TODAY IN HISTORY

[Blackleaf]

23rd April 1661 - King Charles II (The Merry Monarch) is crowned. In the 1650s, England was a Republic (or a Protectorate, as we call it) under the leadership of Lord Protector Cromwell. However, he died in 1658 and his son Richard became Lord Protector - but he abdicated in 1659. In 1660 the Monarchy was restored and Charles II (the son of Charles I, the only English monarch to ever be executed) became King. When Charles II became King, many of those who signed Charles I's death warrant were executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered. The bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw were subjected to the indignity of posthumous executions.

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Charles II or The Merry Monarch (29 May 1630–6 February 1685) was the King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland from 30 January 1649 (de jure) or 29 May 1660 (de facto) until his death. His father Charles I had been executed in 1649, following the English Civil War; the monarchy was then abolished and England, Scotland and Ireland became a united republic under Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector (see Commonwealth of England and The Protectorate), albeit with Scotland and Ireland under military occupation and de facto martial law. In 1660, shortly after Cromwell's death, the monarchy was restored under Charles II.

Unlike his father Charles I, Charles II was skilled at managing the Parliament of England, so much so that Charles is still considered one of England's greatest kings. It was during his reign that the Whig and Tory political parties developed. He famously fathered numerous illegitimate children, of whom he acknowledged fourteen. Known as the "Merry Monarch", Charles was a patron of the arts and less restrictive than many of his predecessors. By converting to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed, Charles II became the first Roman Catholic to reign over England since the death of Mary I of England in 1558 and over Scotland since the deposition of Mary I of Scotland in 1567. The Catholic part of his reign lasted no more than a few moments, but he had firmly supported the succession of his brother (James II), who was Catholic.

After the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658, Charles' chances of regaining the Crown seemed slim. Oliver Cromwell was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son, Richard Cromwell. However, the new Lord Protector was incompetent and unwilling to rule, and abdicated in 1659. The Protectorate of England was abolished, and the Commonwealth of England established. During the civil and military unrest which followed, George Monck, the Governor of Scotland, was concerned that the nation would descend into anarchy and sought to restore the monarchy. Monck and his army marched into the City of London and forced the Long Parliament to dissolve itself. For the first time in almost twenty years, the members of Parliament faced a general election.

Half-Crown of Charles II, 1683. The inscription reads CAROLUS II DEI GRATIA (Charles II by the Grace of God).



A predominantly Royalist House of Commons was elected. The Convention Parliament, soon after it assembled on 25 April 1660, received news of the Declaration of Breda (8 May 1660), in which Charles agreed, amongst other things, to pardon many of his father's enemies. It subsequently declared that Charles II had been the lawful Sovereign since Charles I's execution in 1649.

Charles set out for England, arriving in Dover on 23 May 1660 and reaching London on 29 May (which is considered the date of the Restoration, and was Charles' thirtieth birthday). Although Charles granted amnesty to Cromwell's supporters in the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion, he reneged his pardon of the commissioners and officials involved in his father's trial and execution. Many among those who signed Charles I's death warrant were executed in 1660 in the most gruesome fashion: they were hanged, drawn and quartered in the most barbaric medieval fashion; others were given life imprisonment. The bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw were subjected to the indignity of posthumous executions.




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Cavalier Parliament

Charles II was restored as King of England in 1660.The Convention Parliament was dissolved in December 1660. Shortly after Charles's coronation at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661, the second Parliament of the reign—the Cavalier Parliament—assembled. As the Cavalier Parliament was overwhelmingly Royalist, Charles saw no reason to dissolve it and force another general election for seventeen years.

The Cavalier Parliament concerned itself with the agenda of Charles' chief advisor, Lord Clarendon (Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon). Lord Clarendon sought to discourage non-conformity to the Church of England; at his instigation, the Cavalier Parliament passed several acts which became part of the "Clarendon Code". The Conventicle Act 1664 prohibited religious assemblies of more than five people, except under the auspices of the Church of England. The Five Mile Act 1665 prohibited clergymen from coming within five miles of a parish from which they had been banished. The Convecticle and Five Mile Acts remained in effect for the remainder of Charles' reign. Other parts of the Clarendon Code included the Corporation Act 1661 and the Act of Uniformity 1662.

Charles agreed to give up antiquated feudal dues which had been revived by his father; in return, he was granted an annual income of £1,200,000 by Parliament. The grant, however, proved to be of little use for most of Charles' reign. The aforesaid sum was only an indication of the maximum the King was allowed to withdraw from the Treasury each year; for the most part, the amount actually in the coffers was much lower. To avoid further financial problems, Charles appointed George Downing (the builder of Downing Street) to reform the management of the Treasury and the collection of taxes.

This statue of Charles II stands in the Figure Court of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.


wikipedia.org

 

[I think not]

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE BORN:
April 23, 1564

According to tradition, the great English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1564. It is impossible to be certain the exact day on which he was born, but church records show that he was baptized on April 26, and three days was a customary amount of time to wait before baptizing a newborn. Shakespeare's date of death is conclusively known, however: it was April 23, 1616. He was 52 years old and had retired to Stratford three years before.

Although few plays have been performed or analyzed as extensively as the 38 plays ascribed to William Shakespeare, there are few surviving details about the playwright's life. This dearth of biographical information is due primarily to his station in life; he was not a noble, but the son of John Shakespeare, a leather trader and the town bailiff. The events of William Shakespeare's early life can only be gleaned from official records, such as baptism and marriage records.

He probably attended the grammar school in Stratford, where he would have studied Latin and read classical literature. He did not go to university but at age 18 married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years his senior and pregnant at the time of the marriage. Their first daughter, Susanna, was born six months later, and in 1585 William and Anne had twins, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet, Shakespeare's only son, died 11 years later, and Anne Shakespeare outlived her husband, dying in 1623. Nothing is known of the period between the birth of the twins and Shakespeare's emergence as a playwright in London in the early 1590s, but unfounded stories have him stealing deer, joining a group of traveling players, becoming a schoolteacher, or serving as a soldier in the Low Countries.

The first reference to Shakespeare as a London playwright came in 1592, when a fellow dramatist, Robert Greene, wrote derogatorily of him on his deathbed. It is believed that Shakespeare had written the three parts of Henry VI by that point. In 1593, Venus and Adonis was Shakespeare's first published poem, and he dedicated it to the young Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd earl of Southampton. In 1594, having probably composed, among other plays, Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, and The Taming of the Shrew, he became an actor and playwright for the Lord Chamberlain's Men, which became the King's Men after James I's ascension in 1603. The company grew into England's finest, in no small part because of Shakespeare, who was its principal dramatist. It also had the finest actor of the day, Richard Burbage, and the best theater, the Globe, which was located on the Thames' south bank. Shakespeare stayed with the King's Men until his retirement and often acted in small parts.

By 1596, the company had performed the classic Shakespeare plays Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. That year, John Shakespeare was granted a coat of arms, a testament to his son's growing wealth and fame. In 1597, William Shakespeare bought a large house in Stratford. In 1599, after producing his great historical series, the first and second part of Henry IV and Henry V, he became a partner in the ownership of the Globe Theatre.

The beginning of the 17th century saw the performance of the first of his great tragedies, Hamlet. The next play, The Merry Wives of Windsor, was written at the request of Queen Elizabeth I, who wanted to see another play that included the popular character Falstaff. During the next decade, Shakespeare produced such masterpieces as Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and The Tempest. In 1609, his sonnets, probably written during the 1590s, were published. The 154 sonnets are marked by the recurring themes of the mutability of beauty and the transcendent power of love and art.

Shakespeare died in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1616. Today, nearly 400 years later, his plays are performed and read more often and in more nations than ever before. In a million words written over 20 years, he captured the full range of human emotions and conflicts with a precision that remains sharp today. As his great contemporary the poet and dramatist Ben Jonson said, "He was not of an age, but for all time."

 

[Blackleaf]

24th April 1665 - the Great Plague arrived in the little village of Hadley in Suffolk. Over the next month, 191 of the villagers died. The Plague had spread from London, where the first recorded Plague death was on 12th April. In September 1666, the Great Fire of London destroyed most of the city - and most of the last vestiges of the Plague. Some experts now believe the the fire didn't start in a baker's shop, but started accidentally when several fires that were lit across London to get rid of the Plague (they believed, with their primitive knowledge, that smoke would "purify" the air of the Plague) went out of control. In total, 75,000 to 100,000 people died of the Plague in England, and a fifth of London's population.
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A 1665 drawing showing the dead being buried in Plague pits (the Searchers were old hags who would travel around London and search every house they could find for anyone who had died of the Plague and would then dump the bodies onto carts to be taken away to be buried)

The Great Plague (AD 1665-1666) was a massive outbreak of disease in England that killed 75,000 to 100,000 people, up to a fifth of London's population. The disease is generally believed to have been bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted via a rat vector. Other symptom patterns of the bubonic plague, such as septicemic plague and pneumonic plague were also present.

This episode of plague in Britain is thought to have arrived with Dutch trading ships carrying bales of cotton from Amsterdam. The disease had occurred intermittently in the Netherlands since 1654. The dock areas outside of London, where poor workers crowded into ill-kempt districts, such as the parish of St. Giles-in-the Fields, were first struck by the plague. During the winter of 1664-65, there were reports of several deaths. However, the winter was very cold, seemingly controlling the contagion. But spring and summer months were unusually warm and sunny, and the plague spread rapidly. Records were not kept on the deaths of the very poor, so the first recorded case was Margaret Porteous, on April 12, 1665.

By July 1665, plague was in the city of London itself. King Charles II of England, his family and his court left the city for Oxford. However, the Lord Mayor of the city and the aldermen stayed at their posts. Businesses were closed when most wealthy merchants and professionals fled. Only a small number of clergymen, physicians and apothecaries chose to remain, as the plague raged throughout the summer.

Several public health efforts were attempted. Physicians were hired by city officials, and burial details were carefully organized. Authorities ordered fires to be kept burning night and day, in hopes that the air would be cleansed. Substances giving off strong odors, such as pepper, hops or frankincense, were also burned to ward off the infection. London residents, including young children, were strongly urged to smoke tobacco.

Though concentrated in London, the outbreak affected other areas of the country. Perhaps the most famous example was the village of Eyam in Derbyshire. The plague arrived in a parcel of cloth sent from London. The villagers imposed a quarantine on themselves to stop the further spread of the disease. Spread of the plague was slowed in surrounding areas, but the cost to the village was the death of around 50% of its inhabitants.

Records state that deaths in London crept up to 1000 persons per week, then 2000 persons per week and, by September 1665, to 7000 persons per week. By late autumn, the death toll began to slow until, in February 1666, it was considered safe enough for the King and his entourage to return to the city. By this time, however, trade with the European continent had spread this outbreak of plague to France, where it died out the following winter.

Plague cases continued at a modest pace until September 1666. On September 2nd and 3rd, the Great Fire of London destroyed many of the most crowded housing and business areas of the city, causing 16 deaths. This event seems to have effectively stopped the plague outbreak, probably due to the destruction of London rats and their plague-carrying fleas. After the fire, London was rebuilt on an urban plan originally drafted by architect Christopher Wren which included widened streets, reduced congestion and basic sewage-drainage systems. Thatched roofs (which had provided splendid places for rats to live) were also forbidden within the city, and remain forbidden under modern codes. The second rebuilding of the Globe Theatre in 1997 required a special permit to have a thatched roof.

The 1665-66 epidemic was on a far smaller scale than the earlier "Black Death", a virulent outbreak of disease in Europe between 1347 and 1353, but was remembered afterwards as the "great" plague because it was one of the last widespread outbreaks in Europe.

wikipedia.ord

 

[Blackleaf]

Looks like my stalker has struck again, if it is him.

He follows me everywhere this guy. I think he has the hots for me.

 

[Blackleaf]

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE BORN:
April 23, 1564

Appropriately for England's greatest ever playwright, he was born on St George's Day and died on St George's Day.

 

[Blackleaf]

25th April 1464 - the Battle of Hedgeley Moor, one of the Wars of the Roses, was fought in Northumberland. The battle was fought between John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu (Yorkist) and the Duke of Somerset (Lancastrian). The Yorkists had around 6000 men and the Lancastrians had around 5000. It was, again, a decisive Yorkist victory.

The Battle of Hedgeley Moor, 25 April 1464, was a battle of the Wars of the Roses. In mid April of 1464, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu was marching North to attend meetings with Scottish envoys at Newcastle. His popularity meant that supporters flocked to his banner throughout the journey and by the time he left Newcastle, he was in charge of an army numbering five or six thousand men.

At Hedgley Moor in Northumberland he met a rebel force, consisting mainly of Lancastrians the King had pardoned, returned to their true colors. The Lancastrians were commanded by the Duke of Somerset and amongst their number were Sir Ralph Percy, Lords Roos and Hungerford, and Sir Ralph Grey. The Lancastrian army was five thousand strong, but morale was not as high as in the Yorkist camp.

The battle began with the normal exchange of archer fire between the two armies. Montagu then advanced across the 1,500 yards of moorland, only to be forced to halt and readjust his lines when the Lancastrian left flank, under Lords Roos and Hungerford, (some 2,000 men) faltered, broke and scattered.

The whole Lancastrian force gave way when the Yorkists clashed with their line. Pushed back by weight of numbers all but a few of the remaining Lancastrians fled the field. Sir Ralph Percy stayed with his household retainers and made a brave last stand. But, deserted by the rest of the army, including all the other commanders, he was soon slain.



Wars of the Roses (in the order they were fought)

1st St Albans – Blore Heath – Ludford Bridge – Northampton – Wakefield – Mortimer's Cross – 2nd St Albans – Ferrybridge – Towton – Hedgeley Moor – Hexham – Edgecote Moor – Lose-coat Field – Barnet – Tewkesbury – Bosworth Field – Stoke Field

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hedgeley_Moor"

 

[Blackleaf]

27th April 1296 - English monarch, King Edward I ("The trouble with Scotland is that it's full of Scots", as it says in that movie) defeats the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar. Just before the battle, the English sacked the Scottish town of Berwick Upon Tweed and massacred almost its entire population. Berwick is now a rightful part of England, as the Scots stole it from the English and it was founded by the Anglo-Saxons in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. This was in retaliation for the atrocities that the Scots commited throughtout the North of England. After the battle, the Scottish King John Balliol surrendered to the English.



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John Balliol pays homage to Edward I.

The Wars of Scottish Independence
These wars are historically valuable because they were well documented. One chronicler, Walter of Guisborough priory wrote of events from 1066-1312 from the Yorkshire perspective, using contemporary sources and the previous 22 years.

The Battle of Dunbar 1296
On the 28th March 1296 Edward now sixty years old, marched north crossing the then border at Coldstream with a large army [25,000-30,000 infantry and 5000 cavalry] and headed for Berwick, a major trading town. On the 30th March he destroyed the town and decimated the population [11,000-16,000] in retaliation for the widespread carnage perpetrated on the north of England and the treachery of the Scottish-French alliance which he determined as a stab in the back. Berwick was rebuilt by Northumbrians and the Scottish-English border forever after remained north of this town.

The Earl of Dunbar who had some ambition to be a king of Scotland sided with Edward, however the Countess of Dunbar allowed the Scottish army to defend the castle.

The main Scottish army of 40,000 men, without King John Balliol, headed for Dunbar to prevent its fall, but John de Warrene [8th Earl Warrene of Sandal Magna Castle] left part of his English forces [12,000 men] to lay seige to Dunbar castle whilst he headed north to meet this huge array of Scotsmen. On the 27th April they met in a deep valley. The Scots saw what they believed to be some disarray amongst the English and began blowing on their horns and shouting and charged down from their elevated position. This gave Warrene his advantage and his troops moved into the fray decimating the undisciplined Scottish troops who fled as far as Selkirk Forest.

The following day Edward with the majority of the English troops moved up to Dunbar, the castle had to submit. This led to the whole of Scotland coming under Edward's control.
King John Balliol [Toom Tabbard-"Empty Coat", from the royal arms stripped from his surcoat] surrendered and was stripped of his office.

Edward I managed to travel as far north as Elgin gathering the signatures of the vanquished, removing the "Stone of Destiny" from Scone and the "Black Rood of St. Margaret",supposedly constructed from part of Christ's Cross#, from Edinburgh, whose castle for the first time was garrisoned by English troops.
Following the successes at Dunbar, de Warrene was given the wardship of Scotland and he and Sir Hugh Cressingham the Treasurer for Scotland, were left as commanders of the English forces in Scotland whilst Edward took ship to France in August 1297.

Throughout the summer of 1296 sporadic outbreaks had occurred in Scotland, it became the beginnings of a national Scottish uprising. Scotland had not been defeated since the Romans invaded. Edward had the aquiescence of land-owning nobles but not the sporadic resistance under such manorial lairds as SirAndrew de Moray [Murray] and Sir William de Waleys [Wallace]. Under their influence most of Scotland north of the Clyde-Forth boundary was gained by the Scots.

The Wars of Scottish Independence

Dunbar – Stirling Bridge – Falkirk – Stirling Castle – Methven – Bannockburn – Dupplin Moor – Halidon Hill

members.tripod.com

 

[Blackleaf]

28th April 1789 - Fletcher Christian leads the Mutiny on the Bounty. HMS Bounty was a Royal Navy ship commanded by Captain Bligh. During the subsequent trial, most of the mutineers were either found innocent or were found guilty but pardoned. The people of the Pitcairn Islands, a British dependency in the South Atlantic, are the descendants of some of the mutineers.
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The mutineers setting Captain Bligh and some of his crew adrift.

The Mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny aboard a British Royal Navy ship in 1789 that has been made famous by several books and films. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the captain, William Bligh. Bligh was then cast adrift in a small open boat with 18 loyal men.

Bounty left Tahiti on April 4, 1789. On April 28, in the Friendly Islands, Fletcher Christian led the famous mutiny. From all accounts, Christian and several of his followers entered Bligh's cabin, which he always left unlocked, awakened him, and dragged him on deck wearing only his nightshirt, where he was guarded by Christian holding a bayonet. When Bligh entreated with Christian to be reasonable, Christian would only reply, "I am in hell, I am in hell!" Despite strong words and threats heard on both sides, the ship was taken bloodlessly and apparently without struggle by any of the loyalists except Bligh himself. Of the 42 men on board aside from Bligh and Christian, 18 joined Christian in mutiny, 2 were passive, and 22 remained loyal to Bligh. The mutineers ordered Bligh, the ship's master, two midshipmen, and the ship's clerk into Bounty's launch. Several more men voluntarily joined Bligh rather than remaining aboard, as they knew that those who remained on board would be considered de facto mutineers under the Articles of War.

In all, 18 of the loyal crew were in the launch with Bligh; the other 4 were forced to stay and man the ship with the mutineers. The mutiny took place about 30 nautical miles (56 km) from Tofua. In a remarkable feat of seamanship and navigation, Bligh navigated the overcrowded 23 foot (7 m) open launch on an epic 47-day voyage first to Tofua and then to Timor equipped only with a sextant and a pocket watch -- no charts or compass. He recorded the distance as 3,618 nautical miles (6710 km). He passed through the difficult Torres Strait along the way and landed on June 14.1 The only casualty of his voyage was a crewman, John Norton, who was stoned to death by the natives of Tofua, the first island they tried to land on. At Tofua (Bligh spelled it Tofoa), Bligh and eighteen loyalists had sought refuge in a cave (which they called "Murderers' Cove") in order to augment their meager provisions (see Tofua for debate on cave's location).[1]

Meanwhile, the mutineers sailed for the island of Tubuai, where they tried to settle. After three months of terrorizing the natives, however, they returned to Tahiti to put 16 of the crew ashore. Christian, eight other crewmen, six Tahitian men, and 11 women, one with a baby, set sail in Bounty hoping to elude the Royal Navy. According to a journal kept by one of Christian's followers, the Tahitians were actually kidnapped when Christian set sail without warning them, the purpose of this being to acquire the women.

The mutineers passed through the Fiji and Cook Islands, but feared that they would be found there. Moving on, they rediscovered Pitcairn Island, which had been misplaced on the Royal Navy's charts. On January 23, 1790, they burned the ship in what is now Bounty Bay. Some of her remains, such as her anchors and guns, are still visible in its waters.


Aftermath of the mutiny

Return to England and court-martial
Lieutenant Bligh returned to England and reported the mutiny to the Admiralty on March 15, 1790. HMS Pandora, under the command of Captain Edward Edwards, was dispatched November 7, 1790 to search for Bounty and the mutineers. Pandora reached Tahiti on March 23, 1791. Four of the men from Bounty came on board Pandora soon after its arrival, and ten more were arrested in a few weeks. These fourteen, mutineers and loyal crew alike, were imprisoned in a makeshift cell on Pandora's deck, which they derisively called "Pandora's Box". On May 8, 1791, Pandora left Tahiti, and spent about three months visiting islands to the west of Tahiti in search of Bounty and the remaining mutineers, without finding anything except flotsam -- some spars and a yard. Heading west through the Torres Strait, Pandora ran aground on a reef (part of the Great Barrier Reef) on August 29, 1791. The ship sank the next day, and 31 of the crew and four of the prisoners were lost. The remaining 89 of the ship's company and ten prisoners (released from their cage at the last moment) assembled in four small boats and sailed for Timor, arriving there on September 16, 1791.

After being repatriated to England, the ten prisoners were tried by a naval court. During the trial, great importance was attached to which men had been seen to be holding weapons during the critical moments of the mutiny, as under the Articles of War, failure to act when able to prevent a mutiny was considered no different from being an active mutineer. In the judgement delivered on September 18, 1792, four men whom Bligh had designated as innocent were acquitted. Two were found guilty, but pardoned; one of these was Peter Heywood, who later rose to rank of captain himself. Another was reprieved due to a legal technicality, and later also received a pardon. The other three men were convicted and hanged. In other trials, both Bligh and Edwards were court-martialled for the loss of their ships (an automatic proceeding under British naval law, and not indicative of any particular suspicion of guilt), and both were acquitted.

Bligh resumed his naval career and went on to attain the rank of Vice Admiral. However, his career was marked by another challenge to his authority when he was a Governor of New South Wales; in 1808 the troops of New South Wales arrested Bligh in an incident known as the Rum Rebellion.

Even before Edwards had returned from his search for Bounty, HMS Providence and her tender Assistant began a second voyage to collect breadfruit trees on August 3, 1791. This mission was again championed by Joseph Banks and again commanded by Bligh, now promoted to Captain Bligh. The second voyage was a complete success, collecting 2126 breadfruit plants and hundreds of other botanical specimens and delivering them to the West Indies. Departing Tahiti on July 19, 1792, Bligh once again successfully navigated the Torres Strait.

[edit]
Fate of the mutineers
When the American sailing ship Topaz, commanded by Mayhew Folger, rediscovered Pitcairn Island in 1808, only John Adams, nine women and some children still lived. Five of the mutineers, including Fletcher Christian, had been murdered by Tahitians on Pitcairn Island; one died after a drunken fall; one was killed by the other two survivors after he attacked them; and one died of natural causes. All six of the Taihitian men were killed during the fighting. Of the nine Taihitian women, two were killed in falls while gathering eggs from a cliff.

Fletcher Christian was survived by Maimiti and their son Thursday October Christian, the first child born on the island. Rumors persist that Fletcher left the island and made it back to England. In 1825, John Adams was granted amnesty for his mutiny; Pitcairn's capital, Adamstown, is named for him. On November 30, 1838, the Pitcairn Islands (which include the uninhabited islands of Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno) were incorporated into the British Empire.

wikipedia.org

 

[cortezzz]

april 30th 1975---

saigon liberated-----------

vietnamese war ends

 

[I think not]

Yes, even today Saigon enjoys the fruits of freedom.

 

[Blackleaf]

1st May 1851 - The Great Exhibition opens in the Crystal Palace, London. The exhibition was held to celebrate the greatness of Great Britain, the world's greatest power, such as its mighty industrial and manufacturing prowess and its scientific achievements. It was the first international exhibition held anywhere in the world. It also celebrated the achievements of other nations. The Crystal Palace burnt down in 1936.
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The Crystal Palace was situated in Hyde Park.

The Great Exhibition, also known as the Crystal Palace Exhibition, was an international exhibition held in Hyde Park London, from 1 May to 15 October 1851 and the first in a series of World's Fair exhibitions of culture and industry that were to be a popular 19th century feature.

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations was organised by Prince Albert and Henry Cole as a celebration of modern industrial technology and design. It can be argued that the Great Exhibition was mounted in response to the highly successful French exhibition of 1844, the French Industrial Exposition of 1844. Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort, was an enthusiastic promoter of a self-financing exhibition; the government was persuaded to form the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 to establish the viability of hosting such an exhibition.

A special building, nicknamed The Crystal Palace, was designed by Joseph Paxton (with support from structural engineer Charles Fox) to house the show; an architecturally adventurous building based on Paxton's experience designing greenhouses for the sixth Duke of Devonshire, constructed from cast iron-frame components and glass made almost exclusively in Birmingham and Smethwick, which was an enormous success. The committee overseeing its construction included Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The massive glass house was 1848 feet (about 563 m) long by 454 feet (about 138 m) wide, and went from plans to grand opening in just nine months. The building was later moved and reerected in an enlarged form at Sydenham in south London, an area that was renamed Crystal Palace.

The Great Exhibition made a surplus of £186,000 which was used to found the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum which were all built in the area to the south of the exhibition, nicknamed "Albertopolis", alongside the Imperial Institute.

The exhibition caused controversy at the time. Some conservatives feared that the mass of visitors might become a revolutionary mob, while radicals such as Karl Marx saw the exhibition as an emblem of the capitalist fetishism of commodities. Today the 'Great Exhibition' has become a symbol of the Victorian Age, and its thick catalogue illustrated with steel engravings is a primary source for High Victorian design.

Alfred Charles Hobbs used the exhibition to demonstrate the inadequacy of several respected locks of the day.

The America's Cup yachting event began with a race held in conjunction with the Great Exhibition.

The supposed effects of the Great Exhibition. The entire population of Manchester has gone to visit the Exhibition in London.


wikipedia.org
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~city19c/viccity/crystal1.html
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Also on this day -

1707 - England/Wales unite with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1912 - A statue of Peter Pan is put in Kensington Gardens, London. Children are told it was put their by faeries.

 

[Blackleaf]

Yes, even today Saigon enjoys the fruits of freedom

Vietnam was "enjoying the fruits of democracy" BEFORE the Vietnam War. Their government was democratically elected.

 

[Jo Canadian]

Three years ago on May 1, GWB dressed in military uniform flew onto the deck of an aircraft carrier for a photo opportunity to announce, "Mission accomplished!"

 

[Blackleaf]

2nd May 1536 - Anne Boleyn, the 2nd wife of King Henry VIII, is imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of adultery and treason. A Flemish minstrel named Mark Smeaton admitted under torture that he had an affair with Anne - and that Anne also had an incestual affair with her own brother. Some rumours persist that Queen Elizabeth I was not the daughter of Anne and Henry VIII but was instead the daughter of Anne and Mark Smeaton. She was beheaded on 19th May. When her jailer William Kingston told her that she was to be given the privilege of being executed by a French expert with a sword she laughed. "I heard say that the executioner was very good," she said, "and I have a little neck." Eye-witnesses claimed that, when her head was shown to the spectators, her eyes were open and she appeared to be attempting to speak.
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Tower of London.

Anne Boleyn, Marquess of Pembroke (c.1501/1507–19 May 1536), also called Ann Bolin and Anne Bullen, (the original medieval English pronunciation) was the second wife and queen consort of Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I.

Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and marriage to Anne was part of the complex beginning of the considerable political and religious upheaval which was the English Reformation, with Anne herself actively promoting the cause of Church Reform.

She is particularly remembered because she was beheaded on charges of adultery and treason on 19 May 1536.

Historians cannot agree when Anne Boleyn was born. An Italian historian, writing in 1600, suggested that she had been born in 1499; whilst Sir Thomas More's son-in-law suggested a much later date – 1512. Nowadays the debate centres around two key dates: 1501 and 1507. Two great authorities on the period, Eric Ives and Retha Warnicke — both of whom have written biographies of Anne — disagree. Ives promotes the 1501 date, whilst Warnicke believes the later 1507 is correct. Some say about 1502. It is extremely unlikely that Anne would have been over thirty at the time of her marriage, because such an age was considered unhealthy for a first-time mother. There is, however, a letter from Anne in about 1514 which, some people believe, suggests she was a teenager when she wrote it. This is hardly conclusive and a full examination of the letter is still required, as both sides currently claim it as supporting evidence. The debate may never be fully solved since parish records chronicling precise dates of birth were not kept until the time of Elizabeth I. Some other writers, like Paul Friedmann, Norah Lofts and Hester W. Chapman, all suggested that a birthday somewhere between 1501 and 1507 might be the safest guess – such as 1505. The Dictionary of National Biography opts for c.1500, entirely dismissing the claims of 1507.

Anne became a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's Spanish wife, whose sons by Henry had all died young. Catherine was popular with the people, but she had been inactive in politics and court life for some time.



Life as Queen
There were over 250 servants to tend to Anne's personal needs, everything from priests to stable-boys. There were also over sixty maids-of-honour, who served Anne and accompanied her to social events. In return, their parents hoped the Queen would act as a good mistress and arrange a suitable marriage for them. Anne maintained a strict control over her maids' morals and spiritual well-being, chastising Margaret Shelton when she was caught writing poetry in her prayer book. She also employed several priests, who acted as her confessors, chaplains and religious advisers. Her favourite was the religious moderate Matthew Parker, who would become one of the chief architects of the modern Church of England under Anne's daughter Elizabeth I.

Anne's reputation as a religious reformer spread through Europe and she was hailed as a heroine by Protestant figures – even in Germany, Martin Luther viewed her rise to the throne as a positive sign. She also saved the life of the French radical Nicolas Bourbon, who was sentenced to death by the French Inquisition. Anne appealed to the French Royal Family who spared Bourbon's life as a favour to the English queen. Bourbon would later refer to Anne as "the Queen whom God loves". Although Anne championed religious reform, especially translating the Bible into English, she did not challenge the core of Catholic belief which was the sacred doctrine of Transubstantiation. She was also a generous patron of charity, distributing alms to poor relief, and funds to educational foundations. Often, she and her ladies would sew shirts for the poor.

As queen, Anne presided over a magnificent court. In the 16th century, royals were expected to be extravagant in order to convey to their people the importance and strength of the monarchy. Anne certainly did this and she spent on gowns, jewels, head-dresses, ostrich-feather fans, riding equipment and the finest furniture and upholstery from across the world. Numerous palaces were renovated for the royal couple.

Anne's social life continued to be hectic and glamorous. A group of young gentlemen continued to visit the queen's apartments, where they flirted with her ladies-in-waiting and danced with the Queen when she wanted them to. At times, Anne too flirted with them but this had always been part of her nature. She never stepped beyond propriety, even going so far as to reprimand them if they became too jovial with either her or her maids. There was nothing new in this, for a group of young men had also served as Catherine of Aragon's adherents in the 1510s, it was only later that this behaviour would harm Anne's reputation.

Anne’s married life continued to lurch from storm to sunshine. The royal couple still enjoyed periods of calm and affection, but Henry's frequent infidelities greatly wounded Anne who reacted with tears and rage to each new mistress. For his part, Henry found Anne’s strident opinions about religion and politics as intolerance and he saw her failure to give him a son as a betrayal. Anne's second pregnancy resulted in the miscarriage in the summer of 1534.

The French Ambassador watched with amazement at the frosty atmosphere between the royal couple at a banquet in 1535. When he asked Anne about it later in the evening she laughed sadly and later told him that she felt utterly lonely and that she could feel the eyes of the entire Court spying on her.

This pressure inflamed Anne's temper and she clashed with her ambitious uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, when she discovered his loyalty to her was suspect. When her sister Mary secretly married a commoner, Anne reacted with fury by exiling Mary from her Court – this may also have had something to do with the queen's recent miscarriage, which had left her emotionally disoriented. Both sisters refused to apologise to one another – Mary wrote a letter proclaiming her steadfast love for her new husband.

Anne was also blamed for the tyranny of her husband’s government. When Henry's old adviser Sir Thomas More was beheaded in 1535 for refusing to break his oath of loyalty to Pope Paul III Anne was publicly blamed for pushing the King into signing his death warrant. This was untrue, however. Anne did not like More but there is no evidence that she had pushed for his death. It is unlikely she defended him, but he had acknowledged her as queen instead of Catherine. More died because he would not acknowledge Henry as Head of the Church of England.


1536
In January 1536, Catherine of Aragon died of cancer. Anne attempted to repair relations with Catherine's daughter, Mary, but she was once again rebuffed. At the time, none of this bothered Anne because she was pregnant once more. However, she was concerned about the king's latest mistress, Jane Seymour, who was one of Anne's maids. Once she found Jane wearing a jewel the King had given her, and Anne ripped it from Jane's neck, and slapped her. On another occasion, she walked into a room to find Henry and Jane in an embrace. A few days later, Henry was almost killed in a jousting accident. He was unconscious for two hours and Anne was initially told that he was dead. The stress of this may have contributed to the miscarriage of a son on 29 January 1536.

This was the beginning of the end of the royal marriage. What happened next is one of the most controversial periods of English history. As Anne recovered from her miscarriage, Henry declared his marriage was accursed by God. Jane Seymour was moved into new apartments and Anne's brother was refused a prestigious court honour, the Order of the Garter, which was instead given to Jane Seymour's brother. She was irritable and depressed throughout the early months of 1536, fearing that she was about to be divorced.



The fall of Anne Boleyn
A Flemish musician in Anne's service named Mark Smeaton had been arrested and tortured by Thomas Cromwell. He had denied that he was Anne's lover, but under torture he confessed. He also provided the names of another courtier – Sir Henry Norreys (or Norris) – who was an old friend of Anne’s. He was arrested on May Day, but since he was an aristocrat he could not be tortured. Norris denied his guilt and swore that Anne was absolutely innocent. Another victim, Sir Francis Weston was arrested two days later. William Brereton, a groom of the King's privy chamber, was also apprehended on grounds of adultery, But it seems likely he was innocent and was in fact the victim of an old grudge against him held by Thomas Cromwell. Anne's own brother was also arrested on charges of incest and treason.

Anne Boleyn's terror was realized on 2 May 1536 when she was arrested at luncheon and taken up the River Thames to the Tower of London. In the Tower, Anne suffered a minor nervous breakdown demanding to know full details of her family's whereabouts and the charges against her.


The Tower of LondonThe four gentlemen were tried on 15 May 1536. Weston, Brereton and Norris publicly maintained their innocence and only the tortured Smeaton supported the government by pleading guilty. Two days later, Anne and George Boleyn were tried separately. Anne displayed great bravery at her trial and the spectators spread word of her courage. Popular suspicion against Henry and his mistress Jane Seymour was widespread and there was gossip attacking their behaviour. Anne was accused of adultery, incest, and high treason. One eyewitness reported that she gave "such wise and discreet answers". Although Anne was not popular by any means, her trial was so unfair that even the citizens protested. Even so, the King demanded her head and she was condemned to death.

On 17 May 1536 – the day Anne's "lovers" were publicly beheaded – Anne was stripped of her title as queen and her daughter Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. The following day Anne heard Mass for the last time, and publicly swore on the Blessed Sacrament that she was innocent. When her jailer William Kingston told her that she was to be given the privilege of being executed by a French expert with a sword she laughed. "I heard say that the executioner was very good," she said, "and I have a little neck." Kingston was amazed at the composure she now demonstrated – "She hath much joy in death", he wrote.

Anne dressed in an elegant grey dress and styled her famous dark hair on the morning of 19 May 1536. A crowd of officials had gathered on Tower Green to watch her execution. On the scaffold, Anne gave a short dignified speech. She did not admit to any guilt, but diplomatically avoided attacking the King in case he sought revenge on her surviving relatives. Anne then knelt down and was blindfolded with a linen handkerchief. The skilled swordsman took off her head with a quick clean sweep of his blade. Eye-witnesses claimed that, when her head was shown to the spectators, her eyes were open and she appeared to be attempting to speak. She was buried later that day in the nearby Chapel of Saint Peter-ad-Vincula.

wikipedia.org
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Also on this day -

1611 - the King James Bible is first published.

1933 - the first MODERN sighting of the Loch Ness monster is reported, although the first sighting of a "monster" in the loch came around the year 565

 

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4th May 1471 - The Battle of Tewkesbury, one of the Wars of the Roses, took place. It was fought between Edward IV (Yorkist) and Margaret of Anjou (Lancastrian), the Queen of King Henry VI, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London and was murdered there a few days later. Henry VI had been deposed as King by Edward IV. The Prince of Wales, Margaret's son Edward, also fought at the battle and was killed. He remains the only Prince of Wales to have died in battle.
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The Battle of Tewkesbury in a Ghent manuscript.


The Battle of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, which took place on May 4, 1471, completed one phase of the Wars of the Roses.

It put a temporary end to Lancastrian hopes of regaining the throne of England. There would be fourteen years of peace before another political coup in the form of Henry Tudor finally settled the dispute between the two dynasties.




Background

At the time of Tewkesbury, the mentally unstable Lancastrian king, Henry VI of England, had just been deposed for a second time by his rival, the Yorkist Edward IV of England, who throughout his career was never defeated in battle. This change in circumstances had come about because of the interference of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, "the Kingmaker", who had at first supported Edward, then Henry. Warwick was now dead (killed at the Battle of Barnet three weeks earlier) and the remaining Lancastrian forces were led by Henry's queen, Margaret of Anjou, and her seventeen-year-old son, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. Had Margaret, arriving back in England to the shocking news of Warwick's final defeat, been able to team up with her ally, Jasper Tudor, (uncle of Henry Tudor), she might have stood a chance against the Yorkist forces of King Edward. Her only hope was to cross the river Severn at Gloucester, and this she failed to do when access to the crossing was denied by the Yorkist governor of the town and castle at Gloucester, Sir Richard Beauchamp.



The End of the Lancastrian Royal Family

Margaret relied heavily on the Duke of Somerset, her remaining experienced commander, but his skills were no match for those of the king. The Yorkists were superior in artillery, and Somerset misjudged his battle position just enough to allow the king's young brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III of England), to attack their flank. Panic set in amongst the retreating Lancastrians, and Somerset is alleged to have killed one of his own commanders, Lord Wenlock, as punishment for his fatal lack of initiative. There are some who contend that there is evidence Wenlock survived the day and was allowed to escape, however (until Warwick's recent rebellion, Wenlock had been a Yorkist captain of long standing). In a field known as the "Bloody Meadow", perhaps as many as half Somerset's forces were slaughtered. Some fled to the nearby Tewkesbury Abbey, where their enemies are said to have pursued them. One of the casualties was Edward, Prince of Wales, though whether he died during or after the battle is uncertain. He remains the only Prince of Wales to have died in battle. All his commanders, including Somerset, were summarily executed shortly afterwards, leaving Queen Margaret and her daughter-in-law, Anne Neville, as the king's most prestigious prisoners. King Henry VI, already imprisoned in the Tower of London, was murdered there a few days later.

wikipedia.org
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A contemporary account of the battle -


T After all these things had thus befallen, the Tuesday in Easter week, the 16th day of April, came certain tidings to the king how that Queen Margaret, her son called Prince of Wales, the Countess of Warwick, the Prior of St John, at that time called treasurer of England, Lord Wenlock, and many other knights, squires, and others of their party, who long had been out of the land with them had arrived and landed in the west-country, upon Easter Day, at Weymouth, after long awaiting passage, and being on the sea, and landing again for default of good wind and weather. And so at divers times they took the sea, and forsook it again, till it was the 13th day of April, Easter Even. That day they passed. The queen, Margaret, and her son went from where she landed to an abbey near by, called Seern and all the lords, and the remnant of the fellowship with them. Thither came unto them Edmund, called Duke of Somerset, Thomas Courteney, called the Earl of Devonshire, with them, and welcomed them into England, comforted them, and put them in good hope that, although they had lost one field, whereof the queen had knowledge the same day, Monday, the 15th day of April, and was therefore right heavy and sorry, yet it was to be thought that they should have right good speed, and that, for that loss, their party was never the feebler, but rather the stronger, and that they doubted nothing but that they should assemble so great a power of people in divers parts of England, truly assured unto their party, that it would not lie in the king's power to resist them; and in that country they would begin. And so, forthwith, they sent all about in Somerset, Dorset, and part of Wiltshire, for to get ready and raise the people by a certain day and they raised the whole might of Cornwall and Devon, and so, with great numbers of people they departed out of Exeter and took the right way to Glastonbury and thence to the city of Bath and as they went they gathered the able men of all those parts.

The king being at London and having knowledge of all this their movements from time to time, at once provided for the relief of his sick and hurt men, who had been with him at Barnet field, which were right many in number and sent to all parts to get him fresh men and at once prepared all things that were thought necessary for a new field of battle so he provided artillery, and ordnance, guns, and other things for the field, in great plenty. And for as much as they at that season were in an angle of the land, and needs must take one of two ways or else they, not thinking themselves powerful enough to have an encounter with the king and therefore, perhaps, would draw northward into Lancashire and Cheshire, trusting also to have in their way the assistance of Welshmen; for which considerations, the king caused great diligence to be done by means of scouts. If they had taken their way eastwards, his intention was to have encountered them as soon as he could, but for as much as he understood well they took the other way, towards the northwest, he hastened with his host as fast as he could, upon the purpose that he had taken to stop them. They therefore endeavoured greatly to deceive the king's party in that matter, for which cause and purpose they sent their advance riders straight from Exeter to Shaftesbury, and afterwards to Salisbury, and took the straight way to Taunton, and to Glastonbury, to Wells, and thereabouts whence, another time, they sent advance riders to a town called Yeovil and to a town called Bruton, to make men understand that they would have drawn towards Reading and London. Such manner of riding nevertheless served them of two things; one was, to call and raise the people to make towards them for their help out of all those parts; another was to have deceived the king in his approach towards them, but, thanked be God, he was not unaware of it, but by good and serious advice, provided for every way, as may appear in telling forth his progress from Windsor towards them. And he had knowledge that they, understanding his approaching and marching near to them, had left their purpose of giving battle, and turned aside, and went to Bristol, a good and strong walled town, where they were greatly refreshed and relieved, by such as were the king's rebels in that town, of money, men, and artillery. Therefore they shortly took their decision to go the next way to Tewkesbury, whither they came the same day, about four after noon, by which time they had so travelled with their host the previous night and day that they were right weary with their travelling. For by that time they had travelled 36 long miles, in a foul country, all in lanes and stony ways, between woods, without any good refreshment. And for as much as the greater part of their hosts were footmen, the other part of the host, when they were come to Tewkesbury, could not have laboured any further unless they had wilfully forsaken and left their footmen behind them, and those who were horsemen were right weary of that journey, as were their horses. They therefore determined to abide there the chance that God would send them in the adventure they had taken in hand. And for that reason the same night they pitched camp in a field, in a close just at the town's end with the town and the abbey at their backs; before them, and upon every side of them, foul lanes, and deep ditches, and many hedges, hills and valleys, a right evil place to approach....

The king, the same morning, Friday, early advanced his banners, and divided his whole host into three battles, and sent before him his forerunners, and scouts on every side of him, and so, in fair array and order, he took his way through the open country called Cotswold, making all his people, of whom there were more than 3,000 footmen, travel that Friday, which was a right hot day, thirty miles and more. His troops could not find, anywhere along the way, horsemeat or man's meat, or so much as drink for their horses, save in one little brook, where there was very little relief, it was as soon muddied with the carriages that had passed through it. And all that day the king's host was within five or six miles of his enemies; he in open country and they among woods, having always good reconnoitring of their position. So continuing that journey he came, with all his host, to a village called Cheltenham, only five miles from Tewkesbury, where the king had certain knowledge that, only a little before his coming thither, his enemis had come to Tewkesbury and there were taking a field. Whereupon the king did not tarry long, but comforted himself a little and his people with such meat and drink as he had caused to be carried with him for the victualling of his host; and at once set forth towards his enemies, and took the field, and lodged himself and all his host within three miles of them.

Upon the morrow following, Saturday, the 4th day of May the king apparelled himself, and set all his host in good array, displayed his banners, did blow up the trumpets, committed his cause and quarrel to God, and advanced directly upon his enemies who were pitched strongly in a marvellously strong ground, very difficult to assail. In front of their field were such evil lanes and deep dikes, so many hedges, tree, and bushes, that it was very hard to approach near and come to hand fighting. But Edmund, called Duke of Somerset, having that day the vanguard advanced with his troops somewhat on one side of the king's vanguard, and by certain paths and ways previously surveyed, and unknown to the king's party, he departed out of the field, passed a lane, and came to a close, just in front of the king and from the hill that was in one of the closes, he set right fiercely on the end of the king's division. The king, in manly fashion, at once set upon them won the dike and hedge and with great violence pushed them back up the hill, assisted by the Duke of Gloucester.

Here it is to be remembered that when the king had come to the field, before he attacked, he considered that, upon the right hand of the field was a park, with many trees. He, thinking to provide a remedy in case his said enemies had laid any ambush of horsemen in that wood, he chose, out of his troops, 200 spears and set them in a group together, about a quarter of a mile from the battlefield, charging them to keep a close watch on that part of the wood, and to do what was necessary if the need should arise, and if they saw no such need to employ themselves in the best way they could. This provision came as well to the point at this time of the battle as could well have been devised, for the said spears of the king's party, seeing no likelihood of any ambush in the said corner of the wood, and seeing also a good opportunity to employ themselves well, all at once burst out upon the Duke of Somerset and his vanguard from one side, unexpectedly. Upon this his men, seeing that the king gave them enough to do before them, were greatly dismayed and abashed, and so took to flight in the park, and into the meadow that was near, and into lanes and dikes where they best hoped to escape the danger. Nevertheless, many were distressed, taken, and slain; and even at this point in their flight the king courageously set upon that other part of the field, where was Edward, called prince, and in a short while put him to discomforture and flight. And so it befell in the chase of them that many of them were slain, and at a mill, in the meadow by the town, many of them were drowned. Many ran towards the town, many to the church, to the abbey, and elsewhere, as best they might.

In the winning of the field such as endured hand-strokes were slain at once. Edward, called prince, was taken, fleeing towards the town, and slain in the field. There were also slain, Thomas, called the Earl of Devonshire, John of Somerset; called Marquis Dorset; Lord Wenlock; with many others in great numbers.

When this was done, and achieved with God's might, the king took the direct way to the abbey there to give unto Almighty God praise and thanks for the victory that of his mercy he had that day granted and given him.


http://www.hillsdale.edu/personal/stewart/war/Ren/1471-Tewkesbury.htm

 

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6th May 1910 - George V becomes King, after the death of Edward VII. He was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (from 1927, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), the Commonwealth Realms and Emperor of India. It was George V who changed the family's name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor during World War I. Kaiser Wilhelm (Kaiser Bill) of Germany was George V's cousin. He is the grandfather of the current Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. He reigned until his death on 20th January 1936.
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George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert) (3 June 1865–20 January 1936) was a British monarch of the House of Windsor (formerly known as the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). As well as being King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (from 1927, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and the Commonwealth Realms, George was also the Emperor of India. George reigned from 6 May 1910 until his death, which included World War I (1914-1918).

King George V relinquished all German titles and styles on behalf of his relatives who were British subjects. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster separated the crown so that George ruled the dominions as separate kingdoms. He changed his personal name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.

George was born on 3 June 1865, at Marlborough House, London. His father was The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. His mother was The Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra), the eldest daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark. As a grandson of Queen Victoria in the male line, George was styled His Royal Highness Prince George of Wales at birth.

He was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on July 7, 1865 and his godparents were the King of Hanover, the Queen and Crown Prince of Denmark, the Prince of Leiningen, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Alice and the Earl of Tipperary.

As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was no expectation that George would become King as his elder brother, Prince Albert Victor was second in line to the throne after their father.

Given that George was born only fifteen months after his brother Prince Albert Victor, it was decided to educate both royal princes together. The Queen appointed John Neale Dalton as their tutor. Given the importance of Prince Albert Victor's expected future role, both brothers were given a strict programme of study, although neither excelled intellectually.

Later the royal brothers served as Naval cadets on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the British Empire, visiting the colonies in Australia and the Far East, and also acquiring tattoos in Japan. When they returned to the UK, the brothers were parted with George joining the Royal Navy and Albert Victor attending Trinity College, Cambridge. George served in the navy until 1891. He travelled the world and visited many areas of the British Empire. He also acquired many tattoos, and a parrot that he took home to England with himself.


World War One

George V and Queen Mary dressed for the Opening of ParliamentAs King and Queen, George and Mary saw Britain through World War I, a difficult time for the Royal Family, as they had many German relatives. Although a female-line great granddaughter of King George III, Queen Mary was the daughter of the Duke of Teck, a morganatic section of the Royal House of Württemberg. King George's paternal grandfather was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha; the King and his children bore the titles Prince and Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke and Duchess of Saxony. The German Emperor Wilhelm II, who for the British public came to symbolise all the horrors of the war, was the king's first cousin, "Willy." The King had brothers-in-law and cousins who were British subjects but who bore German titles such as Duke and Duchess of Teck, Prince and Princess of Battenberg, Prince and Princess of Hesse and by Rhine, and Prince and Princess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderburg-Augustenberg. Writer H.G. Wells wrote about Britain's "alien and uninspiring court", and George famously replied: "I may be uninspiring, but I'll be damned if I'm alien." [2]

George V and Queen Mary dressed for the opening of Parliament.


On 17 July 1917, George V issued an Order in Council that changed the name of the British Royal House from the German-sounding House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the House of Windsor, to appease British nationalist feelings. He specifically adopted Windsor as the surname for all descendants of Queen Victoria then living in the United Kingdom, excluding females who married into other families and their descendants. [2]

Finally, on behalf of his various relatives who were British subjects he relinquished the use of all German titles and styles, and adopted British-sounding surnames. George compensated several of his male relatives by creating them British peers. Thus, overnight his cousin, Prince Louis of Battenberg, became Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford-Haven, while his brother-in-law, the Duke of Teck, became Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge. Others, such as Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, simply stopped using their territorial designations. In Letters Patent dated 30 November 1917, the King restricted the style "His (or Her) Royal Highness" and the titular dignity of "Prince (or Princess) of Great Britain and Ireland" to the children of the Sovereign, the children of the sons of the Sovereign, and the eldest living son of the eldest living son of a Prince of Wales. [3]

The Letters Patent also stated that "the titles of Royal Highness, Highness or Serene Highness, and the titular dignity of Prince and Princess shall cease except those titles already granted and remaining unrevoked." Relatives of the British Royal Family who fought on the German side, such as Prince Ernst August of Hanover, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (the senior male-line great grandson of George III) and Prince Carl Eduard, 2nd Duke of Albany and the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (a male line grandson of Queen Victoria), were simply cut off; their British peerages were suspended by a 1919 Order in Council under the provisions of the Titles Deprivation Act 1917. George also removed their garter flags from St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle under pressure from his mother, Queen Alexandra.

Another of George's cousins was the Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, a first cousin of George through his mother, Queen Alexandra. Nicholas II's mother was Queen Alexandra's sister. The two men were almost identical in appearance. When the Russian Revolution of 1917 overthrew the ruling Romanovs, George asked his ministers to ensure that the Tsar and his family be saved and brought to Britain for their safety. Worsening conditions for the British people, and fears that revolution might come to the British Isles, led George to develop an atmosphere of austerity about himself. He reversed his position on the Romanovs, thinking that their presence might seem inappropriate under the circumstances. Despite the later claims of Lord Mountbatten of Burma that Lloyd George, the great Liberal, was opposed to the rescue of the Romanovs, records of the King's private secretary, Stamfordham, suggest that George V did this against the advice of Lloyd George, who is often wrongly blamed for the loss of the Romanovs. The Tsar and his immediate family thus remained in Russia and were murdered by Bolshevik revolutionaries in Yekaterinburg in 1918. [4]

George died on 20 January 1936 at Sandringham House, and is buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. His end was allegedly hastened by his physician, Lord Dawson of Penn, who, it is rumoured, gave him a lethal injection of cocaine and morphine. The courtier wanted to end the King's suffering, and perhaps hoped the monarch would die before midnight so that his death could be announced in the morning The Times rather than in the less prestigious afternoon newspapers. [7]

At the King's lying in state in Westminster Hall, his four surviving sons, King Edward VIII, the Duke of York, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent, mounted the guard at the catafalque on the night of January 28th, the day before the funeral as a mark of respect to their father.

At George's funeral procession, as the funeral cortege turned into New Palace Yard, the Maltese Cross fell from the Crown and landed in the gutter. This was viewed as a bad omen for the new King, Edward VIII, who would abdicate before the year was out.

wikipedia.org

 

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8th May 1701 - Scottish pirate Captain Kidd goes on trial at the Old Bailey in London. After being found guilty of piracy he's hanged on May 23rd, 1701. During the execution, the hangman's rope broke, but he was eventually hanged at the second attempt. His body was left to hang in an iron cage over the River Thames, London, as a warning to future would-be pirates for two years.
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William "Captain" Kidd (January 22, 1654 – May 23, 1701) is often remembered in infamy as a cruel, bloody pirate. Indeed, he, along with his crew, has been accused of every crime in pirate history by popular tradition. He achieved perhaps more fame in song, story, and legend than any other pirate to sail the seven seas. However, historical record calls this characterization into question. It is more likely that Kidd earned his reputation through circumstance and did not consider himself to even be a pirate.

Early life and career
Kidd was born into a reputable family in Greenock, Scotland. (Aberdeen University researchers claim that Kidd was born in Dundee Scotland in 1645.) However after the death of his father when he was five, Kidd's family's income was severely reduced. As a young man he chose to head out to sea, and bounced around freely from ship to ship for three decades. After war broke out between England and France, he showed courage and a bit of lucky timing in winning a French ship and saving English troops from destruction. With his newfound prestige, he finally settled in New York in 1691, at the age of thirty-seven. There he married the 20-year-old twice widow, Sarah Bradley Cox Oort. They had two daughters: Elizabeth and Sarah Kidd. The marriage eventually brought to Kidd a considerable amount of property (after the legal dispute around her inheritance from her first husband was resolved.) During this time Kidd was respected as an honest, hard-working ship captain. He befriended many prominent colonial citizens, including three governors.

Later that year, on orders from the province of New York, Massachusetts, he captured an enemy privateer on the New England coast. Shortly thereafter, Kidd was awarded £150 for successful privateering in the Caribbean. One year later, "Captain" Culliford, a notorious pirate, stole Kidd's ship while he was ashore at Antigua in the West Indies. In 1695, William III of England replaced the corrupt governor Benjamin Fletcher, known for accepting bribes of one hundred dollars to allow illegal trading of pirate loot, with Richard Coote, Earl of Bellomont.


Preparing his expedition
On December 11 that same year, Coote, who was now governing New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, asked the "trusty and well beloved Captain Kidd" [citation needed] to attack Thomas Tew, John Ireland, Thomas Wake, William Maze, and all others who associated themselves with pirates, along with any enemy French ships. This preceded the voyage which established his reputation as a pirate, and cemented his image in history and folklore.

Four-fifths of the cost for the venture was paid for by noble lords, who were amongst the most powerful men in England; the Earl of Orford, The Baron of Romney, the Duke of Shrewsbury and Sir John Somers. According to Henry Gilbert writing in The Book of Pirates, Kidd's backers were rumored to include King William himself. In fact, according to a time-honored practice, the King would receive a tenth share of everything captured. Kidd and an acquaintance, Colonel Robert Livingston paid for the rest. Kidd had to sell his ship the Antigua to raise funds.

The new ship, the Adventure Galley, was well suited to the task of catching pirates; weighing over 284 tons, it was equipped with 34 cannons, oars, and 150 men. The oars were a key advantage as it would enable him to maneuver in a battle when the winds had calmed and other ships were floating free. Kidd took pride in personally selecting the crew, choosing only those he deemed to be the best and most loyal officers. Unfortunately, soon after setting sail he was stopped by the HMS Duchess, whose captain enlisted much of Kidd's crew for service in the navy, despite rampant protesting. To make up for the lack of officers, Kidd was sent replacement crew, the vast majority of which consisted of known and hardened criminals, some undoubtedly former pirates.


Hunting for pirates
In September of 1696, Kidd finally set sail again. However, more bad luck struck and a third of his crew soon perished due to the uncontrolled spread of cholera. To make matters worse, the brand-new ship developed many leaks. According to Gilbert, after taking a single French ship (which was legal under his commission) on the first leg of his voyage, he proceeded eastward to Madagascar but was not able to find pirates to take in that vicinity. Kidd then sailed to the Malabar Coast. During this time Kidd never attacked a single richly-laden Indian ship that passed before him, and probably was not yet pirate at the time. However, as it became obvious his ambitious enterprise was failing he became understandably desperate to cover its costs. But, once again, Kidd failed to attack several ships when given a chance, including a Dutchman and New York privateer. Some of the crew now deserted Kidd the next time the Adventure Galley anchored offshore, and those who decided to stay behind made constant open-threats of mutiny.

On October 30, 1697, as William Moore, the ships gunner and strong follower of the mutinous crew, was sharpening a chisel on the deck, he saw Kidd walk by and furiously shouted “You have brought us to ruin and we are desolate! I could have put you in the way of taking that ship [the Dutchman] and be none the worse for it!” [citation needed] After an exchange of strong words, Kidd snatched up and heaved an ironbound bucket at Moore. Moore fell to the deck of a fractured skull, and died the following day.



Turning pirate
Acts of savagery on Kidd’s part were reported by escaped prisoners, who told of being hoisted up by the arms and drubbed with a naked cutlass.

On January 30, 1698 he raised French colors and took his greatest prize, an Armenian ship, the 400 tons Quedagh Merchant, which was loaded with satins, muslins, gold, silver, an incredible variety of East Indian merchandise, as well as extremely valuable silks. The captain of the Quedagh Merchant was an Englishman named Wright, who was sailing under the promised protection of the French government. However, after realizing the captain of the taken vessel was an Englishman, Kidd tried to persuade his crew to return the ship to its owners but they refused. Thus, Kidd changed his focus and took his prize claiming it was legal prey for an English privateer. Unfortunately, when news of the deed reached England, along with horrifying tales of torture, the British East India Company declared Kidd a pirate. Various naval commanders were ordered to “pursue and seize the said Kidd and his accomplices” for the “notorious piracies” [citation needed] they had committed.

On April 1, 1698 Kidd reached Madagascar. Here Kidd found the first pirate of his voyage, Robert Culliford, (the same man who had stolen Kidd’s ship years before) and his crew sailing the Mocha Frigate. Kidd ordered his men to capture the Mocha Frigate. Instead his men mutinied and joined the pirates of the Mocha Frigate. Only 13 of Kidd’s men remained loyal to him.

Deciding to return home, Kidd left the Adventure Galley behind ordering her to be burnt because she had become worm-eaten and leaky. By burning the ship, he was able to salvage every last scrap of metal, for example hinges. With the loyal remnant of his crew, he returned home.


Trial
Prior to Kidd returning to New York City, he learned that he was a wanted pirate, and that several English men-of-war were searching for him. The governor (an investor) was away in Boston, Massachusetts. With the help of his lawyer, he negotiated with the governor in Boston and eventually agreed to come in to town. Regardless, (on July 6, 1699) he was arrested with his crew and placed in Stone Prison, spending most of the time in solitary confinement.

He was eventually (after over a year) sent to England to stand trial, and on May 8 he was tried by High Court of Admirality in London for the charges of piracy on high seas and the murder of William Moore. Whilst awaiting trial, Kidd was imprisoned in the infamous Newgate Prison and wrote several letters to the joint sovereigns, William III of England and Mary II of England, demanding clemency.

He stood trial without representation and was shocked to learn at trial that he was charged with Murder. He was found guilty on all charges (murder and five counts of piracy) and was hanged on May 23, 1701 at 'Execution Dock', Wapping, in London. During the execution, the hangman's rope broke and Kidd was hanged on the second attempt. His body was gibbeted — left to hang in an iron cage over the River Thames, London, as a warning to future would-be pirates for two years. His associates Richard Barleycorn, Robert Lamley, William Jenkins, Gabriel Loffe, Able Owens, and Hugh Parrot were convicted, but pardoned just prior to being hung at Execution Dock.

Kidd's Whig backers were embarrassed by his trial. Gilbert indicates that they participated in the effort to convict him by depriving him of the money and information which might have provided him with some legal defense. In particular, his two sets of papers that showed that the two ships he had taken were French, were missing at his trial. These French papers (and others dated 1700) resurfaced in the early 20th century, misfiled with other government papers in a London building. These papers call the extent of Kidd's guilt into question. Along with the papers, many goods were brought from the ships and soon auctioned off as "pirate plunder." They were never mentioned in the trial.

8th May 1660 - The Restoration of the Monarchy in England. Charles II becomes the Monarch.

wikipedia.org

 

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9th May 1671 - Irish born colonel, Thomas Blood, attempts to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. In those days, the stealing of the Crown Jewels was treason, and was punishable by death - and still is even now. After his capture by the authorities, Blood was taken to see the King, Charles II, to explain his actions.

However, for reasons not fully known, the King pardoned Blood, returned the original land grants, which generated income of five hundred pounds per annum. He also granted a general pardon for any crimes which Blood may have committed since the Restoration eleven years before.

The Crown Jewels are the most valuable collection of jewellery on the planet.


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Thomas Blood (1618 - August 24, 1680) was an Irish born Colonel who is best known for attempting to steal the Crown Jewels of England from the Tower of London in 1671.


Early life
Blood was born in County Clare in Ireland. Like many Irishmen he was educated in England. He returned to Ireland at Oliver Cromwell's request, receiving land grants as payment for his service.

When the monarchy was restored in 1660, these grants were cancelled, and he lost most of his income. He conspired to kidnap James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The plan was foiled, but Blood managed to evade the authorities and escape to the Netherlands. He tried to abduct Butler again, in 1670, but this also failed.



Theft and aftermath
In 1671, Blood made his infamous attempt to steal the Crown Jewels. Over several weeks he befriended the Jewel Keeper, Talbot Edwards. On May 9, 1671, having earned the trust of Edwards, he convinced him to show the jewels to his friends, who then hit Edwards on the head with a mallet and knocked him to the floor, where he was bound, gagged and stabbed. Blood used the mallet to flatten out St. Edward's Crown so that he could hide it beneath his clerical coat. Another conspirator filed the Sceptre with the Cross in two while the third man stuffed the Sovereign's Orb down his trousers. Edwards's son, who had been in the army in Flanders, chose that moment to visit his father for the first time in many years. When they spotted him approaching the Martin Tower where the jewels were kept the gang fled. Edwards sounded the alarm, and Blood and his co-conspirators were captured while trying to escape with the jewels. Blood never even managed to get outside the curtain walls of the Tower.

King Charles II met with Blood after the latter's trial. Before and during the trial Blood had refused to answer questions, saying "I'll answer to none but the King himself". At the meeting, the King asked Blood "What if I should give you your life?" and Blood humbly replied, "I would endeavour to deserve it, Sire!". For reasons not fully known, the King pardoned Blood, returned the original land grants, which generated income of five hundred pounds per annum. He also granted a general pardon for any crimes which Blood may have committed since the Restoration eleven years before.

Although Charles II was known as "the Merrie Monarch", he is unlikely to have released Blood merely as a reward for his derring-do. Historians have noted the Royal money troubles, and have speculated that Blood was acting under orders. The jewels, most of which were made for Charles II, may have been destined to be broken up and sold on the continent and the proceeds used to refill the royal treasury.

Another theory is that the attempts on Ormonde were instigated by the Duke of Buckingham. Ormonde and Buckingham were feuding, so perhaps Blood's pardon was a warning that Buckingham, as the King's favourite and chief minister, was immune.

Blood died on August 24, 1680 at his home in Bowling Alley, Westminster. His body was buried in the churchyard of St. Margaret's Church (now Christchurch Gardens) near St. James's Park, although it was alleged his body was exhumed by the authorities for confirmation – such was Blood's reputation for trickery, it was suspected he may have faked his own death and funeral in order to avoid paying heavy damages in a lawsuit. Blood's epitaph read:

Here lies the man who boldy hath run through
More villanies than England ever knew.

wikipedia.org

 

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11th May 1812 - British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated. His assassin was John Bellingham who was demanding compensation for his imprisonment in Russia. He was shot in the heart in the lobby of the House of Commons and is the only British Prime Minister ever to be assassinated.
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Spencer Perceval (1 November 1762 – 11 May 1812) was a British statesman and Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated.

Perceval was the seventh son of John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont by his second wife. His father, a close advisor of Frederick, Prince of Wales and King George III, had served briefly in the Cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty, but died when Perceval was ten.

He attended Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was impressed by the evangelical Anglican movement. In later life Perceval became an expert on Biblical prophecy and wrote pamphlets relating prophecies which he had discovered. Perceval became a barrister on the Midland circuit, where he found it difficult to obtain sufficient work until aided by family connections. Through his mother's family he was appointed as a Deputy Recorder of Northampton, and he was later made a Commissioner of Bankrupts and given a legal sinecure worth £119 annually. Perceval acted for the Crown in the prosecutions of Thomas Paine (1792) and John Horne Tooke (1794), and wrote pamphlets supporting the impeachment of Warren Hastings.

Perceval's brother Lord Arden served in William Pitt the Younger's government, which led to his being noticed. He was considered in 1795 as a possible Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant for Ireland but rejected the idea of a political career. However he accepted nomination as MP for Northampton in 1796, when the proprietor's heir was ineligible, as a family trust. He made several speeches fiercely attacking Charles James Fox and revolutionary politics, which impressed Pitt, who apparently considered him as a possible successor. He was appointed Solicitor of the Ordnance in 1798.

Perceval had no sympathy for Pitt's resignation over Catholic relief after the Act of Union with Ireland. He was therefore promoted in Addington's government to be Solicitor General from 1801, and then to Attorney General from 1802. However, Perceval did not agree with Addington's general policies (especially on foreign policy), and confined himself to speeches on legal issues. When he did defend the government, he was vituperative. He retained office when Pitt returned in 1804. While Perceval instigated prosecutions of radicals, he also reformed the laws on transportation to Australia.

At Pitt's funeral in January 1806, Perceval was one of the emblem bearers. He went into opposition when the new government included Fox, and made many effective speeches against the 'Ministry of All the Talents'. He was especially vehement in his opposition to Catholic emancipation. When the Ministry fell, the Duke of Portland put together a shaky coalition of senior Tories with Perceval as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. With Portland aged, unwell and a figurehead, Perceval was effectively the chief Minister. He even lived at 10 Downing Street for most of the time.

It was under Perceval that William Wilberforce passed his Bill abolishing the slave trade. When Napoleon Bonaparte embargoed British trade under the Continental System, Perceval drafted Orders in Council to retaliate against foreign trade. However his anti-Catholic bigotry showed with his opposition to the government grant to Maynooth College. The government was continuously riven with splits and when the Duke of Portland suffered a stroke in August 1809 there was intense manoeuvring between Perceval and George Canning over who should take over. Perceval won out with the support of Viscount Castlereagh.

Unable to include Canning and his allies, Perceval's administration was notable mostly for its lack of most of the more important statesmen of the period. He had to serve as his own Chancellor after obtaining six refusals of office. The government sometimes struggled in the House of Commons, being defeated in motions critical of both foreign and economic policy. He remained adamantly opposed to reform of the electoral system.

Perceval found himself having to cope with the final descent of King George III into madness. Though Perceval feared that the Prince Regent would dismiss his government, the Prince abandoned the Whigs and confirmed Perceval in office; later attempts by the Prince to entice others to join the Ministry were unsuccessful. Perceval pursued the Peninsular War doggedly and always defended it against those who prophesied defeat. His assassin was demanding compensation for his imprisonment in Russia.

The Orders in Council against trade which Perceval had instituted in 1807 became unpopular in the winter of 1811 with Luddite riots breaking out. Perceval was forced to concede an inquiry by the House of Commons. On May 11, 1812, Perceval was on his way to attend the inquiry when he was shot through the heart in the Lobby of the House of Commons by John Bellingham.

Perceval is buried at St Luke's Church in Charlton, south-east London.

wikipedia.org

 

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12th May 1264 - the Battle of Lewes began. It was fought in Lewes, Sussex (nowadays East Sussex) and didn't end until 14th May. The combatants were Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and King Henry III. It was a victory for Simon de Montfort, although he later lost the Battle of Evesham in Worcestershire in August 1265, a battle in which he was killed.


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Monument to the Battle of Lewes

From the Chamber of the United States House of Representatives

Henry III



The Battle of Lewes was a battle fought at Lewes in Sussex, from May 12 to May 14, 1264. It was the high point of the career of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and made him the "uncrowned king of England".

The battle occurred because of the vacillation of King Henry III of England, who was refusing to honour the terms of the Provisions of Oxford, an agreement he had signed with his barons, led by Simon de Montfort, in 1258. The king was encamped at St. Pancras Priory with a force of infantry, but his son, Prince Edward (later King Edward I (Longshanks) of England) commanded the cavalry, at Lewes Castle a mile to the North. A night march enabled de Montfort's forces to surprise Edward and take the high ground of the Sussex Downs, overlooking the town of Lewes, in preparation for battle. They wore white crosses as their distinguishing emblem.

Edward commanded an army twice the size of de Montfort's. Having led his men out from the castle to meet the enemy, he gained early success, but unwisely pursued a retreating force to the north, thus sacrificing the chance of overall victory. Meanwhile, de Montfort defeated the remainder of the royal army, led by the King and his brother, and Prince Edward was captured on his return. De Montfort held Prince Edward as prisoner to ensure the King's co-operation. The king was forced to sign the Mise of Lewes, accepting the Provisions of Oxford and putting de Montfort in a position of ultimate power, which would last until Prince Edward's escape, and De Montfort's subsequent defeat at the Battle of Evesham in August 1265.

wikipedia.org


Also on this day -

1588 - the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal with the task of invading England. But the English were having none of it - despite the Spanish having a fleet that was 2 - 3 times larger than the English fleet, it was a resounding victory for Sir Francis Drake and the English in the English Channel. Only around half the ships that set sail from Lisbon returned home after the battle - and Spain was the world's superpower in those days.