Tuesday, October 30, 2018

16C Europeans Imagine American Women

Americae Retectio, print from the plate 3 made by Adriaen Collaert after a drawing by Jan van der Straet, early 1580s. Published by Joannes Galle, 1589. The British Museum, London. Inscribed: "Americus Vespucci of Florence in a marvelous expedition to the West and to the South opened up two parts of the Earth, greater than the shores which we inhabit and known to us in no previous age, one of which by common consent of all human beings is called by his name. America, An. Sal. MIIID." Mermaid & swimming natives welcome Vespucci.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

17C North Carolina Timeline

1585 Theodore De Bry 1528-1598., "Americae pars, Nunc Virginia dicta, primum ab Anglis inuenta sumtibus Dn. Walteri Raleigh, Equestris ordinis viri Anno Dm. MDLXXXV regm verso Sereniss: notrae Reginae Elisabethae XVII. Hujus vero Historia peculiari Libro discripta est, additis etiam Indigenarum Iconibus."  Depicts The Outer Banks of North Carolina. 


1606
King James I grants a charter to the Virginia Company of London for the region that includes present-day North Carolina.

1607
Jamestown, the first successful English colony in the New World, is established in Virginia. The colonists begin using tobacco as a cash crop for export to England.

1608
Jamestown leader John Smith sends expeditions to the Roanoke Island area to seek information about the Lost Colony. His men find nothing conclusive.

1611
Because of Spain’s rivalry with England, the Spanish government develops an alliance with the Tuscarora people to monitor the Jamestown colony.

1619
A Dutch ship arrives at Jamestown carrying 20 captive African natives. Apparently these Africans are treated as indentured servants and work in tobacco fields. Their introduction into Virginia sets the stage for African slavery to develop in English America.

1622
An expedition from Jamestown, led by John Pory, explores the Chowan River region.

1629
October 30: King Charles I grants land south of Virginia to Sir Robert Heath. Charles names the region Carolina, or Carolana, for himself.

1650
White settlers begin to move into Indian lands along the coastal sounds and rivers of North Carolina.

1650–1820
The area of present-day North Carolina serves as a haven for runaway slaves. Many flee to the Great Dismal Swamp, and some establish communities.

1651
September–October: Edward Bland travels from Virginia to explore Carolina and publishes a description of the region entitled The Discovery of New Brittaine.

1653
Virginia legislator Francis Yeardly hires fur trader Nathaniel Batts to explore the Albemarle Sound region as an area of possible settlement. Yeardly agrees to purchase land from the Roanoke Indians but dies before his settlement is established.

July: The Virginia Assembly grants lands along the Roanoke and Chowan Rivers to Roger Green, who has previously explored the region.

ca. 1655
Batts settles along the Chowan River in a building that serves as both his home and a trading post. He trades with local Native Americans and becomes the area’s first permanent white settler.

1661
March 1: King Kilcocanen of the Yeopim Indians grants land to George Durant in the earliest grant on record in the colony.

1663
King Charles II grants Carolina to eight supporters called Lords Proprietors. The region, which includes present-day North and South Carolina, stretches from Albemarle Sound in the north to present-day Florida in the south and west to the Pacific Ocean. The Proprietors divide this land into three counties: Albemarle, Clarendon, and Craven. Scottish merchant William Drummond is appointed governor of Albemarle County, the only one of the three counties with colonists.

Tobacco becomes a major export crop, although lack of a deepwater port prevents shipment of goods directly to England.

1663–1667
Colonists from Boston and Barbados attempt to settle in the Cape Fear region, but no settlements last long. Settlers continue to enter the colony from the north, but the Cape Fear region will not have permanent colonists until 1725.

1665
June 30: The Lords Proprietors’ charter is amended to include settlements in the Albemarle region previously considered a part of Virginia.

The Albemarle County Assembly, North Carolina’s earliest legislative assembly, meets for the first time.

1666
Peter Carteret, assistant governor of Albemarle County, grants a license to three New England men to hunt whales along Carolina’s northeast coast. This is the earliest known document indicating commercial whaling in the colony.

1667
August 27: A severe hurricane sweeps along the coast, destroying settlements in the Cape Fear and Albemarle regions.

1668
May 1: The Great Deed of Grant from the Lords Proprietors permits Albemarle settlers to hold lands under same terms as colonists in Virginia.

1669
Laws reducing the land tax and giving settlers five years’ immunity from suits over former debts encourage immigration.

In an attempt to tighten their control over unruly Albemarle colonists, the Lords Proprietors issue the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, written by John Locke. This document increases the power of appointed officials, decreases the power of elected officials, and makes ownership of 50 acres of land a requirement for voting.

1670
The County of Albemarle is divided into Currituck, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Chowan Precincts.

The Ashley River settlement (present-day Charleston, S.C.) is founded. Its excellent port makes it easy for people there to ship goods to England.

1672
George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers), and missionary William Edmundson visit Albemarle and convert many colonists to Quakerism. Edmundson preaches the first sermon in the colony near the site of Hertford. Quakers will become the first religious body to obtain a foothold in Carolina and the only communion of importance before 1700.

1673
The Plantation Duty Act requires that all colonies trade directly with England or face heavy duties on goods. Albemarle colonists resist because their lack of an adequate harbor requires them to ship goods to northern colonies before they can be shipped to England. Albemarle governor John Jenkins refuses to enforce the act.

1675
Chowanoc Indians attack white settlements in Carolina. The uprising is quelled with the "loss of many men."

Factionalism emerges in the colony between newer residents, who favor Proprietary rule, and older settlers, who disagree with the way the Proprietors rule Albemarle. Two leaders of the Proprietary faction, Thomas Eastchurch and Thomas Miller, clash with Governor John Jenkins, a leader of anti-Proprietary sentiment. Jenkins jails Miller for “treasonable utterances” and attempts to dissolve the assembly. The majority of that body disagrees with Jenkins, however, and he is deposed and jailed.

1676
By March, Jenkins is released and resumes the post of governor. Eastchurch and Miller go to England to try to sway the Lords Proprietors in their favor. The Proprietors side with Eastchurch and appoint him governor. But Eastchurch delays his return to Carolina and, without authority to do so, appoints Miller as acting governor.

1677
Albemarle settlers market 2,000 hogsheads of tobacco, receiving £20,000 for the year’s crop.

Thomas Miller rules Albemarle harshly and raises tobacco taxes, becoming increasingly unpopular with the inhabitants.

December: John Culpeper and George Durant lead “Culpeper’s Rebellion” against Miller and take over the government for eighteen months, until the summer of 1679. Eastchurch threatens to retake control but dies in 1678 before he can reach Albemarle.

1679
The de facto government of Carolina sends Culpeper to England to negotiate with the Lords Proprietors. Miller beats him there, however, and Culpeper finds himself charged with treason and embezzlement. He agrees to face trial and, with the support of several Proprietors, is acquitted. The court agrees that there was no regular acting government in the colony at the time of the rebellion, and therefore the rebels did not act in a treasonous manner.

The Proprietors appoint John Harvey as the colony’s next governor. Harvey is well liked by the colonists but dies within a year.

October 10: Virginia bans the importation of Carolina tobacco on the grounds that "the importation of trash greatly injures the reputation of the Virginia manufacture." However, Carolina tobacco still goes to Virginia.

1680
John Jenkins is reappointed governor for one year. Seth Sothel holds the office next and becomes known as a corrupt and oppressive governor.

1684
February 27: Considering "the great damage that does arise in his Majesty’s service by harboring and encouraging pirates in Carolina," the Committee for Trade and Plantations sends a “Draught of the law now in force in Jamaica against Pirates and Privateers,” with instructions that it take effect as a statute of Carolina.

1686
The 1669 law exempting persons in the colony from prosecution for debts contracted abroad is repealed.

1688
Found guilty of 13 charges, including tyranny, extortion, and bribery, Governor Seth Sothel is removed from office by the Lords Proprietors.

1689
The Proprietors appoint Philip Ludwell governor of Albemarle and all of the colony “north and east of the Cape Feare.” This splits Carolina into two political entities—"North" Carolina and "South" Carolina.

1690s
Cherokee traders establish trade agreements with the English at Charles Towne (present-day Charleston, S.C.).

1691
Governor Ludwell is sent south to Charles Towne to govern all of Carolina. A deputy governor is appointed to manage the area known as North Carolina.

1696
Albemarle County establishes a new settlement south of Albemarle Sound on land taken from the Pamlico Indians. This settlement becomes Bath County.

1698
Henry White, a prominent Quaker in Perquimans Precinct, writes the first known poem in North Carolina. It is a long, untitled religious poem about the "fall of man" and his "restoration by Jesus Christ."

Friday, October 26, 2018

16C Europeans Imagine American Women

Abraham Ortelilus, Theatrvm Orbis Terrarvm. Antwerp 1570. American Women once again depicted in various states of undress.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Emergence of Colonial Government throughout the Colonies

Emergence of Colonial Government

In the early phases of colonial development, a striking feature was the lack of controlling influence by the English government. All colonies except Georgia emerged as companies of shareholders, or as feudal proprietorships stemming from charters granted by the Crown. The fact that the king had transferred his immediate sovereignty over the New World settlements to stock companies & proprietors did not, of course, mean that the colonists in America were necessarily free of outside control. Under the terms of the Virginia Company charter, for example, full governmental authority was vested in the company itself. Nevertheless, the crown expected that the company would be resident in England. Inhabitants of Virginia, then, would have no more voice in their government than if the king himself had retained absolute rule.

Still, the colonies considered themselves chiefly as commonwealths or states, much like England itself, having only a loose association with the authorities in London. In one way or another, exclusive rule from the outside withered away.  The colonists – inheritors of the long English tradition of the struggle for political liberty – incorporated concepts of freedom into Virginia's first charter. It provided that English colonists were to exercise all liberties, franchises, & immunities "as if they had been abiding & born within this our Realm of England." They were, then, to enjoy the benefits of the Magna Carta – the charter of English political & civil liberties granted by King John in 1215 – & the common law – the English system of law based on legal precedents or tradition, not statutory law.  In 1618 the Virginia Company issued instructions to its appointed governor providing that free inhabitants of the plantations should elect representatives to join with the governor & an appointive council in passing ordinances for the welfare of the colony.

These measures proved to be some of the most far‑reaching in the entire colonial period. From then on, it was generally accepted that the colonists had a right to participate in their own government. In most instances, the king, in making future grants, provided in the charter that the free men of the colony should have a voice in legislation affecting them. Thus, charters awarded to the Calverts in Maryland, William Penn in Pennsylvania, the proprietors in North & South Carolina, & the proprietors in New Jersey specified that legislation should be enacted with "the consent of the freemen."

In New England, for many years, there was even more complete self-government than in the other colonies. Aboard the Mayflower, the Pilgrims adopted an instrument for government called the "Mayflower Compact," to "combine ourselves together into a civil body politic for our better ordering & preservation ... & by virtue hereof [to] enact, constitute, & frame such just & equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, & offices ... as shall be thought most meet & convenient for the general good of the colony. ..."

Although there was no legal basis for the Pilgrims to establish a system of self-government, the action was not contested, and, under the compact, the Plymouth settlers were able for many years to conduct their own affairs without outside interference.

A similar situation developed in the Massachusetts Bay Company, which had been given the right to govern itself. Thus, full authority rested in the hands of persons residing in the colony. At first, the dozen or so original members of the company who had come to America attempted to rule autocratically. But the other colonists soon demanded a voice in public affairs & indicated that refusal would lead to a mass migration.

The company members yielded, & control of the government passed to elected representatives. Subsequently, other New England colonies – such as Connecticut & Rhode Island – also succeeded in becoming self-governing simply by asserting that they were beyond any governmental authority, & then setting up their own political system modeled after that of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.

In only two cases was the self-government provision omitted. These were New York, which was granted to Charles II's brother, the Duke of York (later to become King James II), & Georgia, which was granted to a group of "trustees." In both instances the provisions for governance were short‑lived, for the colonists demanded legislative representation so insistently that the authorities soon yielded.

In the mid-17th century, the English were too distracted by their Civil War (1642-1649) & Oliver Cromwell's Puritan Commonwealth to pursue an effective colonial policy. After the restoration of Charles II & the Stuart dynasty in 1660, England had more opportunity to attend to colonial administration. Even then, however, it was inefficient & lacked a coherent plan.  The colonies were left largely to their own devices.

The remoteness afforded by a vast ocean also made control of the colonies difficult. Added to this was the character of life itself in early America.  From countries limited in space & dotted with populous towns, the settlers had come to a land of seemingly unending reach. On such a continent, natural conditions promoted a tough individualism, as people became used to making their own decisions. Government penetrated the backcountry only slowly, & conditions of anarchy often prevailed on the frontier.

Yet the assumption of self-government in the colonies did not go entirely unchallenged. In the 1670s, the Lords of Trade & Plantations, a royal committee established to enforce the mercantile system in the colonies, moved to annul the Massachusetts Bay charter because the colony was resisting the government's economic policy. James II in 1685 approved a proposal to create a Dominion of New England & place colonies south through New Jersey under its jurisdiction, thereby tightening the Crown's control over the whole region. A royal governor, Sir Edmund Andros, levied taxes by executive order, implemented a number of other harsh measures, & jailed those who resisted.

When news of the Glorious Revolution (1688-1689), which deposed James II in England, reached Boston, the population rebelled & imprisoned Andros. Under a new charter, Massachusetts & Plymouth were united for the first time in 1691 as the royal colony of Massachusetts Bay. The other New England colonies quickly reinstalled their previous governments.

The English Bill of Rights & the Toleration Act of 1689 affirmed freedom of worship for Christians in the colonies as well as in England & enforced limits on the Crown. Equally important, John Locke's Second Treatise on Government (1690), the Glorious Revolution's major theoretical justification, set forth a theory of government based not on divine right but on contract.  It contended that the people, endowed with natural rights of life, liberty, & property, had the right to rebel when governments violated their rights.

By the early 18th century, almost all the colonies had been brought under the direct jurisdiction of the British Crown, but under the rules established by the Glorious Revolution.   Colonial governors sought to exercise powers that the king had lost in England, but the colonial assemblies, aware of events there, attempted to assert their "rights" & "liberties."  Their leverage rested on two significant powers similar to those held by the English Parliament: the right to vote on taxes & expenditures, & the right to initiate legislation rather than merely react to proposals of the governor.

The legislatures used these rights to check the power of royal governors & to pass other measures to expand their power & influence. The recurring clashes between governor & assembly made colonial politics tumultuous & worked increasingly to awaken the colonists to the divergence between American & English interests. In many cases, the royal authorities did not understand the importance of what the colonial assemblies were doing & simply neglected them.  Nonetheless, the precedents & principles established in the conflicts between assemblies & governors eventually became part of the unwritten "constitution" of the colonies.  In this way, the colonial legislatures asserted the right of self-government.

Monday, October 22, 2018

16C Europeans Imagine American Women

Early depictions of America as a woman appeared well before the 17C. On 16C maps, ceramics, prints, sculptures, and paintings, America was depicted as fierce bare-breasted Indian queen often adorned in feathers. Gradually, as the British American colonies began to flourish, the female image of America evolved into a graceful Indian princess occasionally accompanied by a fearsome rattlesnake or alligator. Eventually some came to identify the Indian princess as the unruly daughter of Britannia, the symbol of Great Britain.
Krummelsches Haus, built in 1674, Wernigerode, Germany. Here a female America rides a crocodile.

Saturday, October 20, 2018

Founding the 13 North American Atlantic British Colonies

August 18, 1590 John White returns to Roanoke and finds deserted land.
After helping establish the first 1587 English settlement on the Island of Roanoke, off the coast of modern day North Carolina, John White reluctantly returned to England for supplies. Delayed by war for 3 years, he returns in 1590 to find the colonists are gone. Intent: Attempt to establish English colony in New World, although (or because) rival Spain has a large foothold in the "New World". 

1607 Virginia becomes the first colony.
Virginia is founded under a patent for the London Company & becomes the first British colony in North America. Jamestown, Virginia is the first permanent English settlement.  Founded as joint-stock company. House of Burgesses agrees (1619). Starvation & illness leave only 60 of 1st 900 colonists surviving.   Intent: Trade and profits. Royal colony.

1620 Massachusetts is founded.
The King of England grants a charter to a group of Puritans to allow them to form a colony along the Massachusetts Bay. The Puritans form the colony of Massachusetts as a place to spread their religion & extend the empire of Great Britain.  1620 Mayflower Compact. Led by William Bradford. Intent:  Religious freedom for Separatists at Plymouth.  1630 Led by John Winthrop. 18,000 settlers by 1642.   Intent:  Religious freedom for Puritans.  Corporate colony.

1623 New Hampshire is founded.
New Hampshire is created as a fishing colony by Captain John Mason. It is named for Hampshire County in England.  Puritan harshness led these settlers north and inland.  Intent: Escape for those constricted by religious and economic rules. Corporate, then Royal colony. 

1634 Lord Baltimore founds the colony of Maryland.
The Province of Maryland was granted by King Charles I to Sir George Calvert (1579–1632), his former Secretary of State in 1632, for settlement beginning in March 1634. The first colonists from England to arrive on the western shore of Maryland calling the site it St. Mary's. Founded by George Calvert. Slow growing - only 600 by 1650. Maryland Toleration Act (1649).  Intent: Religious freedom for Catholics.  Proprietary colony.

1636 Puritans establish the colony of Connecticut.
Puritan minister Thomas Hooker & Governor John Haynes of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establish River Colony, later called Connecticut. Hooker lost support in Massachusetts for his belief in government being led by the consent of the people, not just God's will.   Leaders of Massachusetts invited Hooker and followers to leave.   Intent: Religious and economic freedom.   Corporate colony.

1636 Rhode Island is founded by Roger Williams.
After being kicked out Massachusetts for his belief in the separation of church & state, Roger Williams goes to live with the Narragansett Indians. He forms Providence, which will be the capital of Rhode Island.  Expelled Roger Williams set up a more tolerant colony.  Intent: Religious & economic freedom.   Corporate colony. 

1638 Delaware is founded by Peter Minuit & the New Sweden Company.
Peter Minuit of the Netherlands establishes a colony called New Sweden. Minuit later is forced to give up the colony when King Charles II takes control of the area called "New Netherland" & tells him to give it to his brother James, the Duke of York. James renames New Sweden Delaware.   Established by Sweden; taken by Dutch, then the English.   Intent: Trade and profits.   Proprietary colony.

1653 A group of Virginians establishes Carolina.
Acting on a charter from King Charles II, eight noblemen from Virginia create a settlement south of Virginia. They call it Carolina, although it is divided into North Carolina & South Carolina when the crown takes control of the colony in 1729.  Joint business venture.  NC in 1653. SC in 1670.  Intent: Trade and Profits. Proprietary colony.

1664 Lord Berkeley & Sir George Carteret found New Jersey.
James, the Duke of York, gives land from New Netherland to his friends Lord Berkeley & Sir George Carteret. They call the colony New Jersey & advertise it as a place of religious freedom.  Established by Sweden; taken by English in 1664.  Intent: Trade and profits.  Proprietary colony.

1664 The Duke of York establishes New York.
With the Duke of York in control of the former 1626 Dutch trading post, he renames it New York. The city the Dutch called New Amsterdam becomes New York City.  Set up as Dutch colony, taken over by English in 1664.  Intent: Trade and profits.  Proprietary, then Royal colony.

1682 Pennsylvania is established by William Penn.
Acting on a land grant that is owed to his deceased father, William Penn creates a colony to serve as a refuge for Quakers under persecution in England. By 1700, it grows to be the third largest colony in the New World. Originally Quaker, this colony became home to many displaced & aspiring European immigrants.   Intent: Religious freedom for Quakers & others while promoting trade and profits.  Proprietary colony.

1732 James Oglethorpe establishes the colony of Georgia.
King Charles II grants James Oglethorpe a royal charter to establish a colony between Florida & South Carolina. Georgia is created to act as a barrier between Spain, which owns Florida, & the British colonies. It is also intended to provide a place for those recently released from debtors prison to have a fresh start.  Buffer for Spanish colonies. Originally outlawed slavery and restricted size of land grants to 500 acres.  Intent: Keep Spain at bay & offer a fresh start for Convicts & Debtors while no longer having to support them in the mother country.  Royal colony. 

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Pacts anticipate "By the People" - 1584 6 Year Patent granting Settlement Rights in Virginia to Sir Walter Raleigh by Queen Elizabeth I.

1588 Queen Elizabeth I 1533-1603 The Armada Portrait Attributed to George Gower

 1584 Patent granting Settlement Rights in Virginia to Sir Walter Raleigh by Queen Elizabeth I.


The letters patents, granted by the Queenes Majestie to M. Walter Ralegh, now Knight, for the discovering & planting of new lands & Countries, to continue the space of 6 yeeres & no more.

      Elizabeth by the grace of God of England, France & Ireland Queene, defender of the faith, &c. To all people to whom these presents shal come, greeting. Know ye that of our especial grace, certaine science, & meere motion, we have given & granted, & by these presents for us, our heires & successors doe give & grant to our trusty & welbeloved servant Walter Ralegh Esquire, & to his heires & assignes forever, free liberty & licence from time to time, & at all times for ever hereafter, to discover, search, finde out, & view such remote, heathen & barbarous lands, countreis, & territories, not actually possessed of any Christian prince, nor inhabited by Christian people, as to him, his heires & assignes, & to every or any of them shall seeme good, & the same to have, holde, occupy & enjoy to him, his heires & assignes for ever, with all prerogatives, commodities, jurisdictions, royalties, priviledges, franchises & preeminences, thereto or thereabouts both by sea & land, whatsoever we by our letters patents may grant, & as we or any of our noble progenitors have heretofore granted to any person or persons, bodies politique or corporate: & the saide Walter Ralegh, his heires & assignes, & all such as from time to time, by licence of us, our heires & successors, shal goe or travaile thither to inhabite or remaine, there to build & fortifie, at the discretion of the said Walter Ralegh, his heires & assignes, the statutes or act of Parliament made against fugitives, or against such as shall depart, remaine or continue out of our Realme of England without licence, or any other statute, act, law, or any ordinance whatsoever to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.
Sir Walter Raleigh (c 1552-1618)

      And we do likewise by these presents, of our especial grace, meere motion, & certaine knowledge for us, our heires & successors, give & graunt full authoritie, libertie & power to the said Walter Ralegh, his heires & assignes, & every of them, that he & they, & every or any of them, shall & may at all & every time & times hereafter, have, take, & leade in the sayde voyage, & travaile thitherward, or inhabite there with him or them, & every or any of them, such, & so many of our subjects as shall willingly accompany him or them, & every or any of them: & to whom also we doe by these presents, give full libertie & authoritie in that behalfe, & also to have, take & employ, & use sufficient shipping & furniture for the transportations, & Navigations in that behalfe, so that none of the same persons or any of them be such as hereafter shall be restrained by us, our heires or successors.

      And further that the said Walter Ralegh his heires & assignes, & every of them, shall have, holde, occupie & enjoy to him, his heires & assignes, & every of them for ever, all the soyle of all such landes, territories, & Countreis, so to be discovered & possessed as aforesayd, & of all such Cities, Castles, Townes, Villages, & places in the same, with the right royalties, franchises, & jurisdictions, as well marine as other within the sayd landes, or Countreis, or the seas thereunto adjoyning, to be had, or used, with full power to dispose thereof, & of every part in fee simple or otherwise, according to the order of the lawes of England, as neere as the same conveniently may be, at his, & their wil & pleasure, to any persons then being, or that shall remaine within the allegiance of us, our heires & successors: reserving alwayes to us, our heires & successors, for all services, dueties, & demaunds, the fift part of all the oare of golde & silver, that from time to time, & at all times after such discoverie, subduing & possessing, shall be there gotten & obteined: All which lands, Countries, & territories shall for ever be holden of the sayd Walter Ralegh, his heires & assignes, of us, our heires & successors, by homage, & by the sayd payment of the sayd fift part, reserved onely for all services.

      And moreover, we do by these presents, for us, our heires & succsessors, give & grant licence to the said Walter Ralegh, his heires, & assignes, & every of them, that he, & they, & every or any of them, shall & may from time to time, & at all times for ever hereafter, for his & their defence, encounter & expulse, repell & resist aswell by sea as by lande, & by all other wayes whatsoever, all & every such person & persons whatsoever, as without the especiall liking & license of the sayd Walter Ralegh, & of his heires & assignes, shall attempt to inhabite within the sayde Countryes, or any of them, or within the space of two hundreth leagues neere to the place or places within such Countryes as aforesayde (if they shall not bee before planted or inhabited within the limits as aforesayd with the subjects of any Christian Prince being in amitie with us) where the sayd Walter Ralegh, his heires, or assignes, or any of them, or his, or their, or any of their associats or company, shall within sixe yeeres (next ensuing) make their dwellings or abidings, or that shall enterprise or attempt at any time hereafter unlawfully to annoy, eyther by Sea or Lande the sayde Walter Ralegh, his heires or assignes, or any of them, or his or their, or any of his or their companies: giving, & graunting by these presents further power & authoritie to the sayd Walter Ralegh, his heires & assignes, & every of them from time to time, & at all times for ever hereafter, to take & surprise by all maner of meanes whatsoever, all & every those person or persons, with their Shippes, Vessels, & other goods & furniture, which without the licence of the sayde Walter Ralegh, or his heires, or assignes, as aforesayd, shalbe found traffiquing into any Harbour, or Harbours, Creeke, or Creekes, within the limits aforesayd, (the subjects of our Realmes & Dominions, & all other persons in amitie with us, trading to the Newfound lands for fishing as heretofore they have commonly used, or being driven by force of a tempest, or shipwracke onely excepted :) & those persons, & every of them, with their shippes, vessels, goods, & furniture to deteine & possesse as of good & lawfull prize, according to the discretion of him the sayd Walter Ralegh, his heires, & assignes, & every, or any of them. & for uniting in more perfect league & amitie, of such Countryes, landes, & territories so to be possessed & inhabited as aforesayd with our Realmes of England & Ireland, & the better incouragement of men to these enterprises: we doe by these presents, graunt & declare that all such Countries, so hereafter to be possessed & inhabited as is aforesayd, from thencefoorth shall be of the allegiance to us, our heires & successours. & wee doe graunt to the sayd Walter Ralegh, his heires, & assignes, & to all, & every of them, & to all, & every other person & persons, being of our allegiance, whose names shall be noted or entred in some of our Courts of recorde within our Realme of England, that with the assent of the sayd Walter Ralegh, his heires or assignes, shall in his journeis for discoverie, or in the journeis for conquest hereafter travail to such lands, countreis & territories, as aforesayd, & to their, & to every of their heires, & they, & every or any of them being eyther borne within our sayde Realmes of England or Irelande, or in any other place within our allegiance, & which hereafter shall be inhabiting within any the Lands, Countryes, & Territories, with such licence, (as aforesayd) shall & may have all the priviledges of free Denizens, & persons native of England, & within our allegiance in such like ample maner & forme, as if they were borne & personally resident within our said Realme of England, any law, custome, or usage to the contrary notwithstanding.
      
    And forasmuch as upon the finding out, discovering, or inhabiting of such remote lands, countries, & territories as aforesaid, it shalbe necessary for the safety of all men, that shall adventure themselves in those journeyes or voyages, to determine to live together in Christian peace, & civill quietnesse eche with other, whereby every one may with more pleasure & profit enjoy that whereunto they shall atteine with great paine & perill, wee for us, our heires & successors, are likewise pleased & contented, & by these presents doe give & grant to the said Walter Ralegh, his heires & assignes fo ever, that he & they, & every or any of them, shall & may from time to time for ever hereafter, within the said mentioned remote lands & countries, in the way by the seas thither, & from thence, have full & meere power & authoritie to correct, punish, pardon, governe, & rule by their & every or any of their good discretions & policies, aswell in causes capitall, or criminall, as civil, both marine & other, all such our subjects, as shal from time to time adventure themselves in the said journeis or voyages, or that shall at any time hereafter inhabite any such lands, countreis, or territories as aforesayd, or that shall abide within 200 leagues of any of the sayd place or places where the sayde Walter Ralegh, his heires or assignes, or any of them, or any of his or their associats or companies, shall inhabite within 6 yeeres next ensuing the date hereof, according to such statutes, lawes & ordinances as shall be by him the sayd Walter Ralegh, his heires & assignes, & every or any of them devised, or established, for the better government of the said people as aforesaid. So alwayes as the said statutes, lawes, & ordinances may be, as nere as conveniently may bee, agreeable to the forme of the lawes, statutes, governement, or pollicie of England, & also so as they be not against the true Christian faith, nowe professed in the Church of England, nor in any wise to withdrawe any of the subjects or people of those lands or places from the alleagance of us, our heires & successours, as their immediate Soveraigne under God.

    And further, we doe by these presents for us, our heires & successors, give & grant ful power & authoritie to our trustie & welbeloved Counsailour Sir William Cecill knight, Lorde Burghley, or high Treasourer of England, & to the Lorde Treasourer of England for us, our heires & successors for the time being, & to the privie Counsaile of us, our heires & successors, or any foure or more of them for the time being, that he, they, or any foure or more of them, shall & may from time to time, & at all times hereafter, under his or their handes or Seales by vertue of these presents, authorise & licence the saide Walter Ralegh, his heires & assignes, & every or any of them by him, & by themselves, or by their, or any of their sufficient Atturneis, Deputies, Officers, Ministers, Factors, & servants, to imbarke & transport out of our Realme of England and Ireland, & the Dominions thereof, all or any part of his or their goods, & all or any the goods of his & their associats & companies, & every or any of them, with such other necessaries & commodities of any our Realmes, as to the sayde Lorde Treasurer, or foure or more of the privie Counsaile, of us our heires & successors for the time being (as aforesaid) shalbe from time to time by his or their wisedomes, or discretions thought meete & convenient, for the better reliefe & supportation of him the sayde Walter Ralegh, his heires, & assignes, & every or any of them, & of his or their or any of their associats & companies, any act, statue, law, or any thing to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.

      Provided alwayes, & our wil & pleasure is, & we do hereby declare to all Christian kings, princes, & states, that if the sayde Walter Ralegh, his heires or assignes, or any of them, or any other by their licence or appointment, shall at any time or times hereafter robbe or spoile by sea or by land, or doe any acte of unjust or unlawfull hostilitie, to any of the subjects of us, our heires or successors, or to any of the subjucts of any the kings, princes, rulers, Governours, or estates, being then in perfect league & amitie with us, our heires & successours, & that upon such injurie, or upon just complaint of any such Prince, Ruler, Governour or estate, or their subjects, wee, our heires & successors, shall make open Proclamation within any the portes of our Realme of England, that the saide Walter Ralegh, his heires & assignes, & adherents, or any to whom these our Letters patents may extende, shall within the termes to bee limited, by such Proclamation, make full restitution, & satisfaction of all such injuries done: so as both we & the said Princes, or other so complaining, may hold us & themselves fully contented: & that if the said Walter Ralegh, his heires & assignes, shall not make our cause to be made satisfaction accordingly within such time so to be limitted, that then it shal be lawful to us, our heires & successors, to put the sayde Walter Ralegh, his heires & assignes, & adherents, & all the inhabitants of the saide places to be discovered (as in aforesaid) or any of them out of our allegeance & protection, & that from & after such time of putting out of protection of the saide Walter Ralegh, his heires, assignes & adherents, & others so to be put out, & the said places within their habitation, possession & rule, shall be out of our allegeance & protection, & free for all Princes & others to pursue with hostilitie, as being not our subjects, nor by us any way to be avouched, maintained, or defended, nor to be holden as any of ours, nor to our protection, or dominion, or allegeance any way belonging: for that expresse mention of the cleere yeerely value of the certaintie of the premisses, or any part thereof, or of any other gift, or grant by us, or any our progenitors, or predecessors to the said Walter Ralegh, before this time made in these presents, bee not expressed, or any other grant, ordinance, provision, proclamation, or restraint to the contrary thereof, before this time, given, ordained, or provided, or any other thing, cause or matter whatsoever, in any wise notwithstanding. In witnesse whereof, wee have caused these our letters to be made Patents. Witnesse our selves, at Westminster the five & twentie day of March, in the sixe & twentith yeere of our Raigne.

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Women Over There - Queen Elizabeth after Her Coronation - From Roanoke to Jamestown

Elizabeth I began her rule as England's monarch in 1558. Never-married Queen Elizabeth avidly studied a variety of languages and cultures. She encouraged her nation to explore the world.

In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh had sent an expedition to settle Roanoke Island in Pamlico Sound (between what today is mainland North Carolina and its Outer Banks) in hopes of bringing riches home to the crown and establishing a base from which to fight the Spanish. Colonists were left to establish themselves, while waiting for a ship from England to return to with needed provisions to keep the settlement functioning.

Worried about the coming of the Spanish Armada, the queen commandeered every able ship to remain in England to fight, leaving no seaworthy vessels to return to the “Roanoke” colony to resupply the colonists. When a ship finally arrived back on America's Atlantic coast with provisions 3 years later, all 121 colonists were gone, including the first English baby born in America, Virginia Dare. Elizabeth would not see a successful English colony in the new world during her lifetime.

Although Elizabeth believed that she had been called by God to rule, she was savvy enough to give some governing powers and religious freedoms to her restless subjects. And England emerged from her 50 year reign as a cultural and economic power. When Elizabeth died in 1603, only 4 years before the settlement of Jamestown in Virginia.

A Timeline of Events and References
Leading Up To and Through the Founding of Jamestown

1558 Queen Elizabeth succeeds Queen Mary.1562 Jean Ribault establishes Huguenot colony (Charles Fort) at Port Royal in South Carolina.

John Hawkins makes his first voyage to the West Indies.

1563 Charles Fort abandoned.

1564 Second colony of Huguenots under Rene de Laudonniere established on St. John's River in Florida.

John Hawkins makes his second voyage to the West Indies and Guinea.

1565 St. Augustine established.

1567 John Hawkins departs on third voyage.

1568 Hawkins fights Spanish at Battle of Vera Cruz, later set ashore at Tampico, Mexico, where three of his men began a 12 month march to the north, reaching Cape Breton.

1576 Martin Frobisher's first voyage.

1577 Martin Frobisher's second voyage.

1578 Martin Frobisher's third voyage.

England and Netherlands sign treaty to fight Spain.

Humphrey Gilbert sailed for America with 350 men but was forced to return.

1580 Sir Francis Drake returns to England from voyage around the world.

1583 Sir Humphrey Gilbert's voyage to Newfoundland; his ship was lost on the return voyage.

1584 Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe reach Roanoke Island in July, returned to England in September.

1585 Raleigh's fleet of seven vessels under Richard Grenville and Ralph Lane, with 108 men, reach Roanoke Island in June.

1586 In June, Sir Francis Drake arrives from Florida and removes the Lane colony to England.

Sir Richard Grenville and three ships arrive at Roanoke in August.

1587 John White with 150 men, women, and children sent by Sir Walter Raleigh to plant the Cittie of Raleigh on the Chesapeake Bay, landed at Hatorask on July 22.

1590 John White returns to Roanoke Island.

1592 Capt. Christopher Newport sailed for the West Indies.

1596 Capts. Amias Preston and George Somers sail to the West Indies.

1602 Sir Walter Raleigh sent Samuel Mace of Weymouth on a voyage to Virginia (North Carolina) to gather plant materials and to search for survivors of the Lost Colony.

Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, Capt. Bartholomew Gilbert, Capt. Gabriel Archer, and others sent on voyage to New England coast.

Nova Scotia visited regularly by English traders.

1603 Capt. Martin Pring sent to New England coast by Bristol merchants.

Capt. Bartholomew Gilbert sent on voyage to Chesapeake Bay; Gilbert and 4 others went ashore (likely the Eastern Shore) and were killed by Indians.

1603 Queen Elizabeth dies & James VI of Scotland becomes James I.

Friday, October 12, 2018

Pacts anticipate "By the People" - 1215 Magna Carta Gives Rules for Women

Magna Carta 1215 "(the) Great Charter") agreed to by 
King John of England at Runnymede near Windsor on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterburyto make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. 

Preamble:
John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishop, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and liege subjects, greetings. Know that, having regard to God and for the salvation of our soul, and those of all our ancestors and heirs, and unto the honor of God and the advancement of his holy Church and for the rectifying of our realm, we have granted as underwritten by advice of our venerable fathers, Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England and cardinal of the holy Roman Church, Henry, archbishop of Dublin, William of London, Peter of Winchester, Jocelyn of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry, Benedict of Rochester, bishops; of Master Pandulf, subdeacon and member of the household of our lord the Pope, of brother Aymeric (master of the Knights of the Temple in England), and of the illustrious men William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, William, earl of Salisbury, William, earl of Warenne, William, earl of Arundel, Alan of Galloway (constable of Scotland), Waren Fitz Gerold, Peter Fitz Herbert, Hubert De Burgh (seneschal of Poitou), Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip d'Aubigny, Robert of Roppesley, John Marshal, John Fitz Hugh, and others, our liegemen.
King John I 1199-1216 at the National Portrait Gallery London

1. In the first place we have granted to God, and by this our present charter confirmed for us and our heirs forever that the English Church shall be free, and shall have her rights entire, and her liberties inviolate; and we will that it be thus observed; which is apparent from this that the freedom of elections, which is reckoned most important and very essential to the English Church, we, of our pure and unconstrained will, did grant, and did by our charter confirm and did obtain the ratification of the same from our lord, Pope Innocent III, before the quarrel arose between us and our barons: and this we will observe, and our will is that it be observed in good faith by our heirs forever. We have also granted to all freemen of our kingdom, for us and our heirs forever, all the underwritten liberties, to be had and held by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs forever.

2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding of us in chief by military service shall have died, and at the time of his death his heir shall be full of age and owe "relief", he shall have his inheritance by the old relief, to wit, the heir or heirs of an earl, for the whole baroncy of an earl by L100; the heir or heirs of a baron, L100 for a whole barony; the heir or heirs of a knight, 100s, at most, and whoever owes less let him give less, according to the ancient custom of fees.

3. If, however, the heir of any one of the aforesaid has been under age and in wardship, let him have his inheritance without relief and without fine when he comes of age.

4. The guardian of the land of an heir who is thus under age, shall take from the land of the heir nothing but reasonable produce, reasonable customs, and reasonable services, and that without destruction or waste of men or goods; and if we have committed the wardship of the lands of any such minor to the sheriff, or to any other who is responsible to us for its issues, and he has made destruction or waster of what he holds in wardship, we will take of him amends, and the land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, who shall be responsible for the issues to us or to him to whom we shall assign them; and if we have given or sold the wardship of any such land to anyone and he has therein made destruction or waste, he shall lose that wardship, and it shall be transferred to two lawful and discreet men of that fief, who shall be responsible to us in like manner as aforesaid.

5. The guardian, moreover, so long as he has the wardship of the land, shall keep up the houses, parks, fishponds, stanks, mills, and other things pertaining to the land, out of the issues of the same land; and he shall restore to the heir, when he has come to full age, all his land, stocked with ploughs and wainage, according as the season of husbandry shall require, and the issues of the land can reasonable bear.

6. ***Heirs shall be married without disparagement, yet so that before the marriage takes place the nearest in blood to that heir shall have notice.

7. ***A widow, after the death of her husband, shall forthwith and without difficulty have her marriage portion and inheritance; nor shall she give anything for her dower, or for her marriage portion, or for the inheritance which her husband and she held on the day of the death of that husband; and she may remain in the house of her husband for forty days after his death, within which time her dower shall be assigned to her.

8. ***No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she prefers to live without a husband; provided always that she gives security not to marry without our consent, if she holds of us, or without the consent of the lord of whom she holds, if she holds of another.

9. Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize any land or rent for any debt, as long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to repay the debt; nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained so long as the principal debtor is able to satisfy the debt; and if the principal debtor shall fail to pay the debt, having nothing wherewith to pay it, then the sureties shall answer for the debt; and let them have the lands and rents of the debtor, if they desire them, until they are indemnified for the debt which they have paid for him, unless the principal debtor can show proof that he is discharged thereof as against the said sureties.

10. If one who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, die before that loan be repaid, the debt shall not bear interest while the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may hold; and if the debt fall into our hands, we will not take anything except the principal sum contained in the bond.

11. ***And if anyone die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if any children of the deceased are left under age, necessaries shall be provided for them in keeping with the holding of the deceased; and out of the residue the debt shall be paid, reserving, however, service due to feudal lords; in like manner let it be done touching debts due to others than Jews.

12. No scutage not aid shall be imposed on our kingdom, unless by common counsel of our kingdom, except for ransoming our person, for making our eldest son a knight, and for once marrying our eldest daughter; and for these there shall not be levied more than a reasonable aid. In like manner it shall be done concerning aids from the city of London.

13. And the city of London shall have all it ancient liberties and free customs, as well by land as by water; furthermore, we decree and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall have all their liberties and free customs.

14. And for obtaining the common counsel of the kingdom anent the assessing of an aid (except in the three cases aforesaid) or of a scutage, we will cause to be summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons, severally by our letters; and we will moveover cause to be summoned generally, through our sheriffs and bailiffs, and others who hold of us in chief, for a fixed date, namely, after the expiry of at least forty days, and at a fixed place; and in all letters of such summons we will specify the reason of the summons. And when the summons has thus been made, the business shall proceed on the day appointed, according to the counsel of such as are present, although not all who were summoned have come.

15. We will not for the future grant to anyone license to take an aid from his own free tenants, except to ransom his person, to make his eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter; and on each of these occasions there shall be levied only a reasonable aid.

16. No one shall be distrained for performance of greater service for a knight's fee, or for any other free tenement, than is due therefrom.

17. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be held in some fixed place.

18. Inquests of novel disseisin, of mort d'ancestor, and of darrein presentment shall not be held elsewhere than in their own county courts, and that in manner following; We, or, if we should be out of the realm, our chief justiciar, will send two justiciaries through every county four times a year, who shall alone with four knights of the county chosen by the county, hold the said assizes in the county court, on the day and in the place of meeting of that court.

19. And if any of the said assizes cannot be taken on the day of the county court, let there remain of the knights and freeholders, who were present at the county court on that day, as many as may be required for the efficient making of judgments, according as the business be more or less.

20. A freeman shall not be amerced for a slight offense, except in accordance with the degree of the offense; and for a grave offense he shall be amerced in accordance with the gravity of the offense, yet saving always his "contentment"; and a merchant in the same way, saving his "merchandise"; and a villein shall be amerced in the same way, saving his "wainage" if they have fallen into our mercy: and none of the aforesaid amercements shall be imposed except by the oath of honest men of the neighborhood.

21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced except through their peers, and only in accordance with the degree of the offense.

22. A clerk shall not be amerced in respect of his lay holding except after the manner of the others aforesaid; further, he shall not be amerced in accordance with the extent of his ecclesiastical benefice.

23. No village or individual shall be compelled to make bridges at river banks, except those who from of old were legally bound to do so.

24. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or others of our bailiffs, shall hold pleas of our Crown.

25. All counties, hundred, wapentakes, and trithings (except our demesne manors) shall remain at the old rents, and without any additional payment.

26. ***If anyone holding of us a lay fief shall die, and our sheriff or bailiff shall exhibit our letters patent of summons for a debt which the deceased owed us, it shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff to attach and enroll the chattels of the deceased, found upon the lay fief, to the value of that debt, at the sight of law worthy men, provided always that nothing whatever be thence removed until the debt which is evident shall be fully paid to us; and the residue shall be left to the executors to fulfill the will of the deceased; and if there be nothing due from him to us, all the chattels shall go to the deceased, saving to his wife and children their reasonable shares.

27. If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall be distributed by the hands of his nearest kinsfolk and friends, under supervision of the Church, saving to every one the debts which the deceased owed to him.

28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take corn or other provisions from anyone without immediately tendering money therefor, unless he can have postponement thereof by permission of the seller.

29. No constable shall compel any knight to give money in lieu of castle-guard, when he is willing to perform it in his own person, or (if he himself cannot do it from any reasonable cause) then by another responsible man. Further, if we have led or sent him upon military service, he shall be relieved from guard in proportion to the time during which he has been on service because of us.

30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or other person, shall take the horses or carts of any freeman for transport duty, against the will of the said freeman.

31. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take, for our castles or for any other work of ours, wood which is not ours, against the will of the owner of that wood.

32. We will not retain beyond one year and one day, the lands those who have been convicted of felony, and the lands shall thereafter be handed over to the lords of the fiefs.

33. All kydells for the future shall be removed altogether from Thames and Medway, and throughout all England, except upon the seashore.

34. The writ which is called praecipe shall not for the future be issued to anyone, regarding any tenement whereby a freeman may lose his court.

35. Let there be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm; and one measure of ale; and one measure of corn, to wit, "the London quarter"; and one width of cloth (whether dyed, or russet, or "halberget"), to wit, two ells within the selvedges; of weights also let it be as of measures.

36. Nothing in future shall be given or taken for awrit of inquisition of life or limbs, but freely it shall be granted, and never denied.

37. If anyone holds of us by fee-farm, either by socage or by burage, or of any other land by knight's service, we will not (by reason of that fee-farm, socage, or burgage), have the wardship of the heir, or of such land of his as if of the fief of that other; nor shall we have wardship of that fee-farm, socage, or burgage, unless such fee-farm owes knight's service. We will not by reason of any small serjeancy which anyone may hold of us by the service of rendering to us knives, arrows, or the like, have wardship of his heir or of the land which he holds of another lord by knight's service.

38. No bailiff for the future shall, upon his own unsupported complaint, put anyone to his "law", without credible witnesses brought for this purposes.

39. No freemen shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice.

41. All merchants shall have safe and secure exit from England, and entry to England, with the right to tarry there and to move about as well by land as by water, for buying and selling by the ancient and right customs, quit from all evil tolls, except (in time of war) such merchants as are of the land at war with us. And if such are found in our land at the beginning of the war, they shall be detained, without injury to their bodies or goods, until information be received by us, or by our chief justiciar, how the merchants of our land found in the land at war with us are treated; and if our men are safe there, the others shall be safe in our land.

42. It shall be lawful in future for anyone (excepting always those imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the law of the kingdom, and natives of any country at war with us, and merchants, who shall be treated as if above provided) to leave our kingdom and to return, safe and secure by land and water, except for a short period in time of war, on grounds of public policy- reserving always the allegiance due to us.

43. If anyone holding of some escheat (such as the honor of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats which are in our hands and are baronies) shall die, his heir shall give no other relief, and perform no other service to us than he would have done to the baron if that barony had been in the baron's hand; and we shall hold it in the same manner in which the baron held it.

44. Men who dwell without the forest need not henceforth come before our justiciaries of the forest upon a general summons, unless they are in plea, or sureties of one or more, who are attached for the forest.

45. We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs only such as know the law of the realm and mean to observe it well.

46. All barons who have founded abbeys, concerning which they hold charters from the kings of England, or of which they have long continued possession, shall have the wardship of them, when vacant, as they ought to have.

47. All forests that have been made such in our time shall forthwith be disafforsted; and a similar course shall be followed with regard to river banks that have been placed "in defense" by us in our time.

48. All evil customs connected with forests and warrens, foresters and warreners, sheriffs and their officers, river banks and their wardens, shall immediately by inquired into in each county by twelve sworn knights of the same county chosen by the honest men of the same county, and shall, within forty days of the said inquest, be utterly abolished, so as never to be restored, provided always that we previously have intimation thereof, or our justiciar, if we should not be in England.

49. We will immediately restore all hostages and charters delivered to us by Englishmen, as sureties of the peace of faithful service.

50. We will entirely remove from their bailiwicks, the relations of Gerard of Athee (so that in future they shall have no bailiwick in England); namely, Engelard of Cigogne, Peter, Guy, and Andrew of Chanceaux, Guy of Cigogne, Geoffrey of Martigny with his brothers, Philip Mark with his brothers and his nephew Geoffrey, and the whole brood of the same.

51. As soon as peace is restored, we will banish from the kingdom all foreign born knights, crossbowmen, serjeants, and mercenary soldiers who have come with horses and arms to the kingdom's hurt.

52. If anyone has been dispossessed or removed by us, without the legal judgment of his peers, from his lands, castles, franchises, or from his right, we will immediately restore them to him; and if a dispute arise over this, then let it be decided by the five and twenty barons of whom mention is made below in the clause for securing the peace. Moreover, for all those possessions, from which anyone has, without the lawful judgment of his peers, been disseised or removed, by our father, King Henry, or by our brother, King Richard, and which we retain in our hand (or which as possessed by others, to whom we are bound to warrant them) we shall have respite until the usual term of crusaders; excepting those things about which a plea has been raised, or an inquest made by our order, before our taking of the cross; but as soon as we return from the expedition, we will immediately grant full justice therein.

53. We shall have, moreover, the same respite and in the same manner in rendering justice concerning the disafforestation or retention of those forests which Henry our father and Richard our brother afforested, and concerning the wardship of lands which are of the fief of another (namely, such wardships as we have hitherto had by reason of a fief which anyone held of us by knight's service), and concerning abbeys founded on other fiefs than our own, in which the lord of the fee claims to have right; and when we have returned, or if we desist from our expedition, we will immediately grant full justice to all who complain of such things.

54. ***No one shall be arrested or imprisoned upon the appeal of a woman, for the death of any other than her husband.

55. All fines made with us unjustly and against the law of the land, and all amercements, imposed unjustly and against the law of the land, shall be entirely remitted, or else it shall be done concerning them according to the decision of the five and twenty barons whom mention is made below in the clause for securing the pease, or according to the judgment of the majority of the same, along with the aforesaid Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and such others as he may wish to bring with him for this purpose, and if he cannot be present the business shall nevertheless proceed without him, provided always that if any one or more of the aforesaid five and twenty barons are in a similar suit, they shall be removed as far as concerns this particular judgment, others being substituted in their places after having been selected by the rest of the same five and twenty for this purpose only, and after having been sworn.

56. If we have disseised or removed Welshmen from lands or liberties, or other things, without the legal judgment of their peers in England or in Wales, they shall be immediately restored to them; and if a dispute arise over this, then let it be decided in the marches by the judgment of their peers; for the tenements in England according to the law of England, for tenements in Wales according to the law of Wales, and for tenements in the marches according to the law of the marches. Welshmen shall do the same to us and ours.

57. Further, for all those possessions from which any Welshman has, without the lawful judgment of his peers, been disseised or removed by King Henry our father, or King Richard our brother, and which we retain in our hand (or which are possessed by others, and which we ought to warrant), we will have respite until the usual term of crusaders; excepting those things about which a plea has been raised or an inquest made by our order before we took the cross; but as soon as we return (or if perchance we desist from our expedition), we will immediately grant full justice in accordance with the laws of the Welsh and in relation to the foresaid regions.

58. We will immediately give up the son of Llywelyn and all the hostages of Wales, and the charters delivered to us as security for the peace.

59. We will do towards Alexander, king of Scots, concerning the return of his sisters and his hostages, and concerning his franchises, and his right, in the same manner as we shall do towards our owher barons of England, unless it ought to be otherwise according to the charters which we hold from William his father, formerly king of Scots; and this shall be according to the judgment of his peers in our court.

60. Moreover, all these aforesaid customs and liberties, the observances of which we have granted in our kingdom as far as pertains to us towards our men, shall be observed by all of our kingdom, as well clergy as laymen, as far as pertains to them towards their men.

61. Since, moveover, for God and the amendment of our kingdom and for the better allaying of the quarrel that has arisen between us and our barons, we have granted all these concessions, desirous that they should enjoy them in complete and firm endurance forever, we give and grant to them the underwritten security, namely, that the barons choose five and twenty barons of the kingdom, whomsoever they will, who shall be bound with all their might, to observe and hold, and cause to be observed, the peace and liberties we have granted and confirmed to them by this our present Charter, so that if we, or our justiciar, or our bailiffs or any one of our officers, shall in anything be at fault towards anyone, or shall have broken any one of the articles of this peace or of this security, and the offense be notified to four barons of the foresaid five and twenty, the said four barons shall repair to us (or our justiciar, if we are out of the realm) and, laying the transgression before us, petition to have that transgression redressed without delay. And if we shall not have corrected the transgression (or, in the event of our being out of the realm, if our justiciar shall not have corrected it) within forty days, reckoning from the time it has been intimated to us (or to our justiciar, if we should be out of the realm), the four barons aforesaid shall refer that matter to the rest of the five and twenty barons, and those five and twenty barons shall, together with the community of the whole realm, distrain and distress us in all possible ways, namely, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other way they can, until redress has been obtained as they deem fit, saving harmless our own person, and the persons of our queen and children; and when redress has been obtained, they shall resume their old relations towards us. And let whoever in the country desires it, swear to obey the orders of the said five and twenty barons for the execution of all the aforesaid matters, and along with them, to molest us to the utmost of his power; and we publicly and freely grant leave to everyone who wishes to swear, and we shall never forbid anyone to swear. All those, moveover, in the land who of themselves and of their own accord are unwilling to swear to the twenty five to help them in constraining and molesting us, we shall by our command compel the same to swear to the effect foresaid. And if any one of the five and twenty barons shall have died or departed from the land, or be incapacitated in any other manner which would prevent the foresaid provisions being carried out, those of the said twenty five barons who are left shall choose another in his place according to their own judgment, and he shall be sworn in the same way as the others. Further, in all matters, the execution of which is entrusted,to these twenty five barons, if perchance these twenty five are present and disagree about anything, or if some of them, after being summoned, are unwilling or unable to be present, that which the majority of those present ordain or command shall be held as fixed and established, exactly as if the whole twenty five had concurred in this; and the said twenty five shall swear that they will faithfully observe all that is aforesaid, and cause it to be observed with all their might. And we shall procure nothing from anyone, directly or indirectly, whereby any part of these concessions and liberties might be revoked or diminished; and if any such things has been procured, let it be void and null, and we shall never use it personally or by another.

62. And all the will, hatreds, and bitterness that have arisen between us and our men, clergy and lay, from the date of the quarrel, we have completely remitted and pardoned to everyone. Moreover, all trespasses occasioned by the said quarrel, from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign till the restoration of peace, we have fully remitted to all, both clergy and laymen, and completely forgiven, as far as pertains to us. And on this head, we have caused to be made for them letters testimonial patent of the lord Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, of the lord Henry, archbishop of Dublin, of the bishops aforesaid, and of Master Pandulf as touching this security and the concessions aforesaid.

63. Wherefore we will and firmly order that the English Church be free, and that the men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably, freely and quietly, fully and wholly, for themselves and their heirs, of us and our heirs, in all respects and in all places forever, as is aforesaid. An oath, moreover, has been taken, as well on our part as on the part of the barons, that all these conditions aforesaid shall be kept in good faith and without evil intent. Given under our hand - the above named and many others being witnesses - in the meadow which is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign.

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Women Over There - European Attempts to explore & settle North America during the reign Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth (1533-1603) succeeds Queen Mary.

1560 Queen Elizabeth I 1533-1603    The Clopton Portrait.

1562 Jean Ribault (1520-1565), French explorer financed by Queen Elizabeth, establishes Huguenot colony (Charles Fort) at Port Royal in South Carolina.
Jean Ribault (1520-1565)

John Hawkins, (1532-1595), English Explorer, makes his1st voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the West Indies.
John Hawkins, (1532-1595)

1563 Charles Fort in South Carolina is abandoned.
"The French Left in Charlesfort Suffer from Lack of Provisions" Volume II of Theodor De Bry's Grand Voyages. 1590

Second colony of Huguenots, under René de Laudonnière (c 1529-1574), is established on St. John's River in Florida.
René de Laudonnière (c 1529-1574)

French Stone Column in Florida Timucuan Indians worshipping a stone column with the French coat of arms erected by Jean Ribault at the mouth of the River May (St. Johns River) in 1562

John Hawkins makes his 2nd voyage to the West Indies and Guinea.

1565 St. Augustine is established.
Baptista Boazio, Saint Augustine Map (1589)

1567 John Hawkins departs on his 3rd voyage.

1568 Hawkins fights Spanish at Battle of Vera Cruz, later sets ashore at Tampico, Mexico, where 3 of his men begin a 12 month march to the north, reaching Cape Breton.
Illustration of the carrack Jesus of Lübeck The Battle of San Juan de Ulúa

1576 Martin Frobisher's 1st voyage.

1577 Martin Frobisher's 2nd voyage.
Martin Frobisher (c 1535-39 - 1594)
1578 Martin Frobisher's 3rd voyage.

England & Netherlands sign treaty to join together to fight Spain.

Humphrey Gilbert (1539-1583) sails for America with 350 men, but they are forced to return.
Humphrey Gilbert (1539-1583)

Queen Elizabeth granted Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1539-1583) a patent to plant a colony in North America, but he had died at sea on his 2nd attempt. In 1584 Gilbert's half-brother, Walter Raleigh, took over the charter & sent out a reconnaissance expedition of his own, which explored the Outer Banks of North Carolina & Roanoke Island looking for a site that could support a settlement & serve as a base for English privateers to prey on Spanish shipping.  Roanoke was chosen on the advice of the Portuguese pilot Simon Ferdinando or Fernandes (Portuguese: Simão Fernandes) (c 1538 – c 1590), who was familiar with the area from his earlier service with Spain, when he was a Portuguese-born navigator and sometime pirate who piloted the 1585 & 1587 English expeditions to found colonies on Roanoke island. Fernandes trained as a navigator in Spain at the Casa de Contratación in Seville, but later took up arms against the Spanish empire, preying upon Spanish shipping along with fellow pirate John Callis. Charged with piracy in 1577, he was saved from the hangman's noose by becoming a Protestant & a subject of the Queen of England. In 1578 Fernandes entered the service of Sir Humphrey Gilbert & later Sir Walter Raleigh, piloting the failed 1587 expedition to Roanoke, known to history as the "Lost Colony."  Fernandes disappears from the records after 1590, when he sailed with an English fleet to the Azores.  In 1587, Raleigh sent out that colonizing expedition which included the artist John White & the scholar Thomas Hariot, whose reports & drawings gave Europeans their first view of the American inhabitants of Virginia & their culture. 1583 Humphrey Gilbert's voyage to Newfoundland; his ship is lost on the return voyage.

1580 Francis Drake (1540-1596) returns to England from voyage around the world.
Francis Drake (1540-1596) by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1561–1636)

1584 Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe (c 1550–c 1620) reach Roanoke Island in July, returned to England in September.

In 1585, under the open encouragement of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Francis Drake sailed out to terrorize the Spanish in the West Indies by attacking their cities & capturing treasure.  On the way home, Drake stopped at Roanoke, where he discovered the settlers in grave straits following a harsh winter.  Unloading the "several hundred" passengers he had picked up in the course of his Caribbean adventures—African slaves, South American Indians, & galley slaves (including Europeans & Moors)—Drake made room on his ships & took the Roanoke settlers back to England.  No one knows what happened to the West Indian passengers so unceremoniously left behind at Roanoke.
Roanoke Island from Theodor de Bry after drawing John White

1585 Sir Walter Raleigh's (1522-1618) fleet of 7 vessels & 108 men, under Richard Grenville (1542-1591) & Ralph Lane (c 1532-1603), reach Roanoke Island in June.
Sir Walter Raleigh 1522-1618

1586 In June, Sir Francis Drake arrives from Florida & removes the Lane colony to England.

Sir Richard Grenville & 3 ships arrive at Roanoke in August.

1587 John White (c 1540-1593) with 150 men, women & children sent by Sir Walter Raleigh to plant the Cittie of Raleigh on the Chesapeake Bay, land at Hatorask on July 22.
1585 John White (English artist, c 1540-1593)  A Native A Fire Ceremony

1590 John White returns to Roanoke Island.

1592 Captain Christopher Newport (1561-1617) sails for the West Indies.

1596 Captain Amias Preston & Sir George Somers (1554–1610) sail to the West Indies.
Sir George Somers (1554–1610)

1602 Sir Walter Raleigh sent Samuel Mace of Weymouth on a voyage to Virginia (North Carolina) to gather plant materials & to search for survivors of the Lost Colony.

Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold (1572 - 1607), Capt. Bartholomew Gilbert, Capt. Gabriel Archer (c1575-c1610), & others sent on voyage to New England coast.
English traders regularly visit Nova Scotia.

1603 Capt. Martin Pring (1580 – 1626) sent to New England coast by Bristol merchants.

Capt. Bartholomew Gilbert sent on voyage to Chesapeake Bay; Gilbert + 4 others went ashore (likely the Eastern Shore) & are killed by Indians.
Allegorical Painting of 1610 Queen Elizabeth I (1538-1603) in Old Age, c.1610 at Corsham Court, Wiltshire.

The Virgin Queen Elizabeth I dies, & James VI of Scotland becomes James I.