1.
Elizabethan era
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The Elizabethan era is the epoch in English history marked by the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Historians often depict it as the age in English history. In terms of the century, the historian John Guy argues that England was economically healthier, more expansive. This golden age represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music, the era is most famous for theatre, as William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of Englands past style of theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home and it was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland. The Elizabethan Age may be viewed especially highly when considered in light of the failings of the periods preceding Elizabeths reign, the Protestant/Catholic divide was settled, for a time, by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, and parliament was not yet strong enough to challenge royal absolutism. England was also compared to the other nations of Europe. The Italian Renaissance had come to an end under the weight of Spanish domination of the peninsula, France was embroiled in its own religious battles due to significant Spanish intervention, that would only be settled in 1598 with the Edict of Nantes. The one great rival was Spain, which England clashed both in Europe and the Americas in skirmishes that exploded into the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604 and this drained both the English Exchequer and economy that had been so carefully restored under Elizabeths prudent guidance. English commercial and territorial expansion would be limited until the signing of the Treaty of London the year following Elizabeths death, economically, the country began to benefit greatly from the new era of trans-Atlantic trade, persistent theft of Spanish treasure, and the African slave trade. The Victorian era and the early 20th century idealised the Elizabethan era, the Encyclopædia Britannica maintains that he long reign of Elizabeth I, 1558–1603, was Englands Golden Age. Merry England, in love with life, expressed itself in music and literature, in architecture and this idealising tendency was shared by Britain and an Anglophilic America. In popular culture, the image of those adventurous Elizabethan seafarers was embodied in the films of Errol Flynn, in response and reaction to this hyperbole, modern historians and biographers have tended to take a more dispassionate view of the Tudor period. Elizabethan England was not particularly successful in a military sense during the period, having inherited a virtually bankrupt state from previous reigns, her frugal policies restored fiscal responsibility. Her fiscal restraint cleared the regime of debt by 1574, and this general peace and prosperity allowed the attractive developments that Golden Age advocates have stressed. The Elizabethan Age was also an age of plots and conspiracies, frequently political in nature, high officials in Madrid, Paris and Rome sought to kill Elizabeth, a Protestant, and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic. That would be a prelude to the recovery of England for Catholicism. In 1570, the Ridolfi plot was thwarted, in 1584, the Throckmorton Plot was discovered, after Francis Throckmorton confessed his involvement in a plot to overthrow the Queen and restore the Catholic Church in England
2.
Geoffrey Rush
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Geoffrey Roy Rush AC is an Australian actor and film producer. Rush is the youngest amongst the few people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, the Academy Award, the Primetime Emmy Award, and the Tony Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting, three British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen Actors Guild Awards, Rush is the founding President of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts and was named the 2012 Australian of the Year. Rush was born in Toowoomba, Queensland, the son of Merle, a department store sales assistant, and Roy Baden Rush and his father was of English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry, and his mother was of German descent. His parents divorced when he was five, and his mother took him to live with her parents in suburban Brisbane. Before he began his career, Rush attended Everton Park State High School. While at university, he was talent-spotted by Queensland Theatre Company in Brisbane, Rush began his career with QTC in 1971, appearing in 17 productions. In 1975, Rush went to Paris for two years and studied mime, movement and theatre at LÉcole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, in 1979, he shared an apartment with actor Mel Gibson for four months while they co-starred in a stage production of Waiting for Godot. Rush made his debut in the QTCs production of Wrong Side of the Moon. He worked with the QTC for four years, appearing in roles ranging across classical plays and pantomime, from Juno, following these, Rush left for Paris where he studied further. Rushs acting credits include Shakespeares plays, The Winters Tale and Troilus and he also appeared in an ongoing production of Oscar Wildes The Importance of Being Earnest as John Worthing. In September 1998, Rush played the role in the Beaumarchais play The Marriage of Figaro for the QTC. This was the production of the Optus Playhouse at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre at South Bank in Brisbane. A pun on Rushs name was used in the prologue of the play with the comment that the Optus Playhouse was opening with a Rush. Rush has appeared on stage for the Brisbane Arts Theatre and in other theatre venues. He has also worked as a theatre director, in 2007, he starred as King Berenger in a production of Eugène Ionescos Exit the King at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne and Company B in Sydney, directed by Neil Armfield. For this performance, he received a Helpmann Award nomination for best male actor in a play, Rush made his Broadway debut in a re-staging of Exit the King under Malthouse Theatres touring moniker Malthouse Melbourne and Company B Belvoir. This re-staging featured a new American cast including Susan Sarandon, the show opened on 26 March 2009 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
3.
Shakespeare in Love
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For the theatre adaptation, see Shakespeare in Love. Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 British-American romantic comedy-drama film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman, the film depicts an imaginary love affair involving Viola de Lesseps and playwright William Shakespeare while he was writing Romeo and Juliet. Several characters are based on figures, and many of the characters, lines. Shakespeare in Love won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress, in 1593 London, William Shakespeare is a sometime player in the Lord Chamberlains Men and poor playwright for Philip Henslowe, owner of The Rose Theatre. Shakespeare is working on a new comedy, Romeo and Ethel, suffering from writers block, he has barely begun the play, but starts auditioning players. Viola de Lesseps, the daughter of a merchant, who has seen Shakespeares plays at court, disguises herself as Thomas Kent to audition. Shakespeare pursues Kent to Violas house and leaves a note with the nurse and he sneaks into the house with the minstrels playing that night at the ball, where her parents are arranging her betrothal to Lord Wessex, an impoverished aristocrat. While dancing with Viola, Shakespeare is struck speechless, and after being ejected by Wessex. Wessex also asks Wills name, to which he replies that he is Christopher Marlowe, when he discovers her true identity, they begin a secret affair. Inspired by her, Shakespeare writes quickly, with help from his friend and rival playwright Christopher Kit Marlowe, completely transforming the play into what will become Romeo, then, Viola is summoned to court to receive approval for her proposed marriage to Lord Wessex. Shakespeare accompanies her, disguised as her female cousin, there, he persuades Wessex to wager £50 that a play can capture the true nature of love, the exact amount Shakespeare requires to buy a share in the Chamberlains Men. Queen Elizabeth I declares that she will judge the matter when the occasion arises. When Richard Burbage, owner of the Curtain, finds out that Shakespeare has cheated him out of money and the play, he goes to the Rose Theatre with his Curtain Theatre Company. The Rose Theatre company drives Burbage and his out and then celebrate at the local pub. Viola is appalled when she learns Shakespeare is married, albeit separated from his wife, will discovers that Marlowe is dead, and thinks he is to blame. Lord Wessex suspects an affair between Shakespeare and his bride-to-be, because Wessex thinks that Will is Kit Marlowe, he approves of Kits death, and tells Viola the news. It is later learned that Marlowe had been killed in an accident, Viola finds out that Will is still alive, and declares her love for him. When Edmund Tilney, the Master of the Revels, is informed there is a player at The Rose
4.
Lindfield, West Sussex
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Lindfield is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The parish lies to the north-east of Haywards Heath, of which the village is a part of the built-up area and it stands on the upper reaches of the River Ouse. The name Lindfield means open land with lime trees, the parish Church, All Saints, stands at the top of the High Street and its history goes back to 1098. One of the oldest houses in the village is Church House, formerly known as The Tiger and it is classified as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village stands on high ground above the upper reaches of the River Ouse and it is situated close to both the natural beauty of the High Weald and to Haywards Heath with its amenities and station on the main London-Brighton railway line. Lindfield has a historic and architectural heritage. The ancient High Street, lined with trees, has over forty medieval and post medieval timber-framed houses. At the bottom of the High Street is a natural spring-fed pond with fish, ducks, beyond lies the Common which, over the centuries, has witnessed many events – fairs, festivals, bonfire celebrations and sporting activities, cricket has been played there since 1747. Today, it is central to village celebrations and leisure activities. In addition to the Common there is Pickers Green, providing pitches for cricket, football, stoolball and a childrens play area. The High Street follows an ancient north-south track that has existed for thousands of years, long before the Romans built a road, the London to Brighton Way. Lindfield first appeared as Lindefeldia, open land with trees, in a Saxon charter of 765 AD. When the Domesday Book was compiled the lands were held by the Archbishop of Canterbury, King Edward III recognised the importance of medieval Lindfield and in 1343 granted the town a royal charter to hold a market every Thursday and two annual eight-day fairs. For centuries the fairs continued each April and August with the summer fair becoming one of the largest sheep sales in Sussex, Lindfield was once part of the thriving Wealden iron industry. As early as 1539, William Levett of Buxted, a county curate with a sideline in iron. Later the Henslowe family of Lindfield were actively engaged in the milling business in association with Ralph Hogge, parson Levetts former servant. In 1841 the London-Brighton railway opened, passing to the west of the parish with a Station for Cuckfield and Lindfield Towns on open land that was to become the town of Haywards Heath. The construction of the Ouse Valley branch line reached Lindfield in 1866 with a station to the north of All Saints Church
5.
Sussex
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Sussex, from the Old English Sūþsēaxe, is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Brighton and Hove was created as an authority in 1997. Until then, Chichester was Sussexs only city, Sussex has three main geographic sub-regions, each oriented approximately east to west. In the south-west is the fertile and densely populated coastal plain, North of this are the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs, beyond which is the well-wooded Sussex Weald. The name derives from the Kingdom of Sussex, which was founded, according to legend, in 825, it was absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex and subsequently into the kingdom of England. It was the home of some of Europes earliest hominids, whose remains have been found at Boxgrove, in 1974, the Lord-Lieutenant of Sussex was replaced with one each for East and West Sussex, which became separate ceremonial counties. Sussex continues to be recognised as a territory and cultural region. It has had a police force since 1968 and its name is in common use in the media. In 2007, Sussex Day was created to celebrate the rich culture. Based on the emblem of Sussex, a blue shield with six gold martlets. In 2013, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles formally recognised and acknowledged the existence of Englands 39 historic counties. The name Sussex is derived from the Middle English Suth-sæxe, which is in turn derived from the Old English Suth-Seaxe which means of the South Saxons, the South Saxons were a Germanic tribe that settled in the region from the North German Plain during the 5th and 6th centuries. The earliest known usage of the term South Saxons is in a charter of 689 which names them and their king, Noðhelm. The monastic chronicler who wrote up the entry classifying the invasion seems to have got his dates wrong, the New Latin word Suthsexia was used for Sussex by Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu in his 1645 map. Three United States counties, and a former division of Western Australia, are named after Sussex. The flag of Sussex consists of six gold martlets, or heraldic swallows, on a background, blazoned as Azure. Officially recognised by the Flag Institute on 20 May 2011, its design is based on the shield of Sussex. The first known recording of this emblem being used to represent the county was in 1611 when cartographer John Speed deployed it to represent the Kingdom of the South Saxons
6.
Devon
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Devon, also known as Devonshire, which was formerly its common and official name, is a county of England, reaching from the Bristol Channel in the north to the English Channel in the south. It is part of South West England, bounded by Cornwall to the west, Somerset to the northeast, combined as a ceremonial county, Devons area is 6,707 km2 and its population is about 1.1 million. Devon derives its name from Dumnonia, which, during the British Iron Age, Roman Britain, the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the Kingdom of Wessex during the eighth and ninth centuries. The western boundary with Cornwall was set at the River Tamar by King Æthelstan in 936, Devon was constituted as a shire of the Kingdom of England thereafter. The north and south coasts of Devon each have both cliffs and sandy shores, and the bays contain seaside resorts, fishing towns. The inland terrain is rural, generally hilly, and has a low density in comparison to many other parts of England. Dartmoor is the largest open space in southern England at 954 km2, to the north of Dartmoor are the Culm Measures and Exmoor. In the valleys and lowlands of south and east Devon the soil is fertile, drained by rivers including the Exe, the Culm, the Teign, the Dart. As well as agriculture, much of the economy of Devon is linked with tourism, in the Brittonic, Devon is known as Welsh, Dyfnaint, Breton, Devnent and Cornish, Dewnens, each meaning deep valleys. One erroneous theory is that the suffix is due to a mistake in the making of the original letters patent for the Duke of Devonshire. However, there are references to Defenascire in Anglo-Saxon texts from before 1000 AD, the term Devonshire may have originated around the 8th century, when it changed from Dumnonia to Defenascir. Kents Cavern in Torquay had produced human remains from 30–40,000 years ago, Dartmoor is thought to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer peoples from about 6000 BC. The Romans held the area under occupation for around 350 years. Devon became a frontier between Brittonic and Anglo-Saxon Wessex, and it was absorbed into Wessex by the mid 9th century. This suggests the Anglo-Saxon migration into Devon was limited rather than a movement of people. The border with Cornwall was set by King Æthelstan on the east bank of the River Tamar in 936 AD, the arrival of William of Orange to launch the Glorious Revolution of 1688 took place at Brixham. Devon has produced tin, copper and other metals from ancient times, Devons tin miners enjoyed a substantial degree of independence through Devons Stannary Parliament, which dates back to the 12th century. The last recorded sitting was in 1748, agriculture has been an important industry in Devon since the 19th century
7.
Ashdown Forest
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Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of tranquil open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated some 30 miles south of London in the county of East Sussex, Ashdown Forests origins lie as a medieval hunting forest created soon after the Norman conquest of England. By 1283 the forest was fenced in by a 23 miles pale enclosing an area of some 20 square miles, Ashdown Forest has a rich archaeological heritage. It contains much evidence of human activity, with the earliest evidence of human occupation dating back to 50,000 years ago. There are important Bronze Age, Iron Age and Romano-British remains, in 1693 more than half the forest was taken into private hands, with the remainder set aside as common land. The latter today covers 9.5 square miles and is the largest area with public access in South East England. It is part of the European Natura 2000 network as it hosts some of Europes most threatened species and habitats. Ashdown Forest is famous as the setting for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories written by A. A. Milne, the artist E. H. Shepard drew on the landscapes of Ashdown Forest as inspiration for many of the illustrations he provided for the Pooh books. Ashdown Forest notably lacks any significant settlements within the boundary defined by its medieval pale. There are however a number of villages situated on the edge of the forest adjacent to the pale or close to it and these include Nutley, Fairwarp, Danehill and Maresfield to the south and Forest Row and Hartfield to the north. The town of Crowborough abuts the forest on its side while the town of East Grinstead lies 3 miles to the north-west. Ashdown Forest does not seem to have existed as a distinct entity before the Norman Conquest of 1066 AD, Ashdown Forest consists of words from two different languages. The first word, Ashdown, is of Anglo-Saxon origin and it is probably derived from the personal name of an individual or people called Aesca, combined with dún, Old English for hill or down, hence Aescas dún—the hill of Aesca. It has no connection with ash trees, which have never been given the soil conditions. Note that forest does not have the meaning of heavily wooded. Ashdown Forest is shaped, roughly speaking, like a triangle, some 7 miles from east to west. The boundary of the forest can be defined in various ways, but the most important is given by the line of the medieval pale. The pale, first referred to in a document of 1283, consisted of a ditch,23 miles in length, it enclosed an area of some 20.5 square miles
8.
Ralf Hogge
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Ralf Hogge was an English iron-master and gun founder to the king. Working with French-born cannon-maker Pierre Baude and for his employer, parson William Levett, Hogge succeeded in casting the first iron cannon in England, after Levetts death, Hogge went into business for himself, producing cannons with the process he had helped perfect. The revolution in English ironfounding had brought a humble tradesman to the status of country squire and this event was immortalised in verse as, Master Huggett and his man John they did cast the first cannon. In the village of Buxted, East Sussex, Hogge is assumed to have built Hogge House in 1583 and recorded his name, ralf Hogge married Margaret Henslowe, sister of Philip Henslowe, an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Philip Henslowe diaries between 1592 and 1609 survive, as well as providing an insight into Elizabethan theatre of that period, they were written on the reverse of Hogges ironworks accounts for the period 1576 to 1581. They give a look into the business and casting methods of an early ironmaster
