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winterbadgerSo, I've fallen sadly behind in posting my literary attempts. I can't believe we've gotten nearly a third of the way through December already!
For the next historical short, let's fly back ~370 years and several thousand miles. The date is the 4th of January 1641/42*. The place is St. Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of Westminster, west and south of the City of London.
On that day, in a scene famous in British history books, Charles, King of England, strode into the chapel (since 1547 the meeting chamber of the House of Commons), intending to personally supervise the arrest of five members of Parliament for high treason (nominally for plotting against Queen Henrietta Maria, but primarily because they were the central proponents of Parliament's power in its struggle with the king).
Parliament had gotten word of the king's intention--the sight of the king proceeding south from Whitehall Palace to Westminster with a body of soldiers must have been remarkable--and the members in question had left the chamber. The king is said to have questioned the Speaker of the House, William Lenthall, as to the whereabouts of the Five Members. The speaker gave a reply that has passed into legend, "May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here." It's a wonderful response, the sort of esprit d'escalier that all of us wish we had been clever enough to conceive of in the heat of a moment. If Lenthall really had the presence of mind to give such a composed reply, he must have been a man of great coolness indeed.
There's a wonderfully kitschy depiction of the famous scene in the 1970 movie Cromwell, starring Sir Alec Guinness as Chas.
The film version is (like most Hollywood views of history) somewhat flawed. The film sought to create a narrative in which the conflict between Crown and Parliament was signified by a personal conflict between the king and the film's central figure, Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell, a country gentleman and an undistinguished MP in the third, fourth, and fifth parliaments of Charles's reign, fought as an officer of horse in the army of Parliament during the ensuing civil wars. He rose to the rank of general and became a prominent figure in postwar politics, eventually ruling Britain as Lord Protector after the king's execution. But he was not one of the leading figures of Parliament before the conflict, and his insertion among the Five and the dramatic showdown between him (played by Richard Harris) and the king is pure hogwash.
The ceremony of the State Opening of Parliament includes a reference to these events, as can be seen in this video of the event from 2008. The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod approaches the House of Commons to summon the members to the House of Lords to hear the monarch speak. The doors of the House are shut in Black Rod's face at the order of the Commons' Serjeant-at-Arms, and the Black Rod must use his staff of office to bang on the door and thus gain entry.
The first time the state opening ceremony was filmed, in 1958, the ceremonial knock was not included in the newsreel, but the video is still worth watching. The older gentleman bearing the Sword of State before the young queen is Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, who insisted on retaining the privilege of carrying the sword until he collapsed at the state opening in 1968. The slightly younger gentleman bearing the 400-year-old Cap of Maintenance next to him is the 14th Earl Home, the last member of the House of Lords to be appointed prime minster and the last peer to renounce his title in order to run for election to the House of Commons.
But the sovereign is the same one, Elizabeth II, to be seen in the 2008 video. She had been queen for six years at that point; this year, 2009, is the 57th year of her reign. "Long to reign over us" indeed!
* In Old Style, the year was 1641; in New Style, 1642. According to the New Style (following the Gregorian Calender, instituted in the UK in 1752 to replace the Julian Calendar), the year begins with 1 January. Before 1752, the English year began on 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation (and if you can't immediately guess what's being announced on that day, just page ahead nine months--the typical gestation period of the human creature--in your calendar. ;-) Of course, the other result of the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar was the addition of ten days to the calendar; I'm not sure, but I believe that all modern histories use the
For the next historical short, let's fly back ~370 years and several thousand miles. The date is the 4th of January 1641/42*. The place is St. Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of Westminster, west and south of the City of London.
On that day, in a scene famous in British history books, Charles, King of England, strode into the chapel (since 1547 the meeting chamber of the House of Commons), intending to personally supervise the arrest of five members of Parliament for high treason (nominally for plotting against Queen Henrietta Maria, but primarily because they were the central proponents of Parliament's power in its struggle with the king).
Parliament had gotten word of the king's intention--the sight of the king proceeding south from Whitehall Palace to Westminster with a body of soldiers must have been remarkable--and the members in question had left the chamber. The king is said to have questioned the Speaker of the House, William Lenthall, as to the whereabouts of the Five Members. The speaker gave a reply that has passed into legend, "May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here." It's a wonderful response, the sort of esprit d'escalier that all of us wish we had been clever enough to conceive of in the heat of a moment. If Lenthall really had the presence of mind to give such a composed reply, he must have been a man of great coolness indeed.
There's a wonderfully kitschy depiction of the famous scene in the 1970 movie Cromwell, starring Sir Alec Guinness as Chas.
The film version is (like most Hollywood views of history) somewhat flawed. The film sought to create a narrative in which the conflict between Crown and Parliament was signified by a personal conflict between the king and the film's central figure, Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell, a country gentleman and an undistinguished MP in the third, fourth, and fifth parliaments of Charles's reign, fought as an officer of horse in the army of Parliament during the ensuing civil wars. He rose to the rank of general and became a prominent figure in postwar politics, eventually ruling Britain as Lord Protector after the king's execution. But he was not one of the leading figures of Parliament before the conflict, and his insertion among the Five and the dramatic showdown between him (played by Richard Harris) and the king is pure hogwash.
The ceremony of the State Opening of Parliament includes a reference to these events, as can be seen in this video of the event from 2008. The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod approaches the House of Commons to summon the members to the House of Lords to hear the monarch speak. The doors of the House are shut in Black Rod's face at the order of the Commons' Serjeant-at-Arms, and the Black Rod must use his staff of office to bang on the door and thus gain entry.
The first time the state opening ceremony was filmed, in 1958, the ceremonial knock was not included in the newsreel, but the video is still worth watching. The older gentleman bearing the Sword of State before the young queen is Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, who insisted on retaining the privilege of carrying the sword until he collapsed at the state opening in 1968. The slightly younger gentleman bearing the 400-year-old Cap of Maintenance next to him is the 14th Earl Home, the last member of the House of Lords to be appointed prime minster and the last peer to renounce his title in order to run for election to the House of Commons.
But the sovereign is the same one, Elizabeth II, to be seen in the 2008 video. She had been queen for six years at that point; this year, 2009, is the 57th year of her reign. "Long to reign over us" indeed!
* In Old Style, the year was 1641; in New Style, 1642. According to the New Style (following the Gregorian Calender, instituted in the UK in 1752 to replace the Julian Calendar), the year begins with 1 January. Before 1752, the English year began on 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation (and if you can't immediately guess what's being announced on that day, just page ahead nine months--the typical gestation period of the human creature--in your calendar. ;-) Of course, the other result of the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar was the addition of ten days to the calendar; I'm not sure, but I believe that all modern histories use the
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Date: 2009-12-10 01:16 am (UTC)