Facts about London in the 17th Century
From Margarette Lincoln's book, London and the 17th Century
James I of England succeeded Elizabeth I as a Protestant monarch. His eldest son, Henry, was considered a promising future king, but in 1612 he contracted a severe fever at the age of 18. As the illness appeared worse in his head, his physicians shaved his hair and applied “warm cocks and pigeons newly killed”. The treatment proved ineffective, and Henry died.
Relatedly, a popular alcoholic beverage at the time was cock ale, i.e., beer flavored with a parboiled, skinned and gutted cock, spices and fruit.
As a result of Henry’s death, his younger brother Charles became king, later known as Charles I. Charles married Henrietta Maria, a staunch Roman Catholic from France. Unwilling to marry in a Protestant ceremony, she instead took part in a proxy wedding before leaving Paris for England, with Charles represented by the Duc de Chevreuse. The marriage was also symbolically consummated by proxy, with the Duc lying beside Henrietta Maria that night so that their legs touched.
Charles I was eventually beheaded and succeeded by the Commonwealth, later ruled by Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector. After Cromwell’s death, the regime quickly fell apart, paving the way for the restoration of the monarchy. The new king was Charles II, the son of Charles I. By the time of Charles II’s coronation, there was a growing market for consumer goods, including items commemorating royal events and marriages. The first coronation mug was produced during his reign.
In 1667, Arthur Coga became the first Englishman to undergo a blood transfusion, though the first human transfusion had been carried out a few months earlier in Paris. Coga received about nine ounces of sheep’s blood, which some believed possessed healing qualities because Jesus was described in the Bible as the Lamb of God. The procedure was intended to improve Coga’s mental illness. It failed to do so, though he survived the transfusion.
Blood transfusions were soon outlawed in both England and France after another procedure proved fatal. At the time, there was still no understanding of blood types or the incompatibility between blood from different species. Transfusions were not seriously attempted again until the nineteenth century.
Coal gradually superseded wood as the most common household cooking fuel. Coal fires were set beneath a grate supported by two brick pillars, allowing cooks to roast meat on spits turned by mechanical jacks over a dripping pan. These jacks were powered either by gears or by a system of weights. In larger households, the mechanism might even be operated by a small dog running on a treadmill. Such dogs were specially bred with long bodies and short legs for the task.
The spread of coal grates also encouraged new forms of cookware. By the mid-1680s, the three-legged skillet was giving way to the flat-bottomed saucepan. This shift helped popularize sauce-making, in keeping with the growing influence of French cuisine. Ovens, however, were still uncommon in ordinary households, so pies and similar dishes were often sent to a baker to be cooked.
Cooking required considerable intuition and experience. Housewives and servants had to judge different cuts of meat, the varying heat of fires, and appropriate cooking times by eye. Conditions were so inconsistent that cookbooks often omitted exact quantities and cooking times altogether.
By around 1690, roughly 10% of England’s population lived in London, whose commercial center had one of the highest recorded population densities of any city at the time. Between 8% and 10% of London’s inhabitants were Huguenots who had come to England as refugees, fleeing Catholic persecution in France.