Ill 



INIGO JONES 



THE accession of Charles I. to the throne in 1625 marks a 

 convenient date in the development of architectural design to 

 consider briefly its condition and tendencies. The king and his 

 court still exercised an enormous influence over the life and 

 habits of the people in directions other than political. In 

 mediaeval times the king was the centre of public affairs, the 

 pivot upon which the State turned. His own will, even his 

 whims and fancies, counted for much. But for the last three- 

 quarters of a century this influence had been gradually lessening, 

 and the king's personal power had been curtailed. It was in 

 opposing this tendency, in endeavouring to reassert his personal 

 ascendancy, in re-establishing his prerogatives, that Charles 

 came into conflict with his subjects and ultimately succumbed. 

 But bearing this state of things in mind, it will be more readily 

 understood that the influence of the king in relation to architec- 

 ture, for instance, would be very considerable ; vastly more so 

 than the influence of any individual in the present day. Charles 

 was a man of culture, and without crediting him with an intimate 

 knowledge of architectural design, we may well believe that he 

 would foster the growth of a refined and scholarly version of 

 the style at which English designers had been aiming for many 

 years. That is to say, since the tendency was to adopt Italian 

 ideas he would like to see them adopted thoroughly and with 

 full knowledge. The man to do this for him was there in the 

 person of Inigo Jones, who had already been employed by his 

 father, and who was the only man in England possessing really 

 competent knowledge of Italian detail. Here then was another 

 powerful influence at work tending to divert English design 

 from the old traditional channels. 



No doubt had Charles been blessed with leisure to gratify 

 his refined tastes, and to devote himself to the encouragement 

 of the arts, had he been in possession of funds commensurate 



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