Petitions, Puritans, and the Civil War
Early Stuart England saw the emergence of mass petitioning. These expressions of collective grievance would advance popular politics, uncover division, and lay the road to war.
Charles I
How England Learnt Old English
In the 16th and 17th centuries, as scholars first started to translate and study Old English, they struggled to reconcile England’s past with its present.
‘The Blood in Winter’ by Jonathan Healey review
In The Blood in Winter: A Nation Descends, 1642 Jonathan Healey holds Juntos and ‘jittery times’ responsible for England’s slide towards civil war.
Did Charles I Have to Die?
King Charles I’s execution in 1649 turned the world upside down – were other outcomes possible?
‘Friends in Youth’ by Minoo Dinshaw review
Friends in Youth: Choosing Sides in the English Civil War by Minoo Dinshaw views the conflict through the sad case of Bulstrode Whitelock and Edward Hyde.
The Hogen Mogen Princess
Dismissed as ‘high and mighty’ and accused of pushing Charles I towards civil war, Henrietta Maria was a deft military mover – perhaps more so than the king himself.
The French Connection
The aim of Charles I’s foreign policy was to restore his nephew’s lands in the Rhineland. France, he thought, was the key to success.
The Rehabilitation of Charles I
The myths that surround the ultimately tragic rule of Charles I mask the realities of a courageous and uxorious king who fell foul of a bitter struggle between two sides of English Protestantism.
The Tragedy of Charles I
Nearly 400 years after his execution, Charles I’s actions and legacy continue to divide scholarly opinion.
Reluctant Regicides
Why do modern Britons still find it so hard to acknowledge their revolutionary past?