lucianus

Thursday 4. November

Up very early and making ourselves ready to come to court and Sir R. W. knowing not how Her Grace would receive him; so to Whitehall all cold and drafty with a chill wind blowing and so sat we down to wait and soon Sir R. W. is led into Her Majesty her chamber and by and by a man comes and brings me to Mr. S. who questions me closely as to the news in Rouen and my Lord’s doings there and bids me send him good accounts of the French their camp and the King and so gives me the promised money and arrears of 5/ with the warning that I should show discretion with the youths in Dieppe and so I back to my seat and waiting for Sir R. W. who soon returns very pleased from the Queen who had received him well; then by boat to the bridge and then hiring a werryman to take us to Gravesend again to the Swan and a good dinner there to await our sailing tomorrow, I laying with Sir R. W. in the chamber and our men in a closet.

Sir Roger’s audience with the Queen is attested to in the records and the fact that he was well received, much to his surprise! Luke also has some business there with Mr. S., or Mr. Secretary (of State), Sir Robert Cecil, his distant cousin, who employs him as correspondent reporting on goings on in the English and French military camps. Luke is not involved in any active spying rather he keeps his ears open for any useful news and sends it on. For this he is paid a certain amount for his troubles. This time he has been paid 5 pounds which very roughly is equivalent to $2500. I’ll leave it up to your imagination as to what was going on in Dieppe! While it may sound strange, “our men in a closet,” with visions of valets in with the brooms or winter coats, a closet was actually a term for a small room. Pepys in the 1660s speaks of having, “a pretty good dinner in a closet.”

Haynes, Alan. The Elizabethan secret service, Stroud : Sutton, 2000.

Picard, Liza, Elizabeth's London : everyday life in Elizabethan London, London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003.

Wednesday 3. November

Lay somewhat long abed from the lateness of yesternight and I talking with Sir R. W. about his mission to Her Majesty and minding him to wear not his boots which did so vex Her Grace with their odor; so by boat to the bridge it being very cold and biting and then on to our lodgings at the Kings Head at the bottom of the Strand and a very good dinner and excellent wine all paid for by my Lord, then to bed in anticipation of tomorrow’s audience, I again laying with Sir R. W.

The anecdote of Queen Elizabeth complaining of Sir Roger's stinky boots is supposedly true! The King's Head Inn is attested to in Pepys and is at that time (1660s) a hangout of government officials. It was pointed out to me that an inn of that name and in that location (just up the street a piece from the place where Charles I was beheaded) might date to post 1649 but until I can follow this up the name will stand.

Lloyd, Howell A. The Rouen campaign, 1590-1592; politics, warfare and the early-modern state, by Howell A. Lloyd. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1973.

Picard, Liza, Elizabeth's London : everyday life in Elizabethan London, London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003.

Tuesday 2. November

Laid some distance off Gravesend until the tide turned, then docked after a very poor passage, mighty stormy but now would seem to clear and so to the Swan for the night and after a good dinner of mutton and rather much wine, to bed, I to lie with Sir R. W. and our valets in the closet and tomorrow we will hire a werryman to take us to London, as Sir Roger cares not to go on the long ferry with swine.

Ships sailing to the port of London might dock at Gravesend which is down the Thames from the city. From there travelers could take the "long ferry," a public service or hire a wherryman to take them to London Bridge. The long ferry transported many different travelers and sometimes their livestock, hence Sir Roger's comment about not wanting to travel with swine. The Swan Inn in Gravesend is attested to in Samuel Pepys' diary in the 1660's. It might be a stretch backdating it to 1591 but perhaps not too much, the George Inn in Southwark is still in the same building, under the same name it had in 1677 (and I've eaten there in the last 4 years). Luke lies (shares a bed) with Sir Roger on this trip, this is not as strange or salacious as it might sound. We read in Pepys' diary that he often shares a bed with male companions while traveling and for Luke, sharing a bed with a person such as Sir Roger, a knight and commander would be an honor. As we see from the text they are accompanied by their valets. One's valet kept one's clothing and gear in order, served their master and in the case of valets of military gentlemen, scraped them up off the battlefield if they had been killed or wounded.

Lloyd, Howell A. The Rouen campaign, 1590-1592; politics, warfare and the early-modern state, by Howell A. Lloyd. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1973.

Picard, Liza, 1927- Elizabeth's London : everyday life in Elizabethan London. London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003.

Monday 1. November All Saints

Up and very busy about my business yesterday with much to be done before our departure; with Sir R. W. until past noon and then all together to Dieppe taking ship about three of the clock; much rain through the night and heavy seas and today has found us not too far gone from France and my valet quite sick from the storm but praise God it afflicteth me not; the master doth say we will make England by morning.

We pick up our story at the beginning of November 1591 (old style), in the private journal of Luke Knowlton, a gentleman volunteer in Queen Elizabeth's forces in France. He has long been under the command of Sir Roger Williams and enjoys Williams' trust and confidence. In this journal Knowlton will often be found attending on Sir Roger in some capacity or another. He is often employed to deliver messages to the French camp and is entrusted with sensitive information.

In writing this, I have drawn upon these primary sources, Thomas Coningsby's journal, letters of the Earl of Essex, correspondence of Sir Henry Unton (the English ambassador to France) and other diplomatic correspondence. In addition, I have supplemented this with information from the excellent Rouen Campaign by Howell A. Lloyd.

As the journal opens, Knowlton is about to accompany Sir Roger on a mission to England to try to obtain the Queen's permission for the Earl of Essex and his troops to begin besieging Rouen. The Earl chose Williams to go in his place because he feared that Elizabeth's ire would cause her to not allow him (the Earl) to return to France.

Coningsby, Thomas, Jornall of Cheife Thinges Happened in Our Jorney from Deape the 13. of Auguste, Untyll, MS.- Harl. 288. f. 253279. Camden Miscellany by Camden Society (Great Britain), Royal Historical Society (Great Britain), published by Camden Society, 1847 Item notes: v.1 (1847).

Lloyd, Howell A. The Rouen campaign, 1590-1592; politics, warfare and the early-modern state, by Howell A. Lloyd. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1973.

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