Henry Machyn (1496/1498 – 1563) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

clothier and

diarist A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

in 16th century

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Machyn's ''Chronicle'', which was written between 1550 and 1563, is primarily concerned with public events: changes on the throne, state visits, insurrections, executions and festivities. Machyn wrote his diary during a turbulent period in England: the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, initiated by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

and carried through by

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

, was followed by the return to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(and burning of heretics) under Queen

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

. Judging from his enthusiastic account of the disinterment of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

in 1557, Machyn was apparently a Catholic himself. The brief reign of

Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553. Jane was ...

, and the dangers of speaking up for the losing side, are duly recorded. He circulated libellous information about the Protestant preacher

John Véron John Véron (d. 1563) was a French Protestant controversialist and preacher, known for his activities in England. Veron also served as an English translator for the British Privy Council. Life He styled himself "Senonensis", implying he was born ...

, for which he made penance at

Paul's Cross St Paul's Cross (alternative spellings – "Powles Crosse") was a preaching cross and open-air pulpit in the grounds of Old St Paul's Cathedral, City of London. It was the most important public pulpit in Tudor and early Stuart England, and many ...

in November 1561. Machyn's diary comes to an end in 1563, in all likelihood because of his death. Machyn sold funeral trappings, which explains why so much of his diary is concerned with minute accounts of funerals in London. Very little is known of the author; he is remarkably absent from his own diary. On only two occasions does he refer to his own age (56 in 1554, 66 in 1562). The (mis)spelling in this diary gives a rare insight into the pronunciation of the times. That is to say (since there was no strictly correct spelling at that time) that the spelling used in the manuscript, if it represents Machyn's speech accurately and consistently, provides an insight into one of the many and various patterns of English pronunciation of his time.

References

;General * * *

External links

The Diary of Henry Machyn
a
Internet Archive

The Diary of Henry Machyn
a
British History Online

A London Provisioner's Chronicle, 1500–1563, by Henry Machyn: Manuscript, Transcription and Modernization
{{DEFAULTSORT:Machyn, Henry 1490s births 16th-century deaths 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers English diarists 15th-century English people Writers from London English male non-fiction writers Cloth merchants 16th-century English businesspeople 16th-century diarists