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

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