William Pitt and Lord Bute: An Intrigue of 1755-1758
Romney Sedgwick believes Lord Chatham used Lord Bute, the Princess, and her son, for his own purposes, attained them, and then kicked them down the ladder, which George III never could forget.
England
John Mason and the End of the World
Christopher Hill examines the millenarian religious ferment of the seventeenth century and finds that it threw up many strange figures—among them an eccentric Anglican divine who prophesied that the second coming was soon to occur in his own parish, where he gathered a large community of religious squatters.
The Years Before the Stock Exchange
Nicholas Lane examines how, during the century before the London Stock Exchange acquired a building of its own in 1773, brokers met and transacted business in the coffee houses of Exchange Alley
The Fall of Essex
Penry Williams describes how, in February 1601, Essex and his discontented faction at court attempted a coup which ended in dismal failure.
The Marriage of Margaret of York and Charles Duke of Burgundy, July 1468
Save at the Arthurian Court, writes Dorothy Margaret Stuart, such splendid scenes had never before been witnessed as accompanied the marriage of Edward IV’s sister to the Duke of Burgundy.
Sir John Harington: Queen Elizabeth's Godson
D. McDonald reflects on the life of a courtier, author and master of art, popularly known as the inventor of the flush toilet as well as a prominent member of Queen Elizabeth I's court.
Clerks in Royal Service
J.L. Kirby examines how the 15th-century records of Thomas Hoccleve, Robert Fry and Thomas Broket illustrate the workings of modern civil service in its infancy.
A Difficult Father-in-Law: the Ninth Earl of Northumberland
G.R. Batho introduces Henry Percy, the “Wizard Earl”, a man of great gifts and eccentric character who proved a quarrelsome husband and a difficult and unaccommodating parent.
The Foundation of the Bank of England
Nicholas Lane discusses the reasons of business and war that led to the establishment of a national bank in London in 1694.
The Mad Hatter
Christopher Hill introduces Roger Crab, former Cromwellian soldier and hatter of Chesham, who took literally the text: “Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor.” Vegetarian, teetotal, celibate, he led the life of a hermit. This is the first of two studies in 17th-century eccentricity.