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Hobson's Choice

Francis Turner

Cambridge, England
1632 AD

A hesitant knock at the door disturbed the summer afternoon of study and desultory argument.

"Who is it?" asked Thomas Healey.

The door opened and a skinny but well-dressed youth, much encumbered with baggage, stood in the dimly lit, cramped landing. Standing next to him was Jack Hobson, the college porter. After a pause, in which the youth opened and shut his mouth several times without managing to say anything, the porter spoke. "Gentlemen, this is your new lodging mate, Master Richard Abell. A fellow commoner."

This statement was not met with rapture by either of the current occupants of the room. Thomas Healey and his longtime friend, roommate, and fellow BA, Simon Gunton, had been rather dreading this moment. They had been alone together ever since their former colleague abruptly and simultaneously inherited a large estate and lost the paternal insistence on education. He had departed the cloisters of academia with no intention to return.

The duo had discussed the generosity of newly rich young men with John Smith, the college president and bursar. They pointed to the appreciation one might have for the little courtesies such as maintaining a place for him should he choose to return and so on. Unfortunately, it seemed that a new academic year wiped the slate somewhat cleaner than they would prefer. Now they would have to share their rooms with another young snot.

"If the young gentleman would care to acquaint himself with his new companions, I'll just put the baggage by the cot," continued the servant, as he prodded the young man into the room.

"Ah . . . yes. Good day, sirs. I trust I am not disturbing your studies excessively."

Simon Gunton decided to take pity on the new student. After all, it wasn't his fault. And at least he wasn't one of those sprigs of the nobility who considered the entire world their servants.

"Welcome, young Abell! I'm Gunton and that scowling visage's name is Healey. Don't worry about the scowl; he's always like that even with a pot of ale in front of him."

At that welcome the young man seemed to gain some measure of confidence. In short order he was able to shake hands with both Gunton and Healey, swiftly supervise the placement of his luggage, and escort the porter to the door while unobtrusively slipping a coin into his hand. Then he turned back to the others and suggested that after he had unpacked and ordered his belongings he would be pleased to purchase some ale while they acquainted him with his new world.

An hour or so later, Gunton and Healey escorted young Abell down to the quad. They pointed out the location of the important communal parts such as the chapel, the library, the hall, and, "last but most definitely not least," the buttery. From the buttery emerged, as if on cue, two more young men and a torrent of abuse for "idlers and wasters who have nothing better to do than sup ale and dispute rampant speculation and gossip fit for market wives while obstructing those with gainful employment."

Healey looked at the two and called out to one of them:

"Dunster, my good man, you have wrought ruin for us all this afternoon! We are now perforce required to mix with the common herd in an extramural tavern and expose ourselves to who know what licentious behavior—perhaps you would like to accompany us to make amends?"

The man to whom this was addressed—slightly older than his companion—shrugged off the blame with a cheerful smile

"By all means, Healey. It would seem that you have fallen upon hard times and are required to share your lodgings with a companion again—to wit this elegant young gentleman. I shall be pleased to accompany you, purely to ensure that you do not corrupt his morals with your despicable Arminian views." Turning to Abell, he continued, "I am Dunster, my companion is Saltmarsh. Contrary to the views of the honorable president, we are neither idlers nor gossipers as we will be pleased to demonstrate. Methinks the president has been discoursing with our master. As usual, he has discovered that magisterial might doth prevail over both bursarial budgets and presidential privileges."

Abell was in turn introduced by Gunton. The five walked out past the porter's lodge and across the street toward a door that had a peculiar fish hanging over it. This, Abell was informed, was a "Pickerel." He received the further advice that the Pickerel was the preferred tavern for the right-thinking students. It combined propinquity with decency. However, it was also noted that the Three Swans—the "bursar's other buttery"—was also a Magdalene tavern. It was owned by the Bursar and was known to have been bequeathed to the college.

The problem with the Three Swans, explained Healey, was the clientele. Since it was closer to the castle up the hill and at the corner of a busy crossroads, it tended to have nonlocal customers. The Pickerel served the bakers, brewers, and other trades that were packed into the maze of lanes between Magdalene and St John's College, up the river. Saltmarsh explained that this difference was important: due to the traveling nature of the Three Swans customers, it was unwilling to advance credit to its customers. The Pickerel was more accommodating. Since Saltmarsh was, as he cheerfully admitted, a sizar—an undergraduate who acted as a servant to reduce his tuition costs—Abell presumed he had often made use of this generosity.

They took their seats around a table in the middle of the room. As the junior, Abell insisted on paying for ale for all of them. "Marry, 'tis a small enough cost and one that will be repaid manyfold by your imparting such advice as may assist in my navigating the perils and monsters of this place."

Dunster took it upon himself to impart the first advice and introduced the redheaded maid who was distributing the beer. "This young lady is Elizabeth Chapman—Bess to her friends—daughter of our host. She is critical to befriend, lest you wish to expire from unquenched thirst. Like her regal namesake, she is mistress of her realm and prone to banishing courtiers who displease her."

Abell looked on with bemusement as the young woman—surely not more than a year or two older than his sixteen—bantered with Dunster and Saltmarsh, threatening them with unspeakable punishments should they corrupt the morals of this handsome young gentleman. He felt compelled to intervene to stop the unaccustomed complements.

"Mistress, I fear you do me too much honor. My father is no more than a London merchant, not even a guildsman. My family keeps on telling me that I spend far too much time reading and not enough time at any activity that might improve my frame."

"Is that so?" Bess responded. "Well, you are in good company here. Both Dunster and Saltmarsh arrived here as miserable sizars with no more meat on their bones than a February cow. Now Dunster is an honorable BA and while 'tis true that Mr. Saltmarsh is still a sizar, there is considerably more of him than there was a year ago. But I'll spare your blushes. I must be away to bring sustenance to others."

Bess left them and they fell to discussing families and origins. This led on by turns to discussion of the college, both its people and its religion.

". . . now I am myself much taken with Bishop Laud's view that excessive simplicity is a false modesty and as much a sin as outright popery," expounded Healey. "The master is much of my opinion. We do not have the Romish trappings in chapel but neither are we as plain as the Genevans or their fellows across the river as Sidney Sussex might wish. Rituals help bind us to God and we can show our devotion by decorating God's house at least as well as our own abodes. Mr. Dunster, as I well know, does not agree with me on this point but yet we are willing to sit at the same table and debate the issue. You will find this is usual within the college. We are united in our detestation of Rome but in very little else. We manage to get along without too much disharmony. Indeed, the main source of disharmony is not theological but one might say etymological. To wit—do you prefer your Smith to be spelled with an 'i' or a 'y'?"

Abell looked a little confused at this.

"Our master is Henry Smyth," Healey elaborated, "with a 'y'. He was formerly a sizar at Trinity and more recently is my lord Howard's chaplain. He is a man of some power and influence within the university and the land. Despite that he is not, by any means, well connected within this community of Mary Magdalene. He has been master merely five years. Our bursar and president, on the other hand, is John Smith with an 'i'. He has been bursar since the early years of the reign of King James and has stood by this college in thick times and thin. And all that time he has been becoming richer and more critical to the smooth running of the college. Indeed, one suspects he had rather hoped to be master himself upon the demise of Goche.

"Now the two have had numerous battles over this and that," he continued. "The fellows are eternally split between those who favor the present wealth and favor of the bursar and those who prefer the master and such future favors as may come from him and his patrons. We juniors, even those of us with a degree, must therefore navigate between the Scylla of one and the Charybdis of the other. Any junior who provokes a confrontation had best be prepared for subsequent sanctions."

There were nods of agreement from the other seniors at this summary.

Saltmarsh added, "Of course, as a fellow commoner you won't be meeting the bursar as regularly as a sizar. But any serious transgression against the statutes will mean that you will have the pleasure of an interview with the same man in his other guise as president. When you do so, do not under any circumstances claim that you had leave from the master lest you become the cause of yet another battle. As they say: When great men fight, the causes of their wrath are likely to get trodden underfoot."

After a thoughtful pause, Abell spoke up. "Sirs, you have well repaid my investment in ale and I thank you. Perhaps we might move onto more philosophical matters? My father and our neighbors have argued endlessly about this new place in Germany—this Grantville—with its Americans and their peculiar ideas—"

Gunton snorted and broke in. "Oh, come on! Surely you don't believe all that rubbish. It's just an excuse for the Habsburgs to explain why they are losing to the Swedes!"

"Pray pardon, but I have met one who has been there. The royal physician, Dr. Harvey, did return from there upon one of my father's vessels and we did sup with him in London. The place most certainly exists and they do assuredly speak some kind of English and not the Dutch of their neighbors. Dr. Harvey had some part of a book which was printed on shiny paper and had images in colors that were like life. He would not let us read the text. He said His Majesty should choose who might have that privilege. Even so, the images were so real it was like looking through a window. He did show us a copy of a portrait of Queen Elizabeth that I have seen with mine own eyes. It was as if the artist had painted it, save that the page was completely flat and too thin for paints. I cannot say that—"

This time it was Saltmarsh who interrupted. "So is it true that they come from the future? Or are they merely wizards from Cathay or somewhere?"

"Dr. Harvey said he could not be sure whether they came from our future or not, but that he was sure they came from a future," Abell said. "They knew too much about people and places they could have no direct interest in or knowledge of, he said. They treated him well because in their past he had done some favor to their ancestors some years from now. But he said that they also told him that because they had come here the future would change so that he wouldn't do the same things. That doesn't make sense. Surely you either do something or you don't."

"Ha, ha, Dunster!" said Healey. "That's one in the eye for you predestinationists! Consider, you could find out what you did and then do something else. Think of it—you could do mighty deeds in a history that never happens! Perhaps you go to heaven there and are damned here. Or do you think that you will be allowed to choose which life to use when you come to be judged?"

"My dear Healey, restrain yourself. The doctrine of predestination is not yet wrecked. Even should there be two histories why should one not be blessed or damned equally in either? The events may be different but the soul will be the same and the soul will behave in like manner. But there is surely a simpler solution. Mayhap these Americans have been placed here on earth by the Almighty to provide a lesson to us all. They might think they had a history before they were here but the Omnipotent Almighty could surely cause them to come into existence with memories should He wish that. After all He created food to feed the five thousand, creating bread and fish from nothing. If He could do that with bread and fish, why should He not be able to create people? As Creator, He did create this world once, why should He relinquish the power of creation today?" Dunster paused smugly at this point, secure that he had comprehensively demolished Healey's arguments.

After a pause Gunton brought up another point. "Whether or not they prove or disprove predestination, since we are assured they exist they do challenge a number of other beliefs. For example we are told that they have no religion, that they welcome anyone—Christian, Jew, or heretic—that they have no kings and no respect for the established order. Surely this is greater import. Luther challenged the authority of Rome and the result has been more than a hundred years of bloodshed to free ourselves from the tyranny of Rome. Now these Americans challenge the authority of monarchs and nobles everywhere. How much blood will be shed to prove or disprove this?"

Abell had no idea about the causes of wars, but that reminded him of something else. "Not only that, they let women do as they please. Dr. Harvey said that even some of their soldiers were women! Not to mention their governors. Why, their leader is married to a Jewess who seems to have authority in her own right."

Utter silence reigned as this was digested.

"Well then, perhaps you are right, Mr. Dunster," spluttered Healey. "Surely the Almighty has placed this Grantville upon the earth to be a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. It may be an object lesson to be destroyed. Perhaps it is a warning to us of the limits to humanist reform and rationality. A place that denies the differences between the sexes is surely as depraved as Sodom and Gomorrah and as destined to eternal damnation. Why, the place must be a very bedlam of false prophets in the first place. Governed and defended by women? Well, hubris seems almost too kind a word for it! I just hope that its inevitable collapse does not presage the collapse of Lutheran Protestantism as well. It seems that the most likely cause of its destruction will be a Catholic army."

Healey's voice had risen in volume as he voiced his outrage and his words were clearly audible to the tavern's queen. This Bess, perhaps in memory of the namesake she had been compared to earlier, was unwilling to hear her sex denigrated without complaint and rushed over to make a defense.

"How can you say that? Why, you, along with all true Englishmen, admire Queen Elizabeth. If she can rule so well, why cannot another? And what, pray, is so special about soldiering that it should be restricted to men? As many a would-be cutthroat has discovered, a woman can wield a pistol as well as a man!"

Healey was not to be dealt with so easily and ignored the earlier warnings of the price of Bess's displeasure. He vehemently responded, "One good queen does not mean much. Think of the actions of her sister Mary and the chaos caused by that other Mary, queen of the Scots. Recall the pernicious influence of the Medici ladies upon the kingdom of France. It is perhaps a harsh truth but such is the way of the world. The evidence seems clear; most women are too driven by passion and emotion to rule justly and wisely. I believe the same holds for other crafts. Soldiering is not just a matter of killing. It also requires discipline and steadfastness. 'Tis the same reason women cannot be educated beyond a certain level. As gentle creatures, they do not have the fortitude to continue in the face of constant adversity. For a short period passion may overcome their usual properties, but passion cannot be sustained. In the long term all of us remain true to our essential properties. The property of woman is to nurture, while the property of man is to strive."

As Healey paused for breath, Dunster took up the baton. "My colleague is right. To be sure, women can show courage against adversity but it is passive. She does not strive to overcome but merely submits, with or without complaint, to her fate. A woman's virtue is constancy, to remain true to her own. A woman may be roused to defend her children. She may even sacrifice herself for them, but that is surely an example of the nurturing instinct. To be a soldier, to be a scholar, to be a ruler requires more than passivity. It requires that one be willing to push against the limits, not accept them; to conquer the passion and direct it inward. It requires self-discipline and that is not something that can be learned."

Bess was less than impressed with these arguments.

"Oh, really. Scholars! How do you know? Have you ever in fact tried to educate a woman? Or do anything other than leave her in her current state?"

Bess answered her own questions. "Of course, you haven't. Because everybody knows that women can't do that. Well, now, in this Grantville we have a place where people don't know that. And according your friend, Abell, when women are given the chance they can actually do these things too."

She paused for a moment then continued, "Healey, you gave all these examples of bad queens, but you seem to have forgotten the large number of bad kings. Kings who are as capricious, as poor rulers as any queen. I'm told half the princes of Europe are drunkards and most of the rest arrant cowards who hide behind privilege and never lead their subjects. And as for education, recall that many of the colleges in this town have been founded or refounded or supported by women. Why, we even have a Queens' College! If women can found colleges, why should they not also benefit from them? 'Tis well known that some noblewomen have private tutors and learn a great deal. Why should they be any different to your own sisters? I wager we could fill a college of women and there would none of the idlers that call themselves fellow commoners!"

Abell felt obliged to defend the concept. "My lady, I have the honor to be a fellow commoner! I certainly have no desire for sloth. I fought my father to be permitted to study. He wanted me to lead traders to Muscovy and other icy wastes."

"No doubt you will be the exception that proves the rule," Bess responded. "I think I recall that all your colleagues, even those now graduates, did in former times express themselves most forcefully about the lack of scholarly devotion of most fellow commoners. Gilded popinjays who pretend to scholarship and whose only virtue is that they provided employment for impoverished sizars was the consensus reached last Michaelmas, was it not?" Bess smiled sweetly at Healey and Gunton, who had the grace to look somewhat abashed. "If memory be one of the keystones of serious scholarship, then I think I may perhaps be a better scholar than either of these."

Gunton tried to defend himself. "Now then, Bess, we were not claiming such was an immutable law of God, merely that in our observation this was the usual case. A lad who has overcome paternal disapproval to study is entirely different to one who has yielded to paternal desires to claim a learned, if not clerical, son."

"If that's the case, why should women be any different? If women actually had the opportunity to attend university you would see whether or not women were passive. It's hard to be active when there's an entire world insisting that you not behave that way. I still say that the main reason women are claimed to be unable to be educated is because no one has ever tried."

"But what point would it serve you to attend a university?" Healey asked. "What could you do with your knowledge? Most graduates intend to use their learning to become pastors. Even within the university it is required to take holy orders to proceed. No woman can be a priest."

"I've never understood why a woman can't be a priest. It doesn't matter, though. Not everyone is a priest; there are lawyers, physicians, philosophers at the least." Bess turned to the youngster. "Tell me, Abell, what do you propose to do with yourself once you have gained the learning that you desire?"

"I was hoping to study medicine as did Dr. Harvey. Before he spoke of Grantville I had intended to travel to Padua to study anatomy, but now perhaps I should go to Grantville instead. They have more knowledge than Padua and they aren't papists."

Dunster thought of the garbled tales and rumors that had been circulating in Cambridge. "Admirable sentiments, and I wish you the best of fortunes in your endeavors. If they are not warlocks or devils you will indeed be better in Germany, at least spiritually. But have you considered the physical risks? Germany has been fighting for years and an army could loot the place in a day. 'Tis true that, at the moment, Gustav Adolf is on the ascendant and these Americans have allied themselves with him. But Magdeburg was sacked only last year, why should Grantville be any better? Still you have some years to go before you need make up your mind. Perhaps things will be more peaceable then. And perhaps by then we will have more information from visitors about what this place really is."

Bess wouldn't let the conversation get sidetracked this way. "Well, then, you are not apparently planning on becoming a priest! Is there any reason why a woman should not become a physician? And kindly don't bother to talk about the possibility that our delicate sensibilities cannot stand the sight of blood or death. I've probably butchered more animals than all of you put together. And while this inn is a lot quieter than the ones nearer the castle, we've seen plenty of tavern brawls here and worse! I misdoubt I'm the only woman who can say likewise—just ask any farmer's wife."

Saltmarsh, a farmer's son himself, had some sympathy with the barmaid but still felt obliged to point out the problems with her argument. "Perhaps, in theory, a woman might be capable of the physical acts required of a physician but there is still the delicacy of discussing a patient's health. A man would be most embarrassed to talk about such things to even his wife, let alone some strange woman. Other physicians would be likewise. Still, even were that obstacle overcome I don't see what good it does us to argue. No woman would have enough Greek or Latin to read Galen or any other of the ancients. She would be unable to become properly trained. There are enough men who pretend to be physicians, and many of them are, at best, half-trained quacks. We don't need females added to the mix."

Bess and Abell simultaneously tried to point out the flaws in that one.

"Your rhetoric is unsound—that a woman cannot—"

"That argument chases its tail . . . go ahead, sir. Methinks we have found the same flaw in the logic."

"Thank you, milady. First 'tis claimed that a woman should not be educated because she can do nothing with it, then you do reverse your claim and state that a women cannot become a physician because she hath not the education. The correct logical deduction is surely that if a woman were to receive appropriate education then she could be a physician. Your statement that the world does not lack for bumbling quacks surely brings home another truth that echoes the previous comment about fellow commoners, namely that many men show limited desire to push the limits and strive against passive acceptance. We cannot directly deduce that since many men appear to have womanly virtues that the reverse is true. However, it seems not implausible.

"Consider Dr. Harvey's notorious treatise on blood and circulation. Despite that it is counter to the wisdom of the ancients, it follows directly from countless observations made over the period of a score or more years. Perhaps the same applies to women and education."

There was a thoughtful pause as Abell's elders considered and accepted the logic of his arguments. The pause was followed by the shuffling of feet and straightening of clothing that indicated a desire to quit the field of battle while still able to retreat in good order. Murmurs of "must be getting back now, must mumble mumble before cough" and the like followed apace. Indeed, Abell was left behind to settle the account while the others rushed the door at a speed that was only just dignified. Bess shared a conspiratorial grin as she gathered up the tankards.

"Mr. Abell, you seem to have discommoded your seniors with an ease that belies your years. Pray return often that we may attempt more such victories."

Abell, realizing that two of these seniors were his roommates and fearing possible reprisals, seemed less happy

"Oh, never fear," Bess added. "Healey will be using our arguments next week to trap anyone he can. Dunster pays little attention to anything beyond books and etchings and Gunton will forgive anything that he can use to make a puritan look like a fool. In Magdalene, debate and rhetoric are diversions, not serious."

In his relief at not having blighted his Cambridge career in the first hour, Abell was moved to generosity toward his new acquaintance.

"You know, if you had the desire, mayhap we could try and see what you could learn. I'm no tutor but I have the books and . . ." He stopped, unsure whether what Bess would think of his offer. Perhaps it was condescending; perhaps she would think he made it for other, improper, reasons.

Bess seemed to understand his hesitation for she smiled at him. "Why, thank you, kind sir. I fear there are many demands on my time, but mayhap we can find some spare moments here and there. My father will look askance at me if I continue to dally with you, so be off now. We'll discuss this further anon."

 

A few days later Abell had become familiar with the routine of life at Magdalene. He had been assigned one of the fellows as a tutor, had his first tutorial, and been farmed off to his roommate Healey for day-to-day tutoring. The weekday started early with a lecture at six in the morning, followed by chapel. Chapel was followed by breakfast at about eight o'clock. That was followed by a second hour-long lecture. As a fellow commoner, Abell was free of communal commitments after the end of that lecture until hall in the evening. He was merely required to spend some hours being tutored by Healey. Since it was still summer neither he nor his roommates had trouble getting up before six, as dawn was a good hour earlier. However, he was warned that this would become considerably harder as the year progressed.

Healey and he had come to the arrangement that they would spend the mornings studying together and thus in the afternoon he was on his own. The first two or three afternoons he had spent with Gunton and Healey, wandering amongst the printers, booksellers, and other scholastic suppliers in Cambridge. He purchased the items he had not brought with him. On the fourth day, a Saturday, he was told in no uncertain terms that he was on his own. Healey reminded him that, despite it being market day, failing to show up to hall would be a bad start to his college career.

Healey and Gunton then left him in their room to consider his books and possessions while they left for some nebulous destination that did not require the presence of juniors. After half an hour the Euclidean task he had been set by Healey had been completed and ten minutes later he was bored. As he contemplated the long beverageless afternoon of soul-searching that would be his lot if he remained on his own in his room, he also realized he had very few options available for socializing. All his seniors would be occupied with their own tasks and unlikely to wish to converse with a sixteen-year-old.

The two other fellow commoners were also at least two years older than he and had made it clear they were not interested in befriending a junior whose father was a lowly merchant. The only other juniors he had been introduced to were all sizars and thus would be working. That left the queen of the Pickerel, though she'd most likely be working harder than the sizars, it being market day after all. On the other hand, he could go to the Pickerel and drink a tankard of ale and then explore the market on his own. It certainly beat sitting alone.

As he was walking past the porter's lodge he heard a cry.

"Master Abell! Sir!"

He looked around and saw the porter, Hobson, who had helped with his bags on the first day. He was waving a letter.

"Sir, I was just coming to give this note to you."

Abell took the note, thanked the porter, and stepped back into the court to open it. It was clearly a reused scrap. His parents, who were snobby about such things, hadn't written it, then. The letter was short and written in a simple hand with a grasp of spelling that was more eccentric than normal.

 

Sir,

If you were series inn yourr ofer mayhap we cold beginne thise afternon, I hav som tim at libertee. I hop that does not disterbe your studdees

Bess

 

It took him no more than a moment to shove the letter into a pocket and rush out of the gates and across the street to the Pickerel. He opened the door of the tavern and looked around. No sign of Bess. But how could he ask for her? Everyone would think he was looking for her for, ah, other reasons. As he stood just inside the door and pondered what to do, a serving maid came up to him.

"How can I serve you, sir?"

He gulped and blurted out, "I was looking for Mistress Chapman. . . ."

"Right you are, sir. If you are Master Abell then she told us you'd be along. Pray sit in this booth here while I fetch her."

A few minutes later two foaming tankards of ale arrived on the table and the redheaded person who brought them sat opposite him.

"God gi' good day, sir. Did you fly on wings? I did but give Hobson the note mere minutes ago."

Abell blushed and stammered, "No, no, I was, err, 'twas . . . ahh, I was just about to step out of the college when he saw me. In fact I was thinking of coming over here, I hadn't forgotten. But I had thought you would be working hard on market day."

"And you a merchant's son? Think you a moment: we are not by the market, nor even close. Our regulars are the tradesmen behind us who are all at their market stalls now. This evening we will be busy, but during market hours we are not so full." Bess paused for a moment and then, in a tone of voice that was totally different to her normal self-confident manner, she asked, "Are you really willing to teach me? I'm not sure I really want to be a physician, you know. I just want to do something more than serve ale all day. . . . I mean I do want to help people but maybe I could do something else. I just don't really know what."

Abell took refuge in a swig of ale while he tried to think what to say, reflecting on his own recently finished school days.

"At the beginning I do not think that signifies. No matter what you wish to do eventually, the first stage is clear. You must learn to read and write better in English. You must learn to read and write Latin and possibly Greek. Beyond that I suspect that theology, divinity, and ecclesiastical studies are not of use. On the other hand, you wish to travel. As well as Latin maybe you should learn French and, if you intend to go to Grantville, High Dutch would be of use. Natural philosophy and mathematics are probably also useful, but until you can read Latin you will be limited to the more basic forms of arithmetic."

He paused for a moment. "This could take a long while, you know. How much time can you study each day? Schoolboys take six or more years to learn little more than Latin, Greek, and arithmetic."

It was Bess's turn to think. After a while she replied, "I think you have the heart of the matter. I shall start with Latin and methinks that learning Latin will itself help my reading and writing of English. Once we have overleapt that hurdle, 'twill be time enough to choose the next. As for time? That is a harder problem. For the nonce I may be at liberty for an hour or two most afternoons, and if I can convince my father, mayhap he will excuse me from some of my morning chores. If one of the maids leaves or we have more custom in the afternoon I may have to halt my learning for a while."

She stopped for a moment then continued. "What do I need other than time? I can borrow a slate and I can find paper and ink if need be. You said you had books, but I have a few savings. I could buy some of them, if you tell me what to buy. And where can I study? This room can be a very bedlam, my room is too small and you cannot teach me there. It would be improper. . . . I think I must ask my father if we can use his cubby but that means I must say why."

Bess paused again. Clearly much planning and strategizing was taking place in her brain. "If you are to be my instructor you must meet my father and be approved else all is hopeless. However, if he approves, my learning will have his support and that will make it much easier. But we need not rush this, for failure would spell disaster. What else do you recall of Grantville that we may tell my father to whet his interest? And what about your background, since he will undoubtedly wish to know more about my instructor?"

They fell to a long discussion of what might be interesting to an innkeeper about a place from the future and its revolutionary concepts. Of course, the fact that their knowledge was at best secondhand and more often little better than rumor and gossip didn't help. Religious tolerance and the lack of Puritans and their disapproving manner seemed good. As did the female ruler bit, especially the fact that she was not American but apparently a Dutch or maybe English Jewess. The solid tradesman roots seemed to be Abell's best feature. If a humble merchant could educate himself and his sons, why not a tavern keeper's daughter?

The fact that Bess's mother had died in a plague some years back, along with both her brothers and one sister, leaving just herself, one younger sister, and her father seemed useful. Her father had shown no desire to marry again, so perhaps Bess could act in loco filii, as it were.

". . . or should it be in loco fratris since you are acting for your brother? Yet you are acting as his son so filii . . ."

Abell seemed to be getting sidetracked into forests of grammar and philosophy. His future pupil soon brought him back to the true path, though.

"It doesn't matter whether its filli or fratis or even Philip or Frederick, since I'll never learn the difference unless we convince him! But I think we have the right idea. Convince him that in Grantville a daughter is as good as a son and that in time here will be likewise."

She looked around and, taking a deep breath to calm herself, walked over to the kegs and the man sitting beside them. At first sight he bore little resemblance to his daughter, but a closer glance shaved off about thirty years and considerably more pounds and showed the relationship. Red hair had darkened to brown and a hard life had roughened and thickened the features. But the nose was the same: a bit too large for beauty but not disfiguring.

"Pa, can you come over here? I'd like you to meet Master Abell."

"I was wondering whether you would want to let me meet your new lad. Seems a bit young for you, mind."

"Pa, he's a fellow commoner at the college, just arrived this week. He's got a proposal for you."

The two of them returned to Abell.

"So, my daughter says you arrived here this week and already you're proposing to my daughter? I knew fellow commoners were better than sizars or pensioners, but that's fast work. Might even be a record were I minded to accept. A record for the brevity of your life as a student, that is. You do know that the king and the chancellor do not permit undergraduates to marry and especially not to townsfolk?"

Abell went bright red. But Bess, being more used to her parent's often crude sense of humor, just raised her eyes to the heavens. " 'Tis nothing of the sort. He is both a scholar and a gentleman. Sit down and restrain your attempts at wit. Abell, this is my father, Mark Chapman; Pa, this is Richard Abell, fellow commoner at Magdalene."

She paused while they shook hands. "His father is a merchant who trades with the Baltic and of course he hears all the news from there. When he first came here on Wednesday, he was telling us all about that new place, Grantville, and how different it is. Anyway, we got into an argument about women because in Grantville the women are treated no different from the men. The girls can go to school or university just like their brothers can and they can own their own property and one of their rulers is a woman and—"

"So, let me guess. You have somehow trapped this poor boy into promising to make a little Grantville here—a utopian Granta Village as it were. And I further guess that you wish to be the first female resident of Granta Village? A place where you won't have to work all day in a tavern."

Mark Chapman may have looked a stolid dull-witted person. But, as the prosperous tavern itself testified, there was quite a brain tucked behind that dull exterior—a brain that, moreover, had experienced his daughter's wheedling ways for some eighteen years. Sometimes his daughter had a tendency to overlook that and try to be too devious. But she recovered quickly, showing that she had also inherited those quick wits.

"That's not quite true. We were arguing about whether women could really learn anything and I said the only way to find out was to try it and Abell said that he'd be happy to try and teach me. Today we were discussing how we should do it and then we thought we'd best beg your permission. But I don't want to stop working in the tavern, or even work less; I just want to rearrange things a bit. If I can swap a couple of chores with Margaret I can find some free time in the mornings on my own and most afternoons are free anyway so I can take an hour or two then to be taught by Abell. Think of it! You'll be getting an educated daughter who can look after you properly in your old age."

"I fear I may be getting a daughter who is never satisfied with her station in life, but then I suppose I have already got that. If I grant permission, at least you'll not be bitter with me. Now then, sir, what do you intend to teach this child of mine and how much do you expect to receive as payment?"

"Latin. Latin and grammar, at first. And probably arithmetic and geometry as well. Ah, but I hadn't thought about payment. I wasn't expecting any except maybe the odd tankard of ale. Ummmm, we do need to have somewhere private as a classroom, if that's possible."

"Cheap work man, aren't you! We'll have to see if we can't do something better, though I'm not sure what would be suitable. As for a schoolroom, I'm sure Bess has thought of the cubby where I keep my papers and tallies. So long as you don't harm them, that's most likely the best spot. And maybe you should teach my daughter some rhetoric, too. If I didn't have a heart of gold she'd have fluffed her chances!" With that, he got up and left them staring at each other.

"If I get a slate could we try the first lesson now?" asked Bess. "I'll get you another ale and show you the cubby."

The cubby was a poky room behind the kegs and next door to the kitchen. There was just enough room for a table and a bench as well as the shelves piled with tallies and miscellaneous junk. Abell sat himself at one end of the bench and thought hard about how he should start—verbs or nouns? verbs—first conjugation verb: amo amas amat—"I love; you love; he, she, or it loves," ah, no, perhaps on second thought better start with nouns and check that the grammar book has other example verbs. First declension noun: mensa mensa mensam mensae, much safer. Need to explain cases and parts of speech—subject in the nominative object in the accusative—better start with English words today, explain subjects, verbs, nouns . . . and she had to learn to write better. Ha, I can dictate things and she writes them down!

Just then Bess came in, closed the door behind her, and grabbed a slate from a pile of apparently unused ones. She sat at the other end of the bench, arranged her skirts, and looked at him. Abell gulped and began.

"I think 'twere best if we begin with English grammar. Since you need to practice your writing, you have to write down everything on the slate. Start with these two: 'the dog ran' and 'the dog chased the cat'."

 
thee dogge ran
the dogge chaysd thee kat
 

 

"Sentences in English have a subject, a verb, and usually an object. Subjects and objects are nouns—that means things. Verbs are actions. The subject of both sentences is the dog. The first verb is ran. The second verb is chased. The second sentence has an object, which is cat . . ."

By the time Mr. Chapman poked his head around the door to ask Bess to start work in the tavern they had spent a couple of hours. Bess had written more than three slates worth of sentences and learned about adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, tenses, and most of the other parts of speech.

"Shall I come again tomorrow afternoon? Yes? In the meantime I'll give you some homework. Write down and then find as many parts of speech in this:

 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

"The same was in the beginning with God.

"All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

"And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

"The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

"He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

"That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not."

She began writing.

 

inn the beginyng was the worde and the worde was withe godde and the . . . 

 

 

Neither Healey nor Gunton were back when Abell returned to his room. He found his old grammar book and his copy of De Bello Gallico. What about a book to practice reading English? The Bible, of course. He thought frantically about whether he had seen a Bible in the tavern. Well, he had his own for tomorrow and no doubt Bess could buy one if they didn't. This was going to be much harder than Euclid! He wondered if he could share the chore. Perhaps someone like Saltmarsh would be willing, though he might not have the time.

Then Abell wondered if he should tell anyone. Obviously telling his tutor or any of the fellows was out of the question, but what about his roommates? What about Dunster? And, assuming he made some other friends amongst the new intake of pensioners and sizars, what about them? Would they keep it a secret? Would they think he was actually doing something else with Bess?

He recalled the jesting reference made by Mr. Chapman to the king and the chancellor. It was no laughing matter. The king had modified the university statutes twice in the last three years to make marriage between students and town girls essentially impossible. The penalty for improper behavior of this sort was to be sent down in disgrace, generally after a flogging. Best to not mention this to anyone unless asked, he decided.

 

As time went on the routine became fixed. He taught on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for between two and three hours. And he tried to make sure that Bess had homework to do every day except Saturday. They fell into a routine, Latin on Tuesdays and Thursdays, English and arithmetic on Saturdays, Bible reading (and writing) on Sundays. They started with the Gospels and moved onto Acts after a few weeks. Once that was finished they moved on to the Old Testament, choosing by preference the passages with stories in them.

Bess had improved her English literacy sufficiently that she was starting to read other books for pleasure and she managed to get her hands on Lady Wroth's romance, The Countess of Montgomeries Urania. Abell was a bit unsure of the propriety of this book. It had caused a major scandal when it first appeared some ten years ago and was still notorious despite, or perhaps because of, the attempts to suppress it. As for Latin, she had managed to move beyond the flagrant guessing that is the hallmark of most beginners. While her sentences lacked grace and complicated constructions, they were generally grammatically correct. Although they still read Caesar, Abell had decided to introduce her to Cicero and his De Oratore as a way to kill two birds with one stone.

Abell was unsure whether her success was due to his instruction or her innate ability but he was very impressed with her progress. There was no doubt in his mind that Bess was as able a scholar as the average student. While she did not exhibit the genius that someone like Dunster displayed, there was no doubt she also did not act as stupidly as some of his other companions. Had she somehow managed to disguise her femininity, he had no doubt she could have held her place in any of the classes that he himself was attending.

Healey and Gunton had never asked him what he was doing during those afternoons when he was teaching Bess. Since they, and others such as Dunster and Saltmarsh, were regularly in the Pickerel, they could surely tell that Abell was well known there. They may also have noticed that he never seemed to have to pay for his beer there and seemed to know everyone serving there better than might be expected. However no one asked and he did not volunteer the information.

Early December 1632

Abell had begun to make friends with the other sizars and pensioners who had come up at the same time. He had more in common with them than with the other fellow commoners who were older and far less interested in studying. Abell, possibly partly inspired by the diligence of his own pupil, had been studying hard. His Latin, originally good, had become excellent and he reveled in the Aristotelian logic, textual analysis, and geometry. Theology was of less interest to him but he picked up enough of it to keep his seniors happy. With the winter break approaching, he was looking forward to seeing his family again, as were most of his fellow students.

One afternoon a little more than week before the end of term, the original five, as well as a couple of pensioners called Gale and Markham, were gathered in the Pickerel. As usual with such student groups, the conversation had shifted into the endless debate about Puritanism and Sacramentalism. Dunster, as always, was leading the assault on Laud and his vision of "a church as scarlet and debased as that of Rome with none of the excuses of precedent that might excuse the Romans." Healey, on the other hand, was giving as good as he got, complaining of the disorganization of the Puritan fringe "who cannot agree on anything save the evil of Rome and the dreadful possibility that people might wish to have fun."

While the rest looked on and made occasional points, Dunster and Healey proceeded to pick apart each other's arguments without bothering to answer the criticisms of their own. Since the debate was clearly not going to be resolved that afternoon—past experience indicated that it would never be resolved any afternoon—Gale decided to try and widen the debate by appealing to Bess to adjudicate in her role as queen of the Pickerel.

"Your Majesty, good queen Bess, I do beg your indulgence that you may pass judgment upon these two and thus restore peace to your realm."

"I cannot pass judgment but I declare that it is indeed time for a truce. I would have thought you would have learned by now: 'de gustibus non disputandum est' or better, 'de persuasionibus non disputandum est.' "

The table was shocked into silence. Abell, of course, was torn between the pleasure of seeing his work pay off and terror that he would be unmasked, but the rest of them were amazed. Not at the Latin tag itself—their own conversation was littered with such—but the fact that a tavern girl could not just quote a tag but amend the tag to make it more appropriate. True, a scholar might have chosen another word in place of persuasio but that was quibbling. It was almost as if an animal had spoken.

"Well, that was easy," Bess said. "Is there anything else you lack?"

"Whu . . . Where, ah how, did you learn that?" stammered Saltmarsh.

"I read it in a book lent to me by Master Abell, if that signifies."

All eyes on the table turned on Abell, who went bright red. But a few months of college had given him a lot more self-confidence.

"Do you remember that first day when we argued about Grantville and women? I thought I'd lend her my Latin grammar and primer and a couple of books so she could see what she could do." All true, but not mentioning that he'd also spent a large amount of time teaching her. "It seems Bess has packed quite a bit in the last few months. Mayhap you recall your logic of that day, Saltmarsh? 'Tis like Grantville itself, not so easy to subdue as one might assume. First Tilly, then Wallenstein. Life has not been good to Catholic generals in Germany."

Saltmarsh did indeed recall that day, as did Healey, Gunton, and Dunster. They recalled the town of Grantville and were all now diverted to consider the recent news from the continent. Despite a raid on Grantville itself, the Americans and their Swedish allies had trounced both the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs in separate battles in the past couple of months.

" 'Twas disrespectful, though mayhap fitting to Luther's memory, that the papists were burned out of the Wartburg. And Spaniards, at that. I hear the Americans were pitiless toward the Inquisitors. I wonder how they enjoyed being burned instead of being the ones doing the burning."

"But yet the Americans were merciful to the soldiers, whom they certainly could also have kept trapped within the inferno. I think no demonic sending would have been able to withstand such a temptation for slaughter, ergo our fears that Grantville was a devil's snare seem misplaced."

Bess was confused about something

"Pray, why was the Wartburg so fitting?"

Dunster was only too happy to explain. "Wartburg and the town of Eisenach were a home for Martin Luther, the father of the Reformation, for some years. Hence having the Jesuits burned out of there is a meet revenge for their martyring of so many Protestants."

"Now that is clear as day, though it leads me to another question—and I know well that this may lead us back to point where I intervened but I shall chance it nonetheless—why do we have so many disputes over religion? Whether Puritan, Catholic, Anglican, or whatever, we all believe in Jesus. You do all state the creed together and as I understand it the Catholic creed is the same excepting that it is in Latin. Why, then, is there so much debate?"

There was a short confused outburst as about five people started to answer at once, with Healey in this case eventually managing to take the lead.

"The simple answer is that we believe that the Devil has corrupted the Romish church. We can all respect the early church of Rome, and even in some of the more recent centuries 'tis undoubted that many devout Christians served the church. However, the power of Rome is such that it has attracted those who do not care for spiritual rewards in the world to come but rather seek temporal influence today. The worst corruption of all was that to which Luther did address his ninety-five theses—namely the selling of indulgences. Theologically this completely reverses the teachings of Christ for it, in effect, claims to let a rich man buy his way into heaven.

"Although this is not the only error that the Romans fell into, it is illustrative, since this biblically unjustifiable practice, as with so many others, had the effect of increasing the wealth and influence of the bishops, cardinals, and pope to such an extent that they can wield temporal power in this world. Further, the distractions of temporal power mean that the Roman church no longer concentrates on teaching the word of the Lord but prefers to keep the population in ignorance and superstition while frightening the better off to give their wealth not to the poor but to the church.

"The aim of the Protestant Reformation—and that is what we all agree with—is to return the church to its true form where it has not been corrupted by the temptations of rule and influence. The reason we subsequently argue is that the Lord was not as clear in his desires for this world as one might have wished. Hence churchmen must seek to interpret the scriptures and pray that we receive guidance. Our human frailty means that we are often unable to interpret what guidance we get.

"At its simplest, the Calvinist doctrine believes in stark simplicity if not poverty, with each congregation responsible solely for itself. To a degree, those of us who are less radical sympathize with that view. However, we believe it is an ideal and not something possible in an imperfect world. The problem is that such an ideal church faces many difficulties in this world. For us, the sacraments and symbols of the church serve an important purpose in bringing the ignorant to Christ, teaching them about the meaning of Christianity. Bishops help us organize the church so that we can be more effective in our message; whereas the Calvinists believe that they lead the church to repeat the errors of Rome."

There was a thoughtful pause while the various students considered whether there was anything to add and for Bess to think of a new question, which was forestalled by Dunster. "A masterly summary and one that makes clear why you are mistaken. Are we idealists then? Perhaps, but we should strive for our ideals and not accept the imperfections of the world. It is such as you who permitted the corruption to start in the Romish church. No doubt each step was justified in the name of expedience and no doubt compromise seemed better. The road to perdition is paved with good intentions. Better that we reject that road from the start than hope that we can stop before the end."

Bess found something to say in response. "Sir, methinks your idealism will deter many of those who might otherwise repent. Any man who has lived a life of sin, nay, any man who has merely lived a life without particular regard for the church will hesitate to come to a church so austere and unwelcoming. Surely, if you wish to convert the world you must make it such that people will willingly join?"

Dunster was unused to arguing with people who did not have the grounding in theology; it made him unsure of himself. But he could tell this woman was shortly going to be asking him about predestination and he could also tell she wasn't going to like the answer. If he was going in that direction, best to be quick about it.

"The church should not seek to make itself attractive to sinners. We believe that not everybody can find Christ and not everybody will go to heaven. Since God is omnipotent and omniscient he knows well what acts we shall all perform. Hence we are ab initio, elected to enter heaven if that is our destiny. Moreover; we need not concern ourselves with those who are not of the elect, since they are in any respect doomed."

Just as suspected, Bess was unimpressed by the concept.

"That seems not only most inequitable but also removes the possibility of free will, which would seem to make our lives meaningless. What gains someone to strive to do good works or to live a God-fearing life if they go to hell anyway? If God has already decreed what happens, wherefore are we placed on the earth to act out our doom? 'Tis as if we were mere actors in a play!"

Abell wondered if Dunster would fall back on Calvin's claims that the wicked receive their just deserts while the elect are saved through God's mercy. That didn't seem promising, though, and Dunster tried a different counter argument.

"No, 'tis not so simple. We cannot guess the mind of God. Mayhap we are all destined to be part of the elect; however, we cannot know that and we should not give up."

"That seems contrary to the previous claim. If we should act then surely we should strive to convert those who do not believe and thus make the church attractive to the sinful and ignorant in the hope that they repent."

Dunster was positively not enjoying this. However, he fumbled for a way out.

"I think you should read Calvin's own words in the order in which they are written rather than dart from point to point. The books of his writings are in the library, I can show them to you."

He ground to a halt realizing there was a slight problem: such books were not permitted to be removed from the library, indeed they were chained to the shelves, and women were of course not allowed in the college. However, after considerable debate, other members of the party agreed that between them they could smuggle Bess into the library the following afternoon.

 

The next afternoon it all seemed to work like clockwork. Abell met Bess with a spare gown and cap to go over the male clothes she had borrowed. Her long red hair was gathered up under the cap so from a distance she was not obviously female. Hobson, the porter, had been suitably distracted by Gale asking him some involved question to do with the upcoming vacation and other members of the group were ready to call "cave" (look out) if a fellow should appear in the court. Dunster and Abell between them found the books and helped translate when Bess got stuck. Dunster was amazed at Bess's grasp of Latin, but even so, it was hard going. The more so, since Bess seemed determined to make sure she understood it all and did not miss a single nuance. Suddenly, they heard a "cave" hissed from the window. Before they could do anything, the library door opened and in came the Bursar.

 

There was no way to hide it. President and Bursar Smith had caught two members of his college consorting with a woman, a tavern wench no less, in the college library. It was a scandal! It spread around the college and then all Cambridge like wildfire, with the details becoming more and more sensational with each retelling. True, one of the college members was a fellow commoner and that sort of thing was expected, one might say almost required, of fellow commoners, but the other was a BA, one respected, in certain circles at least, for his scholarship and piety.

Of course, the more salacious rumors paid no attention to such quibbling details. Indeed, one rumor named them both as fellows and claimed that Smith had walked in to a scene of witchcraft with the naked witch having her way with both of them simultaneously after having performed some black magic. For some reason, the true story as told by all three of the guilty parties, namely that the woman was being shown John Calvin's writings on predestination, was utterly dismissed by those who heard it.

From the point of view of the defendants the only redeeming feature of the whole affair was that it was a purely internal college matter. It was to be dealt with by the college, thus ensuring a speedy judgment and preservation of some privacy, as well as the hope that familiarity might also breed leniency. The fellows meeting to discuss the case two days later was held in the hall with the fellows seated around the high table and Abell and Dunster standing before them. Healey and Gunton had been asked to attend as witnesses and were seated at the end of one of the long dining tables.

It was a frosty but sunny morning and the fire behind the high table had taken the chill off the room. Surprisingly, the master himself was in attendance. This was unexpected as he tended to leave such disciplinary matters to the president; presumably the rumors surrounding the case had made him decide he had best hear the truth at firsthand. The meeting began with the president describing what he had seen.

"I entered the library and saw three people gathered by one of the stacks. I greeted them and paid them no mind, intent as I was upon mine own business. However whilst I searched for the volume I desired, I thought again upon whom I had seen. Dunster and Abell I recognized, but the third person was unknown to me. Moreover he was wearing a Magdalene gown and cap and hence could not have been a visitor from another college. I curtailed mine own researches and walked around the stacks to again examine the three.

"Upon closer examination, I saw that the third person was undeniably female, albeit dressed in male attire. I swiftly established upon enquiry of the three that she was Elizabeth Chapman, the daughter of the landlord of the Pickerel Inn. Naturally, I did enquire wherefore she was in the library wearing such a disguise and was informed that she was reading for herself the homilies and letters of John Calvin wherein he expounded his doctrine of predestination. I called Hobson and required her to depart the college in his charge. Subsequently, neither Abell nor Dunster has changed their claim and both have suggested that Healey and Gunton might provide some verification of it."

One of the fellows, John Howorth, a friend of the president and Abell's tutor, took up the role of chief interrogator. He began by requesting that Dunster explain himself.

"The previous afternoon a party of us—I, Abell, Gunton, Healey, Saltmarsh, Gale, and Markham—had repaired to the Pickerel for refreshment. Whilst partaking of such refreshment we did discuss diverse topics and our debate became heated. Gale made bold to suggest that Mistress Chapman adjudicate in the name of peace, upon which she did declare truce if not judgment by stating 'de gustibus non disputandum est' and then correcting that to 'de persuasionibus non disputandum est.' Naturally, such an apt tag from such a source did cause some consternation and we did enquire how she had come upon it. Abell and she explained that Abell had lent her his Latin grammar and vocabulary as well as his Caesar and Cicero.

"The discussion then moved on but Mistress Chapman remained a part of it. During subsequent debate Mistress Chapman did ask numerous questions about the doctrine of predestination and the elect to which I regret that I was unable to provide satisfactory answers. I reflected that were I debating such with an undergraduate I would not hesitate to refer such a one to the source, namely the writings of Calvin. Then, since it seemed that Mistress Chapman had sufficient Latin, I thought it would be to her advantage if we could manage the same thing. Abell concurred and we determined that, since the works were to be found within the library here, we should contrive some subterfuge to permit Mistress Chapman to read the texts. Abell elected himself to be her linguistic assistant while I guided her to the appropriate passages. While her initial questions were answered, exposure to Calvin's teachings awoke further questions and we failed to note the passage of time until we were interrupted by the president."

Howorth began to cross-examine. "It did not occur to either of you to ask for a special dispensation?"

The true answer to that—that they were sure any request would have been denied out of hand—was not one that should be mentioned. Dunster attempted a diplomatic evasion.

"Of course we should have done so. However, I regret that we felt that time was of the essence, since the term is to end so soon, and thus acted on our own initiative rather than waited for approval of a request."

"And as a result you have caused this college to be enmeshed in scandal as should have been obvious to one of the meanest intellect let alone someone who has a BA. To me the lack of such a request is indicative of the implausibility of the tale. I should like to hear some evidence to corroborate your story."

Both Abell and Dunster indicated that Healey and Gunton could be witnesses to the tavern debate. The two were asked to come forward and give their stories, which in turn they did. Their statements did indeed match that of Dunster. Both agreed that Bess had indeed used a Latin tag to end the initial debate. Healey stated in part that he had begun the discussion of the various forms of Protestantism as a result of a question from Bess and that once debate had moved on toward Calvinist doctrine he had let his colleague Dunster expound since he was well acknowledged to be wiser in such matters. Gale, Saltmarsh, and Markham were mentioned again as sources of additional corroboration. Howorth then moved on.

"You say that Mistress Chapman was able to construe the Latin of Calvin. I, and, I suspect, my colleagues, do find that hard to credit. You say she had only been given a couple of books concerning the tongue?"

Abell answered, "She did not comprehend every word. Dunster and I must provide the meaning now and then. However, she was well able to recognize the grammatical constructions used."

"And how long ago did you give her those books?"

" 'Twas shortly after I came up, that is to say in August."

"And you claim that a tavern wench, whose education is most probably limited to a crude literacy in English and with little enough practice at that, is able to learn Latin to such a standard within four months without recourse to anything save a schoolboy text or two?"

Abell realized that this was crunch time: in order to make the truth believable he must detail some of his teaching, but that seemed likely to cause other problems for him. Still, at least it would help extricate Dunster.

"Well, she did ask me numerous questions. I did spend some afternoons guiding her."

"So you stand here and admit that rather than concentrate on your own studies, you did consort with a tavern wench upon numerous occasions? Where pray did these liaisons occur?"

Healey nearly burst out at the unfairness of the first part of that question. Abell had been a veritable paragon amongst fellow commoners and indeed his tutor had used him as an example to embarrass some of Abell's seniors. A witness of indeterminate guilt and low rank does not comment uninvited upon a rhetorical question, however. For Abell it was the second part that was the most delicate. Any whiff of previous impropriety could cause immense trouble. The fact that he had indeed begun to have feelings about his pupil that would be deemed inappropriate was just an incidental detail that complicated the whole mess. This was not something that Abell felt he needed to mention.

"Sir, Mr. Chapman permitted us to use his small room behind the main tavern room wherein he does keep his tallies as it had the wherewithal for learning. Mistress Chapman did her studying there and I did assist her when I was asked." The fact that this was every day was again something that Abell did not feel obliged to mention, but he could feel the ice cracking all around him and wondered how to proceed. That thought was swiftly put aside by the tempest his previous statement unleashed from the bursar.

"And what of the impropriety? We are a Christian institution and require clear moral behavior from our members. Consorting in private with tavern wenches is counter to these principles. You are an undergraduate at Cambridge, here to study and improve your mind, not to dally with trollops in taverns. Nay, worse, it seems that you are a very viper in the nest of this college. Not content to neglect your own studies to frolic with wenches, you also incite your betters to do likewise. It passes understanding how you might think that such a tale should be credible.

"I know not what you were doing in our library but I misdoubt that your pedagogical talents are such that you can teach an innkeeper's daughter to do anything other than count her pence and lie down for you! Perhaps as a fellow commoner you think you are above the disciplines of your fellow students, but you will learn otherwise. To begin with, you shall be gated until you have satisfied your tutor as to the progress of your own education and I trust the master will find some other punishment for the egregious lying that has accompanied your trysting. Indeed, was it up to me I would consider whether this college would be better off altogether without your disruptive presence."

"But I . . ." Abell started to stammer a defense but before he could get far, one of the fellows intervened. Dr. Greene, that was.

"President Smith, are you aware that if Abell has neglected his studies his accomplishments to date fail to show this? I certainly recall hearing stories in the combination room about this paragon amongst fellow commoners who was more diligent than any sizar. Furthermore, as you know well, the Pickerel is a respectable tavern as such places go. Had we been talking about a maid from the Three Tuns, I too would be skeptical. Incredible as it may seem, I am inclined to believe that the story is accurate in outline.

"I do confess I find it hard to credit the description of Mistress Chapman's abilities to construe Latin. However, that does not signify. Abell, you should be punished for execrable judgment and for flouting the rules concerning behavior. Indeed for bringing such scandal upon this place. But these are the faults of youth that are to be expected and your intent was good. Do you have anything you would like to raise in your defense?"

Abell paused for a moment. "Sirs, I confess I had not thought of external appearances when I offered to assist Mistress Chapman. I had thought merely of the challenge she had set herself and of what I might do to assist. In that respect, Mistress Chapman has proven to be a most diligent student with as much determination to study as one could hope for. I do believe that the thesis proposed concerning the educability of women has been demonstrated correct without recourse to rhetoric or logic. Indeed, she is an example that inspires mine own studies and can feel nothing but admiration for her determination to obtain education.

"I regret that this diligent study seems to cause disbelief, but I submit you can verify my tale by interviewing Mistress Chapman yourselves. Furthermore, while I do humbly apologize to the college for bringing scandal upon it through my thoughtlessness and impetuosity, I do most strenuously deny that there is any basis whatsoever in the bursar's innuendo. Mistress Chapman and I have done nothing other than study together."

There was a pause while the fellows considered Abell's defense. Then Dr. Greene spoke.

"Indeed, young Abell, if you are so sure of your pupil's talents mayhap we should confirm them. Although I do wonder wherefore she desires such learning. It will surely lead to frustration since she cannot hope to exercise her newfound knowledge in a tavern. However, that is perhaps beside the point. The education of such a woman is not of concern to us save that it verify or not your tale. Still, such a demonstration might cause the doubters to reconsider your tale."

The master spoke for the first time. "Dr. Greene, I feel you are permitting yourself to be distracted by minutiae. Whether or not the girl can construe Latin, the fact remains that young Abell has indeed brought disrepute upon this college and we must repair that damage, come what may."

"Master, I am fully cognizant of that," replied Dr. Greene. "However, the college may retrieve its reputation by either dealing harshly with the prejudged miscreant or by determining the truth and acting accordingly. I believe the accused is indeed guilty of nothing more than youthful thoughtlessness and it behooves us to take that into consideration. Especially when the former course might well deprive us of a worthy scholar."

What Dr. Greene failed to mention was the other reason why flogging and expelling Abell would be inadvisable. The possibility of receiving bequests from the family would be forfeit if Abell were no longer a student, but that was understood by all the fellows. As a poor college, Magdalene could not afford to alienate the rich and powerful. The bursar, however, was not best pleased with either the spoken or unspoken defense of the miscreant.

"Dr. Greene, I am somewhat at a loss as to why you persist in this rhetoric. The boy has admitted to consorting with an innkeeper's daughter over a period of months. This is not a suitable pastime for a student and is counter to all the statutes of college. If we do not punish such behavior decisively we ourselves are vulnerable to accusations that we are lax in our management of the college. Worse, we may be accused of conniving in the establishment of a den of iniquity rather than a college of Christian piety."

Given the rocky relationship between the Cambridge colleges and both the crown and the see of Canterbury, this was a fair point. While Magdalene was not the hotbed of Puritanism that some of its neighbors were, it was still liable to be tarred with the same brush in regards to its loyalty to the established church. Archbishop-presumptive Laud would be only too happy to make use of Magdalene's perceived sins as a stick with which to oppress the entire university.

The master, however, was more of a politician than the bursar, and was beginning to see an alternative approach that would at one stroke stymie the colleges' external enemies, retain the goodwill of the Abell family, and (last but not least) ensure that the bursar was put firmly back in his place. Even the master himself was unclear which of these three satisfactory results was more pleasurable.

"Bursar, I do acknowledge your concerns for the future of the college and they reflect admirably upon you. Your thesis is indubitably valid. However, I also feel that Dr. Greene has created a powerful antithesis. If falls to me therefore to ennunciate an synthesis agreeable to all. Here, therefore, is my decision. Firstly, the notion that you, young Abell, be gated is sound. You shall therefore remain within the grounds of this college for the remainder of this term and for the entirety of the next. Should you have need to leave, you must first receive permission from your tutor, Howorth, and also be accompanied on the trip by a BA, one of Messrs. Gunton, Healey, or Dunster. The bursar is correct. We are here to study in Christian piety and no matter your intentions, a tavern is not conducive to such an attitude. However, further punishment shall depend upon your pedagogical aptitude.

"Dr. Greene, since you were so resolute in the defense, you shall discuss with Abell the limits of Mistress Chapman's knowledge and shall devise an examination thereof the results of which you shall share with myself and Howorth. Should we agree that her learning is indeed as claimed, no further punishment need apply since Abell shall be proven to be more enthusiastic than wise. However, should the young lady not have adequate knowledge, we will consider additional steps in the light of our discovery.

"Finally, Dr. Greene shall enquire of Mr. and Mistress Chapman whether they wish her lessons to continue. If so, we shall ensure that they do so under circumstances of impeccable propriety. Master Abell shall conduct such lessons as desired in my lodgings where my wife and servants may oversee them. Such lessons shall continue only so long as Abell remains dedicated to his own studies."

The bursar was obviously not exactly pleased by this judgment, as the glare he gave Abell and Dunster showed. But he was not willing to challenge the master when he had spoken in such terms. The other fellows likewise did not demur and thus the session ended.

 

When they got outside Dunster, Healey, and Gunton were pleased that they had been almost ignored in the scandal over Abell's behavior. Abell was light-headed from relief after escaping the bursar's threats. Dr. Greene called Abell to come to his room and discuss what he had taught Bess.

The discussion got off to a good start since Abell began by thanking Dr. Greene for defending him and apologizing for the additional work this was going to cause him. The description of what had been taught did not take long and Dr. Greene shortly dismissed him. Abell's fellow undergraduates were less merciful than the master and teased him endlessly about his teaching Bess, mostly with some undertones of respect and admiration. This was pleasing to the ego even if the actual taunts were less so. What was not so pleasing was that a moment's thought, not to mention hints from his betters, showed that he had just made an enemy of the bursar. Thus it was with mixed feelings that Abell took stage to London to spend Christmas with his family.

Two days later Bess entered the college as she had been invited. Having been guided to the master's lodgings, she was given a table where she spent an hour and a half or so writing down her translations of Cicero's account of the activities of Dolabella as well as demonstrating her proficiency in arithmetic under the supervision of Dr. Greene. Finally, she was given a Bible and told to translate as much of the first chapter of Saint Mark into Latin as she could.

This was by far the hardest task but she took it in her stride and made a credible attempt at the translation. While Howorth and Dr. Greene reviewed her efforts, she was invited to discuss her future tuition desires with the master. To her surprise, the meeting included a young woman of about her own age or perhaps a little younger. The young lady, it turned out, was the master's daughter and the reason for her presence was that the master was suggesting that Abell act as tutor to both girls simultaneously, thus permitting each to chaperone the other.

This was quite a development. It seemed to indicate both that the master believed that she would in fact demonstrate sufficient learning and that the master had decided to approve the venture. (The fact that he would end up with a daughter tutored for free was purely incidental.) Since everyone knew of the Smyth-Smith rivalry, that implied that the bursar was in the process of receiving another lesson about the powers and privileges of the master. Bess would have accepted almost any conditions, and the plan proposed was about as good as it could possibly get.

They discussed the details of the proposed curriculum and the amount of time Abell would be allowed to dedicate to teaching. Then Dr. Greene entered and reported that her Latin was "by no means fluent but entirely consistent with some months of diligent studies and showeth a dedication often wanting in our pensioners" and that "she has a solid grounding that wants merely practice to improve."

On that happy note the meeting broke up with an agreement that Abell's first official lesson should take place upon his return after Christmas. For Bess the official status of her studies was a Christmas gift worth more than anything else.

January 1633

For Richard Abell the Yuletide break was fun but over far too soon. He had spent a lot of time asking his father and other relations about news of Grantville, with mixed success. It was hard to separate the fictional from the factual and the politics made it even more confusing. Abell had to get a lecture on what a future age would have called realpolitik from his father before he began to understand the motivations behind actions such as French Catholic cardinal Richelieu's financing of the Protestant king of Sweden in his fight against the Catholic Holy Roman Empire. On the other hand he was allowed to choose a few of Grantville's wonder goods to amuse his friends. The majority of these were most peculiar, being made of something that seemed to be neither wood nor metal but something in between. His uncle told him that the American merchant they had obtained them from had told him that this material—something called plastic—could not be made again for many years. Still, the clear bottle was extremely convenient for travelling since it was less fragile than glass, and the "ballpoint pen" was far superior to quill and ink. On the other hand, it was the pamphlet that he had a feeling would be most controversial, despite it being clearly just advanced printing. Entitled National Geographic and dated October 1998, it was utterly fascinating and something that he knew he could share and discuss endlessly with all his Cambridge colleagues and friends.

His father had also shown him the female mannikin with its radical clothing, which he rather thought Bess would like to see. However, this was not to be. Not only was this the sort of good that could be sold for enormous sums of money, there was no chance that this could go anywhere that it might be discovered by a strict Puritan and destroyed. As he rode on the Hobson stage back to Cambridge, Richard thought he'd like to see Bess wearing an outfit like that. He also wondered about the name. Did "Barbie" mean barbarian? Or was it something to do with cutting? And nurse? The costume didn't seem really suitable for looking after children. Despite the developed chest, he didn't see how she could suckle a baby without taking off almost the entire costume. Somehow Richard knew that even Americans didn't do that!

The news from the continent was mostly good. His family's trading journeys to the Baltic were unthreatened so far. The situation in Germany seemed more positive than not for the Swedes and their allies, with the possibility that the Baltic might once more become a source of grain. But, despite that, there was no sign of peace, which meant that disruptions to trade could be expected at any time. Indeed the success of the Swedes and Americans seemed likely to goad Richelieu into more direct action—something that did not bode well for southern trade. So far however, despite the rumbling mistrust of Spain, the English seemed to be maintaining neutrality and thus able to trade with all sides. Business was booming, not just in London but also in all the other ports where the family had operations from Boston to Southampton. The only fly in the ointment was that it seemed the Americans were spreading some sort of subversive organization, something called Committees of Correspondence, which threatened to overthrow kings, princes, and the established order. His father's circle wasn't precisely in favor of King Charles and the House of Stuart, but they were definitely against disorder since that tended to ruin trade and hence, more by default than otherwise, were against revolutionary new ideas such as those of the Committees of Correspondence.

This had led to a bit of an argument because Abell himself had become somewhat infected with the Puritan zeal at Cambridge. Not by any means as extreme as some, but despite rooming with Healey and Gunton who were certainly not Puritan, he had come to respect the scholarship and philosophy of his more Puritan friends. Magdalene was not particularly radical and its Puritans were more tolerant than many. While they disapproved of theaters, cockfights, gambling dens, and the like, they were not inclined to force their beliefs upon all. Dunster, Saltmarsh, and others like them had inspired much of his dedication. Their willingness to look beyond the class, position, and accepted wisdom when evaluating people had undoubtedly influenced his willingness to teach Bess. But when you got down to it, Puritanism was rather revolutionary and antihierarchical, which meant that in some ways it was not a million miles from the aims of the Committees of Correspondence.

Of course, "Puritanism" was a fairly broad label. The more radical parts would be frothing at the mouth at the idea of toleration. Particularly toleration of other religions and perceived works of the Devil such as drunkenness, debauchery, and the like which, according to Abell's father's comments, were precisely what toleration meant to the Committees. But the rest, the bits that didn't directly involve religion, they were very interesting and would appeal to any sort of Puritan. Abell was imagining telling all the news to his friends over ale in the Pickerel when he remembered that he had been gated. No more Pickerel. No more late nights wandering the streets of Cambridge. No more lazy afternoons on the common or poking around the market. Well, that was no great loss seeing as it was winter. Still, at least he would be seeing his friends again and presumably teaching Bess since he had no doubt she would pass whatever tests she was given.

By the time the stage arrived at Cambridge it was full dark. The cloudy, drizzly, gray, short winter's day had given way to a still more miserable night. Needless to say, Magdalene was inconveniently far from the Hobson stable and not on the London road, but the promise of a few pence had convinced the driver that he could do the detour. Abell was not the only person to do this. By his calculations the driver had made a good florin from the various travelers who had equally disliked the idea of finding their way through the dark wet streets.

Abell was almost the last person on the stage, just a couple of members of Jesus college remaining. The unloading of his trunk was swiftly managed by the driver, who deftly and unobtrusively pocketed his gratuity. The Magdalene porter equally efficiently moved it to his room. Abell would have liked to have gossiped a bit with the porter but the evening hall was imminent and he had to grab his robes and run. The advantages of being a fellow commoner was that one ate far better than the other students; and, of course, being at high table one had presumably more learned discourse. But, Abell reflected, the disadvantage was that one was visible if late and, while eating, the fellows could be remarkably biting about the behavior of junior members of the college, even, perhaps especially, when those juniors were seated at the same table.

However, as it turned out, apart from an occasional snide remark, the fellows were more interested in discussing the political situation, especially as regards to Thomas Wentworth. Since Abell had just arrived from London and since his family was believed to have reasonable connections with the movers and shakers in the kingdom, he was pressed for news and each tidbit he divulged was discussed over and over.

London rumor had it that not only had Wentworth been recalled from Ireland but that the king intended to promote him to high office and honor. The reasons for this were less than clear and provided the high table with an entire course of speculation. Abell suspected, but did not repeat his suspicion to his tablemates, that this had to do with the mysterious pages Dr. Harvey had brought from Grantville. The next course brought more speculation, this time about what Wentworth would do with his new powers. It was notable that the more Puritan-leaning parts of the fellowship seemed the most worried. Until recently, the sacramentalist Laud had not had notable success in reversing the Calvinist trends within the university or amongst the gentry, despite having the support of his monarch. Laud was not precisely known for his tact and diplomacy, nor did he yet have the power to enforce behavior across the land. Wentworth, on the other hand, was considered by all to be far more vigorous. If he decided to come down on Puritanism, that would be much more serious.

As the meal drew to an end, Abell was asked about events on the continent. The Confederated Principalities of Europe and the religious tolerance of the Americans were of great interest to the fellows. Anglicanism and Lutheranism were different in certain critical ways, not least because of their different origins and political situation. But, as one of the fellows noted: "Our two churches are forever plagued with the determination of the righteous course as we seek to navigate between the Scylla of Rome and Charybdis of Geneva. Oft it seems that every doctor of theology—nay, every bishop and curate—must be a captain making an different course."

Abell mentioned that the Lutherans around Grantville had already encountered problems of precisely this nature and that the Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was to hold a colloquy on how to satisfy the various factions of a faith. He also mentioned that Grantville itself seemed willing to tolerate any faith, even Jews and Papists. The latter was merely confirmation of previous intelligence, but the colloquy was both new and of great interest and must therefore be debated at great length. For Abell, who wished to talk with his own friends but was constrained to remain at high table until they had done the topic to death, this was exceedingly frustrating. Finally the discussion wound down and Abell was able to make his escape. To his frustration he learned from Hobson the porter that his friends had all decamped to the Pickerel. But, reflecting that it was an ill wind that blew no good, he satisfied his urge to gossip by conversing with Hobson.

"Hobson, may I enquire if you are related to that Hobson who is the university carrier?"

"Aye, that I am. 'Tis not too close a relationship. My grandfather was uncle to old Hobson, he who did become the carrier, and who died but two years past. He was a sharp one, that. I recall my grandfather telling me that even as a child he was always looking for a way to get a coin or two. He became carrier with but one wagon, more a cart than a carriage, and his stable began with the worst collection of broken-down old nags you ever did see. Why, my grandfather said that anyone else would have sold them to the tanners!"

"Ah, yes, the notorious Hobson's choice."

"No, sir. Hobson's choice came when he first managed to obtain better horses. All the young gentlemen insisted on riding the good horses and leaving the bad in the stable to eat their oats. Afore long the good were ruined like the others and so Hobson did decide that henceforth all should be hired in turn. That is Hobson's choice."

"I am well rebuked and do thank you for your correction. . . . Pray tell me, how did Mistress Chapman fare in the tests?"

"Exceedingly well! The master was most satisfied and hath decided that you may instruct his own daughter as well as Mistress Chapman. Thereby, as is his wont, gaining some benefit for himself."

"Erp . . ."

A later generation of Englishmen would have described his reaction as "gobsmacked." He had never expected to have to teach anyone but Bess and certainly had not expected to be so closely involved with the master's household. He thanked Hobson and wandered across the court and up to his rooms in somewhat of a daze, albeit a pensive one. He wondered what the master's daughter was like. Come to think of it he couldn't remember actually seeing her since the master spent most of his time in Peterborough where he was a canon and his family resided there for the most part. They had been to Cambridge just once while Abell was there, passing through on their way to visiting the earl of Suffolk at Audley End and had stayed tucked away in the master's lodge for a night to tidy up and get presentable before the final leg of their journey. Rumor had it that the master had been attempting to impress his patrons and had enlisted his wife and daughters in the scheme. Rumor had not reported whether this had been successful or not, or even how long the family had stayed at Audley End.

 

The next morning after chapel the master invited Abell to break his fast with the master and his family that "we might discourse upon pedagogy and the female sex." Thanks to his chat with Hobson, Abell was not taken aback when he was informed of the master's scheme and was able to make sensible enquiry as to the level of mistress Smyth's education to date. The Master's wife was gracious but remote, apparently having a poor opinion of the whole idea. But his daughter was more enthusiastic. Perhaps things would not be so bad after all. Abell learned that he would be giving his first lesson that very afternoon and that he was excused from the second morning lecture to prepare. He proposed to teach the women something about geography to start with, since it was something that would be new to both and would not require special linguistic knowledge. Mistress Smyth, he had been informed, knew how to read and write in English and how to cipher but no one had taught her Latin or given her much to study beyond her schoolbooks. She seemed keen to rectify that and recalling his own experience he thought that perhaps Bess could help teach her Latin.

After the lecture was over, his roommates came back. They had come back quite late the night before and no one had been in talkative mood when they awoke. Of course, they asked him all about London and about the master and he found himself repeating much that he had said the night before at high table. He distracted them from the interminable debates about Wentworth and Grantville by showing them the bottle, the pen, and the National Geographic.

Both were extremely impressed. The clear bottle with a closing that did not leak was practically miraculous, being so light yet so strong. And as for the pen . . . well, had his father provided him with enough they would have thrown up their studies and gone into business selling or maybe just renting them by the hour to other students. No need to continually dip the quill in ink, no need to sharpen it from time to time. No danger of ink spills or blots or any of the other mishaps that were part and parcel of writing in 1633.

They insisted on writing something with it, and after some debate, both chose a letter home as the most satisfactory way to brag to the widest audience. Abell let them bicker about the pen while he began to study the National Geographic in detail. When he had flicked through it earlier, it seemed fairly straightforward, being just a kind of small book of illustrated essays, but closer inspection served to add confusion. The majority of the book was indeed essays on "Human Migration," "Women and Population," and so on, but the first and last few pages were more odd, a mishmash of pictures of confusing objects with little explanatory text, as indeed was the back cover.

What was a 4x4? A Jeep? Asphalt? And where exactly was the funny place called www.jeep.com? Not to mention the request to "call 1-800-925-JEEP." Was this a name? Or some slogan to be shouted in the air? A curse or a spell?

No matter. Abell decided that the National Geographic would serve very well as a text to study. Surely both women would be fascinated to compare the reports of navigators and explorers such as Sir Francis Drake or Sir Walter Raleigh with the maps and tales in the book. He decided that the story "Feeding the Planet" would be the one to start with. It had maps that resembled maps he had seen of the known world and had many pictures of agriculture that seemed more familiar—despite the odd-looking people—than the pictures in the other essays. Also, it was fairly short.

He paid a visit to the college library and located Hakluyt's Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation. But he soon decided that it would be best to begin with simple copying of the essay. Later it would no doubt be interesting to attempt to identify the various places and nations of the National Geographic. It might bore Bess to just copy, but Abell hoped the subject matter would be sufficiently diverting. He needed time to determine the true abilities of Mistress Smyth and to come up with a plan for teaching her Latin while not boring Bess.

The lesson was interesting. Since the master's wife was present she decided to attend the lesson and her presence put a damper on the greetings between Bess and Abell. It took a few minutes for all to determine the best way that the two girls should share the National Geographic and there was a brief moment of tension as Mrs. Smyth inquired whether Abell was intending on teaching lewd, heathen, or heretical nonsense to her daughter. Fortunately, Mrs. Smyth was no great scholar and seemed willing to accept verbal reassurance without examining the tract in detail. The students, however, set to copying with enthusiasm and frequent discussions about the meaning of phrases and words.

The most thought-provoking were the simple numbers. Abell himself had trouble comprehending the scale of the world. The very first sentence was astonishing—how could it be that the world at the end of the second millenium was adding so many people per day? To the girls, for whom Cambridge with its five thousand or so inhabitants was a large town, the concept of millions of people was unthinkable.

Abell's London chauvinism took a battering as well. London, the only major metropolis in England, had a population measured in the low hundreds of thousands. It had grown, of course, and since Abell's family had from time to time imported grain from the Baltics—something that had ended during the current war—he had an idea of its rough size, which was perhaps a quarter of a million people. The idea that the population of London could be added to the world every day seemed unreal.

The shocks continued once the meaning of the word billion was determined. Surely six million million people was impossible! Further reading of the essay seemed indeed to make that number impossible since the numbers did not add up, but the overall impression was staggering.

Before they knew it they had spent three hours copying and discussing the essay and all three had practiced arithmetic with much larger numbers than they had ever done before. Inspired by the essay, Abell had asked his two students to calculate the amount of food and drink consumed in first Cambridge and then London in a day, a week, and a year. Bess was able to provide some basic information about the weights and quantities of food served at the Pickerel as a meal for different people as well as ale consumption, which helped to start things. Conversion of pounds, pints, bushels, barrels, and so on yielded much fun and there was considerable argument about whether it was possible to equate a weight of beef or mutton with a fowl or a fish and whether bread should be counted as a single item or as its constituent parts.

Unnoticed during this mathematical extravaganza Mrs. Smyth had left the classroom but the entrance of the master some minutes later as the final calculations of London's annual food consumption were being made did bring all three back to the mundane world. The master, however, merely indicated that they should complete their sums so they did so with alacrity. Then once it was complete he asked them what they were studying. Both Bess and Abell were somewhat shy, but his daughter was only too happy to launch into an explanation of population, food, and the National Geographic that was somewhat confused yet which got the essential points across.

* * *

The master let the joys of arithmetic pass him by and focused on the source. Literally, since he took it in his hand and studied the relevant pages minutely. He quizzed Abell on his understanding of the origin of the National Geographic, its meaning, and the world it depicted. Abell replied that it seemed that the booklet was a sort of combination of newsletter and encyclopedia. From the precise dating and other indications, it seemed that a volume was produced each month and that this was distributed to subscribers, which was rather like the Dutch corrantos, but the contents seemed more timeless and pedagogical.

The concept was itself briefly interesting to the master but he put that to one side and considered the booklet, its content, and its implications. This was almost certainly the first Grantville work to arrive in Cambridge—or Oxford, for that matter, he thought with added glee—which meant that he had a clear advantage in studying Grantville. Recalling the conversation in hall the previous evening, he could see that Grantville studies were likely to be politically sensitive yet philosophically and theologically vital.

Yes . . . sidestep the politics by analysing the geography of the world that Grantville came from. If you ignored its version of seventeenth-century history, you avoided the dangers of political entanglement while filling in knowledge that was of benefit. And if the scholars in Magdalene could do that they could profit from the interest.

Geography! Present this as good for trade, navigation and they'd get the interest of merchants, which means they get more fellow commoners and benefactions—perhaps a university chair . . . 

But first things first. They couldn't print this as it was without a lot of tedious politics. They needed to get commentary, which meant they needed copies that scholars could analyze. So they would need copyists to start with, who needed to be reliable and controllable. And . . . 

Had the master been an excitable Greek philosopher at this point he would have run around the streets shouting "Eureka!" But since he was a staid English academic, not to mention a halfway good politician, he showed no ouward sign as he turned his attention back toward the three youngsters.

"Young Abell, do you realise what a treasure you have brought this college? 'Tis like finding a new work from Plato or Socrates in the courts of Persia or Constantinople. Nay, more like a Herodotus or a Thucydides, yet no scrappy moldy manuscript heavy with the dust of centuries. Many scholars in this town would devote much time to 'read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest' this pamphlet, had they knowledge of it. I pray that you may permit dissemination of its contents." Then, seeing Abell's face darken, he swiftly elaborated, "No, I do not require that you give up possession of it, merely that you permit others to make and study copies. Perhaps your pupils might make the first copies on good paper during their next lessons?"

 

It was Abell's turn for swift thinking. Not for nothing was he the son of a master merchant. He saw that he had the chance to bargain some improvements to his terms of imprisonment. The result was five minutes of what was effectively no better than the haggling of market wives, though no one would be so crass as to make the comparison. At the end of it, Abell's bounds were somewhat loosened and it was agreed that he and his two pupils would make one clear copy each of the entire magazine with sketches of the images where possible and with plenty of space for marginal notes around each page. Moreover, in conjunction with the master and Dr. Greene he was to oversee secondary copying of the three original copies made by those undergraduates who needed punishment for minor offenses, and furthermore he was begged to request that his family endeavour to locate other similar documents that the college would itself purchase.

Finally, it was agreed that all this was to occur in confidence lest other seekers after knowledge become encouraged to bid up the prices. Abell wondered out loud whether the university was going to send a delegation to the Rudolstadt colloquy due to start in a couple of months. The master looked pensive and remarked that the college was undoubtedly going to send an observer or two no matter what the university decided, and then wondered out loud whether the Abell family business would be willing to provide assistance in this journey and perhaps connections at the destination.

Abell was able to confirm that such assistance was possible, even likely, assuming a certain amount of monetary compensation but that he could not of course commit his family to anything. On that note and with the master reminding everyone that this was not a suitable subject for casual gossip, the party broke up for the day.

High table that evening was an occasion for Abell to see his master's political capabilities in action. By the end of it even the bursar was looking forward to the increased prominence of, and anticipated accompanying prosperity for, the college when it became a center of Grantville studies and all the academics were keen to discuss and debate the past-future of Grantville as they learned more about it.

The next morning's second lecture was devoted to Hakluyt, Will Adams, Mercator, Dutch mapmakers and English explorers, navigators, and their works. To Dunster, Saltmarsh, Gunton, and Healey this was a clue and they mobbed Abell at its conclusion. He was less than totally forthcoming but did admit that, yes, it did mean that the master was becoming interested in Grantville. He also broke the good news that his gating had been eased such that he might visit the commercial establishments of Magdalene Street, so long as he was accompanied by members of college who had taken a degree.

Abell did show to his companions the National Geographic and some of the astounding figures in the article—such as the population figures. However what really hit home, in a way that had not with the girls, was the throwaway comment that yields of thirty bushels of grain an acre were considered terrible! Since all his companions were countrymen, they realized just what that implied about the yields of England of the day, which were between a half and a third of that amount in good years. Theology was one thing but all, whether Puritan or Sacramentalist, were united in the realization that "agrichemicals," whatever they were exactly, would be worth anything short of a pact with the Devil to the average English yeoman farmer. A college that was not particularly religious had found a cause.

It turned out that the master, rather than having to use miscreants for the secondary and tertiary copying of the essays, received volunteers from every section of the college. The bursar insisted that "this Grantville nonsense" should not permit laxity elsewhere, and indeed his point was well made. The college could have come in for some severe penalties if it were perceived to be failing in its primary duties. The master's insistence that loose tongues be eschewed was also well understood. It was not clear whether the copying and subsequent exegesis of a pamphlet from Grantville would be construed as subversive or otherwise improper by either the university or London, but it was clear that the best way to avoid censure was to avoid needless publicity.

Magdalene, a college already physically separated from its peers by the river, now turned in on itself even more. Meanwhile the master and the fellows made occasional casual enquiry of their counterparts in the university, canvassing their thoughts on Grantville and their (lack of) knowledge of the upcoming colloquy. The majority seemed vaguely aware and generally uninterested. Of far more pressing concern to all were the stories of the recall to London and ennoblement of Wentworth, and the date when Laud would become archbishop of Canterbury.

To the intense irritation of the servants, the hall was appropriated for hours each day for the copiers to copy and check. Each evening the buttery, the Pickerel, and the other local inns and taverns as well as student rooms reverberated with debate about places such as Bangladesh or Rwanda. The most frustrating parts were the pictures or "photographs" that were impossible to transcribe, but that showed all sorts of peculiar behavior and objects. Since neither Abell nor the girls were particularly gifted artists they were unable to render them well and decided to omit most of them from their copies and drastically simplify others.

It was surprising how much scholars could tie together, when they were trained in the interpretation of Greek fathers and ancient Latin writers. Dr. Greene, now with the agreement of the majority of the fellows, proposed a large master copy to be placed in the library on which small numbers could be written referring to notes and discoveries made by different people.

One of these, identified by one of the more mathematically minded students, caused Abell some relief: it seemed that the mysterious "billion" was merely one thousand million, what the French and Dutch mathematicians were calling a milliarde. But the population milestones at the start of the journal made him acutely aware of the tenfold increase in the world's population between 1600 AD and 2000 AD. In the Pickerel, the discussions were usually moderated by Bess, who was now treated by many students as an equal. To a college with numerous sizars it was understood that labor did not preclude wit and wisdom and Bess's neat copying and frequently apposite comments had earned her respect for her mind.

The number of notes and conclusions grew swiftly. Each week the master and Dr. Greene reviewed progress. In terms of providing avenues for further investigation, the project was highly successful. Likewise, in translating and interpreting the written words. In terms of describing the sort of world that Grantville came from it was less successful, but by no means a failure. It was possible to determine some broad strokes of history, to comprehend some of the capabilities of the world's technology, but it was clear that there was insufficient information to determine how these things were done. Agrichemicals, to take one example, were clearly some more advanced form of manure but what they were actually made of was not explained.

Many of the essays were thought-provoking to put it mildly, with the essay on "Women and Population" being perhaps the most shocking. Firstly, in that it discussed subjects that were practically taboo such as contraception and out-of-wedlock births. Even more shocking was that it made assumptions about the capability and occupations of women in 1998 that were utterly foreign to seventeenth-century England.

The first caused great initial consternation. When he realized what the words he was transcribing meant, Abell had paused in shock and the master had likewise nearly banned his daughter from further copying. But it was the second reason that was the more insidious. Even the most devout and strict Puritan, as keen as he might be to educate his womenfolk, could recall Saint Paul's strictures about the subordinate position of women, yet the essay brought home in so many ways that Bess had been right. The Americans really had come from a place where women were permitted, even expected, to do any task themselves that they wished.

There were serious debates at every level from the master and his fellowship to the lowest group of sizars with earnest and devout proposals to halt this effort. Surely this was all the blackest of heresy! If nothing else, it was a warning sent by God to show the dangers of the broad path to hell. Yet the arguments were rebuffed in the main by the argument that warnings needed someone to make them. If, as might be, Grantville was indeed a dire warning, then what purpose was served by the devout not investigating the danger and making their findings known far and wide?

One other shock, almost as indirect and insidious as the position of women in society, was the lack of reverence for the church. It was not that future society was Godless, for there were references to priests and to religions of one sort or another. It was the attitude that a person's relationship with God was his own affair and not that of his betters. For the members of Magdalene, a college where the fellows were usually required to be ordained and the students in the main expected to become priests, the resulting lack of mention of Christian religion was a void that left them continually unbalanced. It was as if the handrail of a steep and windy staircase was absent. Yet, despite the lack of mention of public devotion, it was clear from the news of the upcoming colloquy that these Americans were neither atheist nor heathen and that their rulers did care for the spiritual well-being of their subjects. It was this that led the noisiest debates, as students attempted to explain how a people of undoubted religion could be subject to a secular government.

In early February, the master took some of the less controversial parts of the ongoing exegesis with him on a visit to Audley End and thence to London. His reception was somewhat mixed and he took care to avoid the royal court and Lambeth Palace. However, despite occasional setbacks he succeeded in his aim, which was to obtain sponsorship from both his patron the earl of Suffolk as well as certain merchants including the Abell family and others involved in the German and Baltic trade for a party of Magdalene scholars to attend the Rudolstadt colloquy in April and to attempt to procure additional source material from Grantville itself. Abell's father produced money on the strict understanding that his son was not to be a member of the expedition. The boy needed to learn discipline and self-control, both of which would be better found within the cloistered walls of academe.

End of February 1633

One evening, the Pickerel debate was in full swing. The discussion had started with debate about the size and composition of the party that was to make its way to Grantville in the next few weeks. Although Abell was known to be out of the running, the rest of the Pickerel group were considered near the top of the shortlist for selection. It was clear that Dr. Greene would be the leader since he had been involved with the master since the beginning and the master himself clearly could not be perceived to be gallivanting off to watch heretical colloquies. Since much theology would be discussed at the colloquy and since Dr. Greene was no theologian—indeed, he was not even ordained as fellows were expected to be—some junior with a sound grasp of theological niceties would be required. Dunster and Healey were both in the running for this position as both were BAs and generally considered strong scholars. However, unless rumor had failed to accurately describe the paucity of funds for the party, it was somewhat unlikely that both would be welcome as party theologians. Rumor said that Dr. Greene would name just one scholar for his theological expertise, the master would name one member on behalf of the earl of Suffolk, and the expected choice was a new BA who had links to both the master and the earl.

Finally, the London merchants would also expect a slightly more practically minded scholar to be chosen. Discussion of "Greene's choice" and "London's choice" as well as the possibility that the "master's choice" would not be as predicted was inconclusive. As the evening progressed, the discussion moved on to what the expedition would find in Germany, whether the place would be as peculiar as rumor suggested, and then the theological points of interest in the colloquy itself.

A middle-aged and prosperously dressed man entered the tavern, peering through the dim light as if looking for someone. Bess excused herself from the debate and walked over to him. She was thinking that he looked familiar, yet was sure that he had never before been in the Pickerel.

"Sir, are you seeking someone in particular?"

"If you be Mistress Chapman, then I am no longer looking." At Bess's startled nod, he continued: "I'm told you are an authority on the place called Grantville."

"Why, sir, I think you do me too much honor. 'Tis true I have some passing knowledge, but the true authority is yonder gentleman." She indicated Abell.

"That would be young master Abell, I assume. Perhaps you have not remarked it, but there is one big difference between you and your companions."

"Aye, that I am but a feeble witless woman," growled Bess. The debate of late had moved back to the more misogynist interpretations of parts of Saint Paul's epistles and Bess was feeling bitter.

"Nay. That is perhaps a symptom, but my meaning is that you are not a member of the university."

"Wherefore does that signify?" Bess realized that she was gossiping to a total stranger. "And pardon my forwardness, but who are you?"

"I'm Thomas Hobson, the carrier." Bess realized then why he looked familiar. Not only was he cousin to the Magdalene porter, he was one of Cambridge's leading citizens.

"The reason it is important that you not be a member of the university," Hobson continued, "is that you should have divergent opinions of the importance of certain subjects. However, I am running ahead of myself. I have supped with the mayor and others of like station this evening. Our conversation did concern this Grantville and, after divers speculations, it did occur to us that our estimates might be of greater worth were we to have discourse with one better informed as to its situation. Then, while we debated how best to approach the scholars, I recalled that there was one other, namely your good self, that was knowledgable. Yet, this being the significance, likely not enamored with theology and philosophy but being of a more practical bent."

Bess nodded agreement. " 'Tis true I do weary of some of their endless debates about predestination or the tolerance of heresy."

"I did therefore propose that we extend an invitation to you, with the consent of your father, to share the fruits of your studies with us when it might be convenient."

Bess was initially rather abashed to be asked to lecture the great and the good of the town, but she led Hobson to her father and was eventually persuaded that she should speak for an hour or two in the morning on the following Sunday, three days later, followed by an invitation to luncheon. Her father declined to attend the whole talk due to the necessities of managing the tavern. But he did agree, after seeing the pleading in his daughter's eyes, that the Pickerel could survive a Sunday noontime without his presence and that therefore he could be present for the meal.

 

The next morning, stage fright set in with a vengence. Bess was intensely aware of her humble position. Add to that the requirement to stand up and lecture to an audience for the first time ever and on a subject that she was by no means confident of her knowledge. She was remarkably distracted during her lessons and absented herself from her tavern duties as much as possible to clean, mend, and fret over her best dress. This fretting over costume failed to divert her attention from the content of the talk. She was unable to calm her fears except by writing out slate after slate of facts and speculation about Grantville, and endlessly fiddling with the order that the facts should be presented.

 

Sunday dawned and Bess attended the early service, matins, at the round church with unusual piety. She had got herself into such a state of nerves that she had barely slept the night before. Finally, as the service came to a close, she achieved some calm.

 
"O LORDE our heavenly father, almightie and everlastyng God, whiche hast safely broughte us to the begynnyng of thys day: defende us in the same wyth thy myghtye power, and graunte that this daie we fall into no synne, nether rune into any kinde of daunger: but that al our doinges may be ordred by thy governaunce, to doe alwayes that is rightuous in thy sighte: through Jesus Christe our Lorde. Amen."
 

The third collect seemed remarkably appropriate and her "amen" after it was heartfelt. Whether through the grace of God or not, she returned to the Pickerel feeling more cheerful. The day helped her mood with the sun shining on a crisp, frosty landscape and, after gathering her slates and making a final inspection of her appearance, she made her way to the mayor's house. It was hard to be miserable in the sunshine.

As Bess arrived at the mayor's doorstep, the door opened. Thomas Hobson and the mayor himself stood there to welcome her. Hobson relieved her of the slates while a maid helped her remove her outer garment. Then the party trooped into the large parlor where about half a dozen men of varying ages sat around the large fireplace. With them were two women, one much older than the other.

The men rose at her entrance. She was first introduced to the mayor's wife and the elderly woman, a Dame Joan Jermy, and then to the men. She recognized Mr. Parker and the man named Sir Edward Jermy was clearly Dame Joan's son, but the other names rather passed her by. When they were all seated and she had been offered refreshment by the maid, she began her talk.

"Mr. Hobson did say that you were interested in the practical so I shall not discuss the origin of Grantville and the question of whether it is the result of divine providence or diabolical malice. We do know that the town seems to have come from the future, that its inhabitants are as human as we are and that they have many things, techniques, and capabilities that we do not. My teacher, Abell, has said that the king himself is interested in their tales of history but I have no real knowledge of that. Although there is much that we do not understand, many things they possess are not entirely new, but merely improved versions of items of today. They do still print upon paper and this paper is not greatly different from that of today, yet the inks are of all the colors of the rainbow and thereby are pictures called photographs printed which are like paintings in their color and detail. And from the pictures we see that some dress in immodest fashion or wear bright raiment while others are as dull and modest as the most devout Puritan. It is the same with farming. They grow the same food and in some places use the same oxen as do we, yet in others they do use things that we do not have."

Bess started to relax as her audience listened attentively and interrupted only with occasional questions that were entirely to the point. From time to time debate would become more general, but always they treated her as an equal if not a superior, deferring to her opinions. The arrival of her father at noon took her by surprise, and the discussions continued as they were led into the dining room. Bess was seated next to the mayor at the head of the table with Hobson on her other side. Across the table sat Dame Joan with her father opposite Hobson. While talking to the mayor and Dame Joan about this and that she heard Hobson telling her father that she was "a credit to her family, gender, and town." Bess blushed at the general agreement to this statement. After a while she plucked up courage to ask why these worthies were so interested in Grantville and why they had preferred to listen to her rather than to one of the professors or senior graduates.

Hobson answered: "I trust I am not demeaning your intellect, Mistress Chapman, to point out that, although many in the town derive employment from the university we do not have an especial interest in the actions of the university or the colleges save as a body. The career of one student or the writings of one professor are of little regard to the residents of this town, though I own that the chancellor and his court does regulate much of our activities. The university provides benefit to the whole land of England and likewise draws its members from the whole realm. As regards the town, the university cares little save that we meet its wants for sustenance and the like. No matter that I carry their correspondence and their persons within my conveyances, no matter that my fellow merchants do provide provender, apparel, furniture, and so on. We are merely hewers of wood and drawers of water and they do not take us into their confidence.

"Furthermore the learning in this university is not such as befits practical use. Our eternal soul may care about the doctrine of predestination but our physical body upon this earth depends on more mundane matters such as meat, bread, and ale. Battles may be fought to prove God's favor on a cause but the profit and the suffering resulting do make for the loss and gain of fortunes in this world. The university does concern itself with origins and causes, methinks profit for the town does derive from actions and results. Were we to beg the professors for their knowledge and they deign to discourse with us, they would spend half a day discussing origins and another one explaining how Grantville disproved this Roman heresy or that Swiss one whereas you have started immediately with discourses on fashion and on farming.

"I know not whether we can, or whether we should, seek to emulate their achievements. But without knowledge of what Grantville is we can never start. The crumbs of knowledge and scraps of wisdom that fall from their table are not enough. We burgesses hunger for more. Enclosures and draining of the fens cause unrest that affects us more than it does them. If there is revolt it shall be us who bear the brunt. We hear rumors of miracles from this Grantville but none saw fit to elucidate as you have done."

Bess had been thinking the same thing recently, but she was well aware of the deficiencies in her knowledge and thus strove to dampen optimism about their new understanding.

"I am not sure that I have done much more than show a map with large portions marked 'Terra Incognita' or 'here be dragons.' We know that not all of their wondrous technology has come with them, but we do not know what they lack. At Magdalene many have striven to comprehend the one document that we possess, yet we do not understand it all. For farming, we know that they can improve crops with these 'agrichemicals' but we know not what they are save that some things called 'nitrates' or 'phosphates.' It has been proposed that these words refer to a sort of alchemy for farming, and that therefore agrichemicals are some especial sort of manure. But we know not what are nitrates or phosphates, nor how to make them. So how can this knowledge of vocabulary help us?"

Dame Joan smiled. "Why, child, you have further shown your good sense. Today has indeed served merely to draw an outline, nothing more. And I know not what we can do to improve on the outline unless we visit the source. I have heard that members of the college will soon be undertaking to visit this place. But I know that if they do they will not see fit to inform us of what they have seen, nor are they likely to interest themselves in matters that might benefit us. Thus I propose that we sponsor a witness of our own to visit and report."

There followed considerable debate on what the witness should endeavor to learn, not to mention the desirable characteristics of such a witness. Eventually, after the hypothetical witness had been required to possess the education of Aristotle and the wisdom of Solomon, not to mention being a master at every trade under the sun, Dame Joan looked at Bess and raised her eyes to the heavens.

"Gentlemen," she interjected, "just where do you intend to find such a paragon of learning? It falls again to the weaker sex to show sense. We should rather make a list of whom we trust that can voyage for a season and then see which is best qualified than otherwise."

Not that this note of sense did a great deal of good. It seemed no one could recommend a suitable underling and none of the principals were able to excuse themselves from their businesses for an extended period of time without facing ruin, or so they claimed.

It was Sir Edward Jermy who broke the logjam. "Mother, you have remained quiet throughout this discussion. Are you intending to hide your own light under a bushel? Of all the people around this table you are the only one who has leisure. I'm sure my brothers and I can manage all the manors if you are not too old to venture to Germany."

Dame Joan looked startled. "Surely you are just looking for an excuse to be rid of your interfering parent! Do you prefer that I not be available as witness in that rent dispute that will be adjudged this term?" Then, talking over his vehement denials, she added: "But I feel that leisure is not sufficient. 'Tis said 'You can't teach an old dog new tricks' and I fear that be the truth. With the best will in the world I doubt I could make head or tail of all this new stuff. And I'm sure you can yourself testify as to the quality of my writing—or, rather, its lack."

Then she looked at Bess. "But I could take a companion, one whom you have all praised as a 'credit to her family, gender, and town.' Mistress Chapman, would you be willing to put up with an old lady on a voyage to Grantville? Since you are already wise to much about the place, I propose that you are best qualified to be our witness. Where to elect there is but one, 'tis Hobson's choice—take that or none!"

She smiled at Hobson. There was silence as the idea was considered from all angles, but no one seemed to be complaining. Bess looked thunderstruck. Finally she squeaked, barely daring to look at her father to see if he approved:

"You intend for me to travel to Grantville?"

"It seems your wits are capable of some deduction," Hobson responded drily. "Indeed, as Dame Joan intimates that would seem to be the sole solution. If you so desire, and your father agrees, of course."

The innkeeper nodded his shocked acquiescence.

"Oh sir!" exclaimed Bess. "I am honored to be Hobson's choice."

Historical Notes

The Pickerel pub is still a pub today and claims to be the oldest pub in Cambridge, although I have naturally invented its landlord in 1632. All the academic characters are real and in OTL Dunster went on to be the first president of Harvard. (www.president.harvard.edu/history)

I have, however, taken the liberty to modify the status of Abell, who was just a pensioner, and invent a background for him. He did share lodgings with Healey and Gunton and in our time line was the cause of a vicious internal college fight, which ended up pitting Smith vs. Smyth, by hinting that both they and the college fellows were Arminians.

The famous Thomas Hobson died sometime in 1630 or 1631, but we know he had at least one son since he left a manor and estate in nearby Cottenham to his grandson and heir, also called Thomas Hobson (d. 1667). I have assumed that the intermediate son was alive in the 1630s, running the business and called Thomas, but have been unable to confirm any of these assumptions.

Dame Joan Jermy and the other townspeople mentioned are also real. Reading between the rather sparse lines, Dame Joan appears to have been a tough and determined widow by 1633 (and was indeed involved in a legal dispute).

Much of this story is based on the researches of Magdalene's current generation of historians, particularly those of Dr. Duffy and Dr. Hoyle and the official Magdalene College History to which they contributed. (www.magd.cam.ac.uk/about/history/past.html)

 
The third collect at matins is taken directly from
http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1559/MP_1559.htm

—Francis Turner

 

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