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RunDNA t1_j9ojbi0 wrote

More info from the Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900:

> CROFTS or CROFT, ELIZABETH (fl. 1554), was the chief actor in an eccentric imposture, contrived early in 1554, on the part of the protestants to excite an open demonstration in London against the projected marriage of Queen Mary with Philip of Spain.

> The girl, who was only about eighteen years old, appears to have concealed herself within a wide crevice in the thick wall of a house in Aldersgate Street. The wall faced the street, and by means of a whistle or trumpet her voice assumed so strange a sound as to arrest the attention of all passers-by. Large crowds constantly assembled, and confederates scattered among the people interpreted her words as divinely inspired denunciations of King Philip, Queen Mary, and the Roman catholic religion.

> The device deceived the Londoners for many months, and the mysterious voice was variously named "the white bird," "the byrde that spoke in the wall," and "the spirit in the wall."

> Before July 1554 the imposture was discovered; Elizabeth was sent to Newgate and afterwards to a prison in Bread Street, and there confessed the truth. She said that one Drake, Sir Anthony Knyvett's servant, had given her the whistle, and that her confederates included a player, a weaver of Redcross Street, and a clergyman...

> On Sunday 15 July she was set upon a scaffold by St. Paul's Cross while John Wymunsly, archdeacon of Middlesex, read her confession. "After her confession read she kneeled downe and asked God forgivenes and the Queen's Maiestie, desyringe the people to praye for her and to beware of heresies. The sermon done she went to prison agayne in Bred Street. … And after Dr. Scorye resorted to her divers tymes to examin her; and after this she was released" (Wriiothesley, Chronicle, ii. 118).

> On 18 July one of her accomplices stood in the pillory "with a paper and a scripter on his hed." No other proceedings appear to have been taken, although seven persons were said to have taken part in the foolish business.

> The imposture resembles that contrived with more effect twenty-two years earlier by Elizabeth Barton [q. v.], the maid of Kent.

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DrBBQ t1_j9ozuv8 wrote

What the hell does "resorted to her divers tymes" mean?

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RunDNA t1_j9p06jp wrote

Went to her many times.

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The_Ry_Ry t1_j9p5wxn wrote

Correct.

You’ll still see “divers occasions” in many legal documents today.

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MustacheEmperor t1_j9q6gl1 wrote

Pulling that out next time I need to email legal, thx

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WolframLeon t1_j9rbrk8 wrote

Divers not diverse?

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The_Ry_Ry t1_j9rd546 wrote

Yes.

I have used that phrase more times than I can count when recording interviews of witnesses, summarizing investigations, drafting charges, etc.

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WolframLeon t1_j9s7vrd wrote

That’s interesting! Learning new stuff everyday now to go down the rabbit hole.

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masterofshadows t1_j9pyxqg wrote

Divers is the root of the word diverse. It basically means various in this context. Tymes is just times. Resorted means they made a choice and chose her.

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Averander t1_j9q4jv5 wrote

Diverse times, diverse also meaning varied or many. The changes in English language over time are fun to see!

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big_duo3674 t1_j9r315e wrote

They really did a number on the letter "e" at some point, did it piss off someone important?

Alright that's enough e, I will make it my life's work to ensure you're time at the end of words is finished

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MrsValentine t1_j9q8fp9 wrote

They didn’t have standardised spelling then so they spelt words however they sounded and literacy was quite poor generally. I think that is diverse times aka a variety of times. To resort to something is to go back to something.

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kingbovril t1_j9q956a wrote

Resorted to her diverse times. So it’s saying they went to her multiple times

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Asha108 t1_j9sh3kd wrote

resorted to her diverse times, modernly “visited her often”

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tyleritis t1_j9ps644 wrote

I think you can get a sense of what people sounded like by how they spelled words

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spleenboggler t1_j9q487j wrote

Absolutely, considering that what worked as a rhymed couplet then, and doesn't work now, is a key clue in untangling how the pronunciations of words have changed over time.

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Mnemonics19 t1_j9q7ft3 wrote

Written words and spelling were not standardized until more recently (I don't remember when exactly, but it's definitely post 17th century). I've read texts from the 16-17th centuries that spell the same word differently in the same sentence. (Wrote my undergrad thesis on midwifery in the 17th century and had to read a lot of hand written text along with actual printed texts.)

It's really shocking how quickly you pick up on reading text from history, and how quickly the spellings just become normal to "translate."

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RobertoSantaClara t1_j9r64av wrote

I believe the whole reason why English spelling these days is "weird" is because we shifted our pronunciation from how it was originally when the words' spelling was standardised, so now we're stuck with outdated spellings suited for an entirely different manner of speaking.

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AnthillOmbudsman t1_j9q0h1u wrote

> desyringe

wtf is that word? I put it in Google and after forcing it to search for it as spelled I get dozens of examples but no explanation of what it means. I wonder if this is bad OCR or something.

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phistomefel_smeik t1_j9q5kaj wrote

Language evolves and this text is 500 years old! As a german speaking historian I find it interesting how easy this short passage was to read. Written german texts from that period are way harder to decipher imo. Middle high german honestly feels like a different language or at least a strong dialect. And sometimes you think that something sounds like a modern german word but then it turns out to mean something completely different.

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rolyfuckingdiscopoly t1_j9r4csn wrote

That’s so interesting! I love things like that. Language is so cool. Also words that look or sound like one you know in your language but aren’t related… I forget the term for them. But like avocat in French not being avocado lol. My Arabic teacher called them “false friends,” and I think it’s fun to try to trace connections to them anyway.

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drakens6 t1_j9qxgdd wrote

> one Drake, Sir Anthony Knyvett's servent

It was Sir Francis!!!!

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