had a revelation that the structure of the universe was mathematical and
that nature obeyed mathematical rules. In 1637, he invented analytic
[Cartesian] geometry, in which lines and geometric shapes can be
described by algebraic equations and vice-versa. All conic sections:
circles, ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas, could be represented by
equations with two unknowns, or variables, on a coordinate system in
which each point is represented by a pair of numbers representing
distances from the two axis lines. An algebraic equation with two
unknowns, could be represented as a shape thereon. An algebraic equation
with one unknown represented a straight line thereon. The points of
intersection geometrically were equivalent to the common solution of the
associated algebraic equations. 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. He pioneered the standard exponential notation for cubes
and higher powers of numbers. 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 formulated the law of refraction of light, which deduces the
angle of refraction [deflection] of light through a medium from the
lights' angle of incidence and the speed of light in each media in which
the light 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 in a straight
line. Descartes feared persecution by the church because his ideas did
not correlate with the Biblical notion of God's creation of the universe
in the order of light, then sky and oceans and dry land, then plants,
then seasons and the sun and moon and stars, then fish and birds, then
all animals, and finally man. 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. Without
the mind, human body was a machine. 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 considered to be erroneous the belief 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.
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.
The royal postal system carried private as well as royal letters, 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. Houses of Correction were built.
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.
The old writ of habeas corpus [produce the body] had been just to bring
to court those persons needed for proceedings, but Coke in 1614 had
cited the writ with a new meaning "to have the body together with the
cause of detention".
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 of disputes 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.]. There
were 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'; and 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.
There were two high constables for each hundred. They were chosen by
the Justices of the Peace at quarter sessions, and were usually small
gentry or well-to-do yeomen. They were the intermediaries between the
justices and the petty constables. The petty constable was the executive
official of the village. He was usually elected by the suitors to the
leet court of the manor for a year. He might be a farmer, an artisan, a
carpenter, a shoemaker, or many times a tradesman, a butcher, or baker.
He often visited the alehouse to learn of any trouble in the making. He
would intervene in quarrels and riots and tell the participants to
desist in the King's name. If they didn't, he could call on all
bystanders to help him "force a quiet". He had to lead the rioters and
causers of injuries to others, hold them there until he could bring him
before the nearest justice. He would inform the justice of plots to
trespass or forcibly enter land to take possession. He saw to it that no
new cottages were built in the villages without due authority. He
supervised markets and inns. He reported lapses of care for apprentices
by their masters to the justice. At harvest time, he called upon all
able bodied persons to assist and punished those who didn't respond by
putting them in the stocks or fining them forty shillings. He arrested
and whipped vagrants and sturdy rogues and sent them back to their place
of birth through constables on the way. If a horse was stolen, he raised
the hue and cry to all neighboring constables. He made inquiry into the
paternity of the coming child of an unmarried pregnant girl to make him
take responsibility for the child and pay her 8d. a week lest it fall
into the responsibility of the village. In a town, he might have
watchmen to help him see that the streets were peaceful at night. The
constable assisted the Justice of the Peace, the high constable, and the
Sheriff. He pressed men into military service. He collected taxes for
the Sheriff and collected the money for purveyance, the money for the
poor, maimed soldiers, and various kinds of prisoners, which the parish
had to pay. He was often the spokesman for the village in village
concerns, such as too many alehouses, brought to the attention of
justices at quarter sessions. The constable and churchwardens together
collected money for the parish, looked after the needy, and kept in
close touch with the overseers of the poor, who cared for the sick and
old, found work for the idle, took charge of bastards, apprenticed
orphan children, and provided supplies for the workhouse.
In 1609 the East India Company was given a monopoly by the Crown that
was indefinitely long as long as it was profitable to the realm in the
King's opinion. Interlopers were to forfeit their ships and goods,
one-half to the Company and one-half to the Crown. Monopoly status made
the Company competitive with the Dutch and Portuguese monopoly
companies. The Crown received a gift or a loan from the Company in
return. At first, the Company raised capital for each separate voyage.
But voyages tried to undercut each other and rival factions squabbled
over cargoes. So the company then raised a "terminable joint-stock" for
a period of years. The first of these was issued in 1613-16 and financed
a fleet every year for four years. Subscriptions were called in by
yearly installments and dividends paid out yearly. The voyage of 1613
brought shareholders a profit equivalent to about 11% a year. By 1620,
the Company operated thirty to forty "tall ships", many built in its own
dockyards. These dockyards were so technologically advanced that they
were daily viewed by visitors and ambassadors. Here, besides wet and dry
docks, there were timber yards, a foundry and cordage works for
supplying the ships' hardware and a bakery and saltings for their
provisioning. More than 200 craftsmen were directly employed in the
yard. Overall the company was one of London' largest employers.
In 1607, the Muscovy Company, hired Henry Hudson to find a northwest
passage through North America to the Pacific Ocean.
I n 1606, the first charter of the Virginia Company was issued for
trading purposes. It gave the settlers "all liberties, franchises, and
immunities" they had in England. To oversee this colony, the Crown
appointed a council. Virginia established the Episcopal Church by law.
Virginia became a joint-stock company in 1609. But exports were few
(timber, soap ashes, pitch, tar, and dyes) for several years, and then
tobacco emerged as a source of profit. King James imposed a heavy duties
on imported tobacco because it corrupted man's breath with a stinking
smoke.
Life was difficult for Puritan Separatists, who wanted to separate from
the established church. They were imprisoned and their houses were
watched day and night for illegal meetings. In 1620, after trying
Holland and when there was a depression in England, a few Puritan
Separatists, along with other pilgrims, left for Virginia in the
Mayflower, but landed in New England and founded Plymouth Colony. They
were led by William Bradford and William Brewster, their spiritual
leader. They planted fields and made friends with the Indians. In 1621,
they secured a patent to the merchants and planters together for a
voluntary joint-stock company in New England. Later, it became the
self-governing Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The canons of the church of 1604 provided for excommunication for
anyone who propounded that the king did not have the same authority in
ecclesiastical matters as the godly kings among the Jews and Christian
emperors in the primitive church, that the Church of England was not a
true and apostolic church, that worship according the Book of Common
prayer and administration of sacraments was corrupt or superstitious, or
that other methods of the church were wicked, unchristian, or
superstitious.
Church sanctuary was abolished for those accused of criminal offenses
because it had been abused by thieves paying their rent by thieving at
night. It remained available to those accused of civil offenses.
About 5% of the population was Catholic, although it was against the
law to practice this religion. Indeed it long been the practice to
sequester their lands, punish them for going to mass, fine them for not
attending the established church, banish their priests, and imprison
those who aided priests. There was a Catholic plot in 1605 to blow up
Parliament and the king with gunpowder and to restore Catholicism as the
state religion with a Catholic king. It was discovered and the
conspirators were executed. Then there was a crackdown on Catholics,
with houses being searched for hiding places for priests. Also,
legislation was passed barring Catholics from many offices.
- The Law -
Churchwardens of every parish shall oversee the poor in their parish.
They shall, with consent of the Justices of the Peace, set to work
children whose parents cannot maintain them and also set to work married
or unmarried persons who have no trade and no means to maintain
themselves. Churchwardens shall tax every inhabitant, including parson
and vicar and every occupier of land and houses, as they shall think
fit. There will be a convenient stock of flax, hemp, wool, thread, iron
and other necessary ware and stuff to set the poor on work. There will
be competent sums of money for the relief of the lame, impotent, old,
blind, and others not able to work, and also for the putting out of
children to be apprentices. Child apprentices may be bound until 21
years of age or until time of marriage. They shall account to the
Justices of the Peace for all money received and paid. The penalty for
absence or neglect is 20s. If any parish cannot raise sufficient funds,
the Justices of the Peace may tax other nearby parishes to pay, and then
the hundred, and then the county. Grandparents, parents, and children of
every poor, old, blind, lame, or impotent person not able to work, being
of sufficient ability, shall at their own charge, relieve and maintain
every such poor person in that manner and according to that rate as
Justices of the Peace of that county determine, or else forfeit 20s. per
month. Two Justices of the Peace may commit to gaol or house of
correction persons refusing to work and disobedient churchwardens and
overseers. The overseers may, with the consent of the lord of the manor,
build houses on common or waste land for the poor at the expense of the
parish, in which they may place more than one family in each house.
Every parish shall pay weekly 2-10d. toward the relief of sick, hurt,
and maimed soldiers and mariners. Counties with more than fifty parishes
need pay only 2-6d. The county treasurer shall keep registers and
accounts. Soldiers begging shall lose their pension and shall be
adjudged common rogues or vagabonds subject to imprisonment and
punishment.
A seminal patent-protection law was passed in 1624. It stated that all
monopolies to any person or persons, bodies politic or corporate for the
sole buying, selling, making, working, or using of anything within the
realm are void. This does not include London or towns. Parties aggrieved
by such may recover treble damages in the superior courts, with double
costs. Excepted are existing patents, for 21 years or less, for new
inventions and for future patents for 14 years or less. Excepted also
are patents for printing or making saltpeter, gunpowder, shot or
ordinance, etc.; patents concerning allum mines or Newcastle coal or
glass making or export of calves' skins or making smalts [deep-blue
pigment or glass] or melting iron ore; grants of office; and licenses
for taverns.
Persons stealing crops from lands or fruit from trees shall be whipped.
Every person shall receive the holy communion in church at least once a
year or else forfeit 20 pounds for the first year and 40 pounds for the
second year, and threescore pounds for every year after until he takes
the said sacrament.
Every person convicted of drunkenness shall be penalized 5s. or else
placed in the stocks for six hours, because the loathsome and odious sin
of drunkenness has grown into common use lately and it is the root of
many other sins, such as bloodshed, stabbings, murder, swearing,
fornication, and adultery, and is detrimental to the arts and manual
trades and diverse workmen, who become impoverished. Offenders convicted
a second time shall be bound with two sureties to the sum of 200s.
Lewd women, having bastards, chargeable to the parish, shall be
committed to the house of correction to be punished and set to work for
one year.
Mothers concealing the death of a bastard baby shall suffer as for
murder, unless one witness proves the child was born dead.
Persons deserting their families shall be deemed incorrigible rogues
and punished as such.
Persons such as sorters who purloin or embezzle wool or yarn delivered
to them by clothiers and the receivers thereof, knowing the same, shall
recompense the party grieved or else be whipped and set in the stocks.
Because benefit of clergy is not allowed to women convicted of felony
by reason whereof many women suffer death for small causes, any woman
convicted for the felonious taking of any money, goods or chattels
greater than 12d. and less than 10s. other than burglary or robbery on
the highway or from the person of any man or woman without their
knowledge, shall be branded and marked in the hand upon the brawne of
the left thumb with a "T" and imprisonment, whipping, stocking, or
sending to the house of correction for a year or less.
Actors profaning God, Jesus, or the Holy Ghost on stage are to be
penalized 200s.
In 1604 it was decided that it was not necessary to prove that
witchcraft caused the death of a person for there to be punishment for
the witchcraftery. All that was necessary now was the practice of
witchcraft. The punishment was death by hanging. Also, consulting or
feeding an evil spirit was felony.
Sheriffs summoning defendants without a writ shall pay 200s. and
damages to the defendant, and 400s. to the King.