Eighteenth Century

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= Key to entries =

Items in normal text indicate South African non-theatrical events and activities Items printed in bold indicate South African theatre and performance events. All items in italics refer to international (i.e. non-South African) events or international theatre and performance events

= Entries =

1700AD
Leibnitz first president of Berlin Society of Sciences. Great Northern War (Sweden versus Poland, Denmark and Russia). Congreve’s The Way of the World. W.A. VAN DER STEL GOVERNOR AT THE CAPE.

1701AD
War of the Spanish Succession between France and the Great Alliance (England, Holland and Austria). BEGINNING OF FARCICAL ENTERTAINMENTS AMONG THE SOLDIERS OF THE GARRISON. (Bosman)

1702AD
Office of censorship in Paris.

1704AD
Battle of Blenheim: Anglo-Dutch under Marlborough rout French.

1705-7AD
Louis van Assenburgh becomes Governor in 1707. He encouraged public entertainment and a number of orchestras were established. Adam Tas and the Burgher Protest against the company officials.

1709AD
Steele begins The Tatler in England. Swedish army crushed by Russian army at Poltava.

VAN ASSENBURGH (GOVERNOR 1707-11) ENTERTAINS THE PUBLIC WITH PUPPET SHOWS, DOG FIGHTS, BULL FIGHTS AND FIREWORKS.

1710AD
Handel becomes Musical Director for Elector of Hanover, later George I of England.

1711AD
''Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral completed in London. Addison and Stelle publish The Spectator in England''.

1713AD
A SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC RAVAGES THE KHOISAN SOCIETY IN THE SOUTH-WESTERN CAPE.

1714AD
Pope’s "Rape of the Lock".

1716AD
Theatre built in Wialliamsburg, Virgina USA.

1719AD
Defoe’s "Robinson Crusoe".

1722AD
Danish National Theatre, Copenhagen.

1723AD
Bach becomes musical director in Leipzig and remains till his death.

1726AD
Swift’s "Gulliver’s Travels".

1728AD
Gay’s The "Beggar’s Opera".

1731AD
Prévost’s "Manon Lescaut".

1733AD
John Kay invents flying shuttle, which mechanises weaving.

VAN RIEBEECK’S ANNUAL DAY OF FEASTING HAS BECOME A MONTHLY ONE, THE FIRST DAY OF THE MOTNTH IS USED FOR “FEASTING, DRINKING AND MERRYMAKING”

MENTZEL REPORTS THAT DURING HIS STAY (1733-1741) “MUMMERY” TAKES PLACE AMONG THE SOLDIERS OF THE GARRISON AS PART OF THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH FEASTING.

1735AD
''Hogarth’s "The Rake’s Progress". Linnaeus’s "System of Nature"''.

1739AD
Hume’s "Treatise of Human Nature".

1740AD
Richardsoon’s "Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded". ''Frederick the Great Tsar of Russia. War of Austrian Succession starts''.

'''THE SLAVE MAJIET WRITES A PLAY IN CAPE DUTCH, TRANSLITERATED INTO ARABIC SCRIPT. AN ACTIVE TRADITION OF THEATRE AND PERFORMANCE SEEMS TO EXIST IN THE SLAVE QUARTERS IN CAPE TOWN'''.

1745AD
Madame de Pompadour becomes Louis XV’s mistress.

±1746-7AD
Garrick begins to manage the Drury Lane.

1748AD
War of Austrian Succession ends.

1749AD
Fielding’s "Tom Jones". Goldoni’s "The Servant of Two Masters".

1750AD
Rousseau’s "Discourses on Arts and Sciences".

1754AD
Condillac’s "Treatise on the Sensations".

1755AD
''Lisbon Earthquake kills 30 000. Johnson’s "English Dictionary"''. A second smallpox epidemic again ravages the Khoisan society in the south-western Cape.

1757AD
Robert Clive (of India) defeats the Nawab of Bengal, initiating British rule in India.

1758AD
Voltaire’s "Candide".

1759AD
British Museum opened. English capture Quebec from French.

1760AD
King George III begins reign in England.

1762AD
''Jesuits condemned and suppressed in France. Rousseau’s "Social Contract" and "Emile"''. Catherine the Great Tzarina of Russia.

Gluck’s opera "Orfeo ed Euridice" performed in Vienna.

1763AD
End of the Seven Years war makes Russia a world power.

1764AD
''Sterne’s "Tristram Shandy". Winckleman’s "Ancient Art". Voltaire’s "Philosophical Dictionary"''.

1767AD
Lessing’s "Minna von Barnhelm" published. A THIRD SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC ALL BUT EXTINGUISHES THE KHOISAN SOCIETY IN THE SOUTH-WESTERN CAPE.

1768AD
James Cook sets out around the world on The Endeavour.

1769AD
Watt patents improved steam engine. 'Shakespeare Jubilee in Stratford. Lessing’s "Hamburgische Dramaturgie" published'

±1770-80AD
Holbach’s "System of Nature" (1770AD). FIRST CONTACTS BETWEEN TREKBOER FARMERS AND XHOSA FARMERS ON EASTERN FRONTIER BEGINNING OF ONGOING CLASHES BETWEEN THEM.

1771AD
CAPTAIN COOK VISITS THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

ACCORDING TO COOK “THERE ARE NO PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS AT THE CAPE”.

1773AD
'Goldsmith’s "She Stoops to Conquer". Goethe’s "Götz von Berlichingen"'.

1775AD
Beaumarchais’s "The Barber of Séville" opens to a furore in Paris on 23 February.

1774AD
''Goethe’s "Sorrows of Young Werther". Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette King and Queen of France.''

1776AD
''Adam Smith’s "Wealth of Nations". Gibbon’s "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (Vol 1). American Declaration of Independence and Anglo-Amercian war''.

1777AD
Sheridan’s "The School for Scandal".

1779AD
Gluck’s "Iphigenie en Tauride" heralds new opera.

1780AD
Britain declares war on Holland.

IN TERMS OF A DUTCH-FRENCH ENTENTE THE FRENCH SEND A FRENCH GARRISON TO DEFEND THE CAPE. THE GARRISON REACHES 2-3000 TROOPS.

1781AD
''Kant’s "Critique of Pure Reason". Appearance of the text of Beaumarchais’s "The Marriage of Figaro"''.

THE CAPE BECOMES A “LITTLE PARIS”, INFLUENCED BY FRENCH STYLES, ARCHITECTURE AND ARTS.

THE BEGINNING OF A TRADITION AMONG THE FRENCH GARRISON OF PLAYING COMEDIES AND FARCES IN THE BARRACKS. INCLUDES BEAUMARCHAIS’S "THE BARBER OF SÉVILLE".

1782AD
Mozart and Haydn become befriended in Vienna. Astley’s Amphitheatre presents equestrian drama and displays.

BEAUMARCHAIS’S "THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO" PERFORMED IN THE BARRACKS, CAPE TOWN(?)

1783AD
Treaty of Paris recognizes Independent USA.

1784AD
Beaumarchais’s "The Marriage of Figaro" performed at the Comedie Francaise on April 24th. THE FRENCH GARRISON LEAVES CAPE TOWN.

1785AD
Schiller completes "Don Carlos".

1788AD
Mozart composes his last three symphonies.

1789AD
Lavoisier’s "Elementary Treatise on Chemistry". The French Revolution begins, Bastille stormed.

1790AD
Burke’s "Reflections on the Revolution in France".

1793AD
Louis XIV guilotined.

1795AD
Hutton’s "Theory of the Earth". Prince William of Orange flees to England, and the Batavian Republic is established in the Netherlands.

"A View of the Cape of Good Hope and the Dutch Fleet" presented at the Bocking Theatre in England.

SLAVES OUTNUMBER THE BURGHER POPULATION OF THE CAPE. FOUNDING OF THE REPUBLICS OF GRAAF-REINET AND SWELLENDAM. THE ENGLISH FORCES OCCUPY THE CAPE (16 SEPTEMBER).

1796 AD
LADY ANNE BARNARD ARRIVES AT THE CAPE WITH HER HUSBAND, THE SECRETARY TO THE MILITARY GOVERNOR, EARL MACARTNEY.

1798AD
''Wordsworth and Coleridge’s "Lyrical Ballads". Napoleon brings a scientific expedition to Egypt. Napoleon occupies Egypt.''

'Pixérecourt’s "Victor". Schiller’s "Maria Stuart"'.

1799AD
Napoleon becomes First Consul.

START OF THE “THIRD FRONTIER WAR” (1799-1803) BETWEEN WHITE SETTLERS AND THE XHOSA ALONG THE EAST COAST. SIR GEORGE YONGE BECOMES GOVERNOR.

SIR GEORGE YONGE ENCOURAGES ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT IN CAPE TOWN.

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