By way of example are recent comments in the Edward de Vere was Shakespeare Facebook group relating to Ben Jonson's begging poem to King Charles I and the subsequent re-issuance of Jonson's patent by the king in March of 1531. Every confidence is evinced that 17th century words and phrases bear 21st century meanings. Quite the opposite is the case, however.
First there is the matter of begging poems: a legitimate sub-genre of historical poetry. They show distinctive patterns — provide details from the poets' lives relating to the matter of collecting on monies provided by patent or otherwise.
Among the most famous such poems is Chaucer's “Complaint to his Purse.”
To you, my purse, and no other wight
Complain I, for you've been my lady dear!
I am so sorry, now that you've been light;
For certainly, but if you make me heavy cheer,
I would as lief be laid upon my bier;
[To yow, my purs, and to non othir wyght
Complayne I, for ye ben my lady dere!
I am so sory, now that ye been lyght;
For certes, but yf ye make me hevy chere,
Me were as leef be leyd upon my bere;]1
In this quote and throughout the poem, Chaucer carefully avoids mentioning the King's role in bringing about his situation. He complains only to his purse. The king remains the greatest, most flawless Englishman.
The second stanza refers to symbols/badges which Richard II — Chaucer's long-time generous patron — had adopted as his own.2 But an envoy was added soon after Henry IV usurped the throne from Richard in 1399. This, too, speaks only of the poet's admiration for the new king and total acceptance of Henry's perfect right to the throne.
O Conqueror of Brutus' Albion,
Which by thy line and free election
Are the true king, this song to you I send;...
[O conqueror of Brutes Albyoun,
Which that by lyne and fre eleccion
Ben verray kyng, this song to you I sende;]
This poem tells us a great deal that is not immediately obvious. Chaucer began begging when Richard II, his longtime patron, was king, and finished after Henry IV had taken the crown. That Richard struggled to hold onto his crown, circa 1399, is the likeliest reason Chaucer's patents (there were numerous, none of them for poetry) were not being honored. Henry's victory left Chaucer in a very uncertain position and he responded by telling the new king directly and exactly what he wanted to hear. Here we have the most pronounced example of the rule that patents tended not to get paid, especially to comparatively small fish, upon a change of monarchs.
Thomas Hoccleve was much less circumspect than Chaucer. He was appointed to the office of the Privy Seal around 1387. He had designs of a religious career and held a corrody that he likely purchased for life. He seems to have been prevented due to a psychological crisis which made him suspect. He married, however, and was allowed to remain a Privy Seal clerk nonetheless.
For the rest of his life he carefully attended to his work, collected his salary and struggled to collect a royal annuity he was awarded for the amount of 20 marks.
In the exchequer, he of his special grace
Has to me granted an annuity
Of 20 marks, while I have live's space.
Might I actually have been paid that duty,
It should stand well enough with me;
But payment is hard to get these days;
And that put me in many foul affrays.
[In thé schequér, he of his special grace
Hath to me grauntid an annuitee
Of xxti mark, while I haue lyuës space .
Mighte I ay paid ben of þat duëtee,
It schulde stonde wel ynow with me;
But paiement is hard to gete adayes;
And þat me put in many foule affrayes.]
Happily, the record survives of Hoccleve's patent for the annuity: Patent Roll, 1 Hen. IV., part 2 , membrane 21 (November 13, 1399).3 The record shows that the annuity was to be received at Michaelmas and Easter terms.4
The first payment on a patent issued during the Michaelmas term would customarily be due and payable for that term. The records show that — the exchequer always stingy with the royal funds — Hoccleve received his first payment a year later on December 13, 1400. He would have been thankful that the patent had been paid at all. He did not receive his Michaelmas payment for 1404 or Easter for 1405. As time went on he shows up less in the payment rolls.
In the years to come, Hoccleve would write a poetry strewn with references to how that exchequer and annuities worked, not in theory, but in practice.
It got to be quite a battle for me to get it;
If I were sure it would be satisfied
From year to year, then, so god save me,
My deep rooted grief was remedied...
[It goht ful streite and scharp or I it haue ;
If I seur were of it be satisfied
ffro yeer to yeer, than, so god me saue,
My deepë rootid grief were remediëd...]
Especially toward the bottom of the food chain, it was tough to get one's patent honored. The exchequer clerks would please the king more to keep the monies in the treasury. There was almost no likelihood that there would be punishment.
Even worse, observation had taught Hoccleve that clerks who aged-out found collecting their lifetime annuities nearly impossible. No longer continuously at court, they lost the connections without which one would not likely get paid.
Of your annuity, the payment,
Which for your long service is your guerdon,
you dread, when you are absent from court,
Shall be restrained,...
[Of þin annuitee, þe paiëment,
Whiche for þi long seruyse is þi guerdoun,
þou dredest, whan þou art from court absent,
Schal be restreynëd,...]
These and other such examples will, perhaps, help a recent interlocutor regarding another begging letter and patent associated with Ben Jonson to understand that he is wrong when he blithely asserts “According to the 1630 Patent, the 100 mark pension remained in effect until some time shortly before the augmented pension was issued.”
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By “in effect” he makes it clear that he means that the pension was actively being paid. He is not versed in patents, patent rolls and offices, and the exchequer. We will next proceed to the explanation as to why Ben Jonson almost certainly was not regularly receiving the 100 marks pension for which he held the patent. Likely he was not receiving it at all.
1 Sources and contexts of the quotes here are posted at “Source texts: A Backgrounder to Ben Jonson's Begging Poems.” https://gilbert-wesley-purdy.blogspot.com/2024/06/source-texts-ben-jonsons-and-other.html
2 Henderson, Dave. The Medieval English Begging Poem (2008). 91.
3 Furnivall, Frederick. Hoccleve's Works: the Minor Poems (1892). li.
4 Ibid. “...ad terminos Pasche et Sancti Michaelis...”
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
- Rocco Bonetti's Blackfriars Fencing School and Lord Hunsdon's Water Pipe. August 12, 2023. “... the tenement late in the tenure of John Lyllie gentleman & nowe in the tenure of the said Rocho Bonetti...”
On Shakespeare's lameness and historical-fiction biography, etc. August 5, 2023. “Those who support Sogliardo of Stratford and other authorship candidates generally stop by from time to time to remark...”
- Shakespeare CSI: Sir Thomas More, Hand-D. April 22, 2023. “What a glory to have an actual hand-written manuscript from the greatest English writer of all time!”
- Robert Greene and the Construction Shakespeare Never Used. August 9, 2022. 'Our first foray “staring intently into” the texts of Robert Greene has noted that his work utilized far fewer feminine endings than Shakespeare’s.'
A 1572 Oxford Letter and the Player’s Speech in Hamlet. August 11, 2020. “The player’s speech has been a source of consternation among Shakespeare scholars for above 200 years. Why was Aeneas’ tale chosen as the subject?”
- Check out the Shakespeare Authorship Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
- Check out the Letters Index: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
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