans were out and Anglicans were in. Clarendon was opposed to Charles' policy of indulgence toward Roman Catholics.

Clarendon was impeached by the House of Commons in 1667 and went back to France in exile. There he continued to work on his history of the Civil War and died in December 1674--he is buried in Westminster Abbey. According to the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica his great work, the History of the Rebellion and the Civil Wars

"is composed in the grand style. A characteristic feature is the wonderful series of well-known portraits, drawn with great skill and liveliness and especially praised by Evelyn and by Macaulay. The long digressions, the lengthy sentences, and the numerous parentheses do not accord with modern taste and usage, but it may be observed that these often follow more closely the natural involutions of the thought, and express the argument more clearly, than the short disconnected sentences, now generally employed, while in rhythm and dignity Clarendon's style is immeasurably superior. The composition, however, of the work as a whole is totally wanting in proportion, and the book is overloaded with state papers, misplaced and tedious in the narrative. . . . In general, Clarendon, like many of his contemporaries, failed signally to comprehend the real issues and principles at stake in the great struggle, laying far too much stress on personalities and never understanding the real aims and motives of the Presbyterian party."

His eldest son Henry succeeded him as the 2nd Earl of Clarendon while his younger son Laurence was the lst Earl of Rochester. The former refused to support William and Mary as king and queen in 1689 and was imprisoned as a Jacobite; the latter was at first opposed to their rule but swore the Oaths of Allegiance.

Henry VIII's Burial

Henry VIII was buried in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on February 16, 1547. The Bishop of Winchester, Stephen Gardiner presided at his funeral Mass. Henry had planned a magnificent memorial to himself and Jane Seymour which was never built. There is actually a call now for his body to be exhumed for medical tests. The authors of that request have published a website. I doubt Queen Elizabeth II would want to allow such a project.

Edward and Mary on the Son Rise Morning Show

I'll be on the Son Rise Morning Show this Friday, February 18 at 7:45 a.m. Eastern/6:45 a.m. Central (etc) to discuss the birth of Mary I and the coronation of Edward VI, especially focusing on the conflict between the half-siblings over religion. You can listen to the broadcast live here and barring any technical problems the show posts podcasts later here.

The Sisters Who Would Be Queen

The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Tragedy by Leanda de Lisle

As a follow-up to my comments on the execution of Lady Jane Grey, here is a link to my review of the Leanda de Lisle book I referenced. I wrote this B.B. (before blog) and Elena-Maria Vidal kindly shared it as a guest post on her great blog, Tea at Trianon, in November of 2009.

The auther herself signed in and commented on the review and the comments!

And here is a discussion of the book by the author from an Economist imprint titled More Intelligent Life:

"Lady Jane Grey is mythologised, even festishised, as an innocent girl sacrificed on the altar of her mother's ambition. But behind the popular biographies of the Tudor Queen lies a different story of misogyny and masochism. It seems the much-maligned mother is in fact the victim.

"When I began researching for "The Sisters Who Would be Queen", my triple biography of Lady Jane and her sisters, Katherine and Mary Grey, I hoped the well-known life of the iconic teenage Queen, would lend some insight to the younger sisters, the forgotten heirs to Elizabeth Tudor. I assumed there would be little new to day about Jane herself. But as I began my research it became clear that nothing written about Jane could be trusted. The first woman to wield the power of a Tudor monarch had been reduced, over time, to an eroticised image of female helplessness. Meanwhile, her conventional mother became the embodiment of the belief that powerful women are monstrous and mannish."

. . .