Historic Houses

My next non-fiction history pick, Cavalier: A Tale of Chivalry, Passion, and Great Houses, sells itself as a book about the romantic life of a true British Cavalier in the time of Charles I and the Civil War. And yes, while the book is about one such Cavalier, the real story of the book is a little more complicated.

Cavalier is written by Lucy Worsley, who has the envy-inducing job of Chief Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces (including Hampton Court and the Tower of London) (seriously - my dream job!). Her very detailed knowledge about the inner workings of the great castles of yore is seen throughout the book.

This history proceeds in a slightly different way than most histories I've read. Instead of an overall look at a person's life from beginning to end, Worsley takes snapshots of 10 different days in that person's life and goes into the day in great detail. I'm not sure this approach entirely works, but I'll explain why I think that in a minute.

The subject of the book is one William Cavendish (grandson of Bess of Hardwick [famous for marrying up the social chain by having 4 husbands, building lots of beautiful castles with lots of windows, and whose last husband was the English jailer of Mary, Queen of Scots.]). William Cavendish will eventually become the Duke of Newcastle but began life as a regular landowning gentleman of means. Both William and his father, Charles, inherited the Hardwick love of building, and there was constant building going on during William's lifetime (1593-1676). The first two chapters of the book clearly demonstrate the love of building: the first chapter is set in 1617 at the deathbed of William's father in the manor house of Welbeck Abbey (one of the decommissioned abbeys given to landowners during Henry VIII's dismantling of the Catholic Church in England). Charles' last wishes to William are clear - continue work on the building projects. The next chapter jumps back in time a few years, to 1613, and the building site of Bolsover Castle, a lovely little gem of a castle in the English countryside.

Now, for some reason, perhaps from the subtitle talking about great houses, I assumed that the book would follow the path of Bolsover Castle and we'd see different scenes in the life of the castle. And, to some extent we do - Chapter 4 shows William entertaining Charles I and Henrietta Maria at the now completed Bolsover Castle in 1634. However the rest of the book jumps around and looks at the other houses where William lived. Each day is used as an example of something the author wants to teach us about 17th century life. For example, Chapter 3 (at Welbeck Abbey in 1625) discusses the use of the "closet" in English life (no, not a place to store clothes - more like a study or hobby room of the day, although clothes certainly could be kept in the closet) and Chapter 4 (at the Palace of Richmond in 1638) discusses the structure and formation of the household of the future Charles II and James II (the sons of Charles I). I was more interested in learning more about William's houses in particular, and not just the houses where he stayed in general.

However, this is not just a book about William Cavendish either. He is merely a narrative device who lived in several different palaces (and left a lot of written material!) that the author can use to discuss living in the 17th century: how a manor house worked, what a party was like then, education of princes, horsemanship, servant life, and anything and everything you would ever want to know about life in the 17th century. You do learn about William Cavendish, but he is almost secondary to the story. I see where the author was going with her structure of the book, but I'm not sure it quite works. It's not really a story about William Cavendish, nor is it a story about the famous Cavendish castles (Welbeck Abbey and Bolsover Castle). It's really a study of life in the 17th century.

It's also not really about the Cavaliers at all. Yes, the Civil War does come into play - William loses a battle (his troops showed up late, but fought bravely to the end), but then William flees into exile, leaving his daughters and son to live in an occupied castle while William runs up debts with his new wife in Paris and Antwerp. He is an example of a Cavalier - joyous living, excellent horsemanship, a ladies' man, but that doesn't all come across in this book because William is not the focus of this book. The lifestyle of the 17th century nobleman is the focus of this book instead. It is still interesting - just those who want more history and less interesting facts about how run a large castle should probably look elsewhere.

Just a few other points: for those who may be confused about British history, I will quickly give a brief lesson. Charles I was the second of the Stuart kings. He was an autocratic ruler at a time when England was moving towards a government that shared power between "parliament" and the king. Naturally, there was a conflict: the Civil War. Charles I lost, and sadly lost his head shortly thereafter. England was then a Commonwealth (from 1649 to 1660) ruled by Oliver Cromwell (who really was king in all but name). Charles II was left to fend for himself as best he could at the courts of royal relatives in France and the rest of Europe. When the Commonwealth fell in 1660, Charles II was welcomed back with open arms. Those in England who supported the Commonwealth were known as Roundheads (from the shape of their hats, I believe). They disapproved of the court's licentious ways and favoured sobriety in dress and manner. The Royalist supporters were known as Cavaliers and were fond of accessorizing wildly (ruffles, lace, ribbons and bows everywhere - on the men! Hats with gigantic plumes, ruffle topped boots, and lace cuffs.), wenching, and drinking. The term Cavalier started off as a derogatory term, and ended up being used in a positive sense for the romantic Royalists. (I should point out here that my spellcheck highlighted wenching as being spelled wrong. Apparently those sorts of words are not in blogger's dictionary!)

Secondly, I will say that I would like to try and find an excellent book or books about England's aristocrats. Nobles are always popping up throughout English history and I always want to know how they are related to each other. Are these Dukes of Norfolk related to the other Dukes of Norfolk mentioned 100 years earlier? What happened to the great de Vere family? What happens when the Duke of Suffolk has no male heirs and the title's inherited by a distant cousin - where did he come from? How is he related to the others? I think there is a real need for a series of books about the English aristocracy - pick one family (Howard) or title (Duke of Norfolk) and trace it through the family from the inception to the end of the title/family (or the present day - whichever comes first.). Sure, not all the members of the family are interesting - some are duds I'm sure, but it's interesting to see how everyone is connected to one another. There is Burke's Peerage for those really interested in that sort of thing, but I would like something with a little more detail. Wikipedia doesn't always cut it!

At any rate, Cavalier is a very interesting and extremely detailed book. A good choice for anyone interested in the life of a 17th century nobleman.