Civil War Interregnum And Restoration In Gloucestershire 1640 1672

Recent studies of particular areas during the Civil War have shown how kinship and social and educational ties, far from reinforcing county isolationism, frequently drew inhabitants into a far wider network and divided existing loyalties. Following this approach, Dr Warmington's examination of the history of Gloucestershire during the period begins with the descent into war between 1640 and 1642, showing how the two sides formed and why the Parliamentarians had the more durable war machine. He goes on to consider the anarchic situation between 1645 and 1649 and the series of new experiments in government which followed until 1660, undertaken by an almost entirely new governing group of minor gentlemen, elevated through military service to the regime and by religious affiliations. The attempted rebellion of 1659 is examined in detail, and the book concludes with a look at the Restoration of the Stuart dynasty, the Anglican Church, and the sons of the pre-war county ruling elite, exploring how the new regime compared with its Cromwellian predecessors.ANDREW WARMINGTONwas formerly senior research assistant in history at the University of Durham, following a First Class degree from York and a D.Phil. from St Peter's College, Oxford. He is now a freelance research analyst.

While the First, or 'Great', English Civil War of 1642-6 was largely contested at regional and county level, in often hard-fought and long-lasting local campaigns, historians often still continue to dwell on the well-known major battles, such as Edgehill and Naseby, and the prominent national leaders. To help redress this imbalance, To Settle The Crown: Waging Civil War in Shropshire, 1642-1648 provides the most detailed bipartisan study published to date of how the war was actually organized and conducted at county level. This book examines the practicalities, the 'nuts and bolts', of contemporary warfare by reconstructing the war effort of Royalists and Parliamentarians in Shropshire, an English county on the borderland of Wales - a region that witnessed widespread fighting. Shropshire was contested during the First Civil War - when it became one of the most heavily garrisoned counties in England and Wales - and experienced renewed conflict during the Second Civil War of 1648. Based on a Doctoral thesis, and therefore drawing primarily on contemporary sources revealing much new information, To Settle The Crown examines key aspects of the military history of the English Civil Wars: allegiance and motivation; leadership and administration; recruitment and the form of armed forces; military finance; logistics; and the nature and conduct of the fighting. Furthermore, while previous studies have tended to concentrate on the Parliamentarians, the comparatively plentiful evidence from Shropshire has allowed the Royalist war effort there to be reconstructed in rare detail. This book reveals for the first time the extent of military activity in Shropshire, describing the sieges, skirmishes and larger engagements, while reflecting on the nature of warfare elsewhere across Civil War England and Wales. In also providing a social context to the military history of the period, it explains how Royalist and Parliamentarian activists set local government on a wartime footing, and how the populace generally became involved in the administrative and material tasks of war effort. Extensively illustrated, fully referenced to an extensive bibliography, and including a useful review of Civil War historiography, To Settle The Crown: Waging Civil War in Shropshire, 1642-1648 is a significant fresh approach to the military history of the English Civil Wars.

Honoring the memory of Professor Alan Everitt, who advanced the fruitful notion of the county community during the 17th century, this volume proposes some modifications to Everitt's influential hypotheses in the light of the best recent scholarship. With an important reevaluation of political engagement in civil war Kent and an assessment of numerous midland and southern counties as well as Wales, this record evaluates the extraordinary impact of Everitt's book and the debate it provoked. Comprehensive and enlightening, this collection suggests future directions for research into the relationship between the center and localities in 17th-century England.

The first dedicated study of the practice of changing sides during the English Civil Wars. Reveals how side-changing shaped the course of the English Revolution, even contributing to the regicide itself, and remained an important political legacy to the English speaking peoples thereafter.

Sir, God hath taken away your eldest son by a cannon shot. It brake his leg. We were necessitated to have it cut off, whereof he died.' In one of the most famous and moving letters of the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell told his brother-in-law that on 2 July 1644 Parliament had won an emphatic victory over a Royalist army commanded by King Charles I's nephew, Prince Rupert, on rolling moorland west of York. But that battle, Marston Moor, had also slain his own nephew, the recipient's firstborn. In this vividly narrated history of the deadly conflict that engulfed the nation during the 1640s, Peter Gaunt shows that, with the exception of World War I, the death-rate was higher than any other contest in which Britain has participated. Numerous towns and villages were garrisoned, attacked, damaged or wrecked. The landscape was profoundly altered. Yet amidst all the blood and killing, the fighting was also a catalyst for profound social change and innovation. Charting major battles, raids and engagements, the author uses rich contemporary accounts to explore the life-changing experience of war for those involved, whether musketeers at Cheriton, dragoons at Edgehill or Cromwell's disciplined Ironsides at Naseby (1645).

Why did England's one experiment in republican rule fail? Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658 sparked a period of unrivalled turmoil and confusion in English history. In less than two years, there were close to ten changes of government; rival armies of Englishmen faced each other across the Scottish border; and the Long Parliament was finally dissolved after two decades. Why was this period so turbulent, and why did the republic, backed by a formidable standing army, come crashing down in such spectacular fashion? In this fascinating history, Henry Reece explores the full story of the English republic's downfall. Questioning the accepted version of events, Reece argues that the restoration of the monarchy was far from inevitable--and that the republican regime could have survived long term. Richard Cromwell's Protectorate had deep roots in the political nation, the Rump Parliament mobilised its supporters impressively, and the country showed little interest in returning to the old order until the republic had collapsed. This is a compelling account that transforms our understanding of England's short-lived period of republican rule.

The English Civil Wars and Revolution remain controversial. This book develops the theme that the Revolution, arising from the three separate rebellions, was an English phenomenon exported to Ireland and then to Scotland. Dr Kennedy examines the widespread effects of years of bloody and unnatural civil wars upon the British Isles. He also explores the symbolism of Charles I's execution, the 'great debates' about the proper limits of the King's authority and the 'great divide' in English politics which makes neutral writing about this period impossible. Taking into account the radical exigencies and expectations of war and peace-making, the discordant testimonies from battlefield and bargaining table, Parliament, press and pulpit, Dr Kennedy provides a full analysis of the English experience of revolution.

This is just one of eight key questions about the period that Clive Holmes answers in a clear and informed manner.