1610 to 1612

Society

1610. Jamestown colonists in Virginia prepare to abandon the colony and move to Newfoundland after having buried some 500 of their men, women, and children. Enroute, they encounter the Virginia commanded by Thomas West, 33, the Baron De La Warr, with 150 new settlers and fresh supplies. The outward bound vessels come about and return to Jamestown to try again with De La Warr as their first governor.

Literature

Cymbeline. Shakespeare. British. 1610. Play. Iachamo bets husband that he can seduce Imogen. Produces "proof" through subterfuge. Ends happily.

The Alchemist. Ben Jonson. British. 1610. Play. Subtle, clever quack and his whorish colleague Doll Common set up in the house of Lovewit with the servant Jeremy Face. They trick a series of gullible scoundrels. Lovewit returns and routs the quacks. He takes their gains.

Society

1611. English mutineers maroon Henry Hudson on the shore of James Bay. The expidition has been ice-bound through the winter. Eskimos kill some of the mutineers, others starve to death. Hudson and eight others will never be heard of again.

1611. The new governor of the Jamestown Colony in Virginia introduces private enterprise. The colony's agriculture has been socialized until now, but Sir Thomas Cole assigns 3 acres to each man and give him the right to keep or sell most of what he raises.

1611. The Authorized (King James) version of the Bible is published for the Church of England after 7 years of effort by English scholars.

Literature

The Tempest. Shakespeare. British. 1611. Play. Prospero, a magician and philosopher, reigns over an enchanted island with his daughter. A magic-induced storm capsizes a boat and brings his former enemies to the island. They had usurped his dukedom 12 years before and set Prospero and his daughter adrift in a boat. The son of Alonso, an enemy, thought to be drowned, is on the other side of the island where he meets and falls in love with Prospero's daughter. Led by Ariel's music, Alonso searches for his son, finds him and blesses the union with Prospero's daughter. Prospero frees Ariel from his spell and renounces magic. He is restored to his dukedom.

The Anniversaries: An Anatomy of the World. John Donne. British. 1611. Poetry. Concerned with the themes of intellectual disorder and temporal decay.

The Maid's Tragedy. Beaumont and Fletcher. British. 1611. Play. A soap opera plot begun by the order of the king that Amintor is to marry Evadne who is mistress of the king.

The Winter's Tale. Shakespeare. British. 1611. Play. The king, jealous of a friend who apparently is attractive to his queen, orders him killed. He escapes. The king throws his wife into prison. She reportedly dies. His daughter is put on a deserted shore where she is saved by a shepherd. When she grows up she falls in love with the son of the guest who the king thought was attractive to his wife. The king now mourns the loss of his queen. Shown a perfect statue of the queen, it turns out to be the queen, not dead but hiding.

Society

1612. Tobacco cultivation gives Virginia Colony settlers an export commodity that will provide a solid economic base for the colony.

Literature

The Anniversaries: Of the Progrresse of the Soule. John Donne. British. 1612. Poetry. Donne's themes are of intellectual disorder and temporal decay.