Almanacs, The Cinque Ports, Russian Elk Hides and more.

It's that time again!!!  It's Tudor Trivia Tuesday!!!

1) The first almanac known to have been printed in England was the Sheapheards Kalendar, translated from the French, and printed by Richard Pynson in 1497.

2) In France, a decree of Henry III., in 1579, forbade all makers of almanacs to prophesy, directly or indirectly, concerning affairs either of the state or of individuals.

3) In the county of Norfolk, in 1519, 3 yards of blacke satten cost 21s.

4) The Cinque Ports was the name of a confederation of five key ports for the defense of England.  The ports were Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Dover, and Sandwich.  Winchelsea and Rye were added as early as the 12^th  century but the name remained “Cinque” (five) because the name had come to refer to the territory rather than the number of cities.  In times of invasion across the channel, or defense from the same, the Warden of the Cinque Ports was charged with mustering all ships in the ports for conversion to military service.  In the time of the parsimonious Queen Elizabeth I, the subsidy provided to the ports by the crown on such occasions was reduced from £500 to £300.

5) In 1567, the standard rate to English traders with Russia for elk hides was 6s. 8d. per hide.

Scads of colorful information and entertainment.

6) In a 18 Aprill 1567 letter from the Merchant Adventurers Of England, in London, to their agents in Russia, the  governors William Garrard and Rowland Hayward complain that:

“The charges of houskeping are double as much as they were wont to be, which causeth vs to iudge a riotousnes, remisnes and Idlenes of our servuntes; therfore we desire Master Jenckinson and you to make a frugall proportion of fare per man in every house and a commandement to be giuen not to exced;…” and that “Certaine of our servuntes and stipendaries be suspected of horedom, Incontinency, dronckennes and Idellnes; if they do not amende ship them home, for where ether of these vices do raigne is no dilligence or faithfull dealling.”

7) In 1559, Queen Elizabeth granted the first royal charter to the Keepers or Wardens and Commonalty of the Art or Mystery of Salters (i.e. The Salters Company).

8) In 1541, the Grocer’s Company ordered “the evil pepper surnamed ginger” to be burned throughout the kingdom.

9) In 1558, the Grocer’s Company lent Queen Mary £7555.

10) John Norden provides the following list of market days for the market towns in Hartfordshire in his 1598 description of the county:

SAINT ALBONS, which hath market on the Saterday.

BARNET on the Munday.

BARKHAMSTEAD on the Munday.

BALDOCK a little market on the Thursday.

BVNTINGFORD on the Munday.

BARKWAY on the Fryday.

HEMSTED on the Thursday.

HARTFORD on the Saterday.

HODDESDON on the Thursday.

HITCH-END on the RICKMANSWORTH on the Saterday.

ROYSTON on the Wednesday.

STORTFORD, a very good market on the Thursday.

SABRIDGWORTH on the Wednesday,

TRINGE a little market on the Fryday.

WAYRE on the Tuesday.

Also at Virtual Grub Street:

• The Fascinating Itinerary of the Gelosi Troupe, 1576.  June 10, 2019.  “The Spanish soldiers had not been paid and unpaid soldiers tend to rob and loot.  The citizens were prepared to give them a fight.  Violent flare ups were occurring everywhere.”
• A Thousand Years of English Terms.  June 2, 2019.  ‘One person did not say to another, “Meet you at three o’clock”.    There was no clock to be o’.  But the church bell rang the hour of Nones and you arranged to meet “upon the Nones bell”.’
• A Most Curious Account of the Funeral of Queen Elizabeth I: April 28, 1603.  April 28, 2019.  “Once it was clear that James I would face no serious challenges, Cecil and the others could begin to give attention to the matter of the Queen’s funeral.”
• The Battle Over Shakespeare's Early and Late Plays. September 24, 2018. “The answers to the post-Oxford dilemma, of course, are three.”
• Stratford Shakespeare’s Undersized Grave.  July 22, 2018.  “Mr. Coll’s considers this evidence to support an old rumor that Shakspere’s head had been stolen in 1794.  But I submit that he is merely making his observation based upon a coincidence.”
• Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.