Journal of Samuel Kiechel
15 – 22 November 1585
From London to Calais
“People are not allowed to take more than 10 Thaler out of the country. A man called a sergeant is to enforce this regulation. He accompanies travellers to their ships, and everyone must show him their money and any jewellery they carry.“
Die Reisen des Samuel Kiechel aus drei Handschriften, K. D. Haszler (ed.), Stuttgart 1866, p. 33; Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.
Stopover in Gravesend
Having left London after two months in the English capital, Samuel Kiechel arrived by boat in Gravesend. He was travelling with two men from Antwerp whom he had met in London while looking for companions familiar with the route and able to guide him through the Spanish Netherlands. One of his new companions was a messenger who needed to return to London with his letters. Our traveller and his other companion had to wait in Gravesend for a day until his return.
This stopover allowed Kiechel to explore Gravesend. He wrote: The town is on the bank of an inlet (Thames) that leads out to the open sea. The waters surrounding Gravesend are abundant with oysters, which are harvested in large quantities. At the time of his visit, the oysters were of the highest quality and sold at a reasonable price. They had delicate, white meat and were considerably larger than oysters found in Venice or Constantinople. The quantity of oysters harvested in this area was so vast that a boatload could be sent to London daily.
Oysters and mussels
Kiechel added that oysters were also harvested in Norway and Denmark and exported to Copenhagen. However, in the Baltic Sea, no oysters are found.
On the afternoon of 16 November, Kiechel’s companion returned, and they left Gravesend. The group travelled throughout the night and arrived in Canterbury for breakfast. In the evening, they continued their journey towards Dover.
Canterbury, ca. 1671
Postal Service in Elizabethan England
The route from Gravesend to Dover was a postal road. England’s postal system at the time was unique among the networks established on the continent. This uniqueness was mainly because of its geographical position as an island on the edge of Europe. The number of entry points for travellers and messages was limited. Within the Kingdom of England, London served as the central hub. Consequently, the earliest postal roads linked London with Dover and Plymouth. These roads featured regular staging posts every ten to twelve miles.1
During Elizabeth I’s reign, the postal system was opened to private customers. Travellers could rent horses at postal stations for three pennies per mile, with an extra six pennies for the horse’s return to the station. Alternatively, a traveller could accompany an official messenger who would look after the horse.2 This was the option Kiechel had chosen.
Regarding the postal horses, our traveller remarked: The horses used for the postal service were small but sturdy animals. They carried saddles of modest quality, made of wood and covered with cloth. The horses ambled along, and often among twelve to fifteen animals, none was walking in a trot.3
English Inns
Samuel Kiechel praised the English inns for their commendable service. Small groups travelling together were given their own rooms, which no one else could enter. These groups could eat and sleep in their designated rooms. Our traveller noted that this was also typical in France. The rooms in English inns were often fitted with fireplaces, enabling travellers to quickly warm and dry themselves in wet, cold weather. Kiechel believed that the inns did not require a heated main sitting room, as winters on the island are generally mild and snow and ice are rare.4
Inns and similar roadside establishments in the early modern period differed from their modern counterparts. Privacy was not a major concern, and individual rooms for travellers were uncommon; often, several people shared a single room, sometimes even a bed. One might find oneself sleeping alongside a stranger during the night. Arranging travellers in a shared room was not only a matter of available space but also of comfort, as proximity provided warmth, which was especially vital in winter. The luxury of having a fireplace in each inn room, according to our traveller’s experience, was limited to England.
The quality of inns varied between London and the countryside, but overall, English inns were well-kept, tidy, and secure. They provided a satisfactory range of food and drink to meet the needs of their guests. Kiechel’s remark that a group of travellers could have their own room, which no one else could enter, indicates that the doors could be locked, providing a sense of privacy and security.5 This kind of privacy appeared to be unfamiliar to our traveller from Germany.
Waiting in Dover
Upon arriving in Dover, royal officials questioned Kiechel and his two companions. The messenger was required to present the letters he carried for inspection. If the officials suspected any letter, they would confiscate it. In the case of Kiechel’s companion, some letters were returned to him while others were seized. Our traveller observed that if the officials found anything suspicious in a letter, they would send it to London. This likely indicated that the letter in question was forwarded to the capital for closer scrutiny. This treatment was not limited to foreign visitors. Kiechel noted that every person entering or leaving England was checked, and officials made no distinction between English travellers and foreigners.
Dover and Dover Castle, 1642
After the inspection, Kiechel and his companions went to the harbour and paid for passage on a ship to Calais, France. However, their departure was delayed by four days due to stormy weather. Our traveller found the four days he spent in Dover dull. He and his companions did not dare venture into town because two privateers from Holland were anchored in the harbour. The travellers feared that the crews of those vessels might ambush and rob them.
Samuel Kiechel was anxious because he had heard stories: privateers were always waiting between Dover and Calais. Five or six days earlier, privateer ships captured two French vessels en route from Vlissingen to Dieppe, France, and brought them to Dover. The owners of the French vessels possessed passports from both the city of Vlissingen and from Maurice of Nassau, the stadtholder (provincial executive officer) of Holland and Zeeland. These passports were meant to guarantee the ships’ safe passage to France. However, the privateers paid no heed to this, promptly capturing the vessels and selling their cargo in Dover. Kiechel heard that the authorities of Vlissingen lodged complaints regarding this behaviour and demanded the arrest of the captains of the two privateer ships involved. Yet both men were aware of this complaint, and as soon as they had sold the cargo, they fled.6
Border Controls in Elizabethan England
On 21 November, the wind had settled, and Kiechel and his companions went to the harbour early in the morning. A special customs officer was scheduled to accompany them to their ship. The man was called a sergeant. He would inspect the purses of each traveller, as it was forbidden to carry more than ten Thalers out of the country. Additionally, travellers had to display all rings, necklaces and jewels visibly. The sergeant would confiscate any concealed jewellery he found.
Samuel Kiechel described the border procedures: A traveller would present their purse for inspection. If the sergeant found no more than ten Thalers or their equivalent in other coins, he would ask whether the individual carried any extra money. If this person had more money but did not inform the sergeant, any hidden funds would be confiscated. If the individual admitted to carrying more than the allowed amount, they could keep it but not take it aboard the ship. Kiechel, somewhat reserved, adds that more money is taken out of the country due to generous gifts to the sergeant. Our traveller clearly refers to bribery.
Travellers with a royal permit were exempt from inspection, and none of their possessions could be confiscated. Kiechel also noted that exporting English dogs and horses was forbidden without a licence.
Sadly, despite its detail, Kiechel’s account leaves some questions unanswered. How does the sergeant discover hidden money? Are travellers searched before boarding? How dangerous was it — prohibitively risky or worth taking the chance? What do travellers do with the money if they cannot take it with them? Kiechel wrote about bribery, and presumably most travellers bribed the guards. Were there alternative options?
Although the border procedures sound very thorough, their application was not always consistent. When our traveller and his companions boarded a small boat to reach their ship, the wind picked up, and the sea grew turbulent. The sergeant, who was meant to accompany them to the ship and check their purses, suddenly hesitated to come along because of the choppy waters. As a result, the group was not inspected, although Kiechel mentioned that he had a royal permit in any case.
Across the Channel to Calais
The English Channel, 1585
When the travellers were on board, their ship set sail and left the port of Dover. However, the wind grew stronger, soon forcing them to return to the harbour. They spent the rest of the day and night anchored beneath Dover Castle. The following morning, the wind calmed, but the sea remained choppy. They departed Dover once more and sailed the short distance to Calais.
According to Samuel Kiechel, crossing the English Channel with favourable wind took about three to four hours. However, the approach to Calais harbour was perilously narrow, with shallow, sandy banks on either side. The owner of Kiechel’s ship did not dare to enter the harbour due to adverse wind conditions and decided to remain at sea until late in the evening when the wind finally settled. Instead of a few hours, Kiechel’s journey from Dover to Calais lasted the entire day, and they only reached the harbour after nightfall.
Due to their late arrival, the gates of Calais had already been shut. The travellers spent the remainder of the night in one of the few taverns outside the city walls.
Calais, 1598
In Calais
A bird’s-eye view of Calais appears in volume five of the Civitates Orbis Terrarum. The city is depicted from the south, showing the narrow entrance to the harbour and a few houses nearby. One of these houses may have been the tavern where Kiechel spent the night.
After the gates of Calais opened the following morning, a soldier arrived at the tavern. He inquired with the tavernkeeper about the people who had come during the night and noted down their names.
According to Samuel Kiechel’s journal, Calais was a small, fortified city under the rule of the King of France. The city gate was heavily guarded, and the guards asked our traveller again for his name and where he had come from before he was allowed to enter. Kiechel observed that the houses in the city appeared to be in disrepair. He further noted that Calais had once belonged to the English crown. Now, the city was on the border of France with the Spanish-ruled counties of Artois, Flanders and Picardy.
Calais and the surrounding territories, 1587
Illustrations & References
All images are in order of appearance with links to sources on external websites:
- de Bloot, Pieter, The Lawyer’s Office, 1628; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
- Anonymous, Oesters en mosselen, 1550 – 1570; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
- Hollar, Wenceslaus, Plattegrond en gezicht op Canterbury en Kathedraal van Canterbury, 1671 – 1676; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
- ter Borch, Gerard, Zeven paarden op een rij, 1629; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
- Hondius, Hendrick, Cubiculum in trospicientibus modernum, 1606 – 1607; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
- Hollar, Wenceslaus, Gezicht op ruïnes bij Dover, 1642; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
- Waghenaer, Lucas Jansz., Teerste [-tweede] deel vande Spieghel der zeevaerdt, Leiden 1585, fol. 4v; Utrecht University Repository.
- Calais, in: Braun, Georg, Hogenberg, Frans, Civitates Orbis Terrarum (5), Cologne 1599, fol. 22v; Heidelberg University.
- Ortelius, Abraham, Theater of the World, Antwerp 1587, fol. 20v; Library of Congress.
- Schobesberger, Nikolaus et al., European Postal Networks, in: Raymond, Joad, Moxham, Noah (eds.), News Networks in Early Modern Europe (Library of the Written Word, 47; The Handpress World, 35), Leiden 2016, pp. 46-53. ↩︎
- Mortimer, Ian, The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England, London 2021, p. 200. ↩︎
- Die Reisen des Samuel Kiechel aus drei Handschriften, K. D. Haszler (ed.), Stuttgart 1866, p. 32; Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. ↩︎
- Ibid., p. 32. ↩︎
- Mortimer, Guide to Elizabethan England, p. 219. ↩︎
- Reisen des Samuel Kiechel, p. 33. ↩︎