Problems in England

Problems in England

1639 In England that effort by Charles I* to try to change the Scots from Presbyterian to Anglican is turning into armed conflict. This is what is called the First Bishops' War in Scotland. Charles I* loses it and is forced to sign the Pacification of Berwick and abolish the Anglican episcopacy in Scotland.

1640 Charles I* needs money to raise an army to deal with all these problems in Scotland. [Remember that Scotland hasn't been a part of England for very many years.] He convenes what will come to be known as the Short Parliament. It is short (two months) because it doesn't do what he wants it to and he dissolves it. Another parliament is called in November and it will become known as the Long Parliament. It's long because it takes over the government from the King and it will stay in power into 1653. It manages to do this by forcing the king (who needs it desperately) to agree that it won't be dissolved without its own consent. The parliament then proceeds to address a long list of grievances that have built up over the years. They release prisoners like Prynne*, who now becomes a member of parliament, and begin to bring to trial those they regard as the king's evil advisors. Another guy gets elected to parliament from Cambridge this year. Nobody knows much about him now but he will soon make a big splash. His name is Oliver Cromwell* and he is a Puritan by religious conversion. He becomes the leader of the Puritans in parliament.

In Germany the "Great Elector*", Frederick William (fl. 1640-88) succeeds to the throne in Brandenburg. He will be busy all over Europe as will his descendents. His son will be the first Frederick of Prussia and his grandson will become known as Frederick the Great.

1640 - In other parts of Europe theatrical activity is flourishing. The German architect Josef Furttenbach* the elder comes out with his second work containing more information on theatre scenery, Recreational Architecture*. In this work he covers the same ground as in his first work but with much more information including drawings and designs he made for actual productions.

1640 - In Spain that Italian designer Cosmo Lotti* is building a permanent theatre, the Coliseo*, in the new palace in Madrid. It is the most modern theatre of the day with a proscenium arch and wing and groove system for changing scenery. It is so snazzy that they occasionally have public productions with a percentage going to charities. But, theatre in 1640 - In Spain that Italian designer Cosmo Lotti* is building a permanent theatre, the Coliseo*, in the new palace in Madrid. It is the most modern theatre of the day with a proscenium arch and wing and groove system for changing scenery. It is so snazzy that they occasionally have public productions with a percentage going to charities. But, theatre in

1641 In England the parliamentary initiated trials are in progress to punish those evil advisors of the king and Strafford* [see above 1633] is tried and beheaded.

In Ireland the religious views are different but the effect of all this unrest is the same. The Irish Catholics who had been subjugated by Strafford rise up and massacre the Ulster Protestants as part of a general Irish Catholic rebellion. This results in a wave of Protestant Irish sailing off to settle in America.

Parliament is really on a power roll and throws all Bishops out of the House of Lords, passes the Grand Remonstrance which protests the king's wrongful actions. This really lights the fuse.

1641 - Back in France by this time, all French acting troupes in Paris are receiving a government subsidy. Louis XIII* issues a decree stating his desire that "...the actors' profession...not be considered worthy of blame nor prejudicial to their reputation in society." The church still denies sacraments to actors.

Richelieu* builds a palace for himself, Palais Cardinal, with an excellent performance space (later called Palais-Royal*.) This is the first Italianate theater in France.

1641 - 1645 Down in Venice, Italy, an influential designer, Giacomo Torelli* (1608-1678), at the Teatro Novissimo*, works the kinks out of a scene-shifting system called the chariot-and- pole* method. This entails cutting slots through the stage floor to enable a pole from the floor below to support a flat on the stage and be moved by a "chariot" that pulls it back and forth under the stage on a track. The ropes that power each "chariot" are hooked together to one big winch so that all the flats can be moved at the same time. Those transformations that everybody is so crazy about work so much better with this system that it spreads all over Europe. The old, simpler, groove system will continue to be the main shifting method in England, America and Holland.