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RESTORATION & REVOLUTION

1660 - 1700

LECTURE # 1:

In the Shadow of the Scaffold

In 1649, Charles was tried for treason by Parliamentary leaders and condemned to death. This is the scene of his trial.

He refused to recognize the legitimacy of the proceedings.

Charles I was regarded as a Christian martyr.

January 30 was commemorated by the Anglican Church until the mid-19th c.

 
  • 1642-1649: Civil Wars
  • 1649: Trial and Death of Charles I
  • 1649-1660: Interregnum
  • 1660: Restoration of the monarchy: Charles II is crowned King.
  • 1685: Death of Charles II
  • 1685: James II becomes king.
  • 1688-9: The "Glorious Revolution": William & Mary are given the throne.


" I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown, where no disturbances can be." Charles I, on the scaffold, January 30, 1649.

His death stood in the background of the Restoration. Charles II is said to have ruled in the shadow of his father's scaffold.

Painting: Sir Anthonyt Van Dyck (1599-1641): Charles I in three positions

The legend about this painting:   Bernini “exclaimed that he had never seen a portrait whose countenance showed so much greatness and such marks of sadness: the man who was so strongly charactered and whose dejection was so visible was doomed to be unfortunate.”

(Qtd. Richard Ollard, The Image of the King, p. 25.)

 

 

 

 

What were the Issues?

  • A fusion of religious and political matters centering on authority and the legitimacy or non-legitimacy of dissent
  • Fundamental division on the question of the nature and the source of the monarch’s power
  • Criticism of the hierarchical (episcopal) structure of the Church of England and an effort to reform its spiritual practices. 
The two sides in the Civil War were the Royalists and the Parliamentarians. 
 

Cromwell was a country gentleman who became a soldier, statesman and finally Lord Protector of Great Britain. As MP for Huntingdon and then Cambridge, he was an outspoken critic of Charles I and 'much hearkened unto'. His military skills and   God-fearing tenacity were decisive factors in the Parliamentarian victory in the Civil War. Cromwell was prominent among those who first treated with, and then executed the King in 1649. He achieved military success in Ireland in 1649 - but carried out brutal massacres - and he led the New Model Army to victory against the Scots and Charles II in 1651. http://www.npg.org.uk/536.htm

Declaration of Breda: Charles, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all our loving subjects, of what degree or quality soever, greeting.

And because the passion and uncharitableness of the times have produced several opinions in religion, by which men are engaged in parties and animosities against each other (which, when they shall hereafter unite in a freedom of conversation, will be composed or better understood), we do declare a liberty to tender consciences, and that no man shall be disquieted or called in question for differences of opinion in matters of religion, which do not disturb the peace of the kingdom; and that we shall be ready to consent to such an Act of Parliament, as, upon mature deliberation, shall be offered to us, for the full granting that indulgence

 
  • 1599 - born Huntingdon
  • 1628 - MP for Huntingdon
  • 1640 - MP for Cambridge
  • 1642 - raises troops for Parliament
  • 1644 - Lieutenant-General of the Eastern Association Army - Battle of Marston Moor, 2nd July- Battle of Newbury, 27th October
  • 1645- Lieutenant-General of the New Model Army - Battle of Naseby, 14th June
  • 1648 - crushes royalist rising in South Wales - Battle of Preston, 18th August
  • 1649 - supports trial and execution of the King, January
  • 1653 - dissolves Parliament, 20th April - becomes Lord Protector, 16th December

RESTORATION refers to the restoration of the monarchy but can be understood more broadly

Continuing questions for our course:  What precisely was restored?  And what had been irrevocably changed by civil war, the death of Charles I, and the interregnum?

Initial answers:  The monarchy and the House of Lords were restored.

 But the charismatic or sacred quality of kingship was not. 

And the ideal of religious and political uniformity gave way to the reality of dissent and party, eventually requiring religious toleration and alliances based on interest.

A World of Serious political & religious oppositions

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One example of the fundamental oppositions of Restoration Society:dissenters & libertine
  • Dissenter:  Non-conformist; one who rejects the doctrines or authority of an established church.
  • Libertine:  One who is morally and sexually unrestrained; a free-thinker in religious matters.
  • Although dissenters and libertines have an element of non-conformity in common, they define an important cultural division during this period. Two writers who illustrate this opposition are John Bunyan(1628-1688) and John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647-1680).

Bunyan dreaming

John Bunyan dreaming

 

  • As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a den, and I laid me down in that place to sleep, and as I slept I dreamed a dream.  I dreamed, and behold I saw a man clothed with rags, [Isaiah 64:6] standing  in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back. [Psalms 38:4]  I looked, and saw him open the book, and read therein; and as he read he wept and trembled, and not being able any longer to contain, he brake out, with a lamentable cry, saying, “What shall I do?”  [Acts 16:30-31].
John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

Naked she lay, clasped in my longing arms,

I filled with love, and she all over charms;

Both equally inspired with eager fire,

Melting through kindness, flaming in desire.

With arms, legs, lips close clinging to embrace,

She clips me to her breast, and sucks me to her face.

Her nimble tongue, Love’s lesser lightning, played

Within my mouth, and to my thoughts conveyed

Swift orders that I should prepare to throw

 

PORTABILLITY AS A METHOD OF ANALYSIS

Looking closely at Words
  • wilderness of this world
  • a man clothed with rags,
  • [Isaiah 64:6]
  • a great burden upon his back
  • as he read he wept and trembled,
  • not being able any longer to contain
  • a lamentable cry
  • “What shall I do?” 
  • Naked she lay
  • longing arms
  • filled with love
  • all over charms;
  • inspired with eager fire,
  • flaming in desire.
  • arms, legs, lips
  • embrace
  • sucks
  • nimble tongue
  • played/Within my mouth
  • As Rochester’s poem is worldly, Bunyan’s allegorical narrative is otherworldly. 
  • Rochester is a witty, urbane, sophisticated, somewhat cynical writer, allied with the world of the court. 
  • Bunyan is a religious writer, allied with the sometimes visionary world of religious and political protest.

 

REVOLUTION in our course title refers initially to

political events in 1688. But we will use the term more

broadly and ask what sort of cultural revolutions were

taking place.