The Holder of this blog uses no cookies and collects no data whatsoever. He is only a guest on the Blogger platform. He has made no agreements concerning third party data collection and is not provided the opportunity to know the data collection policies of any of the standard blogging applications associated with the host platform. For information regarding the data collection policies of Facebook applications used on this blog contact Facebook. For information about the practices regarding data collection on the part of the owner of the Blogger platform contact Google Blogger.

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Printing Presses, Wigs, Drowning Admirals and more.

It's that time, again!!!  Tudor Trivia Tuesday!!!
1. William Caxton established the first printing press in England, at Westminster Abbey, in 1476.  His initial printing firm was located in Bruges, Belgium, where he published the first printed book in English, Recuyell of the Historyes of Troy, in 1473.

2. The second printing press in England was erected at Oxford University, in 1478.

3. John Insomuch, a monk and schoolmaster, erected the third printing-press in England, in 1479, at St. Alban’s monastery.  His last name is actually not known.  The name “Insomuch” was given him because he began two books with the words “Insomuch as…”.

4. Queen Elizabeth I began always wearing wigs in public around the year 1565, indicating that her many illnesses at the time had resulted in the loss of much if not all of her hair.  She would have been 31 years of age at the time.

Scads of colorful information and entertainment.

5.  Water was piped into Hampton Court Palace from Coombe Hill via lead water-pipes.

6.  On April 25, 1513, the first man appointed Lord High Admiral of  the Royal Navy, Edward Howard, led a surprise raid against the largest ship among the French fleet in Brest harbor.  He and his men maneuvered on small boats in order to board the much bigger vessel.  The Admiral bravely led the boarding party only a small number of which managed to achieve the deck before their boats and fellows were swept away by a current leaving them stranded.  The French sailors drove them overboard which was doubly unfortunate for the Admiral as he had chosen to wear a full suit of armor for the occasion.

7. On May 4, 1513, Thomas Howard was the second man appointed Lord High Admiral of  the Royal Navy.

8.  Statute Eliz. 5. c. xxi. sect. iii. [1564] established a prison term of 3 months for anyone stealing a hawk’s egg from a nest on the properties of “noblemen, gentlemen, and divers other persons of great dominions and possessions”.


9.  Erasmus wrote of his visit to England that, “The floors are commonly of clay strewed with rushes; under which lies unmolested an ancient collection of ale, grease, fragments, bones, spittle, excrements of dogs and cats, and everything that is nasty.”

10.  16th century place names including the word “cheap” are derived from the Old English ceap and meant "market" (cf. ceapdæg "market day").  The London street name Cheapside, then, originally meant “Marketside”.  The part of town called East Cheap designated the “East Market”.


Also at Virtual Grub Street:


No comments: