Neil Younger
@neilayounger.bsky.social
Historian of early modern England at the Open University. Convenor of the IHR Tudor & Stuart Seminar. Live-tweeting the reign of Elizabeth I. New(ish) book on Sir Christopher Hatton: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526159496/
Pinned
It occurred to me lately that I started studying Elizabeth I's reign as a postgrad 24 1/2 years ago (yikes), and also that Elizabeth's reign, at 44 years, is probably about the length of my academic career. By this logic, in terms of my-career-transposed-onto-Elizabeth's-reign, it's 1 March 1582.
Reposted by Neil Younger
9 November 1582: John Somer, one of Walsingham's espionage apparatchiks, writes to Walsingham about a conversation with Elizabeth I. He has evidently been talking to Archibald Douglas, an exiled Scot and inveterate (Protestant) conspirator, who seems to be back in the business. 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 9, 2025 at 2:26 PM
9 November 1582: John Somer, one of Walsingham's espionage apparatchiks, writes to Walsingham about a conversation with Elizabeth I. He has evidently been talking to Archibald Douglas, an exiled Scot and inveterate (Protestant) conspirator, who seems to be back in the business. 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
9 November 1582: John Somer, one of Walsingham's espionage apparatchiks, writes to Walsingham about a conversation with Elizabeth I. He has evidently been talking to Archibald Douglas, an exiled Scot and inveterate (Protestant) conspirator, who seems to be back in the business. 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 9, 2025 at 2:26 PM
9 November 1582: John Somer, one of Walsingham's espionage apparatchiks, writes to Walsingham about a conversation with Elizabeth I. He has evidently been talking to Archibald Douglas, an exiled Scot and inveterate (Protestant) conspirator, who seems to be back in the business. 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
Reposted by Neil Younger
8 November 1582: Mary Queen of Scots writes to Elizabeth, an immensely long letter (about 5,000 words in translation). Mary seems to think she's dying and is writing a sort of testament. There's endless rehearsal of the many wrongs done to her going back to her ejection from ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 8, 2025 at 3:08 PM
8 November 1582: Mary Queen of Scots writes to Elizabeth, an immensely long letter (about 5,000 words in translation). Mary seems to think she's dying and is writing a sort of testament. There's endless rehearsal of the many wrongs done to her going back to her ejection from ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
8 November 1582: Mary Queen of Scots writes to Elizabeth, an immensely long letter (about 5,000 words in translation). Mary seems to think she's dying and is writing a sort of testament. There's endless rehearsal of the many wrongs done to her going back to her ejection from ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 8, 2025 at 3:08 PM
8 November 1582: Mary Queen of Scots writes to Elizabeth, an immensely long letter (about 5,000 words in translation). Mary seems to think she's dying and is writing a sort of testament. There's endless rehearsal of the many wrongs done to her going back to her ejection from ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
Reposted by Neil Younger
7 November 1582: After suddenly taking ill last night, William Wentworth, husband of Lord Burghley's 18-year-old daughter Elizabeth, dies today at Theobalds. Not a very major historical figure, but his death was a source of considerable sadness for Burghley. His fellow councillors... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
7 November 1582: After suddenly taking ill last night, William Wentworth, husband of Lord Burghley's 18-year-old daughter Elizabeth, dies today at Theobalds. Not a very major historical figure, but his death was a source of considerable sadness for Burghley. His fellow councillors... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
7 November 1582: After suddenly taking ill last night, William Wentworth, husband of Lord Burghley's 18-year-old daughter Elizabeth, dies today at Theobalds. Not a very major historical figure, but his death was a source of considerable sadness for Burghley. His fellow councillors... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
7 November 1582: After suddenly taking ill last night, William Wentworth, husband of Lord Burghley's 18-year-old daughter Elizabeth, dies today at Theobalds. Not a very major historical figure, but his death was a source of considerable sadness for Burghley. His fellow councillors... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
Reposted by Neil Younger
6 November 1582: Not a lot in the records today. The exchequer official Richard Stonley notes that the legal term adjourned to Hertford began today, saying nothing about court business but describing the catering arrangements ('two messe very honorable of xvj Dishes at a Course'). 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 6, 2025 at 12:54 PM
6 November 1582: Not a lot in the records today. The exchequer official Richard Stonley notes that the legal term adjourned to Hertford began today, saying nothing about court business but describing the catering arrangements ('two messe very honorable of xvj Dishes at a Course'). 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
Reposted by Neil Younger
Thursday 2 November 1620, 9:38 AM, and Napier is having child-wrangling problems: 'my boyes would not goe to schoole'. #earlymodern
November 6, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Thursday 2 November 1620, 9:38 AM, and Napier is having child-wrangling problems: 'my boyes would not goe to schoole'. #earlymodern
6 November 1582: Not a lot in the records today. The exchequer official Richard Stonley notes that the legal term adjourned to Hertford began today, saying nothing about court business but describing the catering arrangements ('two messe very honorable of xvj Dishes at a Course'). 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 6, 2025 at 12:54 PM
6 November 1582: Not a lot in the records today. The exchequer official Richard Stonley notes that the legal term adjourned to Hertford began today, saying nothing about court business but describing the catering arrangements ('two messe very honorable of xvj Dishes at a Course'). 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
Reposted by Neil Younger
5 November 1582, a date which for the next 23 years will be of no special significance: the Spanish ambassador, Mendoza, reports on events at Elizabeth's court. She's been having discussions about how to fund her (notional) fiancé, Anjou's campaigns in the Netherlands, and wants ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 5, 2025 at 3:45 PM
5 November 1582, a date which for the next 23 years will be of no special significance: the Spanish ambassador, Mendoza, reports on events at Elizabeth's court. She's been having discussions about how to fund her (notional) fiancé, Anjou's campaigns in the Netherlands, and wants ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
5 November 1582, a date which for the next 23 years will be of no special significance: the Spanish ambassador, Mendoza, reports on events at Elizabeth's court. She's been having discussions about how to fund her (notional) fiancé, Anjou's campaigns in the Netherlands, and wants ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 5, 2025 at 3:45 PM
5 November 1582, a date which for the next 23 years will be of no special significance: the Spanish ambassador, Mendoza, reports on events at Elizabeth's court. She's been having discussions about how to fund her (notional) fiancé, Anjou's campaigns in the Netherlands, and wants ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
Reposted by Neil Younger
4 November 1582: Queen Elizabeth receives Feodor Pissemsky, an ambassador from Tsar Ivan, at Windsor; he was apparently 'magnificently received', various nobles having been summoned to court to adorn the court. Among other things, the ambassador has been tasked with ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 4, 2025 at 3:35 PM
4 November 1582: Queen Elizabeth receives Feodor Pissemsky, an ambassador from Tsar Ivan, at Windsor; he was apparently 'magnificently received', various nobles having been summoned to court to adorn the court. Among other things, the ambassador has been tasked with ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
4 November 1582: Queen Elizabeth receives Feodor Pissemsky, an ambassador from Tsar Ivan, at Windsor; he was apparently 'magnificently received', various nobles having been summoned to court to adorn the court. Among other things, the ambassador has been tasked with ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 4, 2025 at 3:35 PM
4 November 1582: Queen Elizabeth receives Feodor Pissemsky, an ambassador from Tsar Ivan, at Windsor; he was apparently 'magnificently received', various nobles having been summoned to court to adorn the court. Among other things, the ambassador has been tasked with ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
Reposted by Neil Younger
Yale owns a Dutch utility bond issued in 1648 that still pays interest. “Yale’s bond, written on goatskin, was issued on May 15, 1648 to Mr. Niclaes de Meijer for the “sum of 1,000 Carolus Guilders of 20 Stuivers a piece.”
November 3, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Yale owns a Dutch utility bond issued in 1648 that still pays interest. “Yale’s bond, written on goatskin, was issued on May 15, 1648 to Mr. Niclaes de Meijer for the “sum of 1,000 Carolus Guilders of 20 Stuivers a piece.”
Mixed conditions in the Lakes this weekend.
November 1, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Mixed conditions in the Lakes this weekend.
Reposted by Neil Younger
Trebly augmented was his furious mood
October 30, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Trebly augmented was his furious mood
Reposted by Neil Younger
29 October 1582: Roger Manners writes to his nephew the earl of Rutland from the court at Windsor. Elizabeth, he says, is very well, and rides abroad every fair morning. She seems quite happily settled at Windsor, well away from the plague in London. Manners also notes intense ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
October 29, 2025 at 11:28 AM
29 October 1582: Roger Manners writes to his nephew the earl of Rutland from the court at Windsor. Elizabeth, he says, is very well, and rides abroad every fair morning. She seems quite happily settled at Windsor, well away from the plague in London. Manners also notes intense ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
29 October 1582: Roger Manners writes to his nephew the earl of Rutland from the court at Windsor. Elizabeth, he says, is very well, and rides abroad every fair morning. She seems quite happily settled at Windsor, well away from the plague in London. Manners also notes intense ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
October 29, 2025 at 11:28 AM
29 October 1582: Roger Manners writes to his nephew the earl of Rutland from the court at Windsor. Elizabeth, he says, is very well, and rides abroad every fair morning. She seems quite happily settled at Windsor, well away from the plague in London. Manners also notes intense ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
No thread today on account of an archive trip to the wonder of the world that is Longleat. Definitely worth seven hours of driving to return with a haul of 1,306 images of manuscripts ...
October 28, 2025 at 8:47 PM
No thread today on account of an archive trip to the wonder of the world that is Longleat. Definitely worth seven hours of driving to return with a haul of 1,306 images of manuscripts ...
Reposted by Neil Younger
27 October 1582: Further today on George Mackworthe, he of the 'vaine and ungodlie opinion [I think it's really giving it more dignity than it deserves to call it an opinion] that it shoulde be lawfull for a man to have two wives at once': it emerges that he has abandoned no fewer... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
In the Privy Council records today appears one George Mackworthe of Erpingham, who has had conference with the deans of both Windsor and Lincoln and now (only now!) acknowledges that 'his opinion, concerning the having of two wives at once (which he had before helde to be lawfull ... 4/
October 27, 2025 at 10:16 AM
27 October 1582: Further today on George Mackworthe, he of the 'vaine and ungodlie opinion [I think it's really giving it more dignity than it deserves to call it an opinion] that it shoulde be lawfull for a man to have two wives at once': it emerges that he has abandoned no fewer... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
27 October 1582: Further today on George Mackworthe, he of the 'vaine and ungodlie opinion [I think it's really giving it more dignity than it deserves to call it an opinion] that it shoulde be lawfull for a man to have two wives at once': it emerges that he has abandoned no fewer... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
In the Privy Council records today appears one George Mackworthe of Erpingham, who has had conference with the deans of both Windsor and Lincoln and now (only now!) acknowledges that 'his opinion, concerning the having of two wives at once (which he had before helde to be lawfull ... 4/
October 27, 2025 at 10:16 AM
27 October 1582: Further today on George Mackworthe, he of the 'vaine and ungodlie opinion [I think it's really giving it more dignity than it deserves to call it an opinion] that it shoulde be lawfull for a man to have two wives at once': it emerges that he has abandoned no fewer... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
It's hardly an original observation, but it really is astonishing how accomplished and penetrating this book is over such a wide range of themes
October 26, 2025 at 10:06 PM
It's hardly an original observation, but it really is astonishing how accomplished and penetrating this book is over such a wide range of themes
Reposted by Neil Younger
26 October 1582: The Privy Council (after a bit of a false start by the clerk) write to Edmund Freke, bishop of Norwich; apparently 'a great nomber of seditious bookes latelie written and published by one Browne to the derogation of the discipline established in the Churche of ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
October 26, 2025 at 1:53 PM
26 October 1582: The Privy Council (after a bit of a false start by the clerk) write to Edmund Freke, bishop of Norwich; apparently 'a great nomber of seditious bookes latelie written and published by one Browne to the derogation of the discipline established in the Churche of ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
26 October 1582: The Privy Council (after a bit of a false start by the clerk) write to Edmund Freke, bishop of Norwich; apparently 'a great nomber of seditious bookes latelie written and published by one Browne to the derogation of the discipline established in the Churche of ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
October 26, 2025 at 1:53 PM
26 October 1582: The Privy Council (after a bit of a false start by the clerk) write to Edmund Freke, bishop of Norwich; apparently 'a great nomber of seditious bookes latelie written and published by one Browne to the derogation of the discipline established in the Churche of ... 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
Reposted by Neil Younger
25 October 1582: A beautifully-written (proto-) bill of mortality from London for the week ending today, showing the impact of plague. The numbers don't quite seem to add up to me, but admire the penmanship. 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
October 25, 2025 at 12:27 PM
25 October 1582: A beautifully-written (proto-) bill of mortality from London for the week ending today, showing the impact of plague. The numbers don't quite seem to add up to me, but admire the penmanship. 1/
#earlymodern
#earlymodern