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| This is called "Charles from three angles" by Van Dyke. I think it's pretty much the equavalent of those Sears portraits done on a black background. |
In 1625 James I died and his son Charles I became king of England and Scotland. Charles fought with Parliment and fought not one but two civil wars against his own government until they executed him for treason against his own country in 1649. Before they hung him -- He declared that he had desired the liberty and freedom of the people as much as any, "but I must tell you that their liberty and freedom consists in having government.... It is not their having a share in the government; that is nothing appertaining unto them. A subject and a sovereign are clean different things."[156]
Now watch this video:
The best time to outsource stuff, I think, is when the material is WAY better than anything I could have generated.
Anyway, in that video you probably learned a lot of things but one of the things I hoped you learned was that the English colonies in North America were established by corporations. Boston was settled by such a group of businessmen known as the Massachusetts Bay Company and was extremely sucessful because the guys who wanted to move to Boston bought out the guys who didn't. This led to the Cambridge Agreement which was one of the first documents in North America which was all about making your own decisions.
The Cambridge Agreement was signed in 1629, which was the same year Charles I decided to get rid of Parliment and ruled (fought with everyone in) England for 11 years. So, the freedom to trade and control taxes is a VERY BIG DEAL for these folks and will continue to be so. (See Boston Tea Party)
So, there were a lot of wars for the next while. A LOT of wars. Religious wars were being fought between Catholics and Protestants all over Europe. Cavaliers and Roundheads in England did all sorts of unpleasant things to each other. One of my favorite (Victorian era) paintings about the Puritains fighting the Royals is this one:
This is called "When Did You Last See Your Father?" by William Fredrick Yeames. A pack of puritain protestant roundheads have invaded the home of a royalist and is questioning the little son. It's very romantic because a Victorian looking at this will know that the child has been taught not to lie but if he knows anything about where his dad is, it will probably mean the death of his father.
If you look at this painting, you can see the difference in style between the two groups. Satin for the royalists, and pointy buckle hats for the puritains. I'm certain that the style difference doesn't surprise you as we have discussed it before. But, this does lead me to the thing I also want to talk about --
See that pointy hat? The hat that witches are supposed to wear forever and ever? Did you ever think about where that came from? Well, I have and here is the answer:
Yup, that's right. These hats were very popular for men and women. And, if you think about it, they are very practical. With a nice wide brim to keep the sun/rain off of your face and tall pointy top to intimidate others with they are pretty great for wearing when settling a new colony. The very tops of the hats aren't super pointy but that's because the point has been pushed down into the hat to make it have that square shape. You can see this better on the hats in the Yeames painting. So, a good hat is squarish, but a beat-up hat is pointy.
Which leads me to the Salem Witch Trials. You already know that burning witches was sort of a hobby in Europe. And, it was one which the very theocratic society in the colonies was perfectly set up for. Particullarly when a bunch of teenaged girls decide to accuse people of causing all sorts of demonic stuff and get to watch as grown-ups run around panicking and torturing and killing people.
Anyway, when people drew pictures of witches from then on, they gave witches old-school beat-up looking hats. Which are the hats you are totally familiar with:
Okay. That's all for now. No test this week. We will start looking at the fashion shifts that came with the reign of Charles II next week.
The Cambridge Agreement was signed in 1629, which was the same year Charles I decided to get rid of Parliment and ruled (fought with everyone in) England for 11 years. So, the freedom to trade and control taxes is a VERY BIG DEAL for these folks and will continue to be so. (See Boston Tea Party)
So, there were a lot of wars for the next while. A LOT of wars. Religious wars were being fought between Catholics and Protestants all over Europe. Cavaliers and Roundheads in England did all sorts of unpleasant things to each other. One of my favorite (Victorian era) paintings about the Puritains fighting the Royals is this one:
This is called "When Did You Last See Your Father?" by William Fredrick Yeames. A pack of puritain protestant roundheads have invaded the home of a royalist and is questioning the little son. It's very romantic because a Victorian looking at this will know that the child has been taught not to lie but if he knows anything about where his dad is, it will probably mean the death of his father.
If you look at this painting, you can see the difference in style between the two groups. Satin for the royalists, and pointy buckle hats for the puritains. I'm certain that the style difference doesn't surprise you as we have discussed it before. But, this does lead me to the thing I also want to talk about --
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| Witches!! |
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| Puritans! |
Which leads me to the Salem Witch Trials. You already know that burning witches was sort of a hobby in Europe. And, it was one which the very theocratic society in the colonies was perfectly set up for. Particullarly when a bunch of teenaged girls decide to accuse people of causing all sorts of demonic stuff and get to watch as grown-ups run around panicking and torturing and killing people.
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| I mean, who WOULDN'T believe these girls when they said an invisible force was sticking them with pins? |
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| Indeed... |
Okay. That's all for now. No test this week. We will start looking at the fashion shifts that came with the reign of Charles II next week.
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