On the evening of 6 April 1580, an earthquake struck the coast of Dover, and was felt throughout ... more On the evening of 6 April 1580, an earthquake struck the coast of Dover, and was felt throughout the south-east of England. The quake had a limited physical impact, given that it “lasted not the fulle of half a minute” – the damage to buildings was slight, and only two fatalities were reported. Despite this, within twenty four hours, a printer had already registered ‘a godly new ballad, moving us to repent of the Earthquake’, and over a dozen more titles on the subject had been registered by the end of June. This piece of work will look at that impact, through the responses given in some of these printed works. The focus will be on the pamphlets written by Thomas Twyne and Thomas Churchyard. The ‘official’ response, namely, an order of prayer published by the Church of England, “to avert and turne Gods wrath from us, threatened by the late terrible earthquake” will therefore also be considered. This event will be considered in the context of a newly Protestant society, early modern apocalypticism, the doctrine of divine providence, and how the early modern populace attempted to control and make sense of the world around them.
On the evening of 6 April 1580, an earthquake struck the coast of Dover, and was felt throughout ... more On the evening of 6 April 1580, an earthquake struck the coast of Dover, and was felt throughout the south-east of England. The quake had a limited physical impact, given that it “lasted not the fulle of half a minute” – the damage to buildings was slight, and only two fatalities were reported. Despite this, within twenty four hours, a printer had already registered ‘a godly new ballad, moving us to repent of the Earthquake’, and over a dozen more titles on the subject had been registered by the end of June. This piece of work will look at that impact, through the responses given in some of these printed works. The focus will be on the pamphlets written by Thomas Twyne and Thomas Churchyard. The ‘official’ response, namely, an order of prayer published by the Church of England, “to avert and turne Gods wrath from us, threatened by the late terrible earthquake” will therefore also be considered. This event will be considered in the context of a newly Protestant society, early modern apocalypticism, the doctrine of divine providence, and how the early modern populace attempted to control and make sense of the world around them.
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Papers by Chloe Phillips