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Banqueting House
The Banqueting House, on Whitehall in the City of Westminster, central London, is the grandest and best-known survivor of the architectural genre of banqueting houses, constructed for elaborate entertaining. It is the only large surviving component of the Palace of Whitehall, the residence of English monarchs from 1530 to 1698. The building is important in the history of English architecture as the first structure to be completed in the classical style of Palladian architecture which was to transform English architecture. Begun in 1619 and designed by Inigo Jones in a style influenced by Andrea Palladio, the Banqueting House was completed in 1622 at a cost of £15,618, 27 years before Charles I was beheaded on a scaffold in front of it in January 1649. In the 1630s, paintings by Peter Paul Rubens were added to the interior ceiling. The building was controversially re-faced in Portland stone in the 19th century, though the details of the original façade were faithfully prese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Crown
The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive government specifically or only to the monarch and their Viceroy, direct representatives. The term can be used to refer to the rule of law; or to the functions of executive (government), executive (the Crown-King-in-Council, in-council), legislative (the Crown-in-parliament), and judicial (the Crown on the bench) governance and the civil service. The concept of the Crown as a corporation sole developed first in the Kingdom of England as a separation of the physical crown and property of the kingdom from the person and personal property of the monarch. It spread through English and later British colonisation and developed into an imperial crown, which rooted it in the legal lexicon of all 15 Commonwealth realms, their various dependencies, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Othello
''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulated by his ensign, Iago, into suspecting his wife Desdemona of infidelity. ''Othello'' is widely considered one of Shakespeare's greatest works and is usually classified among his major tragedies alongside ''Macbeth'', ''King Lear'', and ''Hamlet''. Unpublished in the author's life, the play survives in one quarto edition from 1622 and in the First Folio. ''Othello'' has been one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, both among playgoers and literary critics, since its first performance, spawning numerous stage, screen, and operatic adaptations. Among actors, the roles of Othello, Iago, Desdemona, and Emilia (Iago's wife) are regarded as highly demanding and desirable. Critical attention has focused on the nature of the play's tragedy, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonard Fryer (16th-century Artist)
Leonard Fryer or Frier (died 1605) was an English people, English artist who served the royal court, primarily as a decorative painter. Career He was probably a son of William Fryer, a London painter, and Anne Owen, a daughter of a Hondsditch gunfounder John Owen. Fryer joined the London Painter-Stainers Company in 1576. Fryer was a sergeant-painter to Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth. Records of these appointments are complex and potential benefits were shared with other painters. In 1598, his office of sergeant-painter was confirmed for life. On 26 April 1605, in the reigh of James VI and I another grant of the office was made, with survivorship to Leonard Fryer and John de Critz of the office of sergeant-painter, revoking a previous grant to Leonard Fryer with reversion to John de Critz. As De Critz was shortly afterwards in sole possession of the office, and obtained several contracts from the royal works, it is probable that Fryer had become inactive through illness ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Union Of The Crowns
The Union of the Crowns (; ) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas diplomacy) of the two separate realms under a single individual on 24 March 1603. It followed the death of James's cousin, Elizabeth I of England, the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. The union was personal or dynastic, with the Crown of England and the Crown of Scotland remaining both distinct and separate despite James's best efforts to create a new imperial throne. England and Scotland continued as two separate states sharing a monarch, who directed their domestic and foreign policies, along with Ireland, until the Acts of Union of 1707 during the reign of the last Stuart monarch, Anne. However, there was a republican interregnum in the 1650s, during which the Tender of Union of Oliver Cromwell created the Commonwealth of England and Scotland which ended with the Stuart Restorati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James VI And I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until Death and funeral of James VI and I, his death in 1625. Although he long tried to get both countries to adopt a closer political union, the kingdoms of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of England, England remained sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII of England, Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland, and thus a potential successor to all three thrones. He acceded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother was forced to abdicate in his favour. Although his mother was a Catholic, James was brought up as a Protestant. Four regents gove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Gower
George Gower (c. 1540–1596) was an English portrait painter who became Serjeant Painter to Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth I in 1581. Biography Very little is known about his early life except that he was a grandson of Sir John Gower of Stittenham, North Yorkshire.Karen Hearn, Hearn, Karen, ed. ''Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630'', p. 107 His earliest documented works are the two 1573 companion portraits of Thomas Kitson (died 1603), Sir Thomas Kytson and his wife Elizabeth Kitson, Lady Kytson, now in the Tate Gallery in London. Gower painted a self-portrait in 1579 (right) that shows his coat of arms and his artist's tools of his trade. An allegory, allegorical device shows a Weighing scale#Balance, balance with an artist's Caliper#Divider caliper, dividers outweighing the family coat of arms, "a startling claim in England where a painter was still viewed as little more than an artisan." Gower is also famous for painting the Plimpton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serjeant Painter
The Serjeant Painter was an honourable and lucrative position as court painter with the English monarch. It carried with it the prerogative of painting and gilding all of the King's residences, coaches, banners, etc. and it grossed over £1,000 in a good year by the 18th century. The work itself involved painting the palaces, coaches, royal barges, and all sorts of decorations for festivities, which often had to be designed as well. The actual involvement of the serjeant painters in this gradually declined. The post itself fell out of use in the 18th century, after a period when "fine art" painters were appointed, and expected to supervise rather than execute decorative painting, for a good salary. History The post of serjeant-painter came into being with the appointment of John Browne in 1511–12. In the time of Henry VIII, they seem to have acted as at least foremen for the actual workers; from 1527, better artists were made "King's Painter", like Lucas Horenbout. They may h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis, Duke Of Anjou
''Monsieur'' François, Duke of Anjou and Alençon (; 18 March 1555 – 10 June 1584) was the youngest son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. Early years He was scarred by smallpox at age eight, and his pitted face and slightly deformed spine did not suit his birth name of ''Hercule''. He changed his name to Francis in honour of his late brother Francis II of France when he was confirmed. The royal children were raised under the supervision of the governor and governess of the royal children, Claude d'Urfé and Françoise d'Humières, under the orders of Diane de Poitiers. In 1574, following the death of his brother Charles IX of France and the accession of his other brother Henry III of France, he became heir to the throne. In 1576 he was made Duke of Anjou, Touraine, and Berry. Alençon and the Huguenots During the night of 13 September 1575, Alençon fled from the French court after being alienated from his brother King Henry III as they had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed (; before 24 April 1582) was an English chronicler, who was most famous for his work on ''The Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande'', commonly known as ''Holinshed's Chronicles''. It was the "first complete printed history of England composed as a continuous narrative". The ''Holinshed Chronicles'' was a major influence on many Renaissance writers, such as Shakespeare, Spenser, Daniel and Marlowe. Biography Little is known about Holinshed's life and for the most part his early years are primarily a matter of speculation. Holinshed was most likely born to Ralph Holinshed of Cophurst in Sutton Downes, Cheshire. The date of his birth is unknown. Holinshed is assumed to have received an education from student records from Christ's College in Cambridge, which show a student under the name Holinshed attending the college from 1544 to 1545. In his later years, he lived in London where he worked as a translator for the printer Reginald Wolfe. Wolfe gave ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater London
Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county also called Greater London, and the City of London. The Greater London Authority is responsible for strategic local government across the region, and regular local government is the responsibility of the borough councils and the City of London Corporation. Greater London is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Hertfordshire to the north, Essex to the north-east, Kent to the south-east, Surrey to the south, and Berkshire and Buckinghamshire to the west. Greater London has a land area of and had an estimated population of in . The ceremonial county of Greater London is only slightly smaller, with an area of and a population of in . The area is almost entirely urbanised and contains the majority of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nonsuch Palace
Nonsuch Palace was a Tudor architecture, Tudor royal family, royal palace, commissioned by Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII in Surrey, England, and on which work began in 1538. Its site lies in what is now Nonsuch Park on the boundary of the borough of Epsom and Ewell (in Surrey) and the London Borough of Sutton. The palace was designed to be a celebration of the power and the grandeur of the Tudor dynasty, built to rival Francis I of France, Francis I's Château de Chambord. Unlike most of Henry's palaces, Nonsuch was not an adaptation of an old building; he chose to build a new palace in this location because it was near to one of his main hunting grounds. However, the choice of location was unwise, for there was no nearby supply of water suitable for domestic use. The palace remained standing until 1682–3, when it was pulled down by Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine, mistress to Charles II of England, Charles II, to sell off buil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
