The Bridge to Modernity

One of my central theses is that the 17th Century was the start of modern times. In many ways, the English Civil War was the turning point. During the reign of James I, people still dressed like the Elizabethans. One other aspect, tied to the Stuarts, is that the present British royal family is where they are because they are decedents of the Stuarts, however obliquely. The key person was Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I and Anne (daughter of Frederick II of Denmark). She was married to Frederick V, the Elector Palatine and for a short time, King of Bohemia. Elizabeth outlived many of her younger relatives. One of her children, Sophia, was married to Ernestus Augustus, the first Elector of Hannover. Their son, George, became king upon the death of Queen Anne from smallpox in 1714. I had not realized that there were ties between the Stuarts and the Bourbons, as well. Henriette Marie, mother and grandmother of kings and queens, was a Bourbon princess. Henriette Marie was daughter of Henri IV, King of France and Navarre.

Much of what was happening in early 17th Century Europe was driven by religion, and the English Civil War was no exception. The Thirty Years War was still raging when the situation in England grew ugly. The Civil War started in 1642, and I believe that the ostensible reason that the conflict was over the ship money really misses the point. Henriette Marie was raising her children to be Catholics. James II actually declared his Catholocism by 1669. Charles II kept his hidden until he received the Last Rites on his deathbed. James II's Catholocism is what pushed his opponents into staging the Glorious Revolution, putting his nephew William III and his daughter Mary II on the throne in his place.

Religion caused chaos and war on the continent. Many of the great generals of all time learned their trade in the Thirty Years War. The giants in France, Prince Conde and Turenne were Huguenots, as was the best admiral Abraham Duquense. On the Catholic side was Raimondo de Monteccucoli, who fought for the Holy Roman Empire. Naval buffs recognize his name, as the Italians named a light cruiser for him.

Many of the 17th Century Stuarts died from smallpox. That was true for Mary Stuart, wife of William II (Prince of Orange), as it was for him. Mary II and her sister, Queen Anne also died of smallpox.

Science and mathematics were greatly advanced during this period. This was the time when Leibnitz, Newton, and others lived. The Royal Society was formed in England, at the Restoration. In England you had giants like Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, and others. It was men like Robert Hooke and Robert Boyle who essentially invented the "Scientific Method".

These were exciting times, and there were important forces at work in government, religion, and science. What we have built stands on top of what they started. There were many other areas of advancement, as well, including economics, business, and finance. I really have only scratched the surface, as the developments were so widespread and important.

I received my other Doeke Roos book, today

The last of the Doeke Roos books that I had ordered arrived today. This one was Zeeuwen en de VOC. The book is a small volume, but heavy for its size. The pages are slick, and there are 186 numbered pages. The cover is a reproduction of an oil painting showing a fleet of ships. The inside is profusely illustrated with black and white photographs, mostly of artwork. Sadly, I don't see anything in the book that would be of immediate interest.

I expect to finally be able to obtain the documents from the Zeeuwse Archief

I just heard today that I will be able to obtain the copies of documents from the Zeeuwse Archief (Zeeland Archives) about the Zeeland Directors' ships from the First Anglo-Dutch War (as I understand what these are). Ivo van Loo also informed me of a recently published article by Arjan Otte, "Zeeuwse zeezaken. Een admiraliteit rond de Eerste Engelse oorlog, 1651-1655" in Tijdschrift voor Zeegeschiedenis 23 (2204) pp. 142-157. The documents that I will be receiving are from what Ivo van Loo had written me about a year ago: "At the Zeeuws Archief you can find information about 'director's ships' in the accounts in the archives of the Rekenkamer van Zeeland (Zeeland auditor's office)(Zeeuws Archief, Arch. Rekenkamer II, inv. nrs. 1179a en 1179b)."

I have a problem that I need to fix

In many posts, I copied and pasted text from a Word document file, not realizing that there were forward and backward quotes that are different from the standard double quote. In the Mozilla Firefox browser, these are really badly rendered. I have started to fix this, but it will take a while, if I can take the time to fix all of the places.

English Captain: Edmund Curtis

Edmund Curtis served in both the Commonwealth and Restoration navies. From 1650 to 1651, he commanded the Hector (22 guns) , a Royalist prize. From 1651 to 1653, he commanded the 4th Rate Guinea (34 guns) (the "Guinea frigate"). He fought at the Battle of the Kentish Knock. In early 1653, he fought at the Battle of Portland. At the Battle of the Gabbard, he was in Samuell Howett's division. He also fought in the Battle of Scheveningen. In September 1653, he still commanded the Guinea. From later in 1653 to 1654, he commanded the 4th Rate Ruby. By December 1653, he was in command of the Ruby (44 guns). From1656 to 1660, he commanded the 4th Rate Newcastle. At the Restoration, he continued in command of the Newcastle. Andrew says that he was sent to the Mediterranean as part of a squadron of four ships to convoy merchant ships. I have not been able to find any other information about further service. Andrew says that he died sometime prior to 1688. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, "English Fleet-Lists in the First Dutch War," The Mariner's Mirror, Vol.XXIV No.4, October 1938.
2. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964.
3. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol. VI, 1930.

English Captain: Gabriel Sanders

Gabriel Sanders served the Commonwealth and Restoration navies. From 1650 to 1652, he commanded the Weymouth pink. From 1653 to 1660, he commanded the 4th Rate Tiger. He fought in the Battle of Portland, in early 1653, in the Tiger (40 guns). At the Battle of the Gabbard, he fought in Samuell Howett's division. Samuell Howett was Rear-Admiral of the Red. He almost certainly fought at the Battle of Scheveningen, as well. Gabriel Sanders was a captain in the Restoration navy in 1660, but there is no further information about him. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, "English Fleet-Lists in the First Dutch War," The Mariner's Mirror, Vol.XXIV No.4, October 1938.
2. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964.
3. David Syrett, R. L. DiNardo, The Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy 1660-1815, 1994.

Nico Brinck agrees that the ship was almost certainly the Prins Maurits

I received mail from Nico Brinck, and he gave me a new drawing of an iron 12pdr cast in Sweden. The gun seems to have been 8ft-9in long and weighted 3208 lbs. The gun was cast by Finspong, in Sweden and was used by the Admiralty of Friesland. Nico said that the passage from Dr. Elias' book about the loss of Cornelis Taenman's ship was more solid evidence than what they had used to associate the Tobias with the gun and captain. The gun is marked with crossed anchors and "A I F" (Admiraliteit in Friesland). Dr. Elias wrote that the ship was the Prins Maurits. She was lost while fighting in the rear-guard at the Battle of Scheveningen. The ship was lost off the Maasbank, where they found the wreck.

English Captain: Leonard Lidcott

Andrew says that Leonard Lidcott was an army major. In 1648, he was assigned to the navy. In 1648, he was assigned as captain of the Dutch prize Satisfaction. From 1649 to 1650, he was captain of the 3rd Rate Garland. In 1650, he was assigned as captain of the 2nd Rate Rainbow. R. C. Anderson suggests that Leonard Lidcott may never have actually served at sea, despite these assignments. Certainly in the summer of 1648, Francis Penrose commanded the Satisfaction. Neither Michael Baumber nor The Letters Of Robert Blake mention Leonard Lidcott. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964.
2. J. R. Powell, The Navy in the English Civil War, 1962.

English Captain: Jonas Reeves

Jonas Reeves served both the Parliamentarian and Commonwealth navies. In 1647, he commanded the 4th Rate Fellowship. He was in the Summer Guard for 1647. By the Winter of 1647, he was at Deptford, as the 4th Elizabeth was building. From 1648 until 1653, he commanded the Elizabeth (36 guns). In 1651, he took part in the fight to defeat the Royalists on the island of Jersey. He spent the First Anglo-Dutch War in the Mediterranean Sea. He took part in the Battle of Monte Cristo on 28 August 1652, under the command of Richard Badiley. He also fought the Battle of Livorno, on 4 March 1653. He was in Richard Badiley's division, which was only lightly engaged. After the battle, they withdrew from the Mediterranean Sea. I have not been able to determine the date or manner of his death, except that he died in 1653. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, "English Fleet-Lists in the First Dutch War," The Mariner's Mirror, Vol.XXIV No.4, October 1938.
2. R. C. Anderson, "The First Dutch War in the Mediterranean," The Mariner's Mirror, Vol.49, No.4, November 1963.
3. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964.
4. Michael Baumber, General-at-Sea, 1989.
5. J. R. Powell, The Navy in the English Civil War, 1962.

The bronze 18pdr drawing

Nico Brinck's drawing of a bronze 18pdr was drawn in 1996. The gun is clearly marked as belonging to the "Admiraliteit van West-Frieslant" (the archaic spelling is because the gun was forged in 1632). The bore of the gun is 138mm. The length of the bore is 17.67 calibers.

Dutch guns

I just received a note from Nico Brinck. They were able to recover four guns from a wreck off Rotterdam that they believed to be the Tobias (28 guns), whose captain's name was Taneman or Taenman. He said that the ship had been lost in the Battle of Terheide in 1653. The guns that they recovered were a bronze 18pdr that weighed 3,480 Amsterdam pounds, a bronze 6pdr that weighted 1,875 lbs, and two cast iron Swedish guns from the Finspong foundry. The guns were a 12pdr and a 6pdr. The weights are unreadable, but he says that comparable guns were 3,200 lbs and 1,800 lbs. There is a bronze 24pdr drake on his web page that he says is from the Admiralty of Zeeland. The weight is unreadable. From what I know, Cornelis Taenman fought in the rearguard at Terheide (Scheveningen) and his ship was sunk and he was killed. We think that his ship was named Prins Maurits (which carried anywhere from 28 to 32 guns). He did serve the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier (and Westfriesland).

English Captain: Henry Bethell

Henry Bethell served in the Parliamentarian navy. In 1642, he was captain of the Mary Rose (26 guns). Robert Fox had preceded him in command, as Robert Fox had commanded the Mary Rose in the Summer Guard for 1642. This was the 300 ton ship built at Deptford in 1623. She was eventually wrecked on the Flanders coast in 1650. In 1643, he commanded the 2nd Rate James (50 guns and a crew of 260 men), and served in the Summer Guard for 1643. From 1644 to 1645, he commanded the 3rd Rate Bonaventure (557 tons, 36 guns, and a crew of 170 men). He was assigned to the Summer Guard for 1644. In the Summer Guard for 1645, he was assigned to the "North Squadron". He commanded the 3rd Rate Leopard in the Summer Guard for 1646. He was stationed in the Downs. From 1647 to 1648, he commanded the 3rd Rate Garland. In the Summer Guard for 1647, he was assigned to the Western Guard. For the Summer Guard of 1648, he was appointed as a Rear-Admiral as of 17 March 1648. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964.
2. House of Commons Journal, Volume 5, 17 March 1648.
3. J. R. Powell, The Navy in the English Civil War, 1962.

My copy of "Twee Eeuwen Varen en Vechten 1550-1750" arrived today

Nico Brinck had recommended two books to me about 17th Century Dutch naval history. This is the second of the ones he told me to buy, and is written by Doeke Roos: Twee Eeuwen Varen en Vechten 1550-1750. The book is about the Evertsen family, and the famous admirals. I would translate the title as something like: "Two Centuries of Sailing and Fighting" (or Sail and Fight). I purchased my book from "JOOT" (Just out of Time). The cost was 35 Euros plus almost as much for shipping it fast. The book was published in Vlissingen in 2003. An interesting piece of information is that Doeke Roos was born in 1932.

English Captain: William Goodson

William Goodson served the Commonwealth navy, eventually as a flag officer. From 1650-1651, he commanded the hired merchantman, Hopeful Luke (34 guns). In 1653, he commanded the Entrance (44 guns) at the Battle of Portland. Then he was Rear-Admiral of the Blue, with his flag on the Rainbow (58 guns) at the Battle of the Gabbard and presumably at the Battle of Scheveningen. Later in 1653, he commanded the 2nd Rate Unicorn. Certainly, on 3 September he was in command. In December, he was in "Ellence Roads" with the Winter Guard. In November, George Monck's intention was to move William Goodson to the 2nd Rate George, but that doesn't seem to have happened. From 1654 to 1655, he was Vice-Admiral, West Indies, with his flag on the 2nd Rate Paragon. Michael Baumber says that William Goodson and his sea regiment saved General Venables from a rout at Santo Domingo. From 1655 to 1656, he was Admiral, West Indies, with his flag on the Torrington. From 1656 to 1657, he was again Admiral, West Indies, this time with his flag on the Marston Moor. Later in 1657, he transferred his flag to the Dutch prize Mathias. In 1658, he commanded the 3rd Rate Speaker. From 1658 to 1659, he was a Vice-Admiral, with his flag on the 2nd Rate Swiftsure. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, "English Fleet-Lists in the First Dutch War," The Mariner's Mirror, Vol.XXIV No.4, October 1938.
2. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964.
3. Michael Baumber, General-at-Sea, 1989.
4. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "English Ships 1652-1654", 2004.

I just ordered two more Doeke Roos books

I have known about these books by Doeke Roos for over a year. Today, I finally ordered them:

• Zeeuwen en de VOC
• Zeeuwen en de Westindische Compagnie

I hope that I may learn something new from them about ships used in the First Anglo-Dutch War. So far, my recent purchases have not been very useful. The book about de Admiraliteit van Friesland only has one page devoted to the First Anglo-Dutch War, and there was nothing there I didn't already know.

I received my copy of the book de Admiraliteit van Friesland

When I arrived home yesterday, my copy of Thea Roodhuyzen's book, de Admiraliteit van Friesland, had come in the mail. This is a new book copywrite 2003. I have an older, much smaller format book, somewhere, that is entirely different. It's main feature is having plans of Frisian ships from the early 1700's.

English Captain: Michael Nutton

Michael Nutton served both the Commonwealth and Restoration navies. From 1653 to 1655, he commanded the Satisfaction (32 guns), a Dutch prize. He seems to have fought in the Battle of Scheveningen. From 1656 until 1660, he commanded the 5th Rate Norwich. He was a captain in the Restoration navy in 1660, and died sometime before 1689. I have not been able to find any details of his service after 1660, however.

English Captain: William Gregory

William Gregory served in both the Commonwealth and the Restoration navies. In 1648, he was temporarily in command of the Warwick. In 1649, he commanded the 6-gun shallop Spy. From 1651 to 1652, he commanded the Horsleydown shallop (4 guns). In 1659, he commanded the fireship Cornelian. In 1665, he commanded the fireship Dolphin at the Battle of Lowestoft. He captured the 18-gun yacht Ruiter, and then burned a group of three Dutch ships that had surrendered (Marseveen, Ter Goes, and Zwanenburg), killing almost all their crews. If the authorities could have captured Captain Gregory, he would have been courtmartialed. He escaped, and was not heard from again. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964.
2. J. J. Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, 2nd Ed., 1987.
3. Frank Fox, A Distant Storm: the Four Days' Battle of 1666, 1996.

English Captain: Robert Batten

Robert Batten seems only to have been employed as a captain at the Battle of Dungeness, where he was killed. He commanded the Garland (44 guns). At the beginning of the Battle of Dungeness, Tromp tried to bring the Brederode (54 guns) alongside Blake's Triumph. Robert Batten, closely supporting Blake, brought his ship, the Garland, between Blake and Tromp. When a second English ship arrived, the Anthony Bonaventure (36 guns) commanded by Walter Hoxton, Tromp's situation became desperate. Tromp was saved by the arrival of Jan Evertsen, in the Hollandia (38 guns). He helped Tromp defeat the weaker Anthony Bonaventure, killing Walter Hoxton. They then dealt with Robert Batten and the Garland. Apparently, the English blew up a deck on the Garland, as the fighting became increasingly intense. The Garland surrendered, after Robert Batten was killed. The Brederode was a wreck, while the Garland was also heavily damaged, and had rudder damage. She was sailed back to the Netherlands, and fought for Rotterdam later in 1653. She was renamed Rozenkrans. She was lost at the Battle of Scheveningen, where she was recaptured and then burnt. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964.
2. Michael Baumber, General-at-Sea, 1989.
3. Dr. S. R. Gardiner, and C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.III, 1906.

I ordered two books that Nico Brinck recommended to me

Nico Brinck decided it was too hard to try and fill in gaps to my list of ships and captains about which I have missing information. He recommended two books, instead, which I ordered. One of them I may already have, although I could not find my copy. The book is Thea Roodhuyzen and is titled De Admiraliteit van Friesland. I don't remember the title of the other book, but it is by an author who has written about Zeelanders and the WIC and EIC (VOC).