a tourist lane in NYC!

i wish i had thought of this! again, kept back by my own lack of initiative.

From "The Gothamist"

Everyone complains about waddling gangs of tourists blocking the sidewalks of this fair city, but nobody ever does anything about it (beyond unleashing the occasional barnyard noise or cane swipe). Until NOW. As you can see from this photo, taken at 22nd Street and Fifth Avenue, some disgruntled local pedestrian has taken bold action to separate those of us taking care of business in this town from those who just come to marvel, slack-jawed and staggering, at our panicked, bug-eyed dynamism. Now we just need a lane for strollers and people who text while walking, and we'll be all set.

historical london continues

Jews in London: Expulsion & Resettlement

One of the places I wanted to visit in London but didn't get a chance to is London's Jewish Museum. It re-opened in March 2010 after having been closed for 2 years for renovations. Nevertheless, I learned a lot about the history of the Jews in England, much of which was completely new to me. Apparently, there are about 300,000 Jews in England now (I'm not entirely sure how this number was arrived at, but it's been repeated in a few reputable places, so I take it at face value). The history of Jews in England goes back to the Norman Conquest and is a history of violent persecution, long-standing struggle and ultimate success.

The first written records of Jewish settlement in England date from the time of William the Conqueror in 1066, but Peter Ackroyd notes that "there were Jews, Africans and representatives of most of the European races, at the time of the Roman settlement." Documentary evidence for a specific Jewish quarter in the City of London emerges in 1128, although Jewish refugees from the pogrom in Rouen, France (the ancient capital of Normandy) arrived in London in 1096. According to Ackroyd's research, Jews were not permitted to engage in ordinary commerce but were allowed to lend money, the "usury" from which Christian merchants were barred. Later Jews came to be blamed or hated for the very trade imposed upon them by the civic authorities.

The Jewish presence in London was marred by violence and brutality from the earliest times. There was an assault upon Jewish quarters in 1189 when, 'the houses were besieged by the roaring people … because the madmen had not tools, fire was thrown on the roof, and a terrible fire quickly broke out’. Many families were burned alive, while others fleeing into the narrow thoroughfares of Old Jewry and Gresham Street were clubbed or beaten to death. This violence was the result of a rumour that spread from Westminster to the City of London. Richard I had taken the cross before his coronation (he would be going on a crusade after the coronation) and a number of the principal Jews of England presented themselves at Westminster to do homage to the new King. There appears to have been some sort of superstition against Jews being admitted to such a holy ceremony and the Jews who came to pay homage were removed during the banquet after the coronation. This removal from the banquet quickly turned into a rumour that the new King had ordered a massacre of the Jews. Attacks on Jews spread outside London and also occurred in a number of other towns and villages throughout England in 1189-1190.

There was another pogrom in 1215, and on certain occasions the Jews took refuge in the Tower in order to escape the depredations of the mob. Jews suffered from the noble families who were indebted to them. And, in awful foreshadowing of later events, Jews were obliged to wear a sign upon their clothes in recognition of their race. It was not the Star of David, but a tabula or depiction of the stone tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were supposed to have been miraculously inscribed.

The value of the Jewish community to the royal treasury had become considerably lessened during the 13th Century because (1) the king's income from other sources had continually increased, and (2) the contributions of the Jews had decreased both absolutely and relatively. Besides this, the king had found other sources from which to obtain loans. Italian merchants, "pope's usurers" as they were called, supplied him with money, at times on the security of the Jewry. By the middle of the thirteenth century the Jews of England, like those of the Continent, had become chattels of the king. There appeared to be no limit to the exactions he could impose upon them, though it was obviously against his own interest to deprive them entirely of capital, without which they could not gain interest for the King's coffers.

Further prejudice had been raised against the Jews around this time by the revival of the blood libel, a charge of ritual murder. The king had sold the Jewish community to his brother Richard of Cornwall in February 1255 for 5,000 marks, and had lost all rights over it for a year. But in the following August a number of the chief Jews who had assembled at Lincoln to celebrate a marriage were seized on a charge of having murdered a boy named Hugh. Ninety-one were sent to London to the Tower, eighteen were executed for refusal to plead, and the rest were kept in prison till the expiry of Richard's control over their property.

The Jewish presence in England continued until King Edward I's Edict of Expulsion in 1290. All Jews were expelled, beaten, spat upon or killed in a mass exodus from the City. After the expulsion, there was no Jewish community in England, apart from isolated individuals who practiced Judaism secretly. Some Jews returned to London, quietly and almost invisibly, over the next two or three centuries under the guise of Christians. Between the expulsion of the Jews in 1290 and their formal return in 1655, there is no official trace of Jews on English soil except in connection with the Domus Conversorum (House of the Converts; built for Jews who had converted to Christianity).

In the 1650s, Menasseh Ben Israel, a rabbi and leader of the Dutch Jewish community, approached Oliver Cromwell with the proposition that Jews should at long-last be readmitted to England. Cromwell agreed, and although he could not compel a council called for the purpose in December 1655 to consent formally to readmission, he made it clear that the ban on Jews would no longer be enforced. In the years 1655–56, the controversy over the readmission of Jews was fought out in a pamphlet war. The issue divided religious radicals and more conservative elements within society. In the end, Jews were readmitted in 1655, and, by 1690, about 3,000 Jews had settled in England.

The Jewish Naturalisation Act of 1753 was an attempt to legalize the Jewish presence in England. This legislation was essentially a way to reward Jews for their loyalty to the government during the Jacobite rising of 1745 (Jacobitism was the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland. The movement took its name from the Latin form Jacobus of the name of King James II and VII.). The Jews' chief financier, Samson Gideon, had strengthened the stock market, and several of the younger members of the Jewish community had volunteered in the corps raised to defend London. Possibly as a reward, Henry Pelham in 1753 brought in the Jew Bill of 1753, which allowed Jews to become naturalized by application to Parliament. It passed the Lords without much opposition, but on being brought down to the House of Commons, the Tories made a great outcry against this "abandonment of Christianity", as they called it. The Whigs, however, persisted in carrying out at least one part of their general policy of religious toleration, and the bill was passed and received the royal assent in July of 1753. It remained in force for only a few months however, as it was repealed in 1754 due to widespread opposition to its provisions.

Historians commonly date Jewish Emancipation to 1858 when Jews were finally allowed to sit in Parliament. Catholic Emancipation took place in 1829 and the first step for the Jews was taken in 1830 when a petition signed by 2,000 people in Liverpool was presented seeking similar emancipation for the Jews. This was followed by a bill presented to Parliament later that year, which was destined to engage Parliament in the issue for the next 30 years or so.

In 1837, Queen Victoria knighted Moses Haim Montefiore. Four years later, Isaac Lyon Goldsmid was made baronet, and he became the first Jew to receive a hereditary title. The first Jewish Lord Mayor of London, Sir David Salomons, was elected in 1855, followed by the 1858 emancipation of the Jews. On July 26, 1858, Lionel de Rothschild was finally allowed to sit in the British House of Commons when the law restricting the oath of office to Christians was changed. Benjamin Disraeli, a baptised Christian of Jewish parentage, was already an MP. In 1868, Disraeli became Prime Minister having earlier been Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1884, Nathan Mayer Rothschild, the 1st Baron Rothschild, became the first Jewish member of the British House of Lords. (Disraeli was already a member; Though born a Jew, Disraeli's baptism as a child qualified him as eligible for political aspirations, presenting no restrictions regarding a mandated Christian oath of office.)

Since 1858, the English Parliament has never been without Jewish members.

still more london

(i promise: i'll be done soon with all the london-trivia!)

Clerkenwell Green

The area of London I worked in is called Clerkenwell. Clerkenwell took its name from the Clerks' Well in Farringdon Lane. Just beyond the green (which is not ‘green’ at all; it is a small area enclosed by buildings with a disused public washroom in the middle) are the relics of the 11th Century church and hospital of St John, where the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller had their headquarters; the crypt survives intact. A few yards to the south of the crypt, in the early 16th Century, was erected St. John’s Gate; this also still remains. Just on the northern edge of the green itself can be found the original site of the medieval well from which the district derives its name; in the 18th and early 19th Centuries it was simply a broken iron pump but, since that time, it has been restored and preserved behind a thick glass wall. It marked the site of the stage where mystery plays were performed for centuries 'beyond the memory of man' and in fact for many hundreds of years Clerkenwell was notorious for its dramatic representations. The yard of the Red Bull Inn, to the east of the green, is reputed to be the first theatrical venue where women appeared on stage.

Amazing, Super Cheap!

On Pentonville Road, in Clerkenwell, lived a notorious miser named Thomas Cooke, who did not care to pay for his food and drink but ‘when walking the streets he fell down in a pretended fit opposite to the house of one whose bounty he sought’. With his powered wig and long ruffles, he seemed a respectable citizen so he was promptly taken in, given some wine and nourishing victuals. ‘A few days after he would call at the house of his kind entertainer just at dinner time, professedly to thank him for having saved his life …’ He turned his flower garden into a cabbage patch, which -- in order to waste nothing -- he enriched with his own and his wife’s excrement! On his death-bed, in the summer of 1811, he refused to pay for too much medicine since was convinced that he would live only six days. He was buried at St. Mary’s, Islington, and ‘some of the mob who attended the funeral threw cabbage stalks on his coffin when it was lowered into the grave’.

Did you know: That the name "Notting Hill" comes from a band of Saxons, the 'sons of Cnotta' + 'inga', a Saxon word generally accepted to mean 'groups of people."

Subterranean Rivers

London has many subterranean rivers. These are the tributaries of the River Thames and River Lea that were built over during the growth of the city. The River Fleet is the largest of these underground rivers, that flow through culverts. The Fleet can be heard through a grating in Ray Street, Farringdon in front of a pub called the Coach and Horses. The position of the river can still be seen in the surrounding street-scape with Ray Street and its continuation, Warner Street, lying in a valley where the river once flowed. It can also be heard through a grid in the centre of Charterhouse Street where it joins Farringdon Road.

more facts about london

Executioners

The name of the first known public hangman in London is "Bull" (of "Night Court" fame? incidentally, when is that show going to come out on DVD!). Hangman Bull was followed by the more famous Hangman "Thomas Derrick." Derrick is famous, why? Because of this ingenious device that he invented for more efficient hanging of mans. Derrick's invention was like a crane upon which 23 condemned people could be hanged together. Fun fact: Over time, this device was modified and put to more general use as a crane for unloading and hoisting vessels on board ships etc., but it still bears the name "Derrick".

As you can imagine, being an executioner back in Elizabethan times was no more popular a job as it is today. Basically, there was a palpable fear that friends and families of the hanged would find out who the executioner was and seek revenge. Executioners were often coerced into taking the job. Thomas Derrick had been convicted of rape but had been granted a pardon by the Earl of Essex on the condition that he become an executioner (which explains why Derrick didn't hang, himself). Fun fact: Derrick executed more than 3,000 people in his career including, ironically, his pardoner -- the Earl of Sussex -- in 1601. Talk about biting the hand ... or hacking off the head.

Coffee Houses

My trips to Borough Market for Monmouth Coffee are the impetus for learning more about the history of coffee shops in London. Thanks be to Peter Ackroyd, who devotes some space to this very important topic in his biography of London.

The most famous establishments of 18th century London were coffee houses. They found their origins in the middle of the 17th century when, according to a contemporary note recoded in “The Topography of London", ‘theire ware also att this time a Turkish drink to be sould almost in eury street, called Coffee, and another kind of drink called Tee, and also a drink called Chacolate, which was a very harty drink’. The first coffee house was set up in St. Michael’s Alley, off Cornhill, in 1652.

Tea (like coffee, but not as good)

Tea was bad-ass!

The grocer Daniel Rowlinson was the first man to sell a pound of tea, in the 1650s. J. Ilive, author of “A New and Compleat Survey of London” in 1762 blamed the ‘excessive drinking of Tea’ for enervating ‘the Stomachs of the Populace, as to render them incapable of performing the offices of Digestion; whereby the Appetite is so much deprav’d’. A pamphleteer in 1758 declared tea-drinking to be ‘very hurtful to those who work hard and live low’ and condemned it as ‘one of the worst of habits, rendering you lost to yourselves, and unfit for the comforts you were first designed for’. London tea gardens acquired a dubious reputation. Suburban retreats devoted to the drinking of tea and other pleasant pastimes became associated ‘with loose women and with boys whose morals are depraved, and their constitutions ruined’ and were well known ‘for the encouragement of luxury, extravagance, idleness and wicked illegal purposes.’

Tea was so dirty!!

Restaurants

London’s reputation as the purveyor of drab and unpalatable food began essentially in the mid-19th century. Henry James, in 1877, was scathing about London’s restaurants ‘whose badness is literally fabulous.’

Some things never change!

What do sandwiches have to do with gambling?

A whole heck of a lot, as it happens.

The Earl of Sandwich ‘passed four and twenty hours at a public gaming table, so absorbed in play, that, during the whole time, he had no subsistence but a bit of beef, between two slices of toasted bread, which he eat without ever quitting the game. This new dish grew highly in vogue … it was called by the name of the minister who invented it.’

If only I could invent something through a combination of laziness and addiction. Some Earls have all the luck!

facts about london continued

London Stone:

If you walk east down Cannon Street, on the other side from the railway station, you will find an iron grille set within the Bank of China building. This is where you can find what remains of "London Stone." The stone is about 2 feet tall and has a very faint groove on its top. For many centuries it was popularly believed to be the stone of Brutus of Troy, brought by him to London as a deity. The stone is also believed to be have been used by the Romans as the place from which they measured all distances in Britannia. "So long as the stone of Brutus is safe," ran one city proverb, "so long shall London flourish". If you don't know that this is what you are looking for, you may very well walk past the stone, as I did the first time I went to go look for it. The address of the building is 111 Cannon Street and it is worth walking past a few times before finally espying.

London Wall:

London Wall was the defensive wall first built by the Romans around Londinium. The wall was subsequently maintained until the 18th century. London Wall is the name of a road in the City of London running along part of the course of the wall. Until the later Middle Ages the wall defined the boundaries of the City of London.

A section of the original London Wall, with medieval additions, can still be seen by Trinity Place just north of the Tower of London; part of the Tower itself was incorporated within the fabric of the wall. It was almost 10 feet wide at its base, and more than 20 feet in height. Besides these relics of the wall by Trinity Place, you can see the stone outline of an inner tower which contained a wooden staircase leading to a parapet which looked east across the marshes.

St. Pancras:

St. Pancras is believed to be the first Christian church in England established by Augustine himself, and is reported to contain the last bell which was able to toll during the Mass. A likely derivation of "Pancras" -- associated with a saintly boy named Pancras -- is Pan Crucis or Pan Cross -- the monogram or symbol of Christ himself. A Vatican historian named Maximilian Misson has asserted that: "St. Pancras under Highgate, near London … is the Head and Mother of all Christian Churches." As Peter Ackroyd asks: "Who could imagine the source of such power in the wasteland north of King’s Cross Station?" If you've ever been to King's Cross Station, you'll know what I mean. Though the station and the area has been renovated extensively over the last 10 years or so. It isn't really a wasteland anymore. But I still refer to the area as St. Pancreas.

facts about london

One of the first books I bought when I got to London in September was "London The Biography" by Peter Ackroyd. I had been very slowly making my way through it. It was too thick to carry around, so I'd read it for a few minutes before bed every night as a taste of the city I was exploring as much as I could after work and on weekends. I finally motored my way through the rest of the book and finished it a while back. In true history nerd fashion, I made notes of the points I wanted to remember / share with you. And I also made a point of going to see some of the things I was reading about. So, without further ado, I present for you several random trivial facts about the history of the City of London. This may turn into a multi-post posting since things are going to get typographically dense.

A few key dates of olden tymes:

BC 54: Caesar's first expedition to Britain. (First known instance of sub-par Caesar salad served in London homes)

AD 41: The Roman invasion of Britain.
c. AD 43: The naming of Londinium.*

* The name Londinium is thought to be pre-Roman (and possibly pre-Celtic) in origin, although there has been no consensus on what it means. It was common practice for Romans to adopt native names for new settlements. A common theory is that it derives from a hypothetical Celtic placename, Londinion which was probably derived from the personal name Londinos, from the word lond, meaning 'wild'.
** There is an excellent wikipedia article about the period of Roman occupation here

AD 60 – The burning of London by Boudicca*

* Boudicca was a queen of the Brittonic Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia in England, who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.
** Read more about this amazing woman here.

AD 61-122 – The rebuilding of London
c. AD 190 – The building of the great wall
AD 407 – The Roman withdrawal from London
AD 457 – Britons flee London to evade the Saxons
AD 490 – Saxon domination over London
AD 851 – London stormed by Vikings
AD 959 – A great fire in London: St. Paul’s burned
AD 1066 – The taking of London by William The Conqueror

(to be continued)

internet, sweet internet

greetings from discovery coffee. there is no longer internet in my sublet, due to c.a. (my roommate in whose name we had cable and internet service) departing to ottawa and our time in the apartment lasting only til the end of may. yesterday, i was at discovery coffee from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm and that was truncated only because i had an appointment at 4:30 pm. i have been drinking more latte than i ought to for the "free" internet.

so, there's been a lot going on.

first, i report on awful people i have encountered.

:: yesterday at discovery coffee, i was seated next to a table of 3 horrible women. they were all real-estate empire moguls or something and were going on and on about their vacation property rentals, the things that suck about living in france and such and sundry. on first blush, these topics don't seem all that annoying, but the voices and the laughter! oh the laughter. so annoying, and they just sounded SO entitled. i kind of hurled a little in my mouth. they had that real-estate smarminess thinly varnished with well-coiffed hair and coordinating accessories.

:: today, while waiting for n.b. at de'lish for lunch, i was seated a few tables down from another annoying duo. two women who were going on and on about their time in the u.k. one of them had an english accent of some sort, so i guess she's originally from there. the other was going on and on about being mistaken for being a canadian, and how she got bitchslapped by some scottish lady on the train. again, i love a good moaning & groaning session as much as the next person (maybe even more than the next person), but not from the mouths of self-important brats like these two. the non-british one said something like "and now [fill in name of husband here] wants to go somewhere where no one speaks english! can you imagine!" i can imagine double punching you in the throat and gut, lady. shut up!

:: today at discovery coffee, there is a seriously gross man who is (a) singing along with the music - poorly; (b) sneezing and rubbing his germy paws everywhere (mental note: never sit at the table he's at ever again) and (c) generally being creepy and serial-killer-ish. ugh!

now, on to more pleasant topics.

a few weekends ago, i joined a.e. and her family for the rahat nusrat fateh ali khan show in vancouver. it was fantastic! fantastic! the only blight on an awesome evening of qawwali and sufi music was the row of f*ckwits sitting behind us. who apparently believed that they were in a starbucks since they proceeded to loudly talk and laugh like hyenas through a once-in-a-lifetime performance. some people are like donkeys; they should not go bucking and hee-hawing just anywhere. harrumph.

if you don't know the music or the musician check out this link.

i am learning a lot about the city of london thanks to the wonderful book by peter ackroyd (no relation to dan, as far as i can tell), called "london: the biography". i will be sharing amazing tid-bits about london from the book as soon as i finish it. there is some truly fascinating stories in the history of london, and i am excited to report that i have seen some of the places he writes about!

i love history!