1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday, everybody. This week on the show, we talked 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: about the fifteen seventeen Evil May Day Riots and we 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: mentioned at the end of the episode that riots among 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: London's apprentices became something of a tradition in early modern London. 5 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:20,440 Speaker 1: And here's the episode where we've talked a little bit 6 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: more about that. It is our February episode on the 7 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: Body House Riots of sixty eight and Joy Welcome to 8 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,239 Speaker 1: Stuff you missed in History Class, the production of I 9 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Uh. Possibly 11 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: the weirdest thing that I've ever learned on this podcast, 12 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: and that includes having done a podcast about people who 13 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: turned into soap after they died. In early modern London, 14 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 1: when apprentices had a holiday, the thing to do was 15 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: to go knock over some brothels like that's not right now. 16 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: And I don't mean knock over like uh like slang 17 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: for robbing them. I mean knock over like literally pull 18 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: them down. And today we're going to talk about one 19 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: such riot, and it took place during Easter Week of 20 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,320 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty eight. Although this particular riot was a lot 21 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,959 Speaker 1: bigger and a lot more complicated than just the normal 22 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: apprentices having a day off tearing down some brothels, which 23 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:32,040 Speaker 1: was a thing that they like to do. So heads up, 24 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: today's podcast is not explicit and we are not going 25 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: to talk about what goes on in a body house. 26 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: But yes, parents and teachers, body house means what you 27 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: think it means. So today's show is maybe not for 28 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: the youngest of the listeners. So, as Tracy just suggested, 29 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: lots of people rioted at London's brothels in sixteen sixty eight, 30 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: not just apprentices, but apprentices are sited again and again 31 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: is making up the bulk of the crowd in this story. 32 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: So we're going to take a moment to shed some 33 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: light on who these young people, nearly all of them 34 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: young men were. For a few hundred years in England, 35 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: apprenticeship was a seven year indenture that combined both work 36 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: and instruction, and originally people had been apprenticed to the 37 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,119 Speaker 1: master of a guild. Came quite a bit of prestige 38 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: and was kind of a systematized organization for apprenticeship. But 39 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: by the seventeenth century, when we're talking about today, London's 40 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: guild system was really in decline, and that meant that 41 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: the apprentice system was showing some strain as well. What 42 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: had been a really prestigious appointment directly with the master 43 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: of a guild was instead moving closer and closer to 44 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: just flat out unpaid servitude that did not come with 45 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,239 Speaker 1: many advantages, and this is probably why by the mid 46 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: sixteen hundreds a lot of people were quitting were quitting 47 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: their apprenticeships after two or three years, even though they 48 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: hadn't really finished. You can look at charts of the 49 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: average of how long people stayed in their posts, and 50 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: there's a precipitous decline between year three and four. If 51 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: people had the opportunity to get out of their apprenticeship, 52 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: they did. Although people came from all over England to 53 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: apprentice in London, most of London's apprentices were from the 54 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: surrounding area. The farther away you got from London, the 55 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: fewer people went to London to be apprenticed, and most 56 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: of the apprentices were from relatively affluent families, at least 57 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: ones who either had or could borrow enough money to 58 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: make an initial payment to a master in exchange for 59 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: taking their son on as an apprentice. Once that money 60 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: was paid and the apprenticeship actually began. Though apprentices usually 61 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: did not make any money of their own because they 62 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: were being paid in instruction and experience, not in wages, 63 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: sort of an extreme version of the unpaid internship. They 64 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: also had very few freedoms. They needed their master's permission 65 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: to marry, to socialized, to go to the theater, to 66 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: go to a tavern, basically anything fun. In sixteen sixty 67 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: the average age of an apprentice was seventeen or eighteen, 68 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: So with all that in mind, it may be a 69 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: little less surprising than A popular pastime among London's seventeenth 70 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: century apprentices was the brothel riot. On holidays, particularly Shrove Tuesday, 71 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: which is the last Tuesday before lent. Apprentices frequently wrecked 72 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: London's brothels. Between sixteen o six and sixteen forty one, 73 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,360 Speaker 1: there were twenty four Shrove Tuesday brothel riots that we 74 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 1: know about. That's twenty four full scale riots in thirty 75 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: five years. And in case the name Shrove Tuesday doesn't 76 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: ring a bell, folks might know it better as Fat 77 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: Tuesday or Marty gras Is. It's observed or celebrated in 78 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: a lot of different ways all over the world, but 79 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: Shrove Tuesday is what people were mostly calling it in 80 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: in England at this time. During a brothel riot, rioters 81 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,839 Speaker 1: would use tools like staves and bars to literally pull 82 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: down building and this naturally caused a lot of property 83 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: damage and it displaced anybody who had been living or 84 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: working inside the damaged or destroyed structures. And regardless of 85 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: what your personal feelings are about brothels, a lot of 86 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: times these are people who did not have any other 87 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: option for supporting themselves, so they would be out of 88 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 1: work in homeless after the riot. And in spite of 89 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: their popularity in terms of having a pretty consistent customer base, 90 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: brothels were not popular from a religious or social standpoint. 91 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,039 Speaker 1: Plenty of people visited brothels, but plenty of people thought 92 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: brothels were a sinful scourge on London. Sometimes these worked 93 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: out to be the exact same people. Because brothels, in 94 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:48,600 Speaker 1: spite of their popularity, were viewed as cd and immoral, 95 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,599 Speaker 1: the apprentices who tore them down didn't usually get a 96 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: lot of harsh punishment. They would see a small fine 97 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: and a short imprisonment if anything. The general consensus was 98 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 1: that apprentices were doing a a thing by destroying the 99 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: city's brothels. So when it came to the Shrove Tuesday 100 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: rioting tradition, English political writer James Harrington called it an 101 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: quote ancient administration of justice at Shrovetide. The sixty eight ryant, 102 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,799 Speaker 1: on the other hand, was exceptional. It was much much bigger, 103 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: and instead of happening at Shrove Tuesday before Lent, it 104 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: happened on Easter Monday, after Lent was over, and it 105 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: lasted for three days. The property damage is much greater, 106 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: and the perpetrators faced much much harsher punishments, even harsher 107 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: than might be expected by the increase in the size 108 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: of the riot. And we're going to talk about the 109 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: sixty eight riot with more specificity after we paused for 110 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: a brief word from one of our fantastic sponsors. On 111 00:06:54,520 --> 00:07:00,280 Speaker 1: Easter Monday, which fell on March that year, rioters armed 112 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: with simple weapons like pole axes, staves and iron bars 113 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: started pulling down the brothels and poplar in London's East End. 114 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: And yes, fans of Call the mid The Midwife, that's 115 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: the same poplar where that show is set. According to 116 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: historical accounts these rioters were apprentices. They probably included other 117 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: people too, though Poplar was home to lots of sailors, 118 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: and many of them were currently at home without a 119 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: lot to occupy their time, having been recently released from 120 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: service after the end of the Second Anglo Dutch War, 121 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: which went on from sixteen sixty five to sixteen sixty seven. 122 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: The first brothel to be struck belonged to Demeris Page, 123 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: who was known as quote the great bod of the seamen, 124 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: by which we mean men who work on the sea 125 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: or sailors, not the other possible interpretation. Regardless, these rioters 126 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: organized themselves into regiments. Each one had its own captain 127 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: and its its own colors. Green was particularly popular. One 128 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: of those captains was named Peter Messenger, which is why 129 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: sometimes these riots are referred to as the Messenger Riots. 130 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: On Tuesday, similarly, armed rioters spread through London, targeting the 131 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: districts where the city's highest concentrations of body houses were located. 132 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: At least five hundred people were involved in this second 133 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 1: day of rioting and pulling down buildings. This is when 134 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: the Crown got involved to try to maintain order. A 135 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: letter to the Lord Mayor and Lieutenancy of the city 136 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: was sent in the name of King Charles the Second, 137 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: ordering the watch to be doubled and for two companies 138 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: of militia to be mustered to suppress the riot. Famed 139 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: London diarist Samuel Peeps wrote about it in his Diary 140 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: for the Day of Marchy f at Whitehall. He said, 141 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: there was quote great talk of the tumult on the 142 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,079 Speaker 1: other end of the town, about more fields among the 143 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: apprentices taking the liberty of these holy days to pull 144 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: down body houses, and Lord to see the apprehensions which 145 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: this did give to all people at court that presently 146 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,319 Speaker 1: order was given for all the soldiers horse and foot 147 00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: to be in arms, and forthwith alarms were beat by 148 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: drum and trumpet through Westminster, and all to their colors 149 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,439 Speaker 1: and to horse, as if the French were coming into town. 150 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 1: I remember reading a lot of Peep's diary in like 151 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: a literature class. I feel like they left out all 152 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: the funny parts. I do too, because I did the same, 153 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 1: and it wasn't until much later in life where I 154 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,439 Speaker 1: was like, there's good stuff in there that's really entertaining. 155 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: This bit in particular made me laugh every the whole 156 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,559 Speaker 1: time I was typing it in there. Tuesday's riots led 157 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 1: to arrests, and some of the rioters laid siege to 158 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: Finsbury Jail, where they believed their compatriots were being held. 159 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,320 Speaker 1: They did not actually find any other Rioters in the jail, though, 160 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 1: but for unrelated persons did manage to escape in all 161 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: the chaos. The rioters were more successful in their goals 162 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: at the new prison in Clerkenwell, which did have some 163 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 1: of the arrested Rioters being held there, and they were 164 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: broken out. Peeps also went out with his friends to 165 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: see the riots in action on Tuesday, but they mostly 166 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: found lots and lots of soldiers and people who were 167 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: vexed that the soldiers were going after the apprentices. He 168 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:09,559 Speaker 1: repeats a couple of times in his Tuesday diary entry 169 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,960 Speaker 1: overhearing people say quote it was only for pulling down 170 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:16,439 Speaker 1: the body houses. He also notes that this whole event 171 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: apparently perplexed King Charles the Second. If the body houses 172 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: were such a scourge on London so much so that 173 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: people supported pulling them down, then again from the Peep's diary, 174 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 1: the question quote why why do they go to them? Then? 175 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: As a side note, Uh. I mean, we established earlier 176 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: in the podcast that this Strove Tuesday brothel riot was 177 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:39,720 Speaker 1: a kind of a tradition. So why would King Charles 178 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: the secing to be so perplexed. A lot of those 179 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: riots had happened either before he was born or while 180 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: he was in exile in France after the beheading of 181 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: his father Childs the First, so it's possible that he 182 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: this was the first time he had really experienced firsthand 183 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,680 Speaker 1: or heard in more detail about this idea of the 184 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: London body house riot. I like that he um can't 185 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: see and grasp the two faced nature of humanity in 186 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:11,080 Speaker 1: many cases. I'm like, oh, Chuck, come on, you have 187 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:16,960 Speaker 1: a conversation with Charles the Second about the duality of mankind. Uh. 188 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,280 Speaker 1: Then on Wednesday, a very large group of rioters the 189 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:22,880 Speaker 1: exact numbers are unclear, but it was probably in the 190 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: thousands continued to attack brothels around more fields. The rioters 191 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: started threatening to pull the Palace at Whitehall down and 192 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: chanted things like quote, we've been the servants, now will 193 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: be the masters, and another rallying cry was reformation and reducement. 194 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: All of this rioting continued to vex the crown and 195 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:47,719 Speaker 1: the court at Whitehall. Peeps rode about Wednesday's riots in 196 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:50,559 Speaker 1: his diary as well, and here's what he wrote. Quote 197 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: the Duke of York and all with him this morning 198 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: we're full of talk of the prentices who are not 199 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,719 Speaker 1: yet put down, though the guards and militia of the 200 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: town and have been in arms all night and the 201 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: night before, and the prentices have made fools of them, 202 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: sometimes by running from them and flinging stones at them. 203 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: Some blood hath been spilt, but a great many houses 204 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: pulled down, and among others, the Duke of York was 205 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:17,839 Speaker 1: mighty Mary at that of Demaris Pages, the great Baud 206 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: of the Seamen, and the Duke of York complained merrily 207 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 1: that he hath lost two tenants by their houses being 208 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: pulled down, who paid him for their wine licenses fifteen 209 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 1: pounds of a year. So, just to recap, the Duke 210 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: of York is upset that his tenants, the Bauds who 211 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,960 Speaker 1: pay him for wine licenses, have been displaced by the rioting, 212 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 1: but not really concerned about them, just his income. Uh uh. 213 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 1: It was on the inconvenience and loss of income to himself. Yeah, 214 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: it was on Wednesday that the militia guards and even 215 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: the King's Lifeguard dispersed the rioters and arrested many of 216 00:12:57,679 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 1: the apparent ringleaders. Happening concurrently with the last two days 217 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 1: of this riot were the publications of a couple of 218 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 1: pieces of satirical writing. We don't actually know who wrote them, 219 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,560 Speaker 1: or whether they were the work of the rioters or not. 220 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 1: We don't really have a sense of whether the people 221 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: writing these satirical things were working with the rioters, are 222 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 1: opposed to them, or exactly what, in terms of the 223 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:27,079 Speaker 1: writers themselves, uh was going on. We can't accurately say 224 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: whether these particular writings reflected the views of the rioters, 225 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: but they definitely were reflecting the views of some people 226 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: alive at the time who were involved in all of this, 227 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,320 Speaker 1: so they shed some light on sort of what people 228 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: were thinking out in London. The first, which is presented 229 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: in the form of a petition, was known as the 230 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:51,479 Speaker 1: Poor Horse Petition. It was purportedly drafted by the displaced 231 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: bods whose brothels had been pulled down, and it came 232 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,199 Speaker 1: out on March which was the Wednesday of the riot. 233 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: It lampooned both the women who worked in the body 234 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: houses and Lady Castlemaine, or more properly Barbara Villiers, Duchess 235 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,960 Speaker 1: of Cleveland, who was the notorious and married mistress of 236 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:13,840 Speaker 1: Charles the Second. This faux petition was highly critical of 237 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: both the king and his mistress, but it also contained 238 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 1: a plea to Lady Castlemaine that she would try to 239 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: protect all these displaced women from the body houses. After all, 240 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: goes the logic of this writing, you are one of us, 241 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: Lady Castlemaine. The two satirical writings that followed were both 242 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,280 Speaker 1: in the form of a letter from Lady Castlemaine back 243 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: to the displaced Bouds. They're identical except for the first paragraph, 244 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: and they go on to lampoon both Lady Castlemaine and 245 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 1: the Anglican Church. There's a lot of criticism who woven 246 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: into both the petition and the response. They criticized Charles 247 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 1: the Second for keeping the mistress. They criticized Lady Castlemaine 248 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 1: for being Catholic, They criticized the Catholic Church for earning 249 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:02,359 Speaker 1: an income from taxes is on brothels. And they criticized 250 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: the Archbishop of Canterbury for purportedly keeping a mistress of 251 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: his own. And it's these same themes of religion and 252 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 1: hypocrisy that may help to explain why this particular riot 253 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: got so very big and why the response to it 254 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 1: was so much bigger. And we're going to talk about 255 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: all that after we pause for a brief word from 256 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: one of our fantastic sponsors. While London's previous Strove Tuesday 257 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:36,400 Speaker 1: brothel riots had been punished with which was basically a 258 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: slap on the wrist, the sixteen sixty eight riots ended 259 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 1: with a great many people being brought to trial. It's 260 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: unclear exactly how many people were prosecuted for participating in 261 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 1: the riot. Only seventy seven of those who wound up 262 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: in court were actually identified by name, either in the 263 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 1: records or historians having put all the pieces together since then, 264 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: but very little is known even about them. Fifteen. Ultimately, 265 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:04,040 Speaker 1: we're guided for high treason. Demeri's page turned state's witness 266 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: during the trial, with the court being very careful to 267 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: avoid mentioning precisely what her job was so that she 268 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: would appear credible in the account she gave of destruction 269 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: of her property. And many of the other women who 270 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: had worked in the destroyed body houses, on the other hand, 271 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: wound up being prosecuted in the aftermath of the riot, 272 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 1: in a punishment that was acknowledged by the High Court 273 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: and other people surrounding the case as just incongruously harsh. 274 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: Four of the men who were convicted of high treason 275 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 1: were hanged, drawn and quartered. This was by far the 276 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:39,640 Speaker 1: most extreme punishment allowed under the most severe interpretation of 277 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:43,560 Speaker 1: the law. It was far far greater than how body 278 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: house riots had typically been handled in England. There are 279 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 1: lots of possible explanations for exactly why the crackdown on 280 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:55,480 Speaker 1: this specific riot was so extreme. One described in the 281 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: nine paper on in the Historical Journal is by Dr 282 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,240 Speaker 1: Tim Arists, then at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and now at 283 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:07,400 Speaker 1: Brown and his interpretation basically is that the riot itself 284 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:11,160 Speaker 1: was more about dissatisfaction with the Restoration than it really 285 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:13,639 Speaker 1: was about the brothels, and that the rioters were so 286 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: harshly treated because of that political and religious undertone. So 287 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: an extraordinarily brief recap of the Restoration. When Charles the 288 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,000 Speaker 1: Second's father was executed in sixteen forty nine, Oliver Cromwell 289 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: came to power, at which point England became a republic. 290 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: Charles the Second fled to the continent, and Cromwell remained 291 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: in power until his death in sixteen fifty eight. Then 292 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,760 Speaker 1: in sixteen sixty Charles the Second ascended to the throne, 293 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 1: at which point the monarchy was restored. That's the restoration. 294 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: There are entire books about the restoration, and there was 295 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: a whole lot more that went on behind the scenes 296 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: and what we just said, so that is an extremely 297 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: quick summary for those of you who don't remember or 298 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: never learned that. In a lot of historical accounts, the 299 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: general description of the restoration was that London was really 300 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 1: really in favor of Charles the second's return. There had 301 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: been demonstrations against the army and in favor of Charles 302 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,399 Speaker 1: as the monarch in the years before the restoration actually 303 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:11,400 Speaker 1: took place. Some of that agitation was as much about 304 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:13,639 Speaker 1: religion as it was about the monarch. Some of the 305 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: people who were pressing for Charles the Second's return to 306 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,640 Speaker 1: England we're hoping that he would allow a greater degree 307 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,400 Speaker 1: of freedom of religion. The religions that diverged in some 308 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 1: way from Anglican teachings, like Presbyterians, Quakers, Baptists, Methodists, and Unitarians, 309 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: among others. We're all branded as dissenting or nonconformist religions. 310 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: Many of London's apprentices were adherents to one of these 311 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:42,359 Speaker 1: non conforming denominations instead. In sixteen sixty, Charles the Second, 312 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:46,359 Speaker 1: still in exile, issued the Declaration of Breda, which was 313 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: one of the last steps before he was restored to 314 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: the throne. He wrote this statement, quote, and because the 315 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: passion and uncharitable nous of the times have produced several 316 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: opinions in religion by which men are engaged in parties 317 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 1: and animosities against each other, which, when they shall hereafter 318 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,919 Speaker 1: unite in a freedom of conversation, will be composed or 319 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 1: better understood. We do declare a liberty to tender consciences, 320 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: and that no man shall be disquieted or called in 321 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:18,080 Speaker 1: question for differences of opinion in matters of religion which 322 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 1: do not disturb the peace of the Kingdom, And that 323 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,120 Speaker 1: we shall be ready to consent to such an act 324 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:26,879 Speaker 1: of Parliament as upon mature deliberation shall be offered to 325 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:31,160 Speaker 1: us for the full granting that indulgence. In other words, 326 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,639 Speaker 1: people would have freedom of religion provided that their opinions 327 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: did not quote disturb the peace of the Kingdom, and 328 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: Among those opinions apparently disturbing the peace of the Kingdom 329 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:46,680 Speaker 1: were various nonconformists. Quakers and Baptists in particular, frequently wound 330 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,199 Speaker 1: up in court on charges of quote attendance at a 331 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:53,720 Speaker 1: nonconformist compensicle. Harris also cites this as the reason why 332 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 1: this huge riot took place after Easter instead of on 333 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: Shrove Tuesday, as had been so common in p or years. 334 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: Even though the Declaration of Breda hadn't really allowed the 335 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: nonconformist the practice of their religion uh freely, at least 336 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,120 Speaker 1: there had been a period of relative laxity in terms 337 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,679 Speaker 1: of the enforcement of religious conformity. The Great Plague of 338 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: London in sixteen sixty five and the Great Fire of 339 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: London in sixteen sixty six had both given Parliament plenty 340 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 1: of other things to worry about, and some of the 341 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:27,560 Speaker 1: laws governing religion had lapsed, but in sixteen sixty seven. 342 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: In sixteen sixty eight, bills that would have allowed Presbyterians 343 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: religious freedom started circulating in Parliament. The House of Commons 344 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 1: was really deeply opposed to these, though, and the Proclamation 345 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 1: on the matter that Charles the Second ultimately signed on 346 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: March tenth, sixteen sixty eight, during lent, less than two 347 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 1: weeks before the riot began, was instead about enforcing obedience 348 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: to the existing laws, not about allowing greater religious freedom. 349 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: This also circles back around to those satirical petitions and 350 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: letters that we talked about before the break. One of 351 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,119 Speaker 1: their themes England was willing to tolerate brothels but not 352 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:09,120 Speaker 1: religious nonconformity, which seems awfully hypocritical. Some of the chance 353 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: and rallying cries that they used during the riot, like 354 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: the ones that were about reformation, also have a lot 355 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,439 Speaker 1: more religious tone to them than being about wanting to 356 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 1: strike down the sinfulness of a brothel. Running parallel to 357 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,919 Speaker 1: this crackdown on religious nonconformity was also a crackdown on 358 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: theaters in London, and a running theme in this increasing 359 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:36,040 Speaker 1: criticism of theater was that theaters were no better than brothels, 360 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,119 Speaker 1: and there was a lot of just hateful rhetoric that 361 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 1: was used in all of this. So this stoked dislike 362 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: in disdain for both the brothels and the theaters, And 363 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:46,640 Speaker 1: as we said at the top of the show, London 364 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,480 Speaker 1: was full of sailors that were recently released from service, 365 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: as well as overworked and mostly pennelous apprentices whose system 366 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: of apprenticeship was quickly disintegrating. So there's some degree of 367 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,160 Speaker 1: supposition and draw ying of conclusions and all of this, uh, 368 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: some degree of interpretation of what people's motives might have been. Men, 369 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,520 Speaker 1: there's no smoking gun. None of the rioters left a 370 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 1: journal saying I'm really upset about my religious freedoms, and 371 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: so how about in the guise of a brothel riot, 372 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:20,160 Speaker 1: I make that demonstration Like there's nothing documenting any kind 373 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: of thought presses like that, and there are also no 374 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 1: court documents. It's explicitly saying that the rioters are being 375 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:31,600 Speaker 1: persecuted because of religious nonconformity, although it does seem like 376 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: there was some fear that people who were dissenting in 377 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:39,119 Speaker 1: some way, we're also going to work with Cromwell's existing 378 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,400 Speaker 1: supporters who were still around to try to overthrow the monarchy. So, 379 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:46,159 Speaker 1: like a lot of events in history, this one was 380 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 1: definitely a confluence of a ton of different factors and 381 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:55,240 Speaker 1: influences without one clear, single explanation that just explains the 382 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,479 Speaker 1: motives of everyone involved at the same time. Oh, history, 383 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 1: you're never simple, Yeah, I wish I could remember where. 384 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:07,080 Speaker 1: I wish I could remember where I stumbled across just 385 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:11,680 Speaker 1: the words, uh, the Brothel Ride of sixteen sixty eight, 386 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,080 Speaker 1: Like I was doing work on something completely unrelated last week, 387 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:20,359 Speaker 1: and then the that's that series of words was on 388 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 1: my screen somewhere and I went, well, okay, we gotta 389 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: talk about that. And then I fortunately was able to 390 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 1: find enough information to talk about that. And then when 391 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,439 Speaker 1: I tried to restep retrace my steps to figure out 392 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:33,520 Speaker 1: where I had originally seen reference to it, I could 393 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:37,399 Speaker 1: not find it. So I don't remember. But that's the 394 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:46,120 Speaker 1: Ruthel Riot. Thank you so much for joining us on 395 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: this Saturday. 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