The World Turned Upside Down - The British Civil Wars 1638-1651

From the 1990s, the approaches of revisionist historians to the Civil Wars did much to recast the series of conflicts as ‘the Wars of the Three Kingdoms’. These historians stressed the importance of events in Scotland and Ireland in bringing about the eventual outbreak of Civil War in England. But the Civil Wars were not ... Read more

In this programme, Vanessa Emmett, a doctoral student in English Local History at Kellogg College at the University of Oxford, discusses the contribution of Oxford’s citizens to the Royalist war effort between 1642 and 1646. When King Charles I and his court arrived in Oxford to take up residence in November 1642, he was welcomed by ... Read more

Much has been written and discussed about the effects of the execution of Charles I on the future history of England. But its impact on Scotland has often received less attention. Yet, within a week of the death of Charles I, his son had been declared not just King of Scotland, but King of Britain ... Read more

The military histories of the British and Irish Civil Wars largely focus on the land-based conflict, while the critical strategic importance of the wars at sea is often ignored or downplayed. Yet this was the period when the foundations were laid of the modern navy which gave Britain global maritime supremacy for centuries to come. ... Read more

One of the most important and formative decades in the adolescent life of Charles Stuart, soon to become Charles the Second, between 1646 and 1660 was spent in exile. During this time, he experienced the loss of his father, publicly beheaded in his absence, military defeat and near-capture after the Battle of Worcester, friction with ... Read more

Early modern Europe, including England, was a violent and dangerous place to live. Just how dangerous has been revealed by research in archives across Europe by Professor Stuart Carroll of the University of York. He argues that violence increased sharply in the sixteenth century and remained high until the 1720s. Throughout this time, disagreements repeatedly ... Read more

Historians of the British and Irish Civil Wars have repeatedly asked to what extent was Charles I responsible for his own downfall and consequently, the failure of the monarchy? In this programme, Jacqueline Eales, Emerita Professor of Early Modern History at Canterbury Christ Church University, traces how the King’s intransigence repeatedly undermined potential supporters who ... Read more

On 6 December 1648, Pride’s Purge marked a watershed moment in the English Revolution. By arresting some MPs and preventing others from sitting, the New Model Army seized political power. Now the Army, rather than Parliament, would dictate the future settlement of England. The exclusion of the more moderate MPs ensured that a hard line ... Read more

The formation of the New Model Army placed a significant burden on every taxpayer in England at a time when wartime devastation, disruption of trade and a series of poor harvests was already causing hardship across Britain. According to the Army’s detractors, the country could simply not afford to pay a cost equivalent to over ... Read more

In the years leading up to the outbreak of Civil War, very few would have predicted that England would become a Republic. But in Parliament, one MP, Henry Marten (1602 – 1680) who was returned for Berkshire in the Short and Long Parliaments, became an early and outspoken champion for republicanism and subsequently for the ... Read more

Brilliana Harley was one of the heroines of the British and Irish civil wars. A deeply religious woman, in her husband’s absence, Brilliana successfully held off a royalist siege of her family home at Brampton Bryan in Herefordshire for three months during 1643. During these weeks she vividly described these events and even rejected a ... Read more

Dr Mark Dawson has conducted extensive research into food and drink in the early modern period. In this programme, he reveals that this period saw a fundamental and irreversible evolution of the foods widely consumed by families at all levels of society. Production and consumption of fruit and vegetables increased while soldiers began to eat ... Read more

Among foreign observers, seventeenth-century England was known as “Devil-Land”; a diabolical country of fallen angels, torn apart by Rebellion, religious extremism and royal collapse. It was a place troubled by continual crisis. England was seen by continental neighbours as a “failed state”; endemically unstable and rocked by devastating events from the Gunpowder Plot to the ... Read more

During his lifetime, many of Oliver Cromwell’s contemporaries – supports as well as critics – questioned the sincerity of his often-stated belief that he was doing God’s work. Today most historians consider that Cromwell was being sincere, some other remain sceptical. At the Cromwell Association’s Schools History Conference, leading academics, Professor Peter Gaunt of the University ... Read more

One of the most frequently debated questions of the British and Irish Civil Wars has been, “At what point did the execution of Charles I become inevitable?”. Some historians maintain that the King’s fate was only decided during the trial in Westminster Hall while others argue that his fate was sealed well before Charles was ... Read more