The Stuart Period in History

The late Tudor or Stuart period has a great period of Stuart Interiors & Designs but is sadly dominated by two disasters, the Great Plague and the Great Fire. In 1665 Plague broke out in the city, brought by ship from Holland. London had been no stranger to the plague since the Middle Ages, but this was something different - a strain so virulent that sufferers could catch it and die within hours. The city descended into a state of panic.

The late Tudor or Stuart period provided us with a great collection of Stuart interiors, showing off there ability to work in fine materials during the Stuart, late Tudor period.

Fine Court cupboards of the late Tudor or Stuart period. There are two beautifully carved figures supporting the upper corners. With the exception of the lower panels of the doors of the cupboard this piece is carved all over. The split turned ornament, a feature in later Jacobean furniture, is noticeable, as well as the finely carved rosettes on the cornice.

Sufferers were locked in their houses, along with their families. It was thought that dogs and cats spread the disease, so the Lord Mayor ordered them all killed. Thus, with one stroke, the natural enemies of the rats who were the true carriers were decimated.

Throughout the very long, dry summer of 1665 the plague raged in London. The court fled, most doctors and priests followed, and anyone with the means to leave, left quickly. Although the worst of the plague died by autumn, it was not until the next great calamity cleansed the filthy streets of London that the plague was truly over. Estimates of the death toll range from 70,000 to well over 100,000 lives.

The second calamity was the Great Fire. On the night of September 2, 1666 a small fire, perhaps started by the carelessness of a maid, started in the shop of the king's baker in Pudding Lane. Fanned by a strong wind, the fire soon became an inferno. For four days the fire raged through the close-packed streets of wooden houses, until the wind died.

The toll of the fire was immense. Although only 8 lives were lost, fully four-fifths of the city was completely destroyed, including 13,000 buildings, 89 churches, 52 company halls, and old St. Paul's Cathedral.

Within days, Christopher Wren presented a plan for rebuilding the city with broad boulevards and open squares replacing the warren of alleys and byways. Wren's plan, though, was simply too costly, and people being people, new buildings were built along the same street pattern as before.

Wren was, however, given the task of rebuilding the churches, including St. Paul's Cathedral. Most of the churches in London today are Wren's work, and it is difficult to find churches that date to the period before the fire.

Stuart Period History, Stuart & Tudor Interiors, Interiors & Furniture, Stuart Design Furniture

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