London of 1699

Politics

The Commonwealth was a period officially lasting from 1649 to 166, but really began with the Long Parliament in 164. At that time, Charles I called Parliament to pass finance bills, since his administration was nearly bankrupt after wars. However, there were were grave disputes over Charles’ perceived misconduct in financial and religious matters. Parliament voted to largely strip the King of his powers. After a decade of civil war, eventually Charles I was tried and executed in 1649.

The Commonwealth was a hotbed of radical groups: including the Ranters, Levellers, Diggers (or True Levellers), Quakers, and Seekers.

In London, 1661 saw the last vestiges of unrest against the Monarchy. Thomas Venner, a leader of a military faction of the Fifth Monarchy Men, who had made attempts against Oliver Cromwell in 1658. The first few days of Jan. 1661, a small group of Fifth Monarchy Men, Baptists and some 4 Quakers attempted to overthrow the civil government in London. After a few days of of local fighting the rebel forces were defeated and arrested. The ring leaders were tried and sentenced to death. Many of their supporters were arrested and sent to prison.

Religion

In 1662, the Act of Uniformity required both use of the Book of Common Prayer and an oath of allegiance, whilst the so-called Quaker Act prescribed prison for anyone refusing the oath or dissuading others from taking it.

The Conventicle Act of 1663 made it penal for any person to attend a conventicle (non-Anglican meeting for religious worship at which five people apart from the household were present). The punishment for the first offence was three months imprisonment. The Five Mile Act in 1665 punished dissenting preachers with a 4 pound fine if they came within five miles of towns.

Quakers arrested at City and East London meetings were imprisoned in nearby Newgate prison or the Tower of London. Conditions were horrific. 1665 The last great plague of London. Some natural philosophers argued that God established nature by laws and so plagues were not a direct action or a sign of his wrath. Quakers would have none of this. In his A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe wrote: “…the Quakers had at this time also a burying ground set apart to their use… and the famous Solomon Eagle, who… had predicted the plague as a judgment, and ran naked through the streets, telling the people that it was come upon them to punish them for their sins, had his own wife died the
next day of the plague, and was carried, one of the first in the Quakers’ dead-cart, to their new burying ground”.

An early Quaker victim of the plague was Henry Stokes, Spittlefields baker, who died on 24.4.1665.

Science

The first half of the 16’s saw the birth of empirical science, with the time of Galileo and Sir Francis Bacon. During the Interregnum, there were many followers interested in the methods, but the chaotic political landscape kept them from publically organizing. Their meetings were sometimes referred to as the “Invisible College.”

On November 28, 16 — just after the restoration of Charles II — a set of members met and decided to start a “College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematical Experimental Learning” which led to the “The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge” (aka the Royal Society). The founding members included Robert Boyle, John Evelyn, Robert Hooke, William Petty, John Wallis, John Wilkins, Thomas Willis and Sir Christopher Wren. Wren was a Savilian Professor of astronomy at Oxford as well as an architect and scientist. He was responsible for many of the designs for the new London following the Fire. He is particularly known for his design for St Paul’s Cathedral.

Timeline

  • 1661 Name first appears in print, and library presented with its first book
  • 1662 Royal Charter gives permission to publish
  • 1663 Second Royal Charter
  • 1665 First issue of Philosophical Transactions
  • Robert Hooke published his _Micrographia_
  • 1666 Fire of London causes move to Arundel House
  • 1668 John Locke joins Royal Society

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