Learning outcomes:
This course has been designed to enable you to:
- Gain an overview of the life and significance of Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn and the importance of their diaries
- Set the diaries and the lives of Pepys and Evelyn in the context of late 17th-century England
- Have some understanding of the political, social and religious events of the late 17th century as presented through the lives and diaries of Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn
Course sessions:
1.1 Introducing Mr Pepys and Mr Evelyn
A brief overview of English history between the 1630s and the early 18th century to set Pepys and Evelyn in their social, political and religious context.
1.2. Pepys, Evelyn and the Royal Brothers
Both Pepys and Evelyn enjoyed the first careless rapture of the Restoration in 1660. However, this joy was soon over-shadowed by doubts caused by the immorality of the Court of Charles II and anxiety as to the consequences of the heir to the throne, James, Duke of York, converting to Roman Catholicism.
2.1 Pepys, Evelyn and the Royal Society
The Royal Society grew out of the ‘invisible college’ John Wilkins (Cromwell’s brother-in-law) established at Wadham College in the 1650s. It was the foremost exponent of ‘experimental philosophy’ in Restoration England and challenged many established beliefs. Evelyn published Sylva: or, a discourse of forest trees in 1664 at the behest of the Society and Pepys's name appeared on the title-page of the first edition of Newton’s Principia in 1687.
2.2 Pepys, Evelyn and Religion
On the 25th December 1657 Evelyn and his wife were arrested for celebrating the forbidden festival of Christmas. In 1679 Pepys was committed to the Tower and charged with treason as a result of the Popish Plot. Religion played a divisive part in the lives of our diarists and we will investigate something of that in this session.
3.1 Pepys, Evelyn and the Royal Navy
Pepys and Evelyn first meet and became friends during the second Dutch War of 1665-67. Pepys worked for many years in the Navy Office under the Lord High Admiral, James, Duke of York, working hard to increase the professionalism of the Royal Navy.
3.2 The Rule of the Strumpets
In his magisterial history of England published in 1848 Lord Macaulay remarked that with the fall of the Commonwealth and the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, the rule of the saints was replaced by the rule of the strumpets. Charles II fathered thirteen illegitimate children by a succession of mistresses and remarked that the mistresses of his Catholic brother, James, were so ugly it was obvious that they were chosen for him by his confessors as a penance! This session will examine something of the scandals and controversies associated with the Court.
4.1 Pleasures of the World I – Coffee Houses and the Theatre
The significance of the diaries of Pepys and Evelyn is not just what they tell us about politics and religion but what they reveal about the social like of Restoration England. In these sessions we will explore their discovery of ‘coffee’ and, in particular, Mr Pepys’s love of the theatre.
4.2 Pleasures of the World II – Music, Books and the Garden
Continuing the theme, we will explore Pepys's love of music, Evelyn’s devotion to his garden and their shared love of books.
5.1 Plots, Exclusion and Revolution
Politics broke into the ‘pleasures of the world’ in the 1670s, the ‘Popish Plot’ of 1679-80 witnessed Pepys in the Tower of London fighting for his life against a charge of treason. Neither men approved of the deposition of James VI & II in 1688-9. This session will discuss their struggles to come to terms with a revolutionary situation.
5.2 Retirement, Diaries and Conclusions
This last session will examine the lives of Pepys and Evelyn in retirement, how their diaries have come down to us in various editions and their lasting significance.
Non-credit bearing
Please note that our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning courses are non-credit bearing.
Certificate of Participation
A certificate of participation will be sent to you electronically within a week of your Summer Festival course(s) finishing.