Black Bartholomew.
St. Bartholomew’s Day, 1662, is so called. On this day all beneficed clergy had to declare their assent to the Book of Common Prayer, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of Uniformity, and those who refused were deprived of their livings. Over two thousand Presbyterians were ejected from their parishes on this day.
Black Book.
The name given to the report of the committee appointed by Henry VIII in 1535 to investigate the condition of the monasteries.
Black Box.
A box said to have contained the marriage certificate of Charles II and Lucy Waters, the mother of the Duke of Monmouth, and to have been stolen from her. Had the documents it purported to contain been forthcoming, they would, of course, have established the Duke’s right to the throne in the place of James II.
Black Brunswickers.
A regiment of horse raised by the Duke of Brunswick in 1809, to avenge the death of his father who was killed at Auerstadt. They wore black uniforms, and their badge was the skull and crossbones.
Black Circuit.
A circuit held in Cape Colony in 1812 to investigate the charges brought by the London Missionary Society against the Dutch settlers of ill-treating their native slaves. The results showed that the charges were grossly exaggerated, but a great deal of illfeeling was engendered amongst the Dutch by the thoroughness with which the English Government went into the matter.