21. Regicide and Republic, 1647-1660

Early Modern England: Politics, Religion, and Society under the Tudors and Stuarts (HIST 251)

In this lecture Professor Wrightson considers the events leading to the execution of Charles I in 1649, and the republican regimes of 1649-60 (the Commonwealth and the Protectorate), with particular attention to the role of Oliver Cromwell. He begins with the unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a settlement with Charles I after the civil war, the intervention of the army in 1647 and the outbreak of the second civil war in 1648, which culminated in Pride's Purge and the trial and execution of Chares I. He then considers Cromwell's campaigns in 1649-51, his expulsion of the Rump Parliament in 1653, the nominated parliament of 1653 (Barebone's Parliament) and the two phases of the Cromwellian Protectorate 1654-8, ending with the instability following Cromwell's death and the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Professor Wrightson notes that although the Restoration marked the failure of the revolution, the political landscape had been irrevocably changed. The restored monarchy lived in the shadow of the civil war, the politicization of a large section of society was not reversed, religious dissent was now a permanent reality, and a plethora of new political and religious ideas had been advanced.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Continuing Tensions
09:18 - Chapter 2. Putney Debates
14:43 - Chapter 3. Renewal of War
22:56 - Chapter 4. A Commonwealth and Free State
29:23 - Chapter 5. Cromwell as Lord Protector
38:20 - Chapter 6. Dissolution of Parliament

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Fall 2009.