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Power in Smoke: The Language of Tobacco and Authority in Caroline England

Power in Smoke: The Language of Tobacco and Authority in Caroline England by RITINGinhisA Chronicle of the Kings of England(1643),Sir RichardBakerrecallstheyear1596,whichsawthedeathof "Richardfletcher,BishopofLondon;whoformarryingthe LadyBaker(asgoodlyaLadyashewasaPrelate)incurredtheQueens displeasure;andtocurehiscares,fellimmoderatelytodrinkingofTobacco, and so expired." The anecdote in some ways typifies Baker's work,whichoccasionallydetoursintovividgossipbeforereturningto the higher matter of kings and parliaments.Yet Baker's rendering of thisincidentmaybemorethanasimpleillustrationofthedifficultiesof Elizabethancourtiership,forinitBakerseemstotakeparticularcareto emphasizetheconnectionoftobaccotopoliticaldisobedience.Matters of personal desire--love and excess--are confronted in a moment of royaldispleasure,resultingintherapiddegenerationofboththeindividualmanandthebishop. Baker's anecdote might remain solelya matterof entertainment or historicalcuriosityifnotforitsappearancein1643,oneyearafterKing Charles I had raised his standard against Parliament at Nottingham. Likeothersinhisfamily,BakerappearstohavebeenaRoyalist,writingamanuscriptrebuttalagainstWilliamPrynne'sHistriomastix(later publishedposthumously)andsubsequentlydedicatinghischronicleto Charles(II),thenPrinceofWales.Givenbothitsauthor'spoliticalleaningsandthemomentofthetext'spublication,thefulltitleofBaker's Baker,A Chronicle of the Kings of England(London,1643),86. Baker's extended family also seems to have been staunchly Royalist, so much so that the Dictionary of national Biography (DnB) records that his cousin's declaration to Charles I's side during the English Civil War finally reduced their already precarious 100 ©2009TheuniversityofNorthCarolinaPress chronicle--A chronicle of the Kings of England, from the time of the Romans goverment unto the raigne of our soveraigne lord, King Charles--must be seen less as a description and more as a deeplycontentious political argument.In1643theinviolabilityofCharlesI'ssovereigntyandprerogativedemandedbattlefieldproofratherthanliteraryassertion. What then can we make of this Elizabethan anecdote in a Caroline text, particularly when recounted by an author personally invested in the period's struggle over kingly rule? Such an enticing combinationoftobacco,immoderation,andlustplayedoutoverthedramaof royalandsubjectdesiresrecallsforus--asIexpectitwouldhaverecalledforBaker--thehostilitytotobaccoexpressedbyjamesI,father toCharlesandthemonarchwho,inhisveryfirstyearonthethrone, hadbothpublishedA Counterblaste to Tobacco(1603)andknightedour author.TheCounterblastefiguresprominentlyinmostcurrentresearch on early modern England and tobacco, http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Studies in Philology University of North Carolina Press

Power in Smoke: The Language of Tobacco and Authority in Caroline England

Butler, Todd Wayne.
Studies in Philology , Volume 106 (1) – Jan 11, 2008
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Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 The University of North Carolina Press
ISSN
1543-0383
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Abstract

by RITINGinhisA Chronicle of the Kings of England(1643),Sir RichardBakerrecallstheyear1596,whichsawthedeathof "Richardfletcher,BishopofLondon;whoformarryingthe LadyBaker(asgoodlyaLadyashewasaPrelate)incurredtheQueens displeasure;andtocurehiscares,fellimmoderatelytodrinkingofTobacco, and so expired." The anecdote in some ways typifies Baker's work,whichoccasionallydetoursintovividgossipbeforereturningto the higher matter of kings and parliaments.Yet Baker's rendering of thisincidentmaybemorethanasimpleillustrationofthedifficultiesof Elizabethancourtiership,forinitBakerseemstotakeparticularcareto emphasizetheconnectionoftobaccotopoliticaldisobedience.Matters of personal desire--love and excess--are confronted in a moment of royaldispleasure,resultingintherapiddegenerationofboththeindividualmanandthebishop. Baker's anecdote might remain solelya matterof entertainment or historicalcuriosityifnotforitsappearancein1643,oneyearafterKing Charles I had raised his standard against Parliament at Nottingham. Likeothersinhisfamily,BakerappearstohavebeenaRoyalist,writingamanuscriptrebuttalagainstWilliamPrynne'sHistriomastix(later publishedposthumously)andsubsequentlydedicatinghischronicleto Charles(II),thenPrinceofWales.Givenbothitsauthor'spoliticalleaningsandthemomentofthetext'spublication,thefulltitleofBaker's Baker,A Chronicle of the Kings of England(London,1643),86. Baker's extended family also seems to have been staunchly Royalist, so much so that the Dictionary of national Biography (DnB) records that his cousin's declaration to Charles I's side during the English Civil War finally reduced their already precarious 100 ©2009TheuniversityofNorthCarolinaPress chronicle--A chronicle of the Kings of England, from the time of the Romans goverment unto the raigne of our soveraigne lord, King Charles--must be seen less as a description and more as a deeplycontentious political argument.In1643theinviolabilityofCharlesI'ssovereigntyandprerogativedemandedbattlefieldproofratherthanliteraryassertion. What then can we make of this Elizabethan anecdote in a Caroline text, particularly when recounted by an author personally invested in the period's struggle over kingly rule? Such an enticing combinationoftobacco,immoderation,andlustplayedoutoverthedramaof royalandsubjectdesiresrecallsforus--asIexpectitwouldhaverecalledforBaker--thehostilitytotobaccoexpressedbyjamesI,father toCharlesandthemonarchwho,inhisveryfirstyearonthethrone, hadbothpublishedA Counterblaste to Tobacco(1603)andknightedour author.TheCounterblastefiguresprominentlyinmostcurrentresearch on early modern England and tobacco,

Journal

Studies in Philology – University of North Carolina Press

Published: Jan 11, 2008

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