The Up & Down Again British Crown Jewels by Katherine Pym

Crown Jewels

For some reason, to-be monarchs expect to be surrounded by gold, silver and jewels when crowned and when they attend state ceremonies. In the old days—really old like ancient times—it is said those who wore crowns were set a part. They were different than the everyday guy who walked the dusty paths of the planet.

The Up:

Over the years, the British crown jewels piled up, including gold thread, silver and gold plate, embedded with precious metals and stones. Their worth cannot be calculated. Well, I suppose it can but my sources won’t do it, and who am I to argue? I could easily say their worth is in the millions and millions or more.

British Imperial State Crown

The British Imperial State Crown is mounted with more than 3000 precious jewels. It must be very heavy after a few hours. Whoever wears this crown will have a sore neck and shoulders for several days afterward. 

Tower of London

The Maltese cross at the top of this crown has a great sapphire. Legend says it came from Edward the Confessor’s ring. It was removed from his finger after his death and before his coffin was sealed. The Stuart sapphire at the back of the crown may have come from Scotland in 1214.

The Down:

King Charles I had a hard time of it almost from the get-go. He married a Roman Catholic girl, which was hugely frowned upon. He allowed her to remain Catholic. He trussed up the Church of England to be more papist.

He annoyed a lot of people who wanted the church services less papist. They wanted music during services to cease, and they were tired of statues, gold and jewels shining from the altar, the stained glass windows.

Scepter

The man in charge of the crown jewels at this time was Sir Henry Mildmay, a royalist who jumped over to the Parliamentary side soon after Charles I left London to fight in the civil wars. Two years into the fighting, Parliament ordered the royal plate be melted down. Some argued the plate was ancient, the decorations worth more than the plate, but they were shouted down.

Historical treasures of banqueting plate and coronets worth in today’s market of almost £388,000 were melted and minted. After the fighting was over, the king lost his head and most royalists fled or fell under the Commonwealth rule. It didn’t take long for Parliament to sell the king’s personal estate and the crown jewels.

Sir Henry Mildmay was summoned to make an inventory. Once a royalist who changed sides, now he was royalist again. He locked the Jewel House door and wouldn’t come out. It was a standoff of 6 weeks. Finally, Parliament grew frustrated and stormed the building. Henry Mildmay was flung into Fleet prison.

All the gold and silver was melted down and the jewels sold off. They had destroyed the holy relics of a monarchical system that had lasted for centuries.

Up Again:

When King Charles II returned from exile in 1660, Sir Henry Milmay was again summoned to the palace. He feared for his life and tried to run away but was caught. He was sentenced to be dragged through the streets each year on the anniversary of King Charles I’s death (end of January per the Julian calendar).

Nothing remained of the original crown jewels or coronation regalia. A local goldsmith was called in where, for a mere £1.6 (modern costs), he made duplicates of the old jewels.

After King Charles II’s coronation all the jewels and regalia were stored in the White Tower in the Tower of London. It was where William the Conqueror had stored his treasure but moved again after the great fire of 1666 to the Martin Tower.

Colonel Thomas Blood

Down Again:

The only successful person to steal the crown jewels was Colonel Blood (yes, a real name, and he wasn’t a pirate). Blood was an unhappy man who had done well under Cromwell. It annoyed him when his government failed and he lost all his lands in Ireland.

The way he did it was interesting:

In early 1671 Blood, disguised as an old, grizzly clergyman, went to view the crown jewels with his supposed ‘wife’. The caretaker and his family lived on the floor above. Happy to oblige, the caretaker showed them the jewels.

Suddenly the clergyman’s wife bent over, groaning of a terrible stomachache. The caretaker took the poor, sad lady to his apartments, where his wife took care of her. The next day, the old couple returned, this time with a pair of gloves for the caretaker’s wife, in thanks for her care of the old woman.

The couples became friends. The clergyman and his wife visited often. It gave Blood plenty of time to study the layout of the protected jewels.

While friends, Blood said he had a nephew who would be a perfect suitor for the caretaker’s daughter. They should meet. The caretaker and his wife agreed.

With other men waiting nearby, Blood and his ‘nephew’ arrived early at Martin’s Tower. While the caretaker’s wife and daughter were still getting ready, Blood asked if they could show the nephew the crown jewels.

Blood and the nephew surprised the caretaker, bound and gagged him; then Blood’s gang went to work. They removed selected items, stashed them in overly baggy clothes or beat them with mallet until they were flattened and easily hidden.

Unfortunately, they were caught when the caretaker’s son surprised them. The gang was overpowered and their robbery foiled.

King Charles II

Up Again:

Blood was taken into custody and housed in the Tower which was a dark place in the 17^th century. When taken for interrogation, Blood refused to talk to anyone but the king. Everyone was surprised when he agreed. After quite a long discussion between Charles II and Blood, the king, humored by Blood’s daring, pardoned him and restored his lost lands in Ireland to him.

Many thanks to:

Harnrahan, David C. Colonel Blood, The man who Stole the Crown Jewels. Sutton Publishing, Ltd., UK, 2003

Tales from the Tower, Secrets and Stories from a Gory and Glorious Past. Think Books, London, 2006

&

Wikicommons, Public Domain

 

Buy Here

  

Secret Service, Spies and Underhanded Dealings by Katherine Pym

Buy Here

17^th century England was volatile. The Stuarts ruled most of this century. There was civil unrest. One king was beheaded outside the Banquet House in London. Cromwell died on a cold and dreary night. His body was embalmed and dressed as an emperor’s; then whisked away to be buried (due to a noisome stink). His son was considered weak, so King Charles II was returned from exile. After he died (a pretty horrible way to go, by the way, which I should probably tell you about one day) his brother took the crown but as a Roman Catholic, he lost it almost immediately and was pretty much kicked out of England. After almost two centuries of kings and queens in religious battles, by the end of the 17^th century, true-blue Protestantism held sway. The rest is history (as I swipe at my sweaty brow). 

During all these different reigns, there was a lot of Espionage.

King Charles II

King Charles II professed to be Protestant and returned to England with great pomp and ceremony. His new populace greeted him with exuberance along the roads and into London. Everyone who hated him last week, loved him today. 

Our new king was not a stupid man.  He understood people are fickle. He fully expected to be assassinated or beheaded as his father was. While in exile, his life was often imperiled. Men had conspired against him. One example: During the Cromwell years, his spymaster orchestrated a plot where Charles and his brother, James, were to be lured out of exile and back to England. The plot was to kill both brothers the minute they disembarked onto home soil. Thankfully this plot failed but espionage in England had turned really devious. 

Men in power used good spymasters. Cromwell’s was John Thurloe, a brilliant man. He created a network of spies (men & women) who infiltrated the most royal of houses. His net was vast. His spies could be located in every English county, overseas, i.e., in Charles II’s exiled court, in the Americas, and the far Indies. 

John Thurloe

Thurloe compiled lists, sent spies into enemy camps, had men tortured and killed. One such fellow, Samuel Morland, confessed to witnessing a man ‘trepanned to death’ at Thurloe’s word.  (Dictionary.com states the following definition to trepan:  “a tool for cutting shallow holes [in this case the skull] by removing a core.”)  Really really painful and a horrid way to go.   

Commonwealth spies infiltrated homes, churches, and businesses to destroy the royalist enemy, and under Charles II’s, his government did the same.  Their goal was to destroy nonconformists, or “fanaticks”. Plots were a part of political life. 

After the Restoration, Thurloe was dismissed, but not executed for crimes against the monarchy (Charles I and II). He was released in exchange of valuable Commonwealth government documents. 

King Charles II placed Sir Henry Bennet as the Secretary of State and overlord of England’s espionage, who in turn brought in Joseph Williamson, another man born to this work. He took the bull by the horns and enhanced the processes Thurloe had begun. 

Joseph Williamson

Williamson built a brilliant spy network.  He allowed informers who, for money, turned on associates.  He burrowed spies into households, businesses and churches.  He used grocers, doctors and surgeons, anyone who would send him notes against persons who were against the king. He had men overseas watch for any plots. Informants were literally everywhere. 

His tools were numerous.  Williamson loved ciphers and cipher keys.  Known as Mr. Lee in the underworld, he used the Grand Letter Office for ciphered messages to pass back and forth between the undersecretary’s office and spies. He expected his people to keep him informed by ciphered letters at the end of each day, and passed through the post office. 

Williamson obtained ambassador letters, had them opened and searched for underhanded deceit. He developed a system of local informers, letters and money crossing palms.  Under Thurloe, the secret service received £800 per year. Under Bennet, the money doubled. Most of the annual budget was spent on spies to keep them alive. 

As a result, most plots failed. Besides Williamson’s expertise and doggedness, most plotters employed too many people. Everyone around the countryside knew of one plot or another, a family member probably involved. Because of Williamson, these plots dissolved before they were brought to fruition. 

Spies seem to be a part of every decade, every century. Today is no different but electronics have replaced ciphered notes sent to spymasters through the post offices.

Sir Jeffery Hudson, Small Person Extraordinaire by Katherine Pym

Sir Jeffery Hudson

I like reading about 17^th century England. There’s all sorts of great info that comes from that era, like Jeffery Hudson.

Born in 1619 to normal sized parents, Jeffery was nineteen inches tall with proportionate features. As a child, there are all sorts of differentials on his actual height, from one foot, seven inches (48 centimeters) to three feet tall.

Being small had its disadvantages. Once when he washed his face and hands, he fell into the basin and almost drowned.

Jeffery with the Queen

He was, of course, bullied throughout life. One story recalls how some kids killed an old lady’s cat, skinned it then dressed Jeffery in the pelt. The old lady had guests at the time, and when Jeffery walked into her parlor, he brought the party into an uproar.  

Jeffery’s father worked for George Villers, the first Duke of Buckingham. Jeffery was introduced to the king’s court at the young age of eight dressed as a chick who popped out of a pie to the amusement of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta. The Duchess of Buckingham then offered Jeffery to the Queen as a gift. (Pretty heartless on the part of the parental units, methinks.) Henrietta was delighted, and that’s how Jeffery went into service for the Queen. 

Jeffery was pampered and made fun of, took part in Court entertainments. On occasion, he was matched with the Court’s giant, a William Evans who stood well over seven feet. Once, to the joy of the cavaliers, William pulled out a loaf of bread from one pocket and young Jeffery from another. William put the two together and pretended to eat. Many titters and polite applause met this trick.

With the English Civil Wars, Jeffery went into exile in 1643 with the queen where he resided in France. While there, he became a serious young man who no longer took teasing in stride. It was unlawful to duel in France, but as a joke, a gentleman challenged Jeffery to one. Full of fun, they were to fight their duel on horseback, the gentleman with a squirt full of water. He planned to douse our dear Jeffery, not kill him, but Jeffery was of a different mind. He shot the fellow dead which sent the French court into angst. His actions upset Queen Henrietta and he was expelled from France.

An attack by Barbary Pirates

While aboard a vessel crossing to England, Barbary pirates, who were known to roam up and down the coasts of Spain, France, England and Ireland, captured the ship. Jeffery was taken into slavery where he toiled in North Africa for twenty-five years.

After King Charles II’s restoration, his queen’s dowry included ports of call around Africa and into the East & West Indies. Charles sent a delegation to Algeria and Tunis to ransom captives. Jeffery happened to be one of those rescued. While in slavery he had grown an unprecedented forty-five inches and reached the height of nearly four feet. 

Christian Slavery

He was no longer an item of interest.

Once back in England, Jeffery’s life took a downward spiral. He was Roman Catholic in a non-papist England. In 1679, he was arrested and thrown in prison for three years while Titus Oates scavenged the land for pope followers.  Once released, he died a pauper at the age of 63. No one knows for sure where he is buried.

Many thanks to: 

Wallechinsky, David, Wallace, Irving. The People's Almanac, Doubleday & Company, 1975

http://www.thehumanmarvels.com/jeffrey-hudson-lord-minimus/

Wikicommons public domain

~~~~~~~~

 To Buy