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The MYSTERY OF THE LION'S WHELPS
TABLE of CONTENTS
INTRODUCING GEORGE VILLIERS . .
SIEGE of St. MARTIN de RE . .
'10 and the LION'S WHELPS . .
The COURT MASQUE. .
KABBALAH . .
KING JAMES, WITCHES and the LAUNCH CEREMONY . .
REPRISE . .
REFERENCES
INTRODUCING GEORGE VILLIERS
In 1628, the Duke of Buckingham built a fleet of ten 'large' pinnaces that were designed as small, fast warships, derivatives of a well known Dutch model. This circumstance was highly unusual and raises at least two difficult questions that have puzzled marine historians for almost four centuries. Granted the Duke was the second wealthiest nobleman in all England this time, but why build a fleet of ten ships? What was the significance of the number '10' to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham? And why give the same name to each ship? While these two questions are situated firmly within the history of Ship_building, the explanation behind them draws upon diverse experiences within the complicated life of the Duke_of_Buckingham. The Deductive_method employed in this article is not as speculative as it might appear at first reading. By the end of the 17th century, the biographers of Georges Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham had understood this favored courtier as vain, arrogant, and ambitious with a keen interest in the interests and passions of his closest friend King James I of England.
As his Political and Military decisions revealed, as his public displays of Vanity and Conceit confirmed, the Duke of Buckingham believed that he was not an 'ordinary' person. From that conviction followed the Duke's project to transform each ship in his fleet into something extraordinary - an invincible fighting force. Each ship would be transformed by a new identity embodied in a new name that confirms each ship as a whelp (offspring) of the Lion of Judah. There would be no need for the Duke to change the form of the Ship naming and launching ceremony, there would be nothing unusual for the assembled crowd to notice. In 1628 the Duke built a private fleet of ten warships, each of which carried a name - ''Lion's Whelp'' - that embodied Mythical qualities of strength, courage and bravery. The problem ahead for the Duke of Buckingham was that he did not have the qualities that were essential to achieve success with this plan. Vanity, conceit and self delusion were the realities of the Duke's personality, and they could not substitute for a highly intelligent persona whose integrity, intelligence and judgement cannot be questioned.
Amidst the History of Roman Catholicism in France and the Anglo-French War (1627-1629), the English crown supported the French Huguenots (Protestant) in their conflict with King Louis XIII La Rochelle was the Huguenot stronghold that was politically autonomous and the center of Huguenot naval power. Catholic France and King Louis XIII were infuriated and had La Rochelle under blockade in order to starve the city into submission. In England, the Duke of Buckingham's fleet of ten ''Lion's Whelps'' would not be built until one year after the Siege of La Rochelle. In 1627, any serious engagement at La Rochelle would require dozens of war ships. King James VI and his advisors viewed a potential alliance with La Rochelle against Spain as very important. They decided to break the French Blockade and relieve the Huguenots with whom there was a natural affinity. The Duke of Buckingham was prominent in the English Reformation, and he was an important commander during the fortress of Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Re, an engagement that preceded the Siege of the fortress city of La Rochelle.
Buckingham's Fleet lands at Sablanceeau Beach, Isle de Re, 1627 Callot 1630 - merlynne6 / Wikimedia
The English siege of Saint Martin began with Buckingham's landing on the beach at Sablanceau on the Isle de Re. The French harrassed the English beachhead with 'hit and run' tactics, and inflicted significant casualties.
With 80 ships and 7,000 men, Buckingham failed to take the fortress city of Saint Martin. After three months of siege, he ended the siege and left for England with a demoralized, disease ridden force of 2,000 men, the survivors of his original army of 7,000 men. An assessment of his decisions and leadership during the failed siege, confirmed Buckingham's lack of understanding and expertise when faced with both army and naval strategic challenges. His incompetence is illustrated by one, almost amusing, detail. His preparations for the Siege_of_Saint-Martin-de-R%C3%A9_(1627) included ladders that proved too short to reach the top of Saint-Martin-de-Ré's walls. The Duke's well known vanity and arrogance appear to have played a major role in his superficial planning for army and naval battles that almost always ended in defeat. The Duke's biographers narrate that in the last year of his life, he began to sense the Vanity and Pride that infected so many of his political and military decisions.
Siege of Saint Martin by the Duke of Buckingham. The French continuously challenged the English naval blockade with some success. Occasionally, they got through to deliver food and supplies to the beleagured fortress.
With 5,000 dead from the 7,000 man army that landed on Sablanceau Beach, Buckingham called off the siege of Siege of Saint-Martin. He regrouped at Loix and then sailed home to England defeated and humiliated.
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The LION of JUDAH and the LION'S WHELPS
Why were these ten pinnace warships all named ''Lion's Whelp''? Why did George Villiers choose this name and then use it for each of the ten ships in his fleet? Speculation centers upon the timeless mythic and biblical connotations that have been draped upon the Lion's shoulders and thereby accrue to its offspring – the Lion's whelps. The “King of Beasts” is the strongest, most noble and feared hunter of all. Those judged 'lions' have acquired the lion's attributes by association with deed and action. Furthermore, call someone a 'lion' and they are a 'lion' until proven otherwise. This is an ancient truth that stems from a distant past when a name revealed true identity and personal character. (In many tribal and early societies, individuals rarely revealed their 'true' (often birth) name because if it was ever 'stolen', the individual would lose their identity and 'soul'. It was much safer to be known by a nickname in daily life.) Using established and well known Biblical Exegesis to choose a name for his ships, and perhaps aware of 'the power of the true name", the Duke of Buckingham may have believed that he could embed mythic attributes into each ship of his fleet by naming each vessel ''Lion's Whelp ''.
In doing so, he activated the multiplier effect and maximized the ferocity and battle strength of his fleet. This deceptively simple 'act' which could be done silently during the naming and launch ceremony, sufficed to transform into a Lion's whelp, offspring of the Biblical Lion of Judah. The Duke is the critical variable because circumstances suggest that he believed that he had this Supranatural ability. After naming and launch, the Duke's "Lion's Whelps" were no longer war ships of the usual sort. They had been transformed by the Duke of Buckingham into sea warriors with invincible fighting attributes. George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham as a wealthy Lord, built a fleet of warships and then gave each ship the same name, a name that carries very important biblical Connotations. Ten ''Lion's Whelps'' reveal the mystical side of George Villiers that he hid from direct public display. (It does not matter if the king or the Duke's compatriots believed that the Duke of Buckingham possessed these powers. Indeed, if held the Duke might choose to keep this facet of his persona private.) This specualtion only requires that Duke held these beliefs. The 'objective' reality test comes during sea battles in which any of the ''Lion's Whelps'' participated but few of the ''Lion's Whelps'' found themselves in circumstances where they had to fight, the Sixth excepted. There is no direct evidence that any of the ''Lion's Whelps'' were empowered as the Duke believed. The indirect evidence is the name the Duke chose for each ship of his fleet, and the number of Lion's Whelps that were built. The Duke of Buckingham's private mysticism cannot be proven, it can only be inferred.
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George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, Daniel Dumonstier c.1625 - Sir Gwain / Wikimedia
Past attempts to explain why each of these ten ships carried the same name, indeed a name that was layered with biblical and mythological valence, failed to find an informed explanation. Wassell briefly explores several ideas that might explain how and why the Duke chose ''Lion's Whelp'' as a name for his war ships. Why were exactly ten ships were built? Why not build one, three, nine or fifteen 'large' pinnace, small 'man-o-war', fighting ships. Money is Not the critical variable because at this time because the Duke of Buckingham was the second wealthiest nobleman in all England. The name ''Lion's Whelp'' demands an Explication and Wassell offers four possibilities. 1. There is a lion on the Heraldic shield of the Buckingham family, of which the family must have been very proud. However, the Buckingham heraldic lion had been used for a long time, and its presence does not suffice to explain the tenfold Replication_(scientific_method) of the name Lion's Whelp that was given to ten individual warships. 2. Wassell also observes that the name 'Lion' as the King of Beasts always conferred great prestige. 3. Perhaps each ship in this new fleet was named after the previous, prestigous ''Lion's Whelp'' that the Duke of Buckingham wold come to own. A warship named ''Lion's Whelp'' was owned by Charles_Howard, 1st_Earl of_Nottingham(1536-1626), Villier's predecessor and the Lord_High Admiral of Great_Britain under Queen Elizabeth I and the early years of the reign of King James VI. Ownership by the Lord High Admiral conferred great prestige to any ship. In 1625, this ''Lion's Welp'' now owned by the Crown, was given by the King to the Duke of Buckingham who was the Lord High Admiral from 1619 to 1628. 4. Wassell also briefly considered the bible and quotes the Book of Genesis 49:9-10. There is considerable complexity in the mythological and Biblical Metaphors contained within the name ''Lion's Whelp''. The Duke of Birmingham had an Obligation to understand and then extract the meaning and symbolism of the Biblical Lion if he intended to name each ship in his new fleet after this most important manifestation of the Biblical Lion in the Old Testament - the Lion of Judah.
In the Old Testament, the Asiatic Lion has Attribute_(research) that indicate that it was observed directly in nature: males help to raise cubs; adult lions will lie in wait for prey for many hours; lions when feeding crush and break bones after dragging their Carrion to a lair; and they will attack men. Those in disfavor with the king might be literally 'thrown to the lions'. The oldest extant material in Old Testament was written ~1200 BC. The 'books' of the Old Testament as we know them, were finalized between the 5th and 2nd centuries BC. In these earlier time periods, the Asiatic Lion was found in what is now Palestine. They favored bushy environments along the banks of the Jordan River. The Asiatic Lion was used by authors of the Old Testament to create a portrait of the Lion of Judah. The Old Testament Lion was symbolic of strength, courage and majesty. In the Old Testament, Judah (biblical person), Gad, Dan (Bible), Saul and Jonathan (1 Samuel) are compared to lions, as well as Israel and God himself. By contrast in the Psalter, the lion can also be the symbol of cruel kings and tyrants, the mighty and the rich, the lion's gaze and Roar_(utterance) are terrifying. Authors of the Talmud (Jewish Rabbinical Literature) do not seem to have observed real lions closely, and the picture they draw of this fabulous animal is truly fantastic. Lions in the Talmud were giant animals, the distance between the lobes of each lung was nine Cubits, its roar could be heard at a distance of 400 Parasangs, and long ago it brought down the Servian_Wall of Rome. Yet the milk of a lioness had Medicinal qualities, the lion was responsive to Taming. It was believed that lion's were honorable because they would only attack men when very hungry. Most importantly, the roar of the lion is akin to the voice of God and the name of the lion is applied to God, Israel and the Temple Mount.
[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=436&letter=L Jewish Encyclopedia – Lion], nd. Retrieved February 12, 2011
The Lion of Judah is the earliest mythic lion in the Old Testament. It is first mentioned in Genesis 49:9 when the tribe's patriarch Jacob, refers to his son Judah (biblical person) as “the young Lion” (“Gur Aryeh”). The Israelite Tribe of Judah is always represented by a lion, and is thereby recognized as having accrued the special attributes of the lion. In much later times, Jesus came to be called the “Lion of Judah” (Revelation 5:5). The Tribe of Judah was the tribe of kings and Jesus was believed to be a descendant of the Tribe of Judah, a Lion of Judah in his own right.[http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-does-the-lion-of-judah-represent.html What does the Lion of Judah represent?] by Gaynor Borade, nd. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
At the launching of each ''Lion's Whelp'', the Duke of Buckingham' likely believed that he had embedded the qualities of the Biblical Lion and the Lion of Judah into each ''Lion's Whelp'', ie he changed each ship into a whelp (cub) of the most powerful mythic lions in the Christian tradition. Cultural depictions of lions in the Bible and Judaeo-christian_tradition reveal the specific characteristics of mythic biblical lions that were available to the Duke of Buckingham. (The alternative Proposition assumes that the Biblical Lion of Judah, and the name ''Lion's Whelp'', had no significance for the Duke of Buckingham.) The transformation ritual would be added to the ''Lion's Whelps'' launch ceremony after which each ''Lion's Whelp'' was much more than a ship built from planks, caulk, iron nails, cannon and sails. The Duke would have believed he had given each ''Lion's Whelp'' a new profile of mythic Attributes.
The 'brief' supporting this analysis of the Duke's personality relies upon numerous incidents and events recorded by his biographers. Vanity, arrogance and conceit dominate the Duke's persona as does his entrenched belief that when it came to matters of state and naval warfare, George Villers had no equal. An irrational, Identification_(psychology) with the Lion of the Bible and the Tribe of Judah, for which Circumstantial evidence exists, further reinforces this premise and Buckingham's self confidence. Buckingham could have convinced himself that he could embed mythic powers into each ''Lion's Whelp''. Granted there are no diary or private correspondence records, nor observations from historians and biographers that directly indicate this is what the Duke had in mind. This conclusion, however, ties together the disparate threads in Buckingham's Biography and provides an explanation for a mystery in his life that has puzzled Historians for over 400 years. (The Duke's friends and enemies are consistent in portraying him as an intellectual lightweight whose daily passions were court intrigue, and England's political fortunes. Buckingham's vanity and conceit led him to believe that he was one of England's great leaders, whose naval strategy was superior and indispensable to the King and Parliament. Only during the last year of his life, did he show signs of self assessment that were realistic, and a slowly growing awareness that perhaps he did not know what he was doing when the challenges before him were politics and war.
''Lion's Whelp'' had currency as a fine name for small warships. Buckingham had received the ''Lion's Whelp'' built by the Earl of Nottingham three years before building his personal fleet of ten warships in 1628. The Duke's 'state of mind' led to a decision to embed each ship of his fleet with the same magical name, a name that conferred the greatest strength in war, thereby to render them invincible and victorious in every battle. Each ''Lion's Whelp'' in the fleet was to become a whelp of the Lion of Judah. Furthermore, ten ships with the magical name of ''Lion's Whelp'' calls into play a multiplier effect. Sadly, subsequent years proved otherwise. If the Lion of Judah truly had magical powers that could transcend time and space, they had not been made available to the Duke of Buckingham who lost almost every naval battle for which he laid out strategy and/or commanded. (Buckingham's biography contains more than a hint of the aberrant personality structures Narcissism and Megalomania.)
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'10' and the LION'S WHELPS
As the lover of King James I, who authorized and published the famous Bible that bears his name, and an English Protestant leader in his own right, George Villiers would have been familiar with the symbolism and metaphor that permeates the Old and New Testaments. 10 (number) appears frequently in the Old testament with powerful symbolic associations. This circumstantial evidence says that ten Lion's Whelps were built by the Duke, as opposed to any other number of large armed pinnaces, because the fleet when completed would access the mythic qualities that attend 'ten' as a Unity of '10'. The fleet itself can be considered a single discrete entity imbued with the metaphorical powers conferred by the number '10'. Each ''Lion's Whelp'' is a Lion of Judah's Whelp. The fleet of ten ''Lion's Whelps'' is a Unity of Ten.
Ten has layers of metaphor and symbolism in the Bible. The Duke of Buckingham had a serious obligation to know his Bible. Assuredly, he knew about the biblical symbolism of '10', and deliberately chose to build ten ships in order to access the power of '10' for his fleet, to literally embed those powers in each “Lion's Whelp'. It does not matter if a master shipwright or shipyard owner instead of the Duke suggested that ten ships be built for these reasons. It only matters that the Duke of Buckingham understand the associated biblical symbolism.
Ten is an Ordinal Number that speaks to perfection of order, a perfection of arrangement. Long before the conceptualization and introduction of ordinals by Georg Cantor in 1897, mathematicians were discussing Perfect numbers' and 'well-ordered sets' with hereditary properties. They had – in effect – discovered several properties of ordinal numbers. Humans have ten fingers and ten toes. Conceptual and mathematical perfection is achievable for humankind, and in that sense is a conduit to the Divine for human beings. Ten is also the third tetrahedral number and it is the fourth triangular number. In physics, ten is essential to Tetrahedron packing, and the structure of the “closely packed hexagon.” Add a layer of three marbles to one marble, to create a perfect tetrahedron of four marbles. Add another layer of six marbles under this, and one has a perfect tetrahedron of ten marbles. Each successive layer is the next 'triangular' number of marbles.
The Ten Commandments of Exodus, and the Book of Deuteronomy are considered a cornerstone of Judaism and Christianity. The Tenth verse of the Bible is part of the Third day in the Bible: “And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas; and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:10).
God was prepared to spare the judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah if ten righteous people could be found in those two cities. Genesis 18:32. 'Ten' is associated with truth, honesty and righteous.
The Tenth Chapter of the Bible is mostly a genealogy of the descendants of Noah.. an organization of the family trees of the patriarchs. 100 people are named, some more than once. Noah is the tenth generation from Adam and is both the first and last name on the list. The Tenth Chapter starts and ends with the 10th generation. Exactly 20 different places are named.
The Ten Generations of Patriarchs completed the Antediluvian Age. There is a hidden message with the names of these ten patriarchs. “Man supported mortal sorrow the blessed god shall come down teaching his death shall bring the sorrowful comfort.” From Noah's son Shem to Abraham is ten generations, those that complete the age before the covenant.
The First Born Plague in Egypt, by J.W.Turner, 1805 - Inyan / Wikipedia
There are ten specific Passovers recorded in the Bible. The taking of the lamb in preparation for the Passover Seder is done on the tenth day of the month. The blood of this sacrificed lamb is smeared upon the outside of Jewish homes, so the Lord will Pass Over them as he enters Egypt to smite the newborn. Ten Passovers complete the pattern as Jesus is sacrificed for the people's sins during the Tenth Passover. His life on Earth ended and Christianity began its ascendancy. The conclusion of the Tenth Passover marks one of the great fulcrums in history, a time that set rapid, Paradigmatic change in motion. [ A fine overview of the symbolic meaning of ten. Jews observe the annual Ten Days of Repentance beginning on Rosh Hashanahand ending on Yom Kippur. There are Ten Lost Tribes of Israel (those other than Judah and Benjamin). There are Ten Sephirot in the Tree_of_life_(Kabbalah). Pico Della Mirandola had a strong influence on English scholars studying in Italy during the Renaissance such as: Everard_Digby_(scholar) (1578-1606), who opposed the logic system developed by Peter Ramus: Arthur Golding (1536-1605), the great Elizabethan translator; and Sir Philip Sydney (1554-1586), poet and statesman. Isaac Luria was the most prominent rabbi and Jewish mystic in the extraordinary community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine. Jewish and Christian Kabbalah were present in England and at Court during the last decades of the Queen Elizabeth I reign.
The Duke was an important leader of the Protestant movement in England. He certainly was very familiar with the Bible and the meaning of important events that are narrated in the Old Testament. For example, ten ships, each named ''Lion's Whelp'', references a mythical beast of the Old Testament known as the Lion of Judah. Another aspect of the Duke's life that influenced aspects of his project to build ten Lion Whelps was the Court Masque. Participation in the Masque was required when asked, performance was private and for the King and his Court. A Masque dance well done demonstrated the ability to command and control others. The Masque was also a highly politicized event as divergent views on important issues of the time could be presented in Allegorical form to the king. The Court Masque provided the Duke of Buckingham with an immediate experience during which actors and dancers were temporarily transformed into often powerful Fantasy figures from the past who subdue all attempts to create 'disorder'. The king in the Masque is Omnipotent and Omniscient.
Masques were Ephemeral combinations of dancing, music, costumes, spoken text, and scenery, at all of which the audience looked not only for entertainment, but also to detect political currents: the main dancers in the masque were not paid professionals, but rather the elite of society. . . all masques had a central motif, called a device, which determined the costumes, scenery, and even the types of dances. Devices could be provided by distant lands or places of Mythology. . . . Dancing for the Artistocracy was not an exercise in leisure, but rather a demonstration of command and control. Replete as Early_modern_period thought was with correspondences between the microcosm and the macrocosm, control of one's own body signified the ability to command others . . . The masque may have been a display of aristocratic talent and protocol. It was also a highly politicized event. . . . The Theatrical setting of the masque was devised so that the king alone experienced the full force of the perspectival Illusion.”
There is a tangential evidence that actions that could embed mythic qualities in a pre-selected target, might not have been unfamiliar to the Duke of Buckingham. The English court periodically still held Court Masques at which the Duke's attendance would be required. Proclaiming the Ambitions of England on the continent of Europe, the Masque as performed for the king in the early 17th century was an 'illusion designed to embody a higher truth. In the masque, the Duke as would all participants, assumed a Character_(arts) that lived in a fantasy world. To what extent, the participants in the masque believed it to be nothing more than an evening's fantasy Entertainment, as opposed to a transformative ritual is almost impossible to determine. “. . . in the court of James I, Narrative elements of the masque became more significant. Plot (narrative) were often based upon Classical or Allegorical themes, that glorified Royal Patronage. At the end, the audience would join with the actors in a final dance. “The Duke as all participants, was temporarily transformed so that he could experience an alternative world wherein the reference points of Allegory_in_Renaissance_literature pointed to a fantastical view of Classical Greece and Rome. Afterward, the Duke might come to understand much of the transformative experience of the masque. However, the influence of the Masque experience did not necessarily end with introspection. Might the now transformed Duke of Buckingham believe that he could transform - catalyze a metamorphosis - of each ''Lion's Whelp'' in his new fleet into a warrior from a powerful mythic 'world'? The Duke of Buckingham's biographers, and others who were close to the Duke when he was alive, are unanimous in portraying his vanity, inflated self-esteem and arrogance. Lack of Confidence rarely surfaced in the Duke's life. If he intended to do something, be that project large or small, the Duke plunged in with every resource he could command.
The 'new' interpretation of Isaac Luria (1534-72), whose teachings and spiritual fame were widespread, found a home and acceptance in England. Lurianic Kabbalah was considered revolutionary as it described new doctrines of creation and cosmic rectification as compared to the 'mainstream' Kabbalah of the Zohar, which is a 'revealed text' of 2nd century of teachings. Lurianic Kabbalah also contained a new descriptive paradigm for earlier Kabbalistic teaching. Kabbalah would soon replace Hakira as the main Jewish theology, both in scholarly circles, and in the popular imagination. Luria's wrote very little and his oral teachings were compiled and disseminated by his students.The Duke of Buckingham would encounter discussions about Kabbalah in the Court of St. James's, and is it is hard to imagine that he was unaffected. Kabbalah opens the door to a universe of extreme complexity in which a powerful spiritual strength derived from understanding the mystical philosophy reigns supreme. Kabbalah could support and validate the Duke of Buckingham's plan to empower each ''Lion's Whelp'' in his new fleet via what amounts to a 'transmission' of spiritual force from himself. Followers of Kabbalah believe that those who sincerely study and learn deeply from the greatest Kabbalah rabbis and teachers of their age, become transformed (ie empowered) by virtue of what they know and understand. Kabbalah had always been transmitted outward. The brief ceremony for the launching of the “Lion's Whelps” would suffice for the 'transmission' planned by the Duke of Buckingham. The deep flaw in this plan was the conceit and self-delusion of George Villiers, his personal belief that somehow he was 'superior' and had the knowledge and capacity to change the ships in his new fleet according to a mythical template that had aspects of a Kabbalah transmission.
Tree of life with the 10 Sephiroth and the 22 Hebrew characters as they are presented in the Sefer_Yetzirah (Book of Formation). The different colors of the lines represent the three groups of characters: red - the 3 “mothers”; blue - the 7 “double” and green - the 12 “simple”. Sephirot or Sephiroth (Hebrew: סְפִירוֹת, pronunciation), meaning "enumerations", are the 10 attributes of Emanationism in Kabbalah. Through Emanationism, God (who is referred to as Ein Sof - The Infinite) reveals himself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms cf. Seder_hishtalshelus.
KING JAMES, WITCHES and the LAUNCH CEREMONY
During his years as the favorite of King James I of England, the Duke of Birmingham would have been exposed to the full range of the king's intellect, literary and poetic expertise and the 'dark side' of the James' mind as well. King James I was a very intelligent, extremely well read, a poet in his own right and determined to continue the Elizabethan Era's commitment to the literature and the arts. He was a patron and head of group of Scottish Jacobean era court poets and musicians known as the Castalian Band As a participant and patron in the Scottish court, James became the defining figure for Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature and theater.
North Berwick Witches meet the Devil in the local kirkyard, Newes From Scotland, 1590 - Kim Traynor / Wikimedia
On the 'dark side', the king was also superstitious, believed fervently in Witchcraft, and he attended the North Berwick Witch Trials in Scotland where women were tortured. One example is that of Agnes Sampson who was convicted at these trials of sending storms against a ship that stranded James in Norway because of bad weather. King James I also wrote Daemonologie, a tract against witchcraft. One cannot easily see the results of an accused witch's spells, curses and rituals because imagination plays an all important role. An observer can see a witch babble, talk in an incomprehensible manner, supposedly cast spells, athough with rare exceptions, James could never tell Buckingham that he saw a witch fly through the air on a broomstick, or make an intended victim go mad, get sick or die as the spells determined. These aspects of witchcraft do not exist and honest reports about the rituals of witchcraft can never confirm them. The rare exceptions to this 'reality' were instances of self induced, hysterical trauma. (James' most intense years of 'witch hunting' came before George Villiers was elevated to be his favorite courtier.) Buckingham would hear from King James, descriptions of an alternative world where events were often dramatic, cruel and 'transformative'. The absence of direct evidence to confirm many details of witchcraft seemed of no consequence. Witches came from another realm, perhaps humans transformed by the Devil, and they possessed the power to transform others. That they were perceived as extremely dangerous, is a minor point. That witches were powerful and could transform their intended targets is very important.
REPRISE
In 1626, the Duke of Buckingham launched a fleet of ten ships each of which carried the same name - ''Lion's Whelp''. This name references the offspring (whelps) of the Lion of Judah. ''Lion's Whelp'' tells us that the Duke likely believed that by naming his ships after the greatest lion in the Bible, he had transformed them into mythic lions that had magical powers and would be invincible in battle. The Duke's participation in the Court Masque would be a powerful transformative experience that confirmed the validity of 'transformation'. The bestowing of the magical name of ''Lion's Whelp'' to each ship would be done in a quiet ceremony that drew upon the mystical 'truth' of the Court Masque, although in outward form there would be no resemblance to the Masque. Aquisition of the attributes of the Biblical Lion of Judah transformed each ship into a whelp (cub) of the mythical, all powerful Lion of Judah.
There is solid evidence for the building of the Duke's fleet and the name given to each ship. That the Duke attempted to transform each ship into a whelp of the Lion of Judah is inferred from several circumstances of the Duke's life as documented by himself and his biographers. The ceremony by which he did so is not known in detail, but it did exist because we have the end result. The ritual itself likely drew upon the Duke's personal experience with a transformative ceremony that addressed power and politics via mythological history because that is the only realm where the ingredients to activate the transformation can be found. The Duke of Buckingham participated in one such ceremony at court, the Masque. The Court Masque confirmed that the ceremony it represented had valid historical credentials and that its structure could bring attributes of mythic power into our 'world'. The specific transformation desired by the Duke was to change each ship in his fleet into a whelp of the Lion of Judah. The Court Masque provided validity that such a project could be done, that the transformation was possible and the results legitimate. The Old Testament provided the specifics of symbolism, and the attributes to be infused into each ship. The details of ritual protocol that the Duke used may never be known, but once the context and validity of the ceremony were established, it need not be a Masque or theatrical in any way. Success depends only upon belief and faith. Perhaps the usual brief ceremony to name and launch a war ship was not changed in any way that would be visible to the attending crowd. Convinced that he was transformed, and that he could henceforth transform others, a brief speech of the usual sort before the invited audience might well have sufficed in the Duke's mind to transform each ship into a mythical Lion's Whelp. However, the realities of the historical record soon documented that the Duke of Buckingham had no such powers. What is known of the history of each ''Lion's Whelp'' reveals not one shred of mythic attributes.
It seems a long distance between witchcraft and a special ceremony for the launch of war ship that is intended to transform that ship. The common denominator is the process of 'transformation' , the changing of a common and familiar reality into something that has unusual 'mythic' strength and power. When the launching and christening of the ten Lion's Whelps war ships was completed, they fabric of their 'being' – their fundamental structure - had been profoundly changed. Each ''Lion's Whelp'' was now invincible, perhaps immortal, and would assuredly carry England to victory on the high seas. The intended transformative agent in this instance was the Duke of Buckingham himself who, through participation in the Court Masque, had come to believe in himself as transformed and now able to access powers that could transform other entities, be they human or war ships. The Bible provided a rich store of symbolism and metaphor, first and foremost a rationale for building exactly ten ships. The Lion of Judah was the 'perfect' ancestor for this fleet as it was courageous, and invincible in battle. Each ship was, therefore, designated to be a whelp (cub) of the Lion of Judah, and the launch ceremony would be designed accordingly.
The Duke's well known vanity and arrogance is a possible explanation for his superficial planning for naval battles which time after time led to defeat. Detailed strategic planning for upcoming naval battles, that is backed up by years of experience, was not Buckingham's strength. Enter reality as the Duke was defeated time after time, with a handful of exceptions, both on land and sea. If the God's were watching, the Duke of Buckingham had been rejected as a colleague and ally, a 'reality check' that his biographers says he began to suspect in the last year of his life.
The existence of his fleet of ten ships, each with the same name, reveals that the Duke of Buckingham did attempt a ritual to mythically transform each ''Lion's Whelp''. However, their transformation was 'real' only in the Duke's imagination. The flaw in this plan was Buckingham himself. Blinded by vanity and arrogance, Buckingham could not understand that the Masque was only a theatrical fantasy for the king and nothing more. Blinded by conceit, the Duke of Buckingham could not understand that however many ships he chose to build and whatever meaning and symbolism were attached to that number, his fleet would remain war ships as usual. Blinded by arrogance, the Duke of Buckingham could not 'see' that he was 'only a mere mortal', that he could not be a mythical demi-god with great powers to transform others as his role in the Court Masque demanded. What ever fantasies the Duke attached to the launch ceremony for his Lion's Whelps in 1628, at the end of the day these war pinnaces were as designed.. small fast war ships (man 'o war) built for the Duke's service and then that of the Royal Fleet, nothing more or less. For this explanation for Buckingham's choice to build ten war ships, and then give them all the same name of ''Lion's Whelps'' to be far wide of the mark, historians would have to assume that: a) the riveting intellect, passionate interests in literature, religion and witchcraft of King James I to whom Buckingham was favored courtier, had no influence upon the Duke; b) that participation in the Court Masque had no meaning to the Duke of Buckingham except that of a superficial evening's diversion; and that c) during Buckingham's leadership in the English Protestant movement and reading and discussion of the Bible, he never encountered the Lion of Judah. Or if they were acquainted, the great mythical lion had no meaning for the Duke. It is very unlikely that these three postulates are true, and therefore diverse threads in the life of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham can be brought together to explain a small, fascinating mystery in the shipbuilding history of the Jacobean era.
REFERENCES
Of Wassells, Whelps and Kennedys - Indispensible refereence. The only published research about the Lion's Whelps built by the Duke of Buckingham, by James Wassell, nd.
Libeling Painting: - Exploring the Gap between Text and Image in the Critical Discourse on George Villiers, the First Duke of Birmingham", by I.M. Rosenblatt, thesis, 2009.
"Judaism and the Gentile Faiths" - by Joseph P. Schultz, Toronto: Associated University Presses, Inc, 1981: pp 228-9. English scholars are identified who studied Kabbalah and Judao-Christian Mysticism in during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James VI. Establishes that such discourse was very likely to be common in the Court of Elizabethean and Jacobean England.
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