Tracy Borman: HOW DID CHARLES II BECOME MORE FAMOUS
FOR HIS SEXUAL ADVENTURES THAN FOR PERFORMING HIS ROYAL DUTIES?
WHO WERE THE MANY MISTRESSES WHO VISITED HIS BED?
AND WHY WAS ONE COURT OFFICIAL KNOWN AS THE ROYAL PIMP MASTER?
Man: CHARLES II WAS AN INDULGENT MAN.
HE WAS A DEBAUCHEROUS MAN.
HE RESTORED THE INSTITUTION OF THE MONARCHY,
AND HE BROUGHT A CERTAIN JOIE DE VIVRE TO SOCIETY.
[APPLAUSE]
Man: HERE’S A MAN WHO CAME ALONG WITH BAGS OF WIT AND CHARM,
LOTS OF COLOR.
A BIT TOO DISTRACTED BY HIS MISTRESSES AND SPANIELS.
BUT HE BROUGHT BACK THE GRANDEUR TO MONARCHY.
HE RE-ESTABLISHED MONARCHY IN BRITAIN.
Woman: HE WAS INCREDIBLY CHARMING.
HE WAS WITTY, HE WAS ERUDITE,
AND HE WAS A VERY LIKEABLE PERSON.
HOWEVER, HE WAS NOT A VERY EFFECTIVE LEADER NECESSARILY.
Man: IF I HAD TO PICK THREE THINGS
THAT SUMMED UP CHARLES II, HE WAS FECKLESS,
HE WAS SLOTHFUL, AND HE WAS LEWD IN HIS BEHAVIOR.
Borman: IN THIS EPISODE, I LOOK AT THE ERA’S FASHION
FOR INTIMATE WIGS AND CONDOMS.
I REVIEW THE GLORIOUS CLOTHES THAT CHARLES II ACTUALLY WORE.
I TASTE SOME OF THE ROYAL FOOD AND DRINK FROM THE TIME,
AND I EXAMINE THE SECRET TUNNEL THAT LINKED THE THEATRE ROYAL
TO A BED CHAMBER ACROSS THE ROAD,
WHICH ALLOWED A ROYAL LIAISON WITH A CERTAIN NELL GWYNNE.
[LAUGHTER]
I’M TRACY BORMAN,
AND IN THIS EPISODE, I’M GOING TO TAKE YOU BEHIND THE SCENES,
TO FIND OUT WHAT REALLY WENT ON
IN THE PRIVATE LIFE OF KING CHARLES II.
♪
IT’S MAY 1660.
AFTER TEN YEARS IN EXILE,
CHARLES STUART HAS BEEN INVITED BACK TO ENGLAND
FROM THE NETHERLANDS
TO RECLAIM HIS THRONE AS KING CHARLES II.
HERE IN LONDON, HE RECEIVES
AN ENTHUSIASTIC, EVEN ECSTATIC WELCOME.
IT SEEMS THAT PEOPLE ARE GLAD TO SEE THE RETURN OF THE MONARCHY
AFTER THE DARK AND UNHAPPY YEARS OF CROMWELL’S COMMONWEALTH.
Man: KING KING!
Dominic Selwood: IN 1660 WHEN PARLIAMENT INVITED CHARLES BACK,
THERE WAS GENERAL EUPHORIA.
THERE HAD BEEN A VERY BUTTONED-DOWN PURITAN REGIME,
AND PEOPLE HAD HAD ENOUGH.
CHARLES CAME BACK FROM THE CONTINENT
WITH A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF GLAMOUR
AND A RELAXED ATTITUDE.
IT WENT DOWN VERY WELL.
Hallie Rubenhold: PEOPLE WERE DESPERATE FOR A CHANGE.
AND CHARLES, AS WE KNOW, REALLY BEGAN TO EMBODY
WHAT THE RESTORATION WAS ALL ABOUT.
IT WAS A LITTLE BIT MORE LAISSEZ-FAIRE.
YOU KNOW, IT WAS BAWDY, IT WAS LIGHT-HEARTED,
IT WAS ALL OF THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE WERE DEPRIVED OF
DURING THE CIVIL WARS.
Rebecca Rideal: CHARLES II IS REMEMBERED
AS BEING THE MERRY MONARCH WHO PRESIDED
OVER THIS COURT OF EXCESS AND LIBERTINISM.
BUT ACTUALLY, I THINK HE WAS REALLY SUCCESSFUL
IN GETTING A HANDLE OF THE ZEITGEIST OF THE TIME
AND NAVIGATING HIS WAY THROUGH
SOME OF THE MOST DEVASTATING THINGS
THAT COULD AFFECT ANY MONARCH--
THE GREAT PLAGUE, THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON,
AND A HUGE CRISIS OVER WHO WOULD BE HIS HEIR AFTERWARDS.
♪
Borman: THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THE NEW KING
THAT WAS CERTAINLY NOT IN DOUBT.
AND THAT WAS HIS VERY HEALTHY LIBIDO.
IT’S SAID THAT DURING THE COURSE OF HIS LIFE,
CHARLES FATHERED AS MANY AS 17 ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN,
BY UP TO EIGHT DIFFERENT MISTRESSES.
DON JORDAN IS AN EXPERT
ON THE COMINGS AND GOINGS IN THE KING’S BED.
SO, DON, WHEN YOU THINK OF ROYAL SEX LIVES,
THEY’RE USUALLY QUITE RITUALISTIC, AREN’T THEY.
THERE’S A LOT OF CEREMONY INVOLVED.
WAS IT LIKE THAT FOR CHARLES?
Don Jordan: I THINK CHARLES WAS THE KING
WHO ACTUALLY CHANGED ALL OF THAT.
THERE WAS NOTHING RITUALISTIC ABOUT IT AT ALL,
EXCEPT IF THERE WAS ANY RITUAL,
IT WAS THE ENDLESS PURSUIT OF SEX.
HE WAS A MAN WHO ACTUALLY ENJOYED WOMEN,
HE ENJOYED THEIR COMPANY, AND HE CERTAINLY ENJOYED THE SEX.
AND HE PURSUED EVERY WOMAN HE COULD PURSUE,
AS LONG AS THEY WERE GOOD LOOKING.
Selwood: CHARLES’S LIBIDO WAS OFF THE SCALE.
MANY MONARCHS HAD MISTRESSES,
BUT CHARLES TOOK IT TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL.
HE HAD MULTIPLE MISTRESSES AT THE SAME TIME, AND HIS WIFE.
AND HE OFTEN HAD THEM
WORKING WITH AND LIVING WITH EACH OTHER.
Rubenhold: HE FELT HIS PLACE IN SOCIETY,
HIS POWER, HIS MONEY,
ENTITLED HIM TO HAVE BASICALLY WHATEVER HE WANTED.
AND THIS WAS NO HOLDS BARRED IN TERMS OF SEX.
SO LIKE EVERY DESIRE, EVERY WHIM HE HAD, COULD BE SATISFIED.
Matt Green: IT WAS ALMOST AS THOUGH HE WASN’T MARRIED.
THE SHEER KIND OF ENTHUSIASM WITH WHICH HE THREW HIMSELF
INTO ALL THESE EXTRAMARITAL RELATIONSHIPS.
AND HIS WHOLE COURT WAS AT IT AS WELL,
IT WAS A DECADENT COURT.
AND IN SOME WAYS THIS WAS A DELIBERATE RESPONSE
TO THE DRAB, MOURNFUL, LIFE-DENYING YEARS
OF MISERABLE PURITAN RULE WHICH HAD HAPPENED IN THE 1650s.
SO THERE WAS A POLITICAL DIMENSION
TO THE HEDONISM AS WELL.
♪
Borman: CHARLES’S LEGENDARY SEXUAL APPETITE HAD TO BE SATED
BY ANY NUMBER OF OTHER WOMEN.
OF COURSE, THESE LIAISONS HAD TO BE VERY CAREFULLY PLANNED,
WHICH OFTEN MEANT SOMEONE AT COURT HELPING OUT.
BUT WHO?
STEP FORWARD WILLIAM CHIFFINCH.
ROYAL PAGE, KEEPER OF THE CLOSET,
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE ROYAL PIMP MASTER.
♪
SO, DON, TELL ME ABOUT THIS GUY WILLIAM CHIFFINCH.
Jordan: WELL, WILLIAM CHIFFINCH WAS REALLY
THE MOST IMPORTANT MAN IN THE PALACE
APART FROM THE KING,
IN TERMS OF WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE PALACE.
’CAUSE HE, HE LOOKED AFTER THIS BACKSTAIRS AREA
THAT WE’RE IN NOW.
HIS JOB WAS REALLY, WAS TO PROCURE
A SECRET WORLD OF ENJOYMENT FOR THE KING.
HE WAS THE MAN WHO BROUGHT THE WOMEN FOR HIM,
AND THESE WOMEN WERE PROCURED BY CHIFFINCH INTO THIS AREA HERE,
THAT ONLY HE AND THE KING HAD ACCESS TO.
AND THEN THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PALACE,
THROUGH THE DOOR HERE ON THIS SIDE,
WAS THE OFFICIAL PALACE.
THIS WAS THE EXTERNAL WORLD THAT OTHER PEOPLE WOULD SEE.
Tony McMahon: WILLIAM CHIFFINCH
WAS OFFICIALLY PAGE OF THE BACKSTAIRS,
SO A SERVANT WHO WOULD LOOK AFTER
THE KING’S MORE INTIMATE NEEDS.
AND HE HAD APARTMENTS ADJOINING THE KING’S APARTMENTS.
WHAT HE WAS ACTUALLY KNOWN AS IN THE COURT
WAS THE PIMP MASTER GENERAL.
Selwood: HE NOT ONLY LOOKED AFTER
ALL THE PEOPLE WHO CAME AND WENT,
WHICH MADE HIM A VERY IMPORTANT MAN.
BUT AS FAR AS CHARLES WAS CONCERNED,
HIS MAIN ROLE WAS AS THE COURT PIMP.
HE USED TO TRAWL THE SLUMS OF LONDON
TO FIND THE YOUNG WOMEN TO BRING TO COURT
FOR CHARLES AND HIS COURTIERS.
McMahon: HE PROCURED PROSTITUTES,
PROCURED UPPER CLASS COURTESANS FOR THE KING,
ANYTHING THE KING WANTED ON THE FEMALE STAKES.
AND HE ALSO HAD A DISCREET COLLECTION OF PORNOGRAPHY
WHICH WERE DESCRIBED AS "THE BRAVE PICTURES,"
WHICH THE KING AND HIS FRIENDS WOULD GO TO SEE IN PRIVATE.
Rideal: WHAT HE ALSO DID WAS HE KEPT A LITTLE NETWORK
OF FRIENDS AND ALLIANCES WITHIN WHITEHALL,
AND HE WAS OFTEN ACCUSED OF BEING CORRUPT.
SAMUEL PEPYS SPEAKS OF GOING INTO THE KING’S CLOSET,
AT THE REQUEST OF CHIFFINCH,
AND SPEAKS ABOUT HOW HE WAS EATING PICKLED HERRING
AND DRINKING EXPENSIVE WINES.
SO CHIFFINCH WAS FREE WITH THE KING’S FOOD AND WINE,
BUT ALSO IN CHARGE OF HARVESTING
THE VERY BEST MISTRESSES AND ONE-NIGHT STANDS FOR THE KING.
♪
Borman: PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS
OF ALL KING CHARLES’S MISTRESSES,
AND THE ONE OF WHOM IT’S SAID THAT HE NEVER TIRED,
WAS NELL GWYNNE, WHO WORKED HERE AT THE THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE.
SHE CERTAINLY HAD ALL THE ATTRIBUTES
THAT APPEALED TO THE ROYAL EYE.
SHE WAS PRETTY, WITTY AND THE LEAST GREEDY
OF ALL CHARLES’S MISTRESSES.
A LOT OF HER EARLY LIFE WAS SPENT IN THE LONDON SLUM AREAS
THAT ONCE SURROUNDED WHERE I AM NOW--
MODERN-DAY COVENT GARDEN.
McMahon: NELL BASICALLY MADE A LIVING
SELLING ORANGES OUTSIDE THE THEATRE.
HER FAVORITE TRICK WAS TO PUT THE TRAY JUST UNDER HER BOSOMS,
SO THAT ORANGE SALES
WOULD PRESUMABLY BE BOOSTED AS A RESULT.
SHE WAS SPOTTED BY SOME OF THE ACTORS,
AND CHARLES, BEING A PATRON OF THE THEATRE,
THEN SPOTTED HER HIMSELF, OR MAYBE CHIFFINCH GOT HER FOR HIM,
AND SHE BECAME ONE OF HIS FAVORITES.
Green: SHE GRAVITATED TOWARDS THE STAGE
AND EVENTUALLY BECAME AN ACTRESS.
AND IT WAS THERE IN COVENT GARDEN
THAT SHE CAUGHT THE KING’S EYE, AND HE SUMMONED HER TO HIS BOX.
AND ON ONE OCCASION HE ACTUALLY TOOK HER OUT FOR A MEAL,
THE KING, THE KING’S BROTHER JAMES,
THEY WERE BOTH IN DISGUISE, AND HER.
AND AT THE END OF IT
THEY REALIZED THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY MONEY.
SO SHE HAD TO PAY FOR THESE KIND OF TWO ROYAL DINERS.
Rubenhold: NELL GWYNNE WAS JUST FUN.
YOU KNOW, THERE WERE NO AIRS AND GRACES,
SHE WAS JUST UP FOR IT, SHE ENJOYED HERSELF.
THERE WAS JUST, THERE WAS NO FORMALITY TO THIS.
AND YEAH, I MEAN, THAT WAS GREAT, WHY NOT?
Borman: SUCH WAS CHARLES’S INFATUATION WITH NELL
THAT HE’S SAID TO HAVE USED A SECRET TUNNEL TO MEET HER.
BUT NOT ONE LEADING TO THE WING OF A ROYAL PALACE.
NO, FAR FROM IT.
THIS ONE LEADS FROM THE THEATRE ROYAL OVER HERE,
UNDER THE ROAD AND INTO THIS PUB,
NOW APPROPRIATELY CALLED THE NELL OF OLD DRURY.
ITS MANAGER, STEPHEN, AGREED TO SHOW ME AROUND.
Stephen Cleverley: TRACY, SO IF YOU’D JUST LIKE
TO COME THROUGH HERE,
JUST TURN THIS ON.
Borman: I’M EXCITED TO SEE THIS.
Cleverley: SO THIS IS THE NELL OF OLD DRURY’S BEST KEPT SECRET.
BEHIND THIS DOOR IS WHERE THE TUNNEL IS,
WHERE CHARLES II CAME.
Borman: WOW, LOOK AT THAT!
Cleverley: AND IF YOU LOOK, YOU CAN SEE,
THIS IS ALL HERE, THE ORIGINAL ARCH.
Borman: AND WHERE WOULD THE TUNNEL HAVE ENDED UP?
Cleverley: THE TUNNEL WOULD HAVE BEEN
JUST ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE THEATRE,
JUST PAST THE BALLET ROOM ON THIS SIDE.
Borman: SO CHARLES WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THERE
WATCHING A SHOW OF SOME DESCRIPTION,
MAYBE GETS A BIT BORED, OR IT’S DURING THE INTERVAL.
WALK THROUGH THE TUNNEL...
Cleverley: YES, COMES THROUGH THE TUNNEL
AND THEN MEETS HIS MISTRESS, NELL GWYNNE.
Borman: HERE IN THIS CELLAR OR...?
Cleverley: NO, I WOULD IMAGINE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN
IN ONE OF THE BEDROOMS UPSTAIRS.
THIS ISN’T EXACTLY THE MOST ROMANTIC SETTING.
Borman: INDEED. Cleverley: YEAH.
Borman: SO HE’S DONE THE DEED, AND THEN GOES BACK PRESUMABLY...
Cleverley: GOES BACK OVER TO WATCH THE END
OF THE PERFORMANCE.
Borman: JOB DONE. Cleverley: JOB DONE, EXACTLY.
Rubenhold: WHEN THE KING WAS AT DRURY LANE AT THE THEATRE,
HE WOULD GO AND MEET NELL GWYNNE.
AND SHE WAS WAITING FOR HIM IN WHAT IS A PUB ACROSS THE ROAD.
AND THERE WAS ACTUALLY A SECRET TUNNEL UNDERNEATH,
THAT LINKED THE TWO BUILDINGS.
AND HE WOULD TRAVERSE THAT, AND GO UP AND FIND HER,
AND HAVE SEX WITH HER,
AND THEN COME BACK BEFORE THE END OF THE PLAY
SO HE COULD APPLAUD AND BE SEEN THERE.
AND NOBODY WOULD KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON.
McMahon: I THINK CHARLES II’S FASCINATION FOR LOWBORN WOMEN
IS SOMETHING YOU SEE WITH A LOT OF MONARCHS,
BECAUSE THEY’VE GOT THAT WHOLE STIFLING ENVIRONMENT IN COURT.
SO NELL GWYNNE, FOR HIM, IT WAS A TASTE OF REAL LIFE,
AND IT WAS A BIT OF EXCITEMENT.
AND HE COULD GO AND MEET THEM OUT IN THE STREET.
AND THE STREETS OF LONDON HERE ABOUT THAT TIME
WERE PRETTY RACY, FILTHY, DEGENERATE,
EXACTLY THE SORT OF THING A BORED MONARCH WAS GONNA LIKE.
♪
Borman: ALTHOUGH NELL WASN’T NEARLY AS GRASPING
AS SOME OF HER RIVAL MISTRESSES,
SHE DID DO QUITE WELL OUT OF HER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE KING.
THIS IS 79 PALL MALL,
THE SITE OF HER FINAL LONDON RESIDENCE.
IT WAS ORIGINALLY A RED BRICK TOWNHOUSE.
SHE MOVED HERE IN 1671,
AND THE FREEHOLD WAS CONFERRED TO HER FIVE YEARS LATER.
IT WAS HER MAIN HOME FOR THE REST OF HER SHORT LIFE.
NELL DIED IN 1687, AT JUST 37 YEARS OF AGE,
PROBABLY FROM THE EFFECTS OF SYPHILIS.
NOT ONLY HAD SHE WON A SPECIAL PLACE
IN THE HEART OF KING CHARLES II,
SHE HAD ALSO CARVED OUT A NICHE IN POPULAR MEMORY.
Rubenhold: NELL WAS REALLY A FAVORITE OF CHARLES’S
FOR A LARGE PART OF HER LIFE, AND HIS LIFE.
AND CONSIDERING THAT SHE STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE HEAP,
SHE DID PHENOMENALLY WELL SOCIALLY, FINANCIALLY
BY CHARLES.
Green: THERE WAS AN ELEMENT OF COMPANIONSHIP.
BUT IF IT HAD JUST BEEN
A SEXUAL KIND OF WHAM, BAM, THANK YOU, MA’AM,
IF I CAN PUT IT LIKE THAT,
THEN I DON’T THINK HE WOULD HAVE BOUGHT HER
A BEAUTIFUL TOWNHOUSE IN PALL MALL.
♪
Borman: BUT ALTHOUGH NELL GWYNNE WAS BY FAR THE MOST FAMOUS
OF ALL THE KING’S MISTRESSES,
A LADY WHO REFUSED TO BE ONE
WAS TO UNWITTINGLY BECOME SIMILARLY WELL KNOWN.
SHE WAS FRANCES STUART, DUCHESS OF RICHMOND AND LENNOX,
A FAMED BEAUTY WHO APPARENTLY WENT AGAINST THE TREND
AND CONSISTENTLY DEFIED CHARLES’S ADVANCES,
WHICH MUST HAVE DRIVEN THE KING EVEN WILDER WITH LUST.
THE LOVELORN CHARLES
COMMISSIONED A PORTRAIT OF FRANCES,
COMPLETE WITH HELMET AND TRIDENT.
AND IT WAS THIS IMAGE OF THE KING’S NEARLY MISTRESS
THAT APPEARED ON BRITISH COINAGE FOR MORE THAN 300 YEARS.
McMahon: SAMUEL PEPYS, THE DIARIST, SAYS
THAT SHE WAS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN AT COURT,
I MEAN, ABSOLUTELY STUNNING,
SO MUCH SO THAT CHARLES GOT HER DRESSED UP
IN A TRIDENT AND A HELMET,
AND SHE WAS ACTUALLY THE BRITANNIA ON THE COINS
THAT WERE IN CIRCULATION IN BRITAIN FROM THE 1670s
ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO THE 1970s.
SHE WAS BRITANNIA ON THE COIN.
Selwood: FRANCES STUART WAS FIRST INTRODUCED TO CHARLES
WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG, 14,
AND CHARLES WAS COMPLETELY SMITTEN WITH HER.
BUT SHE NEVER LET HIM GET CLOSE TO HER.
SHE WAS CLEVER ENOUGH TO REALIZE THAT TO MAINTAIN HER INFLUENCE,
WHICH SHE ALREADY HAD,
SHE COULDN’T BETTER HER POSITION BY SLEEPING WITH THE KING.
SO SHE FLIRTED WITH HIM FOR YEARS.
♪
Borman: THE DARK PURITAN YEARS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
REALLY WERE A THING OF THE PAST,
AND CERTAIN PARTS OF SOCIETY
READILY EMBRACED THE NEW FREEDOM.
IT WAS SAID THAT THE COURT OF KING CHARLES
WAS A REFLECTION OF HOW THINGS WERE AT THE TIME.
WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN TRUE,
BUT EVEN ROYAL COURTS AREN’T IMMUNE TO HEALTH RISKS,
ESPECIALLY SEXUAL HEALTH RISKS.
McMahon: CHARLES OBVIOUSLY WAS IN EXILE FOR YEARS,
AND WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE EXILED FOR YEARS
IN ROYAL COURTS?
YOU’RE BASICALLY HAVING A GOOD TIME, YOU’RE VERY BORED.
THE THING IS, WHEN HE CAME INTO POWER AS KING CHARLES II,
HE CARRIED ON DOING ALL THE THINGS
THAT A BORED PERSON IN EXILE WERE GOING TO DO.
SO HE HAD ALL HIS MISTRESSES, HE DID HIS GAMBLING,
HE WENT TO THE THEATRE.
HE JUST CARRIED ON, WHILE THIS TIME BEING KING.
Rubenhold: THEY BELIEVED THAT YOU LIVE LIFE IN THE MOMENT.
NOBODY EXPECTED TO LEAD
THESE LONG, SORT OF HEALTHY LIFESTYLES THAT WE HAVE,
WHERE EVERYBODY’S VERY CAUTIOUS ABOUT WHAT THEY EAT
AND HOW THEY CONDUCT THEMSELVES IN TERMS OF HEALTH.
IN THE 17th CENTURY,
YOU DIDN’T KNOW IF YOU COULD BE DEAD TOMORROW.
SO TAKE YOUR PLEASURE WHILE YOU CAN.
PICK YOUR ROSEBUDS WHILE YOU MAY.
Borman: THIS IS SOHO, THE HEART OF LONDON’S SEX INDUSTRY TODAY.
IN STUART TIMES, PROSTITUTION WAS SIMPLY A FACT OF LIFE
IN THE CAPITAL,
WITH JUST ABOUT ANYTHING AVAILABLE TO SUIT ANY BUDGET.
WITH IT CAME THE PROBLEM OF VENEREAL DISEASE.
SO PROSTITUTES WOULD PROBABLY HAVE HAD TO MAKE USE
OF ONE OF THE TRADE’S MORE CURIOUS ITEMS,
THE MERKIN WIG.
AND WHAT’S A MERKIN?
WELL, IT’S A WIG THAT COVERS
CERTAIN OTHER PARTS OF THE ANATOMY.
MAYBE IT’S NOT TOO SURPRISING
THAT DISEASES LIKE SYPHILIS WERE RIFE AT COURT.
THE KING EVEN HAD HIS PERSONAL POX DOCTOR.
I’M HERE AT A NOTORIOUS MEMBERS CLUB IN SOHO
TO MEET DR. ROSEMARY LEONARD
AND FIND OUT A LITTLE MORE ABOUT HOW SEXUAL DISEASES WERE TREATED
AT THE COURT OF KING CHARLES II.
SO, ROSEMARY, WE HAVE QUITE AN INTRIGUING COLLECTION
OF ITEMS HERE, DON’T WE?
CAN YOU TALK ME THROUGH SOME OF IT?
Rosemary Leonard: YES, THIS IS THE STATE OF THE ART
FOR THE APOTHECARY IN JACOBEAN TIMES.
THERE WERE THINGS THEY COULD DO TO TRY AND PROTECT THEMSELVES
FROM GETTING SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES
AND ALSO, ONE PRESUMES, TO STOP PREGNANCIES.
SO THIS IS A JACOBEAN SORT OF PROTECTIVE, ONE MIGHT SAY.
AND THIS WAS TIED ON.
I MEAN, YOU CAN’T IMAGINE IT NOW.
I MEAN, YOU’D THINK IT WOULD WORK AS A CONTRACEPTIVE,
BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY WOULDN’T WANT TO DO IT ANYMORE.
BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY TIED ON TO TRY AND KEEP IT IN PLACE.
Borman: I WAS GONNA SAY, OTHERWISE YOU WOULD IMAGINE
THAT WOULD STAY ON FOR ABOUT TWO SECONDS.
Leonard: NO, I CAN’T THINK IT WORKED AT ALL.
I SHOULD JUST THINK IT CAME OFF.
Borman: ABSOLUTELY.
Leonard: SO PERHAPS THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED.
SO THEY THEN ALSO HAD THE LARGER, YOU KNOW,
MORE ROBUST VERSION.
Borman: A DELUXE VERSION, HERE WE GO.
Leonard: THE DELUXE VERSION.
Borman: AND WHAT IS THIS MADE OUT OF? IT’S PRETTY THICK.
Leonard: IT IS VERY THICK.
IT’S MADE OUT OF ANIMAL INTESTINE.
SHEEP’S INTESTINE, COW’S INTESTINE.
THEY WOULD PULL THEM ON,
TIE THEM AT THE TOP AND PULL THEM ON.
Borman: I HARDLY DARE ASK,
BUT WOULD IT HAVE BEEN USED ONLY ONCE?
Leonard: WELL, WE DON’T REALLY KNOW.
BUT I WOULD PRESUME AN UPPER CLASS GENTLEMAN,
OR THE KING, WOULD HAVE A GOOD SUPPLY.
BUT PEOPLE OF LESSER MEANS, PROBABLY YES,
THEY WOULD RINSE THEM OUT, WASH THEM AND USE THEM AGAIN.
Borman: I’M GONNA QUICKLY HAND THIS BACK TO YOU,
SO WE CAN PASS ON.
Rubenhold: ONE WAY YOU COULD PROTECT YOURSELF
WAS TO USE A FAIRLY NEW INVENTION CALLED A CONDON,
OR A CONDOM AS WE WOULD KNOW IT.
AND AT THIS TIME, THEY WERE MADE LARGELY FROM EITHER SHEEP’S GUT
OR ANOTHER TYPE OF ANIMAL INTESTINE,
AND THEY COULD BE WASHED OUT AND REUSED AGAIN.
OR THEY WERE MADE OUT OF A VERY FINE LINEN CLOTH AS WELL.
AGAIN, WASHED OUT AND REUSED.
Borman: SO WHAT’S NEXT?
Leonard: SO DESPITE USING CONTRACEPTIVES PROTECTION,
POX WAS RIFE, AND THEY WOULD GET LESIONS ON THEIR SKIN.
SO THEY WOULD TRY AND TREAT THEM
WITH A WONDERFUL POULTICE OF FROG’S SKIN.
YOU MIXED IT UP WITH ANIMAL LARD, THAT’S ANIMAL FAT,
YOU MADE A POULTICE, AND RUB IT ON TO THE POXY LESIONS.
SO EVEN WHEN THE POX HAD HEALED,
IT WOULD DESTROY THE LOOK OF THEIR PUBIC AREA,
THEY’D HAVE SCARRING.
SO THEY USED THESE.
Borman: THE FAMOUS MERKIN.
Leonard: YEAH.
Borman: THE PUBIC WIG, JUST TO COVER IT ALL UP.
Leonard: COVER IT ALL UP.
AND ALSO HAVING A LOT OF PUBIC HAIR WAS, UNLIKE TODAY,
IT WAS REGARDED AS BEING VERY SEXUALLY ATTRACTIVE.
Borman: REALLY? FASHIONS HAVE CHANGED THAT MUCH.
Leonard: FASHIONS HAVE CHANGED, YES.
Borman: NOW, WOULD THIS HAVE BEEN REAL PUBIC HAIR?
Leonard: AFRAID SO, YES, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN.
AND THEY TIED THEM ON.
Borman: RIGHT. ONE WOULD IMAGINE
THEY MIGHT NOT HAVE STAYED IN PLACE THROUGHOUT, BUT...
Leonard: YEAH, YOU COULD IMAGINE THEM
GOING SOMEWHERE WHERE THEY... YES, IN THE WRONG POSITION.
Rideal: WOMEN AND PROSTITUTES AND SOMETIMES MEN AS WELL,
IF THEY WANTED TO HIDE THE SYMPTOMS OF VENEREAL DISEASE,
THEY’D WEAR A MERKIN, WHICH WAS BASICALLY A PUBIC WIG.
AND THEY WORE THEM TO HIDE THESE GROTESQUE SYMPTOMS
THAT THEY WOULD HAVE CONTRACTED.
McMahon: IT COULD BE LICE,
IT COULD BE SYMPTOMS OF POOR HYGIENE.
BUT MORE LIKELY IT WOULD BE VENEREAL DISEASE,
SO THEY WERE HIDING THAT AWAY.
SO IT WILL PROBABLY BE MADE OF HAIR, ANIMAL HAIR,
MAYBE HUMAN HAIR, MAYBE THEIR OWN HAIR.
BUT IT COULD ALSO BE SOFT CLOTH.
I MEAN, IT MAY HAVE BEEN DECORATIVE ON OCCASION,
IT MAY HAVE BEEN JOKEY.
BUT I THINK IN THE MAJORITY OF CASES
IT WAS TO HIDE SOMETHING DOWN BELOW THAT WASN’T QUITE RIGHT.
♪
Borman: KING CHARLES II HAD OTHER LOVES
BESIDES WOMEN, OF COURSE.
HORSE RACING WAS ONE, AND ANOTHER WAS HIS DOGS.
THE KING WAS VERY FOND OF THE SPANIEL BREED,
AND IT’S SAID THAT HE NEVER WENT ANYWHERE
WITHOUT AT LEAST THREE OF THEM AT HIS HEELS.
THE DOWNSIDE WAS THE MESS.
APPARENTLY IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO WALK IN A STRAIGHT LINE
ACROSS THE FLOORS OF THE KING’S RESIDENCES.
THEY WERE ALSO GREAT FLEA MAGNETS,
AND IT’S SAID THAT PEOPLE TOOK THEM INTO THEIR BEDS
SO THAT THE FLEAS WOULD BITE THE DOG AND NOT THEM.
Green: HE DIDN’T DISCIPLINE THE DOGS,
SO THEY WOULD JUST FOUL EVERYWHERE.
SO THE WHOLE KIND OF...
ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL STAIRCASES AND GILDED ROOMS
WERE JUST KIND OF ICED
IN THIS KIND OF DISGUSTING SORT OF DOG EXCREMENT.
AND IT WAS SEEN AS SORT OF LIKE SYMBOLIC
OF THE KIND OF MORAL FILTH OF THE DAY.
Rubenhold: CHARLES’S MAIN OBJECTIVE IN LIFE
WAS TO PLAY THINGS AS CAREFULLY AS HE COULD.
AND SEX, AND EXTRAVAGANT LIFESTYLE, AND EATING,
AND ALL OF THIS TYPE OF THING,
WAS THIS INCREDIBLE DISTRACTION FOR HIM,
WHICH MEANT THAT HE DIDN’T HAVE TO THINK
ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF THE COURT, OF THE COUNTRY.
IT WAS TOTAL ESCAPISM.
♪
Borman: ANOTHER OF CHARLES’S GREAT LOVES WAS FOOD.
MEAL TIMES WERE FILLED WITH RITUAL AND CEREMONY.
FOOD HISTORIAN IVAN DAY HAS AGREED TO MEET ME
AT THE HISTORIC 15th CENTURY LONG CRENDON MANOR
IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
TO TALK ME THROUGH AND SHOW ME JUST WHAT THE KING ATE.
Ivan Day: TRACY, I’VE GOT HERE
A REALLY REMARKABLE BIT OF BRITISH HISTORY,
WHICH IS A BOOK, PUBLISHED DURING THE REIGN OF CHARLES II,
ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF THE GARTER.
AND DURING HIS REIGN, OF COURSE, KING CHARLES II
WAS THE CHIEF PIXIE OF THE ORDER OF THE GARTER.
Borman: AND THERE HE IS IN ALL HIS SPLENDOR.
Day: WHY WE’RE FOCUSED ON IT IS, A BIT FURTHER BACK IN THE BOOK,
IS AN ACCOUNT OF A FEAST HELD AT WINDSOR IN 1671.
AND AT THAT MEAL, WE HAVE THE FIRST RECORD OF ICE CREAM...
Borman: OH, HOW WONDERFUL.
Day: ...BEING SERVED. SO...
Borman: WOW! LOOK AT THAT!
THAT’S AMAZING TO SEE A MEAL IN SUCH DETAIL LIKE THAT.
Day: WELL, IT’S ABOUT AS REGAL AS YOU CAN GET, ISN’T IT?
THIS IS ST. GEORGE’S HALL.
Borman: THERE AT THE TOP TABLE,
I PRESUME THAT’S THE MAN HIMSELF, THAT’S CHARLES.
Day: NO, HE’S SITTING ALONE UNDER A CANOPY OF STATE,
AND ALL THESE PEOPLE AROUND HIM ARE SERVING HIM.
THE KNIGHTS ARE ALL SITTING HERE,
AND THEY’RE PROBABLY CONSUMING THE FIRST COURSE OF THE MEAL.
AND THERE WERE TWO MAIN COURSES OF THE FEAST,
AND WE ALSO HAVE THE MENU, THE BILL OF FARE FOR THAT MEAL.
YOU’VE GOT THESE SAVORY DISHES, LOBSTERS AND THINGS
THAT COULD BE COOKED VERY QUICKLY, GAME BIRDS.
AND THEN AFTERWARDS I GUESS THEY HAD
WHAT WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF OUR MODERN AFTER-DINNER CHOCOLATE,
WHICH WAS A DESSERT, BUT THEY CALLED IT THE BANQUET.
Borman: SO NOT A GREAT FEAST AS THE WORD CONJURES UP?
Day: NO, IT HAD A TOTALLY DIFFERENT MEANING IN THOSE DAYS.
PROBABLY THE MOST LUXURIOUS ITEM IS ONE PLATE OF ICE CREAM.
Borman: WOW!
Day: AND THAT REALLY IS THE FIRST RECORD
OF ICE CREAM BEING SERVED IN BRITAIN, YEAH.
Borman: THAT’S EXTRAORDINARY.
Rubenhold: BECAUSE CHARLES WAS A KING,
HIS TABLE WAS ALWAYS EXTREMELY WELL LAID.
AND IN THE 17th CENTURY, THAT MEANT A MULTITUDE
OF DIFFERENT DISHES PUT ON THE TABLE ALL TOGETHER.
YOU KNOW, HE COULD HAVE 20, 30 DISHES LAID BEFORE HIM
OF MEATS AND PIES AND PUDDINGS AND REALLY SUMPTUOUS THINGS.
HE DIDN’T HAVE TO EAT EVERYTHING THAT WAS PUT BEFORE HIM.
McMahon: HE WOULD SIT THERE HAVING LITTLE BITS OF THIS
AND LITTLE BITS OF THAT.
EVEN THE ACT OF WASTING FOOD
WAS SOMETHING THAT ONLY A KING COULD DO.
BECAUSE WHO ELSE IN SOCIETY COULD WASTE THAT AMOUNT OF FOOD?
Day: YOU’D NEED A HOLLYWOOD BUDGET TO DO THIS AUTHENTICALLY.
BUT I’VE HAD A GO AT REPLICATING CHARLES’S DESSERT,
OR BANQUET COURSE.
Borman: WOW!
ALL OF THIS JUST FOR ONE MAN. THAT’S EXTRAORDINARY.
SO, IVAN, WHERE DO I START?
Day: WELL, I THINK YOU SHOULD TRY
ONE OF THE OLDEST DISHES OF THE BANQUET COURSE,
WHICH IS THIS VERY LIGHT THING CALLED A WAFER.
Borman: LOVELY, IT’S BEAUTIFULLY DECORATED.
Day: MADE IN 17th CENTURY WAFERING IRONS.
Borman: AHH.
MMM. OH, THAT’S NICE.
IT’S NOT TOO SWEET, BUT STILL A NICE FLAVOR.
OKAY, AND NOW THIS LOOKS GLORIOUS.
Day: WELL, THIS IS A SYLLABUB IN A 17th CENTURY SYLLABUB GLASS.
AND YOU FIRST OF ALL DRANK THE LIQUID FROM THE BOTTOM,
BY SUCKING IT THROUGH THE SPOUT.
THAT’S NOT LIKE A TEA POT, IT’S NOT FOR POURING,
IT’S FOR SUCKING.
SO HERE WE GO.
Borman: HUH! AND IT REALLY WORKS.
Day: AND YOU GET STRONG ALCOHOLIC,
AND THEN YOU EAT THE REST OF IT AS SPOON MEAT.
Borman: AH, SO A LITTLE BIT OF CREAM TO FOLLOW THE BOOZE.
Day: YEAH.
Borman: WONDERFUL.
WHAT’S ON THIS VERY...
Day: WELL, THERE’S AN ARRAY OF WHITE AND RED GINGERBREADS
AND BLACK GINGERBREAD.
AND THEN THESE ARE CALLED PIPPIN KNOTS,
THEY’RE MADE FROM APPLES.
AND THEN THIS ONE,
WHICH IS THE MOST DANGEROUS FOOD ON THE TABLE,
THIS IS THE VIAGRA OF THE STUART PERIOD.
Borman: OH, REALLY.
Day: IT’S CANDIED RINGO ROOT,
AND IT WAS CONSIDERED TO BE THE MOST POWERFUL APHRODISIAC,
PRETTY SUITED TO THIS PARTICULAR MERRY MONARCH,
I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT.
Borman: WELL, NOW YOU’VE SET IT UP, I’VE GOT TO TRY THIS.
Day: I’M STEPPING WELL BACK.
Borman: [LAUGHS] I CAN’T ACCOUNT FOR MY ACTIONS AFTER THIS.
THAT’S VERY UNUSUAL.
IT’S KIND OF LIKE PARSNIP.
I’M GETTING NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING AT ALL.
Day: YEAH, SOMETIMES CALLED SEA PARSNIP.
Borman: MMM.
Day: WHAT YOU’RE EATING IT WITH IS A THING CALLED A SUCKET FORK.
SO YOU CAN EAT SOMETHING STICKY LIKE THAT WITH THE FORK.
AND THEN WHY DON’T YOU TRY CHARLES’S ICE CREAM?
Borman: THIS IS REALLY THE SHOWSTOPPER, ISN’T IT?
THE ICE CREAM.
LOVELY.
MMM, THAT IS DELICIOUS.
IT’S VERY DELICATELY FLAVORED.
WHAT IS THAT THAT I’M TASTING?
Day: IT’S ORANGE FLOWER WATER,
WHICH WAS REALLY THE PERFUME OF THE COURT OF LOUIS XIV.
Borman: OF COURSE, YES, HE LOVED ORANGE FLOWER, DIDN’T HE.
WELL, THAT’S ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.
VERY DELICATE FLAVOR.
McMahon: ONE OF HIS FAVORITE FOODS
WAS SOMETHING CALLED EGG AND AMBERGRIS.
AND AMBERGRIS IS BASICALLY WASTE MATTER
THAT WHALES BARF UP OR DEFECATE.
AND IT BASICALLY INCLUDES SQUID BEAKS
AND ALL SORTS OF HORRIBLE STUFF.
BUT IT SMELLS FOUL WHEN IT’S FOUND,
BUT THEN ACQUIRES A VERY PUNGENT ODOR.
AND CHARLES LOVED HAVING THIS CHOPPED UP WITH EGG.
IT WAS ONE OF HIS FAVORITE MEALS,
AND I HAVE TO SAY IT SOUNDS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING,
BUT THAT’S WHAT HE LIKED.
Day: WHY DON’T YOU TRY ONE OF THESE?
THIS IS CALLED BANE BREAD.
WE DON’T KNOW WHY IT’S CALLED THAT,
BUT IT’S ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULARLY DELICIOUS.
Borman: MMM.
Day: VERY CRISP. Borman: MMM.
Day: MADE FROM ALMONDS... Borman: OH, YEAH.
Day: AND YOU SHOULD GET SOME ROSE WATER IN THERE.
Borman: MMM, AGAIN, IT’S GOT A SIMILAR TASTE
TO THE ICE CREAM, THAT VERY FRAGRANT...
Day: THEY LOVE THE FLAVOR OF PERFUMES, IT’S EXTRAORDINARY.
Borman: MMM, MMM, NO, THAT’S DELICIOUS.
Day: MM-HMM.
Borman: AND HERE AT THE END, WE HAVE SOMETHING HEALTHY.
A LARGE DISH OF ORANGES.
Day: WELL, OF COURSE, YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER
THAT HIS MISTRESS NELL GWYNNE
WAS SELLING THESE IN COVENT GARDEN.
Borman: AH, SO THIS IS A LITTLE REFERENCE TO HER PERHAPS.
HOW FANTASTIC.
WELL, THANK YOU FOR SHOWING ME ALL OF THIS.
I MEAN, I KNOW YOU SAID THIS IS A REDUCED VERSION
OF ONE OF CHARLES’S BANQUETS.
BUT I JUST FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE,
ALL OF THIS JUST FOR ONE MAN.
Day: NOT A MAN, A KING.
Borman: AND A VERY PAMPERED ONE AT THAT.
Day: YEAH.
♪
Borman: AS WELL AS HIS LOVE OF FOOD,
CHARLES WAS A BIT OF A DANDY.
HE WAS FASHION CONSCIOUS
AND LIKED TO LOOK HIS BEST FROM HEAD TO TOE.
IT’S NOT THAT WELL KNOWN THAT HE WAS THE FIRST
TO MAKE THE THREE-PIECE SUIT FASHIONABLE.
HISTORICAL COSTUMIER MARK GRIFFIN
HAS AGREED TO SHOW ME WHAT KING CHARLES
AND OTHER FASHIONABLE MEN AND WOMEN IN THE MID-17th CENTURY
WERE WEARING.
SO, MARK, YOUR MAJESTY, LOOKING RESPLENDENT ALREADY TODAY.
CAN YOU TALK ME THROUGH WHAT THE KING IS WEARING?
Mark Griffin: HI, TRACY, YES.
WELL, RIGHT FROM THE VERY START,
HE’S GOT A NEW WONDERFUL FASHION ITEM,
THE HEELED SHOES HE’S WEARING.
THEY’RE ACTUALLY NOT MADE IN A PAIR,
THEY’RE STRAIGHT-LASTED,
SO HE COULD WEAR THEM ON EITHER SIDE.
BUT HE’S GOT BUCKLES ON THAT HE CAN INTERCHANGE.
THEY CAN HAVE BOWS AND THINGS AUGMENTING THEM.
THEN HE’S GOT HIS FINE SILK STOCKINGS ON,
I WOULDN’T SUGGEST YOU FEEL THEM,
BUT THEY ARE OF THE FINEST QUALITY.
THEN WE HAVE, MOVING ON TO HIS BREECHES,
WHICH ARE MADE OF VELVET, PROBABLY FROM ITALY.
UM, MAYBE VENETIAN, UM, SO VERY, VERY EXPENSIVE.
I MEAN, HIS BREECHES ALONE ARE WORTH MORE
THAN MOST PEOPLE WILL EARN IN THEIR LIFETIME.
SO VERY, VERY EXPENSIVE.
THEN HE’S WEARING A SHIRT OF FINEST HOLLAND LAWN LINEN.
IT IS ALMOST LIKE SILK, IT’S VERY, VERY FINE INDEED,
AND IT’S GOT SOME EXTREMELY FINE LACE ON THERE AS WELL.
Borman: SO WHAT DO WE HAVE NEXT IN THE REPERTOIRE?
Day: WELL, NEXT IS A NEW FASHION
THAT CHARLES HAS DISCOVERED IN FRANCE.
THIS IS THE WAISTCOAT.
HE HASN’T INVENTED IT, BUT HE WILL POPULARIZE IT.
SO WE’RE ACTUALLY GETTING THE START OF THE THREE-PIECE SUIT.
Borman: AH! IT ALL STARTS HERE WITH CHARLES.
Rubenhold: CHARLES LOVED CLOTHING,
AND HE LOVED EXTRAVAGANCE.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS WHICH HE WAS SAID TO HAVE INVENTED
WAS THE ENGLISH WAISTCOAT,
WHICH SURPRISINGLY WAS VERY PLAIN.
BUT HE ORNAMENTED HIMSELF IN OTHER WAYS.
IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT THAT HE BE SEEN TO BE WEARING
THESE VERY SUMPTUOUS, LUXURIOUS THINGS AND FABRICS,
BECAUSE THE CLOTHES PORTRAYED POWER.
Green: THIS WAS ALL PART OF THE THEATRE OF THE AGE.
YOU KNOW, HE SAW LONDON AS ONE SORT OF GIANT STAGE
ON WHICH HE MUST KIND OF APPEAR AND PERFORM.
AND YOU KNOW, IF HE’D LOOK SCRUFFY,
OR IF HE HADN’T CUT A FINE FIGURE,
THEN THAT WOULD HAVE BLEMISHED HIS POWER SOMEWHAT.
SO HE WAS THE FIRST KIND OF DANDYISH KING IN MANY WAYS.
Griffin: WELL, NOW WE COME TO THE PIECE DE RESISTANCE.
THIS IS THE NEXT THING I’M GONNA PUT ON.
A NICE LONG COAT, AGAIN IN VELVET,
AND WE’RE STARTING TO DECORATE WITH EVEN MORE BOWS.
THERE’S SILK HERE, THERE’S RIBBONS,
THERE’S GOLD FOIL,
THERE ARE LITTLE TINY METALLIC FOIL SEQUINS,
EVERYTHING SHOWING HIM OFF AS THE CENTER OF POWER.
Borman: AND IMAGINE HOW IT WOULD HAVE CAUGHT THE LIGHT,
YOU KNOW, HIS PALACE IS ALL CANDLELIT,
THERE’S LOTS OF KIND OF GOLD THREAD, SILVER THERE.
IT MUST HAVE JUST SPARKLED.
McMahon: MEN, DURING CHARLES’S PERIOD AT COURT,
PROBABLY SPENT MORE TIME GETTING THEMSELVES READY THAN WOMEN.
AND THEY WORE MAKEUP,
AND THEY WORE EXTREMELY LUXURIANT CLOTHING.
SO CHARLES, FOR HIM, IT WAS UNACCEPTABLE TO APPEAR IN COURT
UNTIL HE’D BEEN MADE UP TO THE NINES, FRANKLY,
IN ALL HIS LACES, IN ALL HIS SILKS,
WITH HIS MASSIVE WIG ON.
AND THAT WAS THE WAY THE KING HAD TO APPEAR.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN UNACCEPTABLE FOR HIM
TO JUST SIMPLY LOPE IN IN CHINOS AND A PAIR OF SNEAKERS.
Borman: SO, MARK, WHAT SORT OF WEAPONRY
WOULD THE KING HAVE HAD?
Griffin: WELL, HE’S A MAN OF ACTION, A MILITARY MAN,
BUT HE DOES WANT SOMETHING THAT’S A BIT MORE GENTEEL.
IT’S A GENTLEMAN’S SWORD.
THIS IS A SMALL SWORD, SO IT’S GOT A LOVELY WIRE-BOUND HILT
WITH LOVELY CHISELED WORK ON IT,
THE HEIGHT OF BAROQUE FASHION, BASICALLY.
AND HE IS GOING TO NEED THIS,
BECAUSE OUT AND ABOUT,
HE MAY WELL BE SET UPON BY FOOTPADS.
SO HE STILL NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO FENCE,
WHICH WAS A VERY, VERY POPULAR SPORT AT THE TIME.
I MEAN, CHARLES HAD POPULARIZED THE THEATRE,
YACHT RACING, HORSE RACING,
BUT STILL FENCING WAS A VERY, VERY POPULAR EXERCISE FOR MEN.
Borman: SO HE LOOKS PRETTY MUCH READY TO ME.
Griffin: YES, WE HAVE...
IF HE’S GOING OUT AND ABOUT, WE HAVE THIS MANTLE,
AGAIN MORE VELVET,
THE COLLAR LACED WITH A VERY FINE BIT OF RIBBON,
AND SOME MORE LACE.
Borman: BEAUTIFUL.
IT DOES SEEM LIKE, ADMITTEDLY THIS IS THE KING, OF COURSE,
SO HE’S GONNA BE SPLENDIDLY DRESSED.
BUT IS IT THE CASE THAT MEN ARE THE KIND OF PEACOCKS AT COURT,
AND THEY OUTSHINE THE WOMEN
WITH ALL OF THESE KIND OF LAYERS AND DIFFERENT FABRICS?
Griffin: BOTH SIDES ARE VYING FOR LOOKING AS FINE AS POSSIBLE.
I MEAN, BUT LOOKING AT PORTRAITS
AND LOOKING AT THE AMOUNT OF WORK
THAT GOES INTO MEN’S COSTUMES,
I THINK THEY’RE THE ONES
SPENDING THE VAST AMOUNT OF MONEY ON THEIR CLOTHING.
Borman: SO HERE HE IS IN ALL HIS FINERY.
HE’S GOT HIS BROCADE AND THE VELVET CLOAK,
THE SWORD ALL READY.
HE’S SET TO GO FORTH.
♪
Borman: FOR OTHER GLIMPSES OF THE REAL KING CHARLES,
WE’RE INDEBTED TO ANOTHER FAMOUS NAME FROM THE ERA--
THE DIARIST SAMUEL PEPYS.
IT’S SOMETIMES FORGOTTEN
THAT CHARLES’S REIGN WAS BLIGHTED
BY TWO OF BRITISH HISTORY’S GREATEST DISASTERS--
THE GREAT PLAGUE OF 1665
AND THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON IN 1666.
PEPYS RECORDED BOTH IN HIS FAMOUS DIARY,
AND IT PROVIDES US WITH VIVID PICTURES
OF A PRETTY TERRIBLE TIME,
AND ESPECIALLY CHARLES’S DIRECT AND PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT.
Green: THE PLAGUE ARRIVED IN 1665,
IT KILLED 100,000 PEOPLE IN LONDON.
BUT ANYONE WITH ANY MONEY, I.E. CHARLES,
JUST GOT THE HELL OUT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
YOU KNOW, AT THE FIRST SIGNS OF THE PLAGUE,
HE LEFT WITH HIS ENTIRE COURT.
HE ACTUALLY ABANDONED THE CAPITAL.
McMahon: PEOPLE IN LONDON KNEW THIS,
THEY KNEW THAT THE KING HAD GONE AND ALL THE ARISTOCRACY.
AND IN FACT THERE WERE RIOTS IN LONDON DURING THE PLAGUE.
AND PEOPLE WHO’D BEEN LOCKED UP IN THEIR HOUSES WITH THE PLAGUE,
AND THE RED CROSS PUT ON,
WERE ACTUALLY LET OUT, WHICH WAS AGAINST THE LAW.
BUT IT WAS PEOPLE WHO WERE FED UP WITH THE KNOWLEDGE
THAT WHILE THEY WERE DYING IN THE THOUSANDS
WITHIN THE CITY WALLS,
THE KING AND ALL HIS COURT WERE CARRYING ON AS USUAL
UP IN HAMPTON COURT OR IN OXFORD.
Borman: THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE DYING EVERY SINGLE DAY
FROM THE PLAGUE.
AND THERE WAS ALMOST NOTHING THAT COULD BE DONE,
APART FROM ISOLATING THOSE UNLUCKY ENOUGH TO CATCH IT.
SOMEWHERE HAD TO BE FOUND TO BURY THE VAST NUMBERS OF DEAD.
THIS IS BUNHILL ROW CEMETERY IN THE CITY OF LONDON,
WHICH WAS DESIGNATED AS A BURIAL GROUND
FOR LONDON’S INCREASING NUMBER OF PLAGUE VICTIMS.
BUBONIC PLAGUE WAS A TERRIBLE DISEASE
THAT SLOWLY INFECTED THE BODY,
COVERING VICTIMS WITH VERY PAINFUL SORES AND LESIONS,
GRADUALLY DRAINING THEM OF LIFE,
UNTIL THEY LITERALLY ROTTED AWAY.
THE PLAGUE DEVASTATED THE POPULATION OF LONDON.
Green: ALL OVER THE CITY, AND PARTICULARLY ON ITS OUTSKIRTS,
AS BUNHILL ROW IS,
YOU’VE GOT THESE FRIGHTENING LANTERN-FRAMED PITS,
WHERE THE BODIES WOULD ACCUMULATE,
THE DEAD CART WOULD ARRIVE.
THEY’D SHOOT THE BONES INTO THE PIT.
PEOPLE USED TO RUN THROUGH THE STREETS SCREAMING
AND ACTUALLY KISSING PEOPLE TO TRY AND SPREAD THE PLAGUE,
AND THEN THEY’D DIVE INTO THE BONES BEFORE THEY WERE DEAD,
AND JUST WAIT FOR DEATH AMONGST THOSE WHO WERE ALREADY DEAD.
McMahon: THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF BODIES PUT IN THERE,
AND OFTEN VERY CLOSE TO THE GROUND SURFACE.
AND THERE WAS NO TIME TO POUR QUICK LIME ON THE BODIES
OR TREAT THEM IN ANY WAY.
AND IT WAS SAID AT THE TIME
THAT A SWEET SICKLY SMELL HUNG OVER LONDON
BECAUSE THESE BODIES WERE EVERYWHERE,
NOT FAR FROM THE SURFACE, ROTTING.
Borman: IF THE PLAGUE WASN’T BAD ENOUGH,
LONDONERS HAD TO ENDURE A SECOND GREAT DISASTER IN 1666.
IN SEPTEMBER THAT YEAR, A FIRE BROKE OUT
AT A SMALL BAKERY IN PUDDING LANE.
AT FIRST, NOBODY SEEMED UNDULY ALARMED.
THE MAYOR OF LONDON, SIR THOMAS BLOODWORTH,
FAMOUSLY OBSERVED THAT A WOMAN
WOULD BE ABLE TO DOUSE THE FLAMES NATURALLY, SO TO SPEAK.
BUT THE FLAMES TOOK HOLD, AND SOON THE WHOLE CITY WAS BURNING.
SAMUEL PEPYS WATCHED THE FIRE
FROM RIGHT HERE ATOP ALL HALLOWS BY THE TOWER CHURCH,
NEXT TO THE TOWER OF LONDON.
HE WROTE, "5th OF SEPTEMBER, 1666.
I UPPED THE TOP OF BARKING STEEPLE,
AND THERE SAW THE SADDEST SIGHT OF DESOLATION THAT I EVER SAW.
EVERYWHERE GREAT FIRES, OIL CELLARS AND BRIMSTONE
AND OTHER THINGS BURNING.
THE FIRE BEING SPREAD AS FAR AS I COULD SEE IT."
Green: SAMUEL PEPYS WAS THE FOREMOST DIARIST OF THE AGE.
HE LEAVES INCREDIBLY VIVID ACCOUNTS OF THE GREAT FIRE.
AND HE USED TO CLIMB UP ALL HALLOWS
BY THE TOWER OF LONDON
AND WATCH JUST ENTIRE STREETS, BUILDINGS, PALACES, MONASTERIES
JUST BE DEVOURED IN ONE ENORMOUS FLAME.
AND WITHOUT HIS EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT,
I’M NOT SURE WE’D HAVE SUCH A SORT OF SOUND SENSE
OF THE SCALE AND TRAGEDY OF THAT CATASTROPHE.
♪
Borman: AS THE FIRE GOT MORE OUT OF CONTROL,
KING CHARLES AND HIS BROTHER JAMES, DUKE OF YORK,
TRAVELED ON HORSEBACK TO JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE FLAMES.
AT THE END OF A LONG DAY,
THE TWO ROYAL VOLUNTEER FIREMEN WERE MUDDY AND SWEATY,
THEIR FACES BLACKENED WITH SMOKE.
James: HERE! HERE!
[SHOUTING]
Rubenhold: CHARLES II REALLY SHOWED WHAT HE WAS MADE OF,
IN TERMS OF BEING THE PEOPLE’S MONARCH
DURING THE FIRE OF LONDON,
WHEN HE AND THE DUKE OF YORK WENT OUT TO THE FIRE DIRECTLY,
AND LITERALLY ROLLED UP HIS SLEEVES
AND TRIED TO HELP PUT THE FIRE OUT.
McMahon: HE WENT DOWN THERE, REDEEMED HIMSELF,
STOOD THERE WITH LONDONERS, SHARED THEIR SUFFERING,
CAME AWAY COVERED IN MUD AND BLOOD AFTER SAVING BUILDINGS.
Rideal: IF HE HADN’T GOT INVOLVED,
THE REPERCUSSIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN HUGE.
HE WAS THE LEADER OF THE COUNTRY,
HE NEEDED TO BE INVOLVED
IN FIGHTING THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON.
Borman: BRUCE HOAD IS A FORMER DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF
WHO HAS CO-WRITTEN A BOOK ON THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON.
SO IS THIS TYPICAL OF A 17th CENTURY LONDON STREET?
Bruce Hoad: WELL, ABSOLUTELY TYPICAL, OTHER THAN FOR THE FACT
THAT THIS IS BUILT OF STONE,
AND WE’D HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT TIMBER BUILDINGS THEN.
Borman: BUT AS CLOSE AS THAT?
Hoad: ABSOLUTELY, YES.
ALMOST TOUCHING AT THE TOP,
AND FROM A FIREFIGHTER’S POINT OF VIEW,
AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE.
BECAUSE, AS WE ARE NOW,
YOU CAN ONLY SEE THE LENGTH OF THE ALLEYWAY.
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING BEHIND YOU.
THE FIRE COULD BE BREAKING OUT ANYWHERE.
Borman: YEAH.
Hoad: IT WOULD’VE BEEN INCREDIBLY HOT AND SMOKY,
EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE.
Borman: AND IN TERMS OF CASUALTIES,
WHAT SORT OF NUMBERS ARE WE TALKING?
Hoad: WELL, SURPRISINGLY, THERE WERE ONLY SIX DEATHS
OFFICIALLY RECORDED AND ATTRIBUTED TO THE FIRE.
Borman: SO IN FACT WORD SPREAD EVEN QUICKER THAN THE FIRE?
Hoad: YES, IT DID, AND IT GAVE PEOPLE THE OPPORTUNITY
TO EVACUATE AND GET AWAY FROM THE FLAMES
BEFORE THEY WERE REACHED.
Rideal: THERE WERE A NUMBER OF WAYS TO FIGHT FIRE
IN THE 17th CENTURY.
SO THERE WERE FIRE ENGINES,
BUT THEY’RE NOT FIRE ENGINES THAT WE WOULD UNDERSTAND TODAY.
THEY WERE BASICALLY CARTS WITH HUGE BUCKETS ON THE TOP,
THAT YOU COULD PUMP AND WATER WOULD SQUIRT OUT.
NEVER REALLY ENOUGH TO FULLY END A FIRE.
Hoad: CHARLES, JAMES, PEPYS, PENN,
THEY WERE ALL PRESENTED WITH A FIRE
THAT WAS WAY BEYOND CONTROL AT THAT TIME.
AND ACTUALLY THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
THEY DID MANAGE TO BRING THE FIRE UNDER CONTROL,
BUT ONLY WHEN DRASTIC ACTION WAS TAKEN,
AND THEY ACTUALLY THEN STARTED TO BLOW HOUSES UP WITH DYNAMITE.
AND THAT WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT SOME FIRM LEADERSHIP,
ON THE PART OF CHARLES AND HIS BROTHER JAMES.
♪
Borman: KING CHARLES WAS NEVER ONE TO PUT AFFAIRS OF STATE
BEFORE AFFAIRS OF THE HEART.
BUT HE WAS ACTUALLY VERY CAPABLE
WHEN HE SET HIS MIND TO BUSINESS.
SOMEHOW, THOUGH, MORE PRESSING MATTERS
JUST SEEMED TO GET IN THE WAY,
MAINLY IN THE SHAPE OF A WOMAN.
HE WAS A POPULAR, WELL-LOVED KING
WHO WAS GENUINELY MOURNED
WHEN, AGED 54, HE DIED A DIFFICULT DEATH IN 1685.
ALWAYS A SECRET CATHOLIC,
HE WAS RETURNED TO THE FAITH ON HIS DEATHBED.
JOHN EVELYN SAID OF CHARLES
THAT "HE WAS A PRINCE OF MANY GREAT VIRTUES,
AND MANY GREAT IMPERFECTIONS,
BUT NOT BLOODY OR CRUEL."
WHICH IS PROBABLY A SUITABLE EPITAPH
AND ONE HE MIGHT WELL HAVE CHOSEN FOR HIMSELF.