During the life span of Turlough O’Carolan,
1670 – 1738, the world was developing rapidly.
It is interesting to know about a few of the other happenings going
around him as he visited his generous patrons in Ireland with his unparalled harp music and gift of language
Carolan was deeply influenced by the
baroque musicians of Europe who in turn were profoundly influenced by their contemporaries.
England: (Wikipedia)
Charles II: Oliver Cromwell
defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on
3 September 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe. Cromwell became virtual
dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Charles spent the next nine
years in exile.
The
Restoration.
A political crisis that followed the
death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in the restoration
of the monarchy, and Charles was invited to return to Britain. The restoration of
the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish
monarchies were all restored under Charles II. This period lasted roughly until 1710.
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| Charles receiving the 1st pineapple of the season |
Charles II was popularly known as the Merry Monarch, in reference to
both the liveliness and hedonism of his court and the general relief at the return to normal
after over a decade of rule by Oliver
Cromwell and the Puritans. Charles's wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no live children, but Charles acknowledged at least
twelve illegitimate children by various mistresses Charles was succeeded by his
brother, who became James II of England and Ireland and James VII of Scotland.
Sir
Christopher Michael Wren (20 October 1632 – 25 February 1723) is one of the
most highly acclaimed English architects in history. He had the responsibility
of rebuilding 52 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666. He
completed his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, in 1710.
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| The Wren Building |
In the USA, in Williamsburg, Virginia, The Wren
Building, attributed to Christopher
Wren, is the signature building of the College of William and Mary.
It is
the oldest academic building in continuous use in the United States.
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| Queen Anne |
Henry
Fielding (22
April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist and
dramatist known for his humor and satire and as the author of the
novel Tom Jones. He
had numerous literary achievements and is also known in law-enforcement. He founded (with his half-brother John) what
some have called London's first police
force, the Bow Street Runners, using his
authority as a magistrate.
France:Louis XIV (5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715),
known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi-Soleil), was a monarch
of the House
of Bourbon. He ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1643 until his death. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a major country in European
history. It is believed that Carolan played his harp
for King Louis.
Upon the king’s death
just days before his seventy-seventh birthday, Louis was succeeded by his
five-year-old great-grandson, Louis XV. He became known as Louis the
Beloved.
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| Louis the 14th |
Jean-Antoine Watteau (October 10, 1684 - July 18, 1721) was a
prolific French painter whose career spurred the revival of interest in color
and movement (in the tradition of Correggio and Rubens), and painted in a style
known as Rococo. The incredibly famous baroque artists that we
all love and admire did all painting before the birth of Carolan.
Germany. Frederick William I (14 August
1688 – 31 May 1740) was known as the 'Soldier King, He was the King in
Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death. During his reign,
Frederick William I did much to centralize and improve Prussia. He replaced
mandatory military service among the middle class with an annual tax,
established primary schools, and resettled East Prussia which had been
devastated by the plague in 1709.Hanover.
America.
Colonists. People were trying to establish settlements
and many died in the attempt in late 1600's early 1700's. Because people started making rules, the
settlements eventually grew into large cities and ports. Wealthier people were
able to get large amounts of good farmland, and a great amounts of it. Poorer
people normally came as indentured servants which meant they usually had about
seven years to work off the cost of their passage. The colonies soon were developed offering
more different opportunities for jobs such as ship building, trading, and as
merchants. There was a lot of
backcountry and swampland and, it was hard to make a living. All of the colonies had different lifestyles.
Slavery was rampant and many laws were being made to the detriment
of black people. In 1700, the publication of Samuel Sewall's The Selling of Joseph, is
considered the first major condemnation of slavery in print in British North
America.
The Salem witch
trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accfgvused
of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between
February 1692 and May 1693.
Italy.
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| The Cassini Division - Saturn |
Giovanni Domenico Cassini (8 June 1625
– 14 September 1712) was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, engineer,
and astrologer. Cassini is known for his work in the fields of
astronomy and engineering. Cassini most notably discovered four satellites of
the planet Saturn and
noted the division of the rings of Saturn – known now as the Cassini Division.
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| Elizabeth Farnese |
Elisabeth Farnese. Elisabeth was born at the Palazzo della Pilotta in Parma, Italy, on 25 October
1692. She died 11 July 1766. Elizabeth was Queen of Spain as the wife of King
Philip V. She exerted great influence over
Spain's foreign policy and was the de
facto ruler of Spain from 1714 until
1746. From 1759 until 1760, she governed as regent.
Seven Popes: (Wikipedia)
Pope Clement X (Latin: Clemens X; 13
July 1590 – 22 July 1676), born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri,
was Pope from 29 April 1670 to his death in 1676.
Pope Innocent XI (Latin: Innocentius XI; 16 May
1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was Pope from 21 September 1676 to his death in 1689. He is
known as the "Saviour of Hungary.
Pope Alexander VIII (22 April 1610 – 1 February 1691), born Pietro
Vito Ottoboni, was Pope from 6 October 1689 to his death in 1691. He is the
last pope to take the pontifical name of "Alexander" upon his
election to the papacy.
Pope Innocent XII (Latin: Innocentius XII; 13
March 1615 – 27 September 1700), born Antonio Pignatelli, was Pope from 12 July 1691 to his death in 1700. Innocent XII
appears as one of the narrators in Robert
Browning's long poem "The Ring and the Book" (1869), based on the true story of the pope's
intervention in a historical murder trial in Rome
during his papacy.
Pope Clement XI (Latin: Clemens XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni
Francesco Albani, was Pope from 23 November 1700 to his death in
1721. Clement XI was a patron of the arts and of science. He was also a great
benefactor of the Vatican
Library, his interest in
archaeology is credited with saving much of Rome’s antiquity. In fact, he
authorized excavations of the Roman catacombs. He was of Italian and Albanian origin.
Pope
Innocent XIII (Latin: Innocentius XIII;
13 May 1655 – 7 March 1724) was born as Michelangelo dei Conti and
was Pope from 8 May
1721 to his death in 1724. He is the last pope to date to take the pontifical
name of "Innocent" upon his election. Pope Innocent XIII was
reform-oriented, and he imposed new standards of frugality, abolishing
excessive spending. He took steps to finally end the practice of nepotism by
issuing a decree which forbade his successors from granting land, offices or
income to any relatives - something opposed by many cardinals who hoped that
they might become pope and benefit their families.
Pope Benedict XIII. b. Puglia
as Pietro Francesco Orsini; elected 4 May, 1724; d. 2 March, 1730, aged
80. As a simple (and elderly) Dominican monk he came from a family which
had provided two popes, Celestine II and Nicholas III, four centuries earlier.
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| Peter the Great |
Russia. Peter
the Great, (9 June 1672 – 8
February 1725) ruled the Tsardom of Russia and
later the Russian
Empire from 7 May 1682 until his
death in 1725. He led a cultural revolution that replaced the traditional and
medieval social and political system with one that was modern, scientific,
Europe-oriented based on The
Enlightenment. He was fifty-two years,
seven months old when he died, having reigned forty-two years.
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| Corelli |
European
Musicians:
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| Voltaire |
Philosophers, thinkers and
scientists:
Isaac Newton (1643–1727).
