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- Edward the First was born on 17 June 1239 in Westminster, London, England, UK. He died on 7 July 1307 in Carlisle, Cumbria, England, UK.
- Edward the Second was born on 25 April 1284 in Wales. He died in September 1327 in England.
- Soundtrack
Henry VIII (28 June 1491 - 28 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated. Henry is also known as "the father of the Royal Navy", as he invested heavily in the navy, increasing its size from a few to more than 50 ships, and established the Navy Board.- John Dee was born on 13 July 1527 in London, England, UK. John was married to Jane Fromond. John died in December 1608 in Mortlake, England, UK.
- The 17th Earl of Oxford, hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain of England, scion of the noble house of Vere (his ancestor Aubrey received titles and estates from William the Conqueror in 1066). Poet, playwright, and courtier to Queen Elizabeth I, he received his classical education at Cambridge and Oxford, studied law at Gray's Inn, and had his own company of players who performed at court and in the public theatres. Due to the extraordinary parallels between what is known about his life and writing, and the language and events of the poems and plays, he is believed by many to have written under the pen-name William Shakespeare.
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Born the son of a shoe-maker two months before the birth of another famous playwright, William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe achieved fame as an Elizabethan dramatist as well as an atheist. He was killed in a tavern brawl by a former friend, allegedly over a bill. There is now some evidence that suggests his death was in fact an assassination.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
William Shakespeare's birthdate is assumed from his baptism on April 25. His father John was the son of a farmer who became a successful tradesman; his mother Mary Arden was gentry. He studied Latin works at Stratford Grammar School, leaving at about age 15. About this time his father suffered an unknown financial setback, though the family home remained in his possession. An affair with Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior and a nearby farmer's daughter, led to pregnancy and a hasty marriage late in 1582. Susanna was born in May of 1583, twins Hamnet and Judith in January of 1585. By 1592 he was an established actor and playwright in London though his "career path" afterward (fugitive? butcher? soldier? actor?) is highly debated. When plague closed the London theatres for two years he apparently toured; he also wrote two long poems, "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece". He may have spent this time at the estate of the Earl of Southampton. By December 1594 he was back in London as a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, the company he stayed with the rest of his life. In 1596 he seems to have purchased a coat of arms for his father; the same year Hamnet died at age 11. The following year he purchased the grand Stratford mansion New Place. A 1598 edition of "Love's Labors" was the first to bear his name, though he was already regarded as England's greatest playwright. He is believed to have written his "Sonnets" during the 1590s. In 1599 he became a partner in the new Globe Theatre, the company of which joined the royal household on the accession of James in 1603. That is the last year in which he appeared in a cast list. He seems to have retired to Stratford in 1612, where he continued to be active in real estate investment. The cause of his death is unknown.- King James Scotland was born on 19 June 1566 in Edinburgh, Scotland. King James was a writer, known for Magie des Étoiles (2019). King James died on 27 March 1625 in England.
- Writer
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Benjamin Jonson was born 1571 as the posthumous son of a Protestant minister. His mother then moved him to Westminster, where she married a bricklayer. He attended a free parish school as a boy, and thanks to the sponsorship of the headmaster, was able to attend Westminster Grammar School. Unofortunately, Ben lost his scholarship and was forced to take up bricklaying alongside his stepfather. This occupation did not appeal to him, and he left for military duty in Flanders and did not return to England until 1592. He married in 1594, and joined a touring acting company in 1597. Ben Jonson and another playwright then wrote a play called "Isle of Dogs" which was immediately banned on charges of sedition, and he and his friends found themselves in Fleet Prison. He was released after a few months and managed to restart his acting career. In December of 1598 he fought a duel with another actor named Gabriel Spencer; fortunately for Ben, he won, but unfortunately, he was imprisoned on charges of murder and given the death sentence. He managed to escape the gallows and returned to playwriting. He set out on foot in 1618 to visit Scotland and on his return began lecturing on rhetoric at colleges. He died in 1637 and was buried in Westminster Abbey; his epitaph reads: "O Rare Ben Jonson"- John Fletcher was born on 20 December 1579 in Rye, Sussex, England. He was a writer, known for The Show Must Go Online (2020), Whatever Next? (1968) and Shakespeare's Globe: The Two Noble Kinsmen (2018). He died on 29 August 1625 in London, Kingdom of England [now England, UK].
- Thomas Hobbes was born on 5 April 1588 in England. He died on 4 December 1679 in England.
- Pocahontas was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of a network of tributary tribes in the Tsenacommacah, encompassing the Tidewater region of Virginia. Pocahontas's birth year is unknown, but some historians estimate it to have been around 1596. In A True Relation of Virginia (1608), Smith described meeting Pocahontas in the spring of 1608 when she was "a child of ten years old." In a 1616 letter, he again described her as she was in 1608, but this time as "a child of twelve or thirteen years of age.
- Art Department
Sir Anthony van Dyck 22 March 1599 - 9 December 1641 was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy.
The seventh child of Frans van Dyck, a wealthy Antwerp silk merchant, Anthony painted from an early age. He was successful as an independent painter in his late teens, and became a master in the Antwerp guild in 1618. By this time he was working in the studio of the leading northern painter of the day, Peter Paul Rubens, who became a major influence on his work. Van Dyck worked in London for some months in 1621, then returned to Flanders for a brief time, before travelling to Italy, where he stayed until 1627, mostly in Genoa. In the late 1620s he completed his greatly admired Iconography series of portrait etchings, mostly of other artists. He spent five years in Flanders after his return from Italy, and from 1630 was court painter for the archduchess Isabella, Habsburg Governor of Flanders. In 1632 he returned to London to be the main court painter, at the request of Charles I of England.
With the exception of Holbein, van Dyck and his contemporary Diego Velázquez were the first painters of pre-eminent talent to work mainly as court portraitists, revolutionising the genre. He is best known for his portraits of the aristocracy, most notably Charles I, and his family and associates. Van Dyck became the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next 150 years. He also painted mythological and biblical subjects, including altarpieces, displayed outstanding facility as a draughtsman, and was an important innovator in watercolour and etching. His superb brushwork, apparently rather quickly painted, can usually be distinguished from the large areas painted by his many assistants. His portrait style changed considerably between the different countries he worked in, culminating in the relaxed elegance of his last English period. His influence extends into the modern period. The Van Dyke beard is named after him. During his lifetime, Charles I granted him a knighthood, and he was buried in St Paul's Cathedral, an indication of his standing at the time of his death.- Writer
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John Milton was an English poet and intellectual who served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious and political instability, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). Written in blank verse, Paradise Lost is widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever written.- Writer
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John Bunyan was born on 28 November 1628 in Harrowden, Northamptonshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The Life of John Bunyan (1912), Pilgrim's Progress (1912) and Dangerous Journey (1961). He died on 31 August 1688 in London, England, UK.- Charles the Bald (French: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 - 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843-877), king of Italy (875-877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875-877). After a series of civil wars during the reign of his father, Louis the Pious, Charles succeeded, by the Treaty of Verdun (843), in acquiring the western third of the empire. He was a grandson of Charlemagne and the youngest son of Louis the Pious by his second wife, Judith.
- Writer
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John Dryden was born on 9 August 1631 in Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, England, UK. John was a writer, known for England, My England (1995), King Arthur (Le Roi Arthur) (2009) and Licked (2010). John died on 1 May 1700 in London, England, UK.- Art Department
Christopher Wren was born on 20 October 1632 in East Knoyle, Wiltshire, where his father was rector. His father later moved to Windsor and Wren was educated at Westminster School and then Oxford University. He showed an early talent for mathematics and enjoyed inventing things, including an instrument for writing in the dark and a pneumatic machine.
Wren was one of Britain's most distinguished architects, best known for the design of many London churches, including St Paul's Cathedral. In 1665, Wren visited Paris, where he was strongly influenced by French and Italian baroque styles. Wren did design 51 new city churches, as well as the new St Paul's Cathedral.
In 1669, he was appointed surveyor of the royal works which effectively gave him control of all government building in the country. He was knighted in 1673.
Christopher Wren died on 25 February 1723. His gravestone in St Paul's Cathedral features the Latin inscription which translates as: 'If you seek his memorial, look about you.'- Samuel Pepys was born on 23 February 1633 in Salisbury Court, London, England [now UK]. He was a writer, known for The Diary of Samuel Pepys (1958), The Sunday Programme (1994) and L'honorable Mr. Pepys (1957). He was married to Elisabeth de St Michel. He died on 26 May 1703 in Clapham [now London], England [now UK].
- William Russell was born on 29 September 1639 in England. He died on 21 July 1683 in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, England.
- After he wrote the play, "The Gentleman Master", (1672), it was panned by critics, so in the prologue to his most famous play, "The Country Wife", (1676), he offered the actors, mistresses and matrons to the critics in case this was equally badly received. His last play was, "The Plain Dealer", (1676).
He was buried, possibly in Covent Garden, London on January 8 1716. He was a member of King Charles II's court and married in ill health, less than a month before his death. - Art Department
Grinling Gibbons was born on 4 April 1648 in Rotterdam, Dutch Republic [now Zuid-Holland, Netherlands]. Grinling is known for The Queen's Palaces (2011) and Carved with Love: The Genius of British Woodwork (2013). Grinling died on 3 August 1721 in London, England.- William III (William Henry; Dutch: Willem Hendrik; 4 November 1650 - 8 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the 1670s, and King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. As King of Scotland, he is known as William II. He is sometimes informally known as "King Billy" in Ireland and Scotland. His victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is commemorated by Unionists, who display orange colors in his honor. He ruled Britain alongside his wife and cousin Queen Mary II, and popular histories usually refer to their reign as that of "William and Mary".
- Thomas Otway was born on 3 March 1652 in Trotton, near Midhurst, Sussex, England, UK. Thomas was a writer, known for All the World's a Stage (1984) and Venezia salvata o la congiura tradita (1986). Thomas died on 14 April 1685 in London, England, UK(undisclosed).
- Edmond Halley was born on 8 November 1656 in England. He died on 14 January 1742 in Greenwich, London, England, UK.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Purcell grew up in a musical family. As a boy he attended the Chapel Royal church choir. His talent earned him training as an organist. In 1677, the 18-year-old became "composer for the violins" at the English court. Two years later he took up the position of organist at Westminster Abbey. Purcell thus took over the post from John Blow, one of his organist teachers, which he held until his death. In 1682 he became organist of the Chapel Royal and a year later, royal instrument manager. During this time he primarily composed sacred music and works for celebratory occasions, including the celebratory compositions "I was glad" and "My heart is inditing" from 1685.
Two years later the music for the tragedy "Tyrannick Love" by John Dryden was created. In 1689, Purcell's first opera, Dido and Aeneas, was performed. The following year he created songs for Shakespeare's "The Tempest" based on an adaptation by John Dryden and for his comedy title "Amphitryon". In 1691 and the following year the baroque operas "King Arthur" and "The Fairy Queen" were written. Purcell composed the titles "Te Deum" and "Jubilate" on the occasion of St. Cecilia's Day in 1694. They are both considered masterpieces. In the same year he wrote an anthem, a choral piece with sacred text, for the memorial service on the occasion of the death of Queen Mary II of England. This piece in particular shows the lasting impact of Purcell's musical work up to modern times: it was electronically edited by Wendy Carlos for the theme music of Stanley Kubrick's film "A Clockwork Orange".
Purcell was only 36 years old, but he was very productive in his musical life. His work includes around 40 masterpieces, stage works, plays, odes, songs, cantatas, chamber music, church choir and piano works. With his three- to five-part sonatas and fantasies for string instruments, he continued the older English consort music, which gained recognition for its artistic polyphony, highly cromatic and dissonant harmony of the modern style. His other semi-operas also include the titles "The prophetess, or the history of Dioclesian" (1690) and "The Indian Queen" (1695).
Henry Purcell died in London on November 21, 1695.- Born the eldest son and third child of James and Mary Defoe, Defoe received a very good education, as his father intended him to become a Presbyterian minister, but he chose to become a merchant instead. In 1684 he joined the army of the rebel Duke of Monmouth, but when the rebellion failed, Defoe was forced into semi-exile. He went bankrupt in 1692, and began writing professionally. He wrote a satirical pamphlet in 1703 called "The Shortest Way with the Dissenters", for which he was pilloried. After a stint in Newgate prison and more troubles with his bankruptcy, Defoe wrote "Robinson Crusoe" and "Moll Flanders", both of which were great successes. Labeled a social historian for his interest in colonization, economics, and exploration, Defoe died of a lethargy in Cripplegate on 24 April 1731.
- Queen Anne was born on 6 February 1665 in London, England. She was married to Prince George of Denmark. She died on 1 August 1714 in London, England.
- Colley Cibber (1671-1757) was an actor, theatrical impresario, playwright and poet now remembered only for his bowdlerization of William Shakespeare's Richard III (1955) (Laurence Olivier used Cibber's interpolations in his 1955 film of the play) and for being the model for the chief protagonist of his nemesis Alexander Pope's poem "The Dunciad". He was a very successful actor-manager in his time, famed for playing fops.
Through political connections with the Whig government of Prime Minister Robert Walpole, he became Poet Laureate of England in 1730, a scandal at the time (and still scandalous) as Pope, Edward Young and others were far greater artists than Cibber. Cibber was more poetaster than poet. Pope kept up an unrelenting attack in his writing against Cibber ("The King of the Dunces"), whose own plays and poetry were recognized for lacking aesthetic appeal. Cibber was immortalized in an epigram of the time: "In merry old England it once was a rule,/The King had his Poet, and also his Fool:/ But now we're so frugal, I'd have you to know it,/That Cibber can serve both for Fool and for Poet." - Music Department
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Isaac Watts was born on 17 July 1674 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK. He is known for Reindeer Games (2000), Get Carter (2000) and Mute (2018). He died on 25 November 1748 in London, England, UK.- Nicola Francesco Haym was born on 6 July 1678 in Rome, Papal State [now Lazio, Italy]. Nicola Francesco was a writer, known for The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (2006), Prestige de la musique (1963) and Tamerlano de Haendel (2015). Nicola Francesco was married to Joanna Maria. Nicola Francesco died on 31 July 1729 in London, England, UK.
- Writer
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Aaron Hill was born on 10 February 1685 in London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Farinelli (1994), Rinaldo (2001) and Rinaldo (2011). He died on 8 February 1750 in London, England, UK.- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Born February 23 1685 in Halle, Germany, he was christened "Georg Friederich Händel" but always signed his name "Georg Friedrich Händel". His father intended for him to go into law, but Händel studied music clandestinely and was eventually allowed to study under an organist. He achieved some success early on, and toured Italy in 1706. He briefly worked in Hannover before departing for London in 1711. While in England Händel composed a number of anthems, operas, and church music, and in 1723 he became a British citizen. He premiered "Messiah" in Ireland as a charity aid, and this quickly became his most famous work. He died early in the morning on 14 April 1759, and was buried in Westminster Abbey under a monument that reads: "George Frederic Handel". 3,000 people attended his funeral.- Writer
- Music Department
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John Gay was born on 30 June 1685 in Barnstaple, Devon, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Emma (1996), Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945) and The Beggar's Opera (1953). He died on 4 December 1732 in London, England, UK.- Writer
- Soundtrack
Alexander Pope was born on 22 May 1688 in London, England, UK. Alexander was a writer, known for Acis and Galatea (2009). Alexander died on 30 May 1744 in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK.- Samuel Richardson was born on 19 August 1689 in Mackworth, Derbyshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980), Mistress Pamela (1973) and Clarissa (1991). He died on 4 July 1761 in Parsons Green, Middlesex, England, UK.
- George Lillo was born on 4 February 1693 in London, England, UK. George was a writer, known for In the Toils of the Temptress (1913). George died on 4 September 1739 in London, England, UK.
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- Art Department
- Additional Crew
William Hogarth was born on 10 November 1697 in London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Bedlam (1946), The Rake's Progress (1939) and Artists' Notebooks (1964). He was married to Jane Thornhill. He died on 26 October 1764 in London, England, UK.- Soundtrack
James Thomson was born on 11 September 1700 in Ednam, Roxburghshire, Kingdom of Scotland [now Scotland, UK]. He died on 27 August 1748 in Kew, Richmond upon Thames, London, England, UK.- Music Department
- Soundtrack
John Wesley was born on 17 June 1703 in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, UK. John is known for Feast of July (1995), Jazz Scene at the Ronnie Scott Club (1969) and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007). John was married to Molly Vazeille. John died on 2 March 1791 in London, England, UK.- Music Department
- Writer
- Composer
Thomas Augustine Arne was born on 12 March 1710 in Covent Garden, London, England, UK. Thomas Augustine was a writer and composer, known for Down with Love (2003), Hysteria (2011) and The BFG (2016). Thomas Augustine died on 5 March 1778 in London, England, UK.- Art Department
Allan Ramsay was born on 13 October 1713 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, UK. Allan is known for The Queen's Palaces (2011). Allan was married to Margaret Lindsay and Anne Bayne. Allan died on 10 August 1784 in Dover, Kent, England, UK.- Laurence Sterne was born on 24 November 1713 in Clonmel, Kingdom of Ireland [now County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland]. Laurence was a writer, known for Tristram Shandy (2005), Famous Gossips (1965) and Camera Three (1955). Laurence was married to Elizabeth Lumley. Laurence died on 18 March 1768 in London, England, UK.
- William Watson was born on 3 April 1715 in London, England, UK. He died on 10 May 1787 in London, England, UK.
- Thomas Gray was born on 26 December 1716 in London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The Restless Spirit (1913), About Religion (1956) and Pastoral Panoramas (1950). He died on 30 July 1771 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK.
- Writer
- Soundtrack
David Garrick was born on 19 February 1717 in Hereford, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Miss in Her Teens (2014), Il matrimonio segreto (1943) and The Country Girl (1915). He was married to Eva Maria Veigel. He died on 20 January 1779 in London, England, UK.- Horace Walpole was born on 24 September 1717 in London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Post Tenebras Lux (2017) and The Castle of Otranto (1977). He died on 2 March 1797 in London, England, UK.
- Music Department
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John Newton (4 August 1725 - 21 December 1807) was an English Anglican cleric, a captain of slave ships who later became an investor in the slave trade but subsequently became an abolitionist. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy for a period after forced recruitment. Newton went to sea at a young age and worked on slave ships in the slave trade for several years. In 1745, he himself became a slave of Princess Peye, a woman of the Sherbro people. He was rescued, returned to sea and the trade, becoming Captain of several slave ships. After retiring from active sea-faring, he continued to invest in the slave trade. Some years after experiencing a conversion to Christianity, Newton later renounced his trade and became a prominent supporter of abolitionism. Now an evangelical, he was ordained as a Church of England cleric and served as parish priest at Olney, Buckinghamshire, for two decades. He also wrote hymns, including "Amazing Grace" and "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken". Newton lived to see the British Empire's abolition of the African slave trade in 1807, just months before his death.- Music Department
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François-André Danican Philidor was born on 7 September 1726 in Dreux, Eure-et-Loir, France. François-André is known for The Wife (2017), Valmont (1989) and Tom Jones (1996). François-André died on 31 August 1795 in London, England, UK.- Oliver Goldsmith was born on 10 November 1730 in Pallas, County Longford, Ireland. He was a writer, known for The Vicar of Wakefield (1917), The Vicar of Wakefield (1913) and The Vicar of Wakefield (1913). He died on 4 April 1774 in London, England, UK.