Overseas Possessions
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| World Map 1625 |
Britain had began to expand her trading interests outside of Europe. Newfoundland had been claimed during Queen Elizabeth's reign and colonists were established settlements in America. The British East India Company had been granted a charter to trade in the East Indies. The first trading post at Surat, India was established in 1613.
The Pilgrim Fathers set sail in the Mayflower September 1620 for the new world of America and landed at Cape Cod in November.
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| Mayflower sailing to America |
In 1627 a colony is established in Barbados, and a colony is established in Guiana, South America a few years later.
Europe
European affairs were dominated by the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, France who were in conflict when Charles I ascended to the throne, in what would become the Thirty Years War. the Mediterranean Basin was largely under the control of the Ottoman Empire which was nearing it's zenith.
The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in Western, Central and Southern Europe mainly under the rule of the Habsburgs family. Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II controlled the the multi kingdom Empire.
The Spanish Empire in Europe ruled by Felipe IV included Scilly and Portugal. Spanish colonisation included territories in South America, the Caribbean and into Asia, including the Philippines.
Catholic France ruled by Louis XIII was experiencing internal unrest with Protestant Huguenots, and intermitted skirmishes with Spain. All out war between Spain and France would break out in 1635, renewing conflicts of the previous century.
The area of what would become Germany was a series of small states each with their own head of state, all of varying sizes and influence.
In Scandinavia, Sweden was the dominant power, with territories it what is now Finland, and supporting Protestant countries in the Thirty Year War. Norway and Denmark were collaborating together in a beneficial trading union.
The Dutch Republic, previously a Spanish colony were developing into the leading maritime nation. The Dutch East Indies Company had been established in 1602 and had established trading links to Asia and North America. In 1625 construction began on a settlement and a fort, New Amsterdam, on the island of Manhattan.
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| Manhattan 1627 |
The Ottoman Empire ruled by Sultan Murad IV with it's capital Constantinople was centred on present day Turkey. It stretched through the Balkans and around the Black Sea. It occupied the lands from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, the northern coasts of the Red Sea, and the coastal areas of North Africa.
17th Century Fashion
17th Century Architecture
In September 1615, Inigo Jones was appointed Surveyor-General of the King's Works. In that position he was responsible to oversee the building and maintenance of royal properties and residences.
It was Inigo Jones who introduce the classical architecture of Rome and the Italian Renaissance to Britain
Charles I continued James I's lavish spending on the construction of new buildings. One of his first works was the Queens House at Greenwich. Originally designed for James I's wife Anne, the work was completed for Queen Henrietta Maria, Charles I's spouse.
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| Queens House Greenwich |
He designed and built the the Banqueting House in the Palace of Whitehall, and the Queen's Chapel in St. James's Palace.
Though Inigo Jones prime duties as Surveyor-General were concerned with royal properties, he did provide his services to those within royal circles. One notable work being Wilton House near Salisbury, Wiltshire, the country seat of the Earl of Pembroke.
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| Wilton House near Salisbury Wiltshire |
He was commissioned to design Covenant Garden Square and the square of Lincoln's Inn Fields.
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| Covenant Garden Square |
Between 1634 and 1642 Jones undertook was the repair and remodelling of St Paul's Cathedral, which was later destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
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Inigo Jones' St Pauls Cathedral
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17th Century Life
