to increase income to the Crown. Postmasters got regular pay for
handling without charge the mail of letters that came from or went
to the letter office in London. The postmaster kept horses which
he let, with horn and guide, to persons riding "in post" at 3d.
per mile. The post was to travel 7 mph in summer and 5 mph in
winter and sound his horn four times in every mile or whenever he
met travelers.
Wool and animals for butchering were sold in London with the
sellers' agent in London taking the proceeds and paying out to
their order, the origin of check writing.
Scriveners drew up legal documents, arranged mortgages, handled
property transactions, and put borrowers in touch with lenders.
They and the goldsmiths and merchants developed promissory notes,
checks, and private paper money.
The influx of silver from the New World was a major factor in the
second great inflation in England and in the devaluation of money
to about one third of what it had been. Also contributing to the
inflation was an outracing of demand over supply, and a debasement
of the coinage. This inflation benefited tenants to the detriment
of their lords because their rents could not be adjusted upward.
There was an increase in bankruptcies.
The Elizabethan love of madrigal playing gradually gave way to a
taste for instrumental music, including organs and flutes. The
violin was introduced and popular with all classes. Ballads were
sung, such as "Barbary Allen", about a young man who died for love
of her, after which she died of sorrow. When they were buried next
to each other, a rose from his grave grew around a briar from her
grave. The ballad "Geordie" relates a story of a man hanged for
stealing and selling sixteen of the king's royal deer. The ballad
"Matty Groves" is about a great Lord's fair young bride seducing a
lad, who was then killed by the Lord. In the ballad "Henry
Martin", the youngest man of three brothers is chosen by lot to
turn pirate to support his brothers. When his pirate ship tries to
take a merchant ship, there is sea fight in which the merchant
ship sinks and her men drown. The ballad "The Trees They Do Grow
High" tells of an arranged marriage between a 24 year old woman
and the 14 year old son of a great lord. She tied blue ribbons on
his head when he went to college to let the maidens know that he
was married. But he died at age 16, after having sired a son.
May Day was a holiday with dancing around a Maypole and people
dressed up as characters such as Queen of the May, Robin Hood,
Little John, Friar Tuck, Maid Marion, the fool, and the piper. New
Year's Day was changed to January 1st.
Golf was played in Scotland, and James introduced it into England.
James I was the last monarch to engage in falconry.
Francis Bacon wrote the "Advancement of Learning" and "Novum
Organum" (New Learning) in which he encouraged the use of the
inductive method to find out scientific truths and also truths in
general, that is reasoning from a sample to the whole. According
to him, the only way to arrive at the truth was to observe and
determine the correlations of facts. He advocated a process of
elimination of ideas. His "New Learning" showed the way out of the
scholastic method and reverence for dogma into the experimental
method. He wrote "Natural and Experimental History". He also
studied the effect of cold in preventing animal putrefaction.
Galileo Galilei, professor of mathematics at the University of
Padua in Italy, conducted experiments, e.g. throwing objects off
the tower of Pisa in 1590 to show that all, whether light or
heavy, fall at the same rate. This disproved the widely held
theory that heavier objects fall faster than light objects. He
proved that the force of gravity has the same effect on all
objects regardless of their size or weight. His law stated that
the speed of their descent increases uniformly with the time of
the fall, i.e. speed = gravity times time. Galileo determined that
a pendulum, such as a hanging lamp, swings back and forth in equal
intervals of time. For this he measured time with water running
out of a vessel. Also, the rate of oscillation varies inversely as
the square of their cord length, regardless of material or weight.
From his observation that an object sliding along a plane slows
down at a decreasing rate and travels increasingly farther as the
surfaces become smoother and more lubricated, he opined that the
natural state of a body in motion is to stay in motion, and that
it is slowed down by a force: friction. He conceived of the air
offering a resistant force to an object in motion. He expanded on
Aristotle's idea of an object in a state of rest or of uniform
motion in a straight line, so that the former is just a special
case of the latter. He opined that bodies at rest stay at rest and
bodies in motion stay in uniform motion, unless and until acted
upon by some force. So motion need not be explained by the
continuing force of a prime mover. He drew a graph of distance
versus time for the rolling ball, which indicated that the
distance traveled was a square of the time elapsed. He realized
that the movement of a projectile involved a horizontal and a
vertical component and guessed that the effects of falling were
independent of the horizontal motion. He demonstrated that a
projectile follows a path of a parabola, instead of a straight
line, and that it too descends a distance which is the square of
the time taken to fall. That is, a thrown object will strike the
ground in the same amount of time as an object simply dropped from
the same height.
The telescope was invented in 1608. The next year, Galileo built a
greatly improved telescope using a lens to look at the skies. He
observed that the surface of the moon had mountains, valleys, and
craters much like the earth, and was illuminated by reflected
light. He noticed that the planet Jupiter has moons orbiting it.
He noted that the planet Venus progresses through phases similar
to those of the moon orbiting the earth and that it was very large
with a crescent shape or very small with a round shape. This
apparent change in size could only be explained if Venus revolved
around the sun, rather than around the earth. Thus more credence
was given to the Copernican theory that the earth and all planets
revolve around the sun, so Galileo was denounced by the church. He
argued against a literal interpretation of the Bible. His
observation that certain sun spots were on certain locations of
the sun but changed over time suggested that the sun might be
rotating. He observed that when air was withdrawn by a suction
pump from the top of a long glass tube whose lower open end was
submerged in a pan of water, the water rose to a height of 34 feet
and no higher. He had demonstrated that there was such a thing as
a vacuum, which was above the level of the water. About 1600,
Galileo invented the first thermometer by heating air at the top
of a tube whose open end was in a bowl of water; as the top end
cooled, the air contracted and water rose partway up the tube; the
column of water rose or fell with every change of temperature.
Galileo invented the compound refracting microscope, which used
more than one lens, about 1612.
Galileo's book on the arguments for and against the Copernican
theory was unexpectedly popular when published in 1632. The
general public was so persuaded by the arguments that the earth
revolved around the sun that Papal authority felt threatened. So
Galileo was tried and convicted of heresy and sentenced to prison
as an example to others who might question church doctrine, even
though the seventy year old Galileo recanted and some of the
inquisition judges who convicted him believed the Copernican
theory and their decision did not assert the contrary.
John Napier, a large Calvinist landholder in Scotland who had
built his own castle, did mathematics in his older years. He
explored imaginary numbers such as the square roots of negative
numbers. By 1614, he had started and developed the theory of
logarithms: the relationships among positive and negative
exponents of numbers. This simplified calculations because the
multiplication and division of numbers would be equivalent to
addition and subtraction of their exponents. His table of
logarithms, which took him twenty years to compile, was used in
trigonometry, navigation, and astronomy. It reduced the enormous
labor involved in trigonometric calculations.
Johannes Kepler was a mathematician from Germany who made his
living as an astrologer. He was in contact with Galileo by letter,
as most scientists of Europe were with each other. Kepler was
fascinated with perfect geometric shapes, which he tried to relate
to celestial phenomenon. He discerned that the orbit of Mars was
not perfectly circular. He knew that the apparent path of the sun
with respect to the constellation of fixed stars differed in speed
at different times of the year. He opined that this showed that
the speed of the earth revolving around the sun varied according
to the time of year. Then he measured the angles between the earth
and the sun and the earth and Mars as they changed through the
Martian year. He noted when the earth, Mars, and the Sun were on
the same straight line. Then he deduced the earth's true orbit,
and from this the true orbits of the other planets. Then by trial
and error, he attempted to match this empirical data with regular
mathematically defined shapes, until he discovered in 1609 that
these paths were elliptical. Also, the planets each move faster
when they are nearer the sun and more slowly when they are farther
from the sun so that in equal time intervals, a line from the
planet to the sun will sweep out equal areas. This observation led
him to opine that there is a force between the sun and each
planet, and that this force is the same as that which keeps the
moon in its orbit around the earth. Thirdly, in 1619, he found
that the square of the time for each planet's orbit about the sun
is proportional to the cube of that planet's mean distance from
the sun, so that the farther planets orbit at a slower speed. He
connected the earth's tides with the gravitational pull of the
moon. Kepler also confirmed that the paths of comets were governed
by a law and were farther from the earth from the moon. This
contradicted the church's explanation that what lies within the
moon's orbit pertains to the earth and is essentially transitory
and evil, while what lies beyond belongs to the heavens and is
permanent and pure.
In 1637, Renee Descartes, a philosopher, mathematician, and
scientist from France, invented analytic [Cartesian] geometry, in
which lines and geometric shapes can be described by algebraic
equations and vice-versa. An algebraic equation with two unknowns,
or variables, could be represented as a shape on a coordinate
system in which each point is represented by a pair of numbers
representing distances from the two axis lines. He started the
convention of representing unknown quantities by x, y, and z and
known quantities by a, b, and c. So, for instance, a circle with
center at point 2,3 and a radius of 4 was represented by the
equation: (x-2) squared + (y-3) squared = 4. All conic sections,
e.g. ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas, could be represented by
equations. Analytic geometry aided in making good lenses for
eyeglasses. The glass was first manufactured with attention to
quality. Then, after it cooled and solidified, the clearest pieces
were picked and their surfaces ground into the proper curvature.
Descartes pioneered the standard exponential notation for cubes
and higher powers of numbers. He formulated the sine-law of
refraction, which determines in general the way a light ray is
deflected, according to the density of the media through which it
passes. This explained why a rainbow is circular. In 1644, he
described the universe in terms of matter and motion and suggested
that there were universal laws and an evolutionary explanation for
such. He opined that all effects in nature could be explained by
spatial extension and motion laws that 1) each part of matter
retains the shape, size, motion, or rest unless collision with
another part occurs; 2) one part of matter can only gain as much
motion through collision as is lost by the part colliding with it;
and 3) motion tends to be rectilinear. These ideas did not
correlate with the Biblical notion of the creation of the universe
by God in seven days, so Descartes feared persecution by the
church. Descartes believed in a good and perfect God, and thought
of the world as divided into matter and spirit. The human mind was
spirit and could exist outside the human body. The human mind had
knowledge without sense experience, e.g. the truths of mathematics
and physics. Ideas and imagination were innate. His observation
that sensory appearances are often misleading, such as in dreams
or hallucinations, led him to the conclusion that he could only
conclude that: "I think, therefore I am." He rejected the doctrine
that things had a proper behavior according to their natures, e.g.
the nature of acorns is to develop into oak trees. As an example
of erroneous forming of conceptions of substance with our senses
alone, he pointed out that honeycomb has a certain taste, scent,
and texture, but if exposed to fire, it loses all these forms and
assumes others. He expressed that it was error to believe that
there are no bodies around us except those perceivable by our
senses. He was a strong proponent of the deductive method of
finding truths, e.g. arguing logically from a very few self-
evident principles, known by intuition, to determine the nature
of the universe.
Christian Huygens, a Dutch physicist, used the melting and the
boiling point of water as fixed points in a scale of measurements,
which first gave definiteness to thermometric tests.
In 1600 William Gilbert, son of a gentleman, and physician to
Queen Elizabeth, wrote a book on terrestrial magnetism which
founded the science of electricity. He cultivated the method of
experiment and of inductive reasoning from observation and
insisted on the need for a search for knowledge not in books but
in things themselves. He showed that the earth was a great magnet
with a north pole and a south pole, by comparing it to loadstones
made into spheres in which a north and south pole could be found
by intersecting lines of magnetism indicated by a needle on the
stone. The vertical dip of the needle was explained by the
magnetic attraction of the north pole. He showed how a loadstone's
declination could be used to determine latitude at sea. He showed
how the charge of a body could be retained some time by covering
the body with some non-conducting substance, such as silk. He
distinguished magnetism from electricity, giving the latter its
name. He discovered that atmospheric conditions affected the
production of electricity, dryness decreasing it, and moisture
increasing it. He expounded the idea of Copernicus that the earth
revolves around the sun in a solar system. However, the prevailing
belief was still that the earth was at the center of the universe.
There was much mining of coal, tin, copper, lead, and iron in the
1600s. Coal was transported from the coal pits down to the rivers
to be loaded onto ships on coal wagons riding on wooden rails. The
full coal cars could then be sent down by gravity and the empty
wagons pulled up by horses. Sheet metal, e.g. lead, was used for
roofing. Coal was much used for heating houses, and for laundry,
cooking, and industrial use, such as extraction of salt, soap
boilers, and manufacture of glass, bricks and tiles for buildings,
anchors for ships, and tobacco pipes. It was used in the trades:
bakers, confectioners, brewers, dyers, sugar refiners, coopers,
starch makers, copper workers, alum makers, and iron workers.
In 1604 the Haberdashers, who sold imported felt for hats, got a
charter of incorporation.
A tapestry factory was established in 1619.
Flax-working machines came into existence.
As Attorney General, Edward Coke was impassioned and melodramatic.
He once described the parts of the penalty of treason as follows:
being drawn to the place of execution reflected the person's not
being worthy any more to tread upon the face of the earth; being
drawn backward at a horse tail was due to his retrograde nature;
being drawn head downward on the ground indicated that he was
unfit to breathe the common air; being hanged by the neck between
heaven and earth indicated that he was unworthy of either; being
cut down alive and his privy parts cut off and burnt before his
face indicated he was unworthily begotten and unfit to leave any
generation after him; having his bowels and inners taken out and
burnt indicated he had inwardly conceived and harbored such
horrible treason; his head cut off, which had imagined the
treason, and his body to be quartered and the quarters set up to
the view and detestation of men a prey for the fowls of the air.
Coke was subsequently elevated to the position of Chief of Common
Pleas and then to Chief of the King's Bench. But there Coke
propounded a doctrine of the supremacy of the law over the king as
well as over Parliament. For instance, Coke would not agree to
stay any case in which the king had a concern in power or profit,
to consult with him. But the other eleven justices did agree.
Since James I believed in the divine right of kings, he therefore
dismissed Coke from his position as Chief Justice of the King's
Bench. James even believed that he could suspend any law for
reasons known only to him and issue proclamations that were not
limited to the reinforcement of old laws, but made new offenses
with punishment of fine and/or imprisonment.
Coke then became a member of Parliament and led the Commons, where
he exalted the authority of Parliament vis a vis the king; that
is, the king could not make any changes in law, religion, or
taxation without consent of Parliament. James arrested Coke and
two other members of the Commons and put its leader John Pym under
house arrest for their outspoken opinions against the King's
intended alliance with Catholic Spain and intended taking of a
Spanish wife. Because of the deadlock that developed between the
king and Parliament, certain matters could not be addressed by
legislation and were left to be decided judicially. This made
judicial review important.
James vastly increased the number of peerages, selling many, for
example for 10,000 pounds. Since there was a tacit understanding
that members of Parliament would not accept remuneration, this
restricted eligibility for membership to the rich. The House of
Commons was composed mostly of attorneys, merchants from the large
towns, and country gentlemen. The gentry members had 600 pounds
[12,000s] annual income from land and the burgess members had 300
pounds [6,000s.] In addition to the two knights from every county
(elected by men holding at least forty-shilling freeholds), four
representatives from London, and one or two from every other
borough (generally elected by the top business families), there
was a representative from each of the two universities. For
Speaker, they always chose someone suggested to them by the Crown.
He decided who would talk and could hasten or delay bills, usually
for the benefit of the Crown. The Clerk, a lifetime appointment of
the Crown, wrote out the bills and their amendments and kept track
of proceedings. Many in the Commons were Puritan in sympathy. In
1607, the House of Commons developed a committee system to avoid
being presided over by the royally designated speaker. A committee
could consist of all the members of the House of Commons with an
elected chairman. An increasing number of issues were discussed in
committee before coming to the Commons and the Commons came to
ratify readily what had been done in committee.
By 1610, there had developed in the House of Commons an opposition
to feudal tenures, purveyance, wardships, and impositions (special
import and export duties on aliens set by the king without the
consent of Parliament that were supposed to be for the purpose of
regulating trade instead of for revenue). There was also a call
for free speech and an end to the King's habit at the end of
Parliament of imprisoning for a time those who had been too
outspoken. The Commons also asserted itself into foreign affairs
by expressing an opinion against a treaty proposed by the king on
which war could ensue. The treaty was abandoned. In London,
organized groups such as the apothecaries, the skinners, and the
grocers, were circulating printed statements of their cases to
members of committees of the House of Commons rather than just
seeking out a friendly Privy Council member. In 1621, the protests
made to committeemen about monopolies sold by James frightened him
into canceling many of them. He had made many grants against
competition in violation of law. The right of the Commons to expel
a member was asserted by the expulsion of a monopolist. By 1629,
the speeches of prominent members and the course of proceedings
were copied by stationers and sold in a weekly news report.
The King's Privy Council dealt constantly with foreign affairs,
and also with the great companies, and problems arising such as
gold leaving the country, the Dutch ships increased efficiency in
transporting goods, the declining market for English cloth,
strikes in the mining industry, decaying harbor works, the quality
of food and drink, the wrongs done to the poor, and above all, the
general peace and order. They formed commissions to study
situations and sent orders to Justices of the Peace on methods to
address certain problems and to Sheriffs to carry out certain
acts. About 1618, a group within the Privy Council began to
concentrate on foreign affairs, especially "cabinet counsels",
that is, with secret matters. James sold high offices of state to
supplement his income. His income from customs had increased so
much that it was now three times that from Crown lands.
The Sheriff looked after Crown lands and revenues in his county.
He gathered the rents, the annuities, the stray animals, the
deodands, the fees due to the King, the goods of felons and
traitors. He was still a means of communication between the Privy
Council and the county. He announced new statutes of Parliament
and proclamations by the king at the county courts and in the
markets. He used posse comitatus to disperse riots. He was the
functionary of the assize court, impaneling its juries, bringing
accused men before it, and carrying out its penalties. He carried
out elections of members of the House of Commons.