1649 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1649 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- January 1 - Local authorities raid the four remaining London theatres (the Salisbury CourtSalisbury Court TheatreThe Salisbury Court Theatre was a theatre in 17th-century London. It was located in the neighbourhood of Salisbury Court, which was formerly the London residence of the Bishops of Salisbury. Salibury Court was acquired by Richard Sackville in 1564; when Thomas Sackville was created Earl of Dorset...
, Red BullRed Bull TheatreThe Red Bull was a playhouse in London during the 17th century. For more than four decades, it entertained audiences drawn primarily from the northern suburbs, developing a reputation for rowdy, often disruptive audiences...
, CockpitCockpit TheatreThe Cockpit was a theatre in London, operating from 1616 to around 1665. It was the first theatre to be located near Drury Lane. After damage in 1617, it was christened The Phoenix....
, and FortuneFortune PlayhouseThe Fortune Playhouse was an historic theatre in London. It was located between Whitecross Street and the modern Golden Lane, just outside the City of London...
) to suppress clandestine play-acting. The actors found are arrested — except for the Red Bull company, who manage to escape. - March 24 (Saturday) - The authorities damage the Cockpit TheatreCockpit TheatreThe Cockpit was a theatre in London, operating from 1616 to around 1665. It was the first theatre to be located near Drury Lane. After damage in 1617, it was christened The Phoenix....
to inhibit continued attempts to use it for plays. (The building is not destroyed, however, and in 16601660 in literatureThe year 1660 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* January 1 - Samuel Pepys starts his diary.* February - John Rhodes reopens the old Cockpit Theatre in London, forms a company of young actors and begins to stage plays...
, when drama resumes in England with the RestorationEnglish RestorationThe Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, the theatre is fixed and used again.) - April 23 - William EverardWilliam Everard (Digger)William Everard was an early leader of the Diggers.-Biography:William Everard was apprenticed on 14 August 1616 to Robert Miller of the Merchant Taylors' Company, London. He was the son of William Everad, a yeoman of Reading and had been baptized on 9 May 1602 in the parish of St Giles, Reading,...
a Digger issues "The Declaration and Standard of the Levellers of England." - With the London theatres remaining closed since 16421642 in literatureThe year 1642 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*May - John Milton marries Marie Powell.*September 2 - The theatres in London are closed by the Puritan government; the "lascivious mirth and levity" of stage plays are to "cease and be forborn" for the next eighteen years, during...
, the trend toward closet dramaCloset dramaA closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or, sometimes, out loud in a small group. A related form, the "closet screenplay," developed during the 20th century.-Form:...
(often highly politicized) continues — and is accentuated by the January 30 execution of Charles ICharles I of EnglandCharles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
. In the play Newmarket Fair, Oliver CromwellOliver CromwellOliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
and other Parliamentary leaders commit suicide when they learn of the accession of Charles IICharles II of EnglandCharles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
(an event that, in actuality, still lies eleven years in the future). - Eikon Basilike, supposedly Charles I's account of his final days, is published, and becomes an enormous popular success. The work is now attributed to John GaudenJohn GaudenJohn Gauden was an English bishop of Exeter then bishop of Worcester and writer, and the reputed author of the important Royalist work Eikon Basilike.-Life:...
. - Antoine Girard's poem Rome Ridicule starts a fashion for burlesque poetry.
- Alexander RossAlexander Ross (writer)Alexander Ross was a prolific Scottish writer and controversialist. He was Chaplain-in-Ordinary to Charles I.-Life:He was born in Aberdeen, and entered King's College, Aberdeen, in 1604. About 1616 he succeeded Thomas Parker in the mastership of the free school at Southampton, an appointment which...
, the Scottish controversialist, publishes the first English translation of the Qur'anQur'anThe Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
. Knowing no Arabic, Ross works from Andre du RyerAndre du RyerAndré Du Ryer was a French orientalist who wrote the third western translation of the Qur'an.-Works:* Grammaire turque * Gulistan, ou l'empire des roses * L'Alcoran de Mahomet -External links:...
's 1647 French version, L'Alcoran de MahometL'Alcoran de MahometL'Alcoran de Mahomet was the third western translation of the Qur'an, preceded by Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete and the translation by Mark of Toledo...
. - Sir William DavenantWilliam DavenantSir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
is appointed treasurer of the colony of Virginia.
New books
- René DescartesRené DescartesRené Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
- Les passions de l'âme (Passions of the SoulPassions of the SoulIn the treatise Passions of the Soul , the last of Descartes' published work, completed in 1649 and dedicated to Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia, the author contributes to a long tradition of theorizing "the passions." The passions were experiences often equated with or labeled as precursors to what...
) - John DonneJohn DonneJohn Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
- Fifty Srmons - John GaudenJohn GaudenJohn Gauden was an English bishop of Exeter then bishop of Worcester and writer, and the reputed author of the important Royalist work Eikon Basilike.-Life:...
(?) - Eikon Basilike: The Portraicture of His Sacred Majestie in His Solitudes and Sufferings - John LilburneJohn LilburneJohn Lilburne , also known as Freeborn John, was an English political Leveller before, during and after English Civil Wars 1642-1650. He coined the term "freeborn rights", defining them as rights with which every human being is born, as opposed to rights bestowed by government or human law...
- England's New Chains Discovered
- Legal Fundamental Liberties
- John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
- EikonoklastesEikonoklastesEikonoklastes is a book by John Milton, published October 1649. In it he provides a justification for the execution of Charles I, which had taken place on 30 January 1649. The book's title is taken from the Greek, and means "iconoclast" or "breaker of the icon", and refers to Eikon Basilike, a...
(a reply to Eikon Basilike) - The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates
- Eikonoklastes
- Alexander RossAlexander Ross (writer)Alexander Ross was a prolific Scottish writer and controversialist. He was Chaplain-in-Ordinary to Charles I.-Life:He was born in Aberdeen, and entered King's College, Aberdeen, in 1604. About 1616 he succeeded Thomas Parker in the mastership of the free school at Southampton, an appointment which...
- The Alcoran of Mahomet - "Salmasius" (Claude de Saumaise) - Defensio Regia
- Jeremy TaylorJeremy TaylorJeremy Taylor was a clergyman in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression and was often presented as a model of prose writing...
- Apology for authorized and set forms of Liturgy against the Pretence of the Spirit
Published plays
- Anonymous
- A Bartholomew Fairing
- The Disease of the House, or the State Mountebank Administering Physic to a Sick Parliament
- The Famous Tragedy of Charles II, Basely Butchered
- Newmarket Fair, or A Parliament Outcry
- Anonymous ("T. B.") - The Rebellion of Naples, or the Tragedy of Massenello
- William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle
- The Country CaptainThe Country CaptainThe Country Captain, alternatively known as Captain Underwit, is a Caroline era stage play written by William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, and first published in 1649...
- The Variety
- The Country Captain
- Sir William DavenantWilliam DavenantSir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
- Love and Honour - Francis QuarlesFrancis QuarlesFrancis Quarles was an English poet most famous for his Emblem book aptly entitled Emblems.-Career:Francis was born in Romford, Essex, , and baptised there on 8 May 1592. He traced his ancestry to a family settled in England before the Norman Conquest with a long history in royal service...
- The Virgin Widow - William Peaps - Love in Its Ecstasy, or the Large Prerogative
- Christopher WaseChristopher WaseChristopher Wase was an English scholar, author, translator, and educator, who was the Architypographus of Oxford University Press for several years.-Life:...
- The Electra of Sophocles
Births
- June 13 - Adrien BailletAdrien BailletAdrien Baillet was a French scholar and critic. He is now best known as a biographer of René Descartes.-Life:He was born in the village of Neuville near Beauvais, in Picardie...
, critic - September 27 - Jonas Danilssønn RamusJonas Danilssønn RamusJonas Danilssønn Ramus was a Norwegian priest and historian. He was principally an author of religious and historical writings. -Background:...
, historian (died 1718) - date unknown
- Sir John FloyerJohn FloyerSir John Floyer , English physician and author, was the third child and second son of Elizabeth Babington and Richard Floyer, of Hints Hall, a since demolished country house. Hints is a quiet village lying a short distance from Lichfield in Staffordshire...
, physician and writer (died 1734) - Samuel Johnson (1649–1703), political writer (died 1703)
- Sir John Floyer
Deaths
- March 19 - Gerhard Johann VossiusGerhard Johann Vossiusthumb|180px|Gerrit Johan VossiusGerrit Janszoon Vos , often known by his Latin name Gerardus Vossius, was a Dutch classical scholar and theologian.-Life:...
, theologian (born 1577) - June 3 - Manuel de Faria e SousaManuel de Faria e SousaManuel de Faria e Sousa was Portuguese historian and poet during the period of the Iberian Union, frequently writing in Spanish.right|thump|300px|Portrait of Manuel de Faria e Sousa in Ásia portuguesa...
, historian and poet (born 1590) - June 20 - Maria Tesselschade VisscherMaria Tesselschade VisscherMaria Tesselschade Roemers Visscher, also called Maria Tesselschade Roemersdochter Visscher or Tesselschade was a Dutch poet and engraver.-Life:...
, poet (born 1594) - August 25 - Richard CrashawRichard CrashawRichard Crashaw , English poet, styled "the divine," was part of the Seventeenth-century Metaphysical School of poets.-Life:...
(born c. 1613) - October 3 - Giovanni DiodatiGiovanni DiodatiGiovanni Diodati or Deodati was a Swiss-born Italian theologian and translator. He was the first person to translate the Bible into Italian from Hebrew and Greek sources...
, theologian (born 1576) - November 19 - Caspar SchoppeCaspar SchoppeCaspar Schoppe was a German controversialist and scholar.-Life:He was born at Neumarkt in the upper Palatinate and studied at several German universities. Having converted to Roman Catholicism in about 1599, he obtained the favour of Pope Clement VIII, and distinguished himself by the virulence of...
, critic (born 1576) - December 4 - William Drummond of HawthorndenWilliam Drummond of HawthorndenWilliam Drummond , called "of Hawthornden", was a Scottish poet.-Life:Drummond was born at Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian. His father, John Drummond, was the first laird of Hawthornden; and his mother was Susannah Fowler, sister of William Fowler, poet and courtier...
, poet(born 1585)