The Early Stuart Kings 1603 1642

This book explores the complex events and the increasing religious and political discord that followed the coronation of James I and which culminated in the English Civil War.

A gripping new account of the reign of the early Stuarts over Scotland, Ireland, and England - and why ultimately all three kingdoms were to rise in rebellion against Stuart rule.

Early Stuart England is one of the most intensively examined periods in English history. The outwardly successful reign of Elizabeth I gives way during the period to the breakdown of consensus, civil war, and eventually to the destruction of the monarchy itself. The reasons for this are hotly disputed. The tradional explanations have been challenged by the Revisionsts, whose own work is being challenged in its turn. book, therefore, is based on primary sources. Whilst the main focus is on politics and religion, the book also points to the significane of economic, social and cultural currents in the history of the period.

This important collection of essays, based on extensive original research, presents a vigorous critique of ` revisionist' analyses of the period, and reasserts the importance of long term ideological and social developments in causing the outbreak of the civil war.

"Roger Lockyer looks at the major themes of politics and religion and shows how the Tudors re-established a strong monarchy, building on foundations laid by their Yorkist predecessors. The accession of the Stuarts brought new strains as well as intensifying old ones, and the middle years of the seventeenth century saw the collapse of the monarchy and the temporary establishment of a republic in England. The book gives a clear view of the complex issues involved and an insight into their enduring popular interest."--Jacket.

"When James VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth as James I on the throne of England in 1603, the Stuarts became the first dynasty to rule Britain as a whole. The problems that James and his successors encountered in reconciling their kingdoms led to tensions and revolts in Scotland, Ireland and England itself, leading to the Civil War under Charles I between 1642 and 1646 and to the king's subsequent execution. While Charles II, restored after Cromwell's Interregnum, died on the throne, his brother James II quickly alienated much of the political nation and had to flee abroad after an invasion by his son-in-law, who became William III. Following William's death, James's daughter Anne presided over a period of victory on the Continent but bitter internal tension at home. Her death without an heir in 1714 brought in the Hanoverians. In The Stuarts, John Miller looks at the individual monarchs who made up this remarkable dynasty. He also examines the history of the dynasty as a whole, in terms of the Stuarts' identity and agenda as a ruling house."--Bloomsbury Publishing.