Charles II's use of access to his person as a political tool was a feature of his reign. At first he believed this access was an important part of uniting the kingdom, but later he controlled it as a means of manipulation, of both supporters & opponents.
As a consequence of their support for the royalist cause in the English civil wars, several hundred Cavaliers, often accompanied by their families, went into exile in Europe for periods ranging from a few weeks to twenty years. This is an original, ground-breaking study, that identifies which Cavaliers went into exile and explains how they coped with the wide range of circumstances that they encountered in the different countries in which they settled.
Eighteenth-Century Life looks at all aspects of European culture during the Enlightenment. It is an interdisciplinary publication and covers diverse topics-from picturesque sojourns into English gardens and grottoes to studies of eighteenth-century rhetorical principles and the powers of political discourse. In addition it features review essays and extensive listings of new books.
Despite his significant influence as a courtier, diplomat, playwright and theatre manager, Thomas Killigrew (1612-1683) remains a comparatively elusive and neglected figure. The original essays in this interdisciplinary volume shine new light on a singular, contradictory Englishman 400 years after his birth. They increase our knowledge and deepen our understanding not only of Killigrew himself, but of seventeenth-century dramaturgy, and its complex relationship to court culture and to evolving aesthetic tastes. The first book on Killigrew since 1930, this study re-examines the significant phases of his life and career: the little-known playwriting years of the 1630s; his long exile during the 1640s and 1650s, and its personal, political and literary repercussions; and the period following the Restoration, when, with Sir William Davenant, he enjoyed a monopoly of the London stage. These fresh accounts of Killigrew build on the recent resurgence of interest in royalists and the royalist exile, and underscore literary scholars' continued fascination with the Restoration stage. In the process, they question dominant assumptions about neatly demarcated seventeenth-century chronological, geographic and cultural boundaries. What emerges is a figure who confounds as often as he justifies traditional labels of dilettante, cavalier wit and swindler.
This book is the first detailed study of Westminster politics in the 1660s for over twenty years, and the first ever in-depth study of the legislation of the 1660s. Dr Seaward shows how these drastic and dramatic events had changed perceptions and attitudes in British politics.
Charles II was restored to the rule of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1660, less than twelve years after the execution of his father, Charles I, and the ensuing republican experiment in government. Popular at first, the Restoration nevertheless failed to provide lasting settlement in any of the British kingdoms. Restoration and Revolution in Britain examines the political history of these kingdoms, from the Interregnum through Britain's eighteenth-century rise to power. Written especially for students approaching the Restoration for the first time, this essential introduction: - Assesses the reasons for the failure of settlement in the reigns of Charles and of his brother, James II - Integrates the histories of Charles's different realms - Examines the many connections between politics and Protestant religious disagreements - Provides helpful historical context for understanding a range of contemporary authors such as Bunyan, Locke and Milton - Concludes with an examination of the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 and explains why settlement was finally achieved through revolution rather than through restoration
The second edition of this bestselling narrative history has been revised and expanded to reflect recent scholarship. The book traces the transformation of England during the Tudor-Stuart period, from feudal European state to a constitutional monarchy and the wealthiest and most powerful nation on Earth. Written by two leading scholars and experienced teachers of the subject, assuming no prior knowledge of British history Provides student aids such as maps, illustrations, genealogies, and glossary This edition reflects recent scholarship on Henry VIII and the Civil War Extends coverage of the Reformations, the Rump and Barebone's Parliament, Cromwellian settlement of Ireland, and the European, Scottish, and Irish contexts of the Restoration and Revolution of 1688-9 Includes a new section on women’s roles and the historiography of women and gender Click here for more discussion and debate on the authors’ blogspot: http://earlymodernengland.blogspot.com/ [Wiley disclaims all responsibility and liability for the content of any third-party websites that can be linked to from this website. Users assume sole responsibility for accessing third-party websites and the use of any content appearing on such websites. Any views expressed in such websites are the views of the authors of the content appearing on those websites and not the views of Wiley or its affiliates, nor do they in any way represent an endorsement by Wiley or its affiliates.]
On the evening of 17 October 1678 the body of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, a Westminster Justice of the Peace, was discovered in a ditch near Primrose Hill. He had been pierced with his own sword and apparently strangled. His death lead to a widespread popular hysteria about a "Popish Plot". Although a magistrate famous for his fierce rectitude, Godfrey was closely involved with the alternative healer and "stroker", Valentine Greatrakes and also played a part in many plots and and intrigues centred on the uninhibited court of Charles II and Restoration London. His death brought to a head a series of rumours about Catholic plots to kill Charles II and install his brother, James, Duke of York, on the throne. Identified as the victim of a Jesuit hit-man, Godfrey became overnight a Protestant martyr and cult figure.