#stuart england

[themonsterousregimentofwomens]

Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England by Jean Nocret held in the Museo Del Prado

[culpepers-wife]

Nell Gwyn, mistress of Charles II, in virginial white handling some sausages.

Charles II was known for his saucy mistresses and the way he paraded them throughout court. His sex life was no secret, and sharp contrast to the Puritan values of the previous decades in England. This portrait, amongst others, is an example of how Charles treated his mistresses as important figures in the court, and Stuart court attitudes towards sex.

[2o2o-kit]

Slimy Stuarts

Wow Ben in this is so... 🤤

[thelionessandmedusa]

A quote from one of my History of Stuart England lectures:

“There was no central office of ranters sending out memos on what sort of orgies to have this week or next.”

Y’all. College is a trip lemme tell ya.

[lionofchaeronea]

Charles II Dancing at a Ball at Court, Hieronymus Janssens, ca. 1660

[kookies-and-teatime]

1/100 Days of Productivity

[mary-tudor]

I, James, am neither a god nor an angel, but a man like any other. Therefore I act like a man and confess to loving those dear to me more than other men. You may be sure that I love the Earl of Buckingham more than anyone else, and more than you who are here assembled. I wish to speak in my own behalf and not to have it thought to be a defect, for Jesus Christ did the same, and therefore I cannot be blamed. Christ had his John, and I have my George

King James VI of Scotland & I of England, defending himself against the Privy Council’s accusations of favouring George Villiers a bit too much.

[culpepers-wife]

One of my favourite Nell Gwynn stories:

In 1681 when faced with an angry anti-Catholic mob who besieged her in her carriage thinking she was Louise de Kérouaille, the Duchess of Portsmouth.

As the crowd got angrier and angrier, calling for the removal of the ‘catholic whore’, Nell stick her head out of the carriage window and shouted:

“Pray good people be civil, I am the Protestant whore."

And so the crowd laughed with her and moved on!

To me, this story shows not only Nell Gwyns famous wit and bravery that enamoured King Charles II to her but also her ability to defuse a situation and her awareness of the political and social issues surrounding the religious question in England at the time.