Tuesday, October 13, 2015

History: The Year is 1660

I've uploaded year 1660 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1660

Here are some one liners...


All Is Forgiven... Except for the Fines -- Charles the II is invited back to England to take the throne. He proclaims amnesty subject to the Parliament but the Parliament won't let go of the fines levied on their opponents during the civil war.

The First Professional Shakespearean Actresses Are Not Prostitutes -- The Puritans shutdown the theaters in 1642. They reopen them with an innovation. Women are allowed on stage. I talk about the problem with Japanese Kabuki theater when prostitutes were actresses, and the "audience participation" that ensued. Men taking women's roles followed.




All Is Forgiven... Except for the Fines

After the death of Oliver Cromwell and the forced resignation of his son, Richard, the Parliament invites Charles the 2nd to pick up where his father left off. The soon-to-be King issues an invitation to all who opposed his father, the previous King of England, to take an oath of loyalty, and all will be forgiven. Probably the most important part of the proclamation is that the military will get all of their back pay. The wording of Charles the 2nd's proclamation is somewhat vague. He allows that Parliament might decide to change some of these conditions and indeed it does. The Indemnity and Oblivion Act of 1660 does NOT forgive those directly involved with the beheading of King Charles the 1st. Also not forgiven are crimes such as witchcraft, murder, piracy, rape, and buggery (which is usually animal... uh... well... never mind). Whatever it is, it is not forgiven! Also not forgiven are any fines due the Parliament... which gives rise to a lot of resentment and a little ditty that summarizes how the public feels... [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
For where there’s money to be got
I find this pardon pardons not…
My Take by Alex Shrugged
The people wanted stability more than liberty. (Let's be frank. They still do.) The army privates at the time understood that a free republic was needed, but they were mostly ignored. It was the nobles pushing for a return of the king. Otherwise their precious institutions of privilege and special rights would fall. This is the problem with liberty. It takes work. Sometimes it takes a lot of work. When the American Revolution began, the majority of the colonists did NOT want to break with the King. They had their complaints but not enough to do more than throw a few boxes of tea into the harbor. It took a core leadership with a reasonable plan and the will to push everyone else forward. The Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence weren't a full plan but they were enough to make a beginning. In the modern day some people think that we need a constitutional convention to put our country back on the right path, but the majority of people do not. Everyone has their complaints but not enough to do something about them... and they probably never will.

The First Professional Shakespearean Actresses Are Not Prostitutes

In 1642, the Puritan-led English Parliament closed the theaters. After all, there was a civil war going on and the theaters were places of subversion. Were they really places of subversion? Yes, but any public place would have been a place of subversion at the time. And all public places except churches were associated with vice such as gambling, prostitution, and the worst vice of all... Shakespeare! (Shudder!) Now that the civil war is over, the theaters are reopened with an innovation. Women are now allowed on the stage as actresses in England and Germany. Before this time all the women's parts were played by boys, despite what Gweneth Paltrow will do in the movie Shakespeare in Love (1998). (Do not take your history lessons from movies!) [6] [7] [8]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Well... this was not the first time women were on stage. In Japan, during the beginnings of Kabuki theater, prostitutes filled in as actresses for the play. Most Kabuki plays are love stories and with prostitutes on stage the ticket sales were brisk. There was always a satisfying ending for the audience, but the play rarely finished, if you know what I mean. The wives were not too happy with the whole idea so men began taking the women's roles which made Kabuki theater more reputable thereafter. [9]

This Year on Wikipedia

Year 1660, Wikipedia.

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