England 2.3 Restoration Culture Flashcards
What two theatre companies did Charles create, and who ran them? (RE 2.3)
- Thomas Killigrew led the King’s Company at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.
- William Davenant led the Duke’s Men at the Dorset Garden near the Thames.
How often did people go to the theatre? What were new theatre techniques? (RE 2.3)
- New play once a fortnight, fashionable as the King went. (Pepys went 338 times between 1660 and 1669).
- Proscenium arch and sliding scenery were both used.
What were the 2 main types of play? (RE 2.3)
- Restoration Comedies: Jokes and racy plots, revealing costumes, clever and witty, often including love triangles.
- Restoration Tragedies: Serious, philosophical, heroic men, military and history themes. Written less often by the end of the period.
Who was Nell Gwynne? (RE 2.3)
- Sold oranges during intervals, noticed by Thomas Killigrew, who trained her to successfully act.
- Started an on and off affair with Charles in 1668.
- Had two children for the king.
- ‘Good people, I am the protestant whore’.
Who was Aphra Behn? (RE 2.3)
- A popular playwright, who included what audiences wanted to see (bedroom, love affairs, fast plots, tight clothes).
- So successful she was allowed to keep the third and sixth nights profits.
- She spied for Charles in Holland but quit when she realised there was no payment, selling jewellery to get home.
What was a woman’s role in marriage and childbirth? (RE 2.3)
- Wealthy brides prized as the brought a large dowry.
- Once married, a woman ran the household and was a financial expert, among other duties.
- Had as many as 10 children. Childbirth was dangerous, and painful. (Hugh Chamberlain used forceps, keeping them a secret, to aid some women).
- Some ran businesses with or without their husband.
What were a woman’s legal rights in marriage? (RE 2.3)
- Legal rights vanished. Property of theirs became their husband’s.
- Difficult to divorce, husband would get property and children.
- Easier to get an annulment if both parties agreed.
When was the first English coffee house opened? How many were there in 1663 and 1700? (RE 2.3)
- 1650, in Oxford.
- 80 in 1663.
- 500 in 1700.
What were Johnathon’s coffee house, and Will’s coffee house? What were penny universities? (RE 2.3)
- Johnathan’s became a private stock exchange.
- Will’s became a hub for poets, writers and playwrights and actors.
- People could buy news and pamphlets for a penny.
How were coffee houses related to the exclusion crisis? (RE 2.3)
- They were associated with Puritanism.
- Charles tried to close then all down in December 1675.
- After public outcry they were allowed to reopen if the owners swore to ban’seditious talk’.
What was Solomon’s House, the Royal Society? How was Charles involved? (RE 2.3)
- Created by a group of scientists after an astronomy lecture by Christopher Wren.
- Planned to employ research staff and build laboratories.
- Charles had an interest in science and funded the house, but over time his interest waned, with his funding.
How did Richard Reeves, Hooke and Boyle take part in the Royal Society? (RE 2.3)
- Reeves and son made magnifying glasses, microscopes and telescopes for amateur scientists.
- Hooke published Micrographia in 1665 (contained pictures and microscope instructions).
- Hooke and Boyle created the pneumatic pump to create a vacuum if a glass bottle.
Why was Wren selected for St Paul’s? How did he design it? (RE 2.3)
- Charles was impressed with his work on the Sheldonian Theatre.
- The church rejected his initial plans, so he made a simpler design.
- The king made sure he was allowed some freedom after this, and he made an exciting baroque design.
What was the Royal Observatory made in 1676? (RE 2.3)
- An observatory in Greenwich.
- Charles ordered John Flamsteed as the Astronomer Royal, impressed with his star and barometer work.
- Charles paid £520 for a building full of new and advanced equipment.
