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English Revolution

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This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the Author, no part of it can be reproduced or
transmitted without her express and prior permission

Developments in Europe

English Introduction

Revolution or
The English Revolution can be seen as the

outcome of a series of events that unfolded

Civil War at the turn of the century. It has been viewed

as the culmination of the long-standing

i
friction between the Catholics and Protestant

sh
factions of England. With a shift in dynastic

power, from the Tudor (staunchly Protestant

Jo line) to the Stuarts, the bloodline of Mary

Queen of Scots ( Catholic) there was what

Lucy Worsley terms a seismic shift in the

na
intellectual and political climate of the

nation. James 1 took over as the ruler of

England at the end of the Tudor dynasty.

ar

A point of political and social turmoil for

the nation. He attempted to reconcile

Ap

fractured English society with the

introduction of the Millenary Petition and

the Hampton Court Conference of 1604

which was later abandoned. this left a host

of unintended consequences for his son and

This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the Author, no part of it can be reproduced or
transmitted without her express and prior permission

successor Charles I. There was an apparent English revolution in the form of a clash

antagonistic relationship between the King between the Liberal and royal tyranny.

and Parliament that came to the fore in the Further, SR Gardiner points to the fact the

Goodwin Case of the Gunpowder Plot war was a Puritan revolution, a religious and

masterminded by Guy Fox. ideological conflict.

Further, this was fuelled by the Marxist historians however question this

i
sh
understanding of Absolute Monarchy that understanding of the English Revolution, it

saw Charles 1 as the God-King of England. was seen as a shift from the feudal society.

It led to religious oppression and the rise of Engels provided a definition based on his

dualism between the Church and the crown.

Nature and Causes

Jo theory of class struggle.

However, Hobsbawm and Dobb analyze the

revolution as an action to break down the

na
RG Usher observes that the English
pre-existing social order. The Social
revolution was an enigma at the time, that
interpretations of the English Revolution
ar

was treated as the Great Rebellion of dissent

were formulated by HR Trevor Roper,
by the nobility and commoner alike. It was
Christopher Hill, and Lawrence Stone.
often equated to the Frondes of France in
Ap

To RH Tawney, the English Civil war aimed

this context. Thomas Babington Macaulay
to redistribute land and resources to correct
argued that it was the English Revolution
the upset balance of land ownership and
that put England on the path of
power among the landed elite classes of
Parliamentary Monarchy. SR Gardiner also
society.
pointed to the political narrative of the
This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the Author, no part of it can be reproduced or
transmitted without her express and prior permission

society and the upper ecclesiastical men in

Christopher Hill goes on to argue that the

roots of the English Revolution can be found England, however, it was a broader-based

in the Tudor reformation, rather than be seen movement that cannot be isolated to the

as a merely social conflict, he also objects to politically or socially landed. He, therefore,

the inclusion of the landed bourgeoise into moved away from the Social interpretation

the class of the royalist elites, as was school of thought.

i
sh
followed by HR Trevor Roper. Therefore, the cause of the revolution is seen

to have religious roots, moving to the period

However, he argues that there was nothing
of Tudor rule in England, after the death of
revolutionary like land transfers seen in the

reformation that was almost donative and

therefore, could be seen at best as a religious

obligation.
Jo Queen Elizabeth I, the question looming

prominently in the minds of

Aristocracy was that of ‘correct ruling’ who

British
na
aligned with the Protestant understanding.
Hill argues that the old aristocratic classes

still maintained and curried favor with the To Trevor Roper, the the English
ar

ruling classes in several ways. He however Revolution was the outcome of a middling

argues that a shift in the traditional land-owner uprising that was supported by
Ap

understanding of power and authority gave the new Model Army.

an impetus to the English revolution that JH Hexter further critiques the views of

was heralded but not caused by the English Trevor Roper with the opposing view that

Reformation. Robert Brenner argues in the the English Revolution was the outcome of a

context of the English Revolution, that the weakening control of the Crown over noble

movement was led by the educated elite of elements.

This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the Author, no part of it can be reproduced or
transmitted without her express and prior permission

Company on the traded material as between

RH Tawney argues that the revolution was

caused by the rise of the Gentry, according 1620-1637, there was a rise in import taxes

to this view, the change in the land and and tariffs.

property ownership led to the evolution of John Rusell and J. Morrill, two revisionist

the English Revolution. authors argue on two predominant themes in

English history. The role of conflicting

i
This led to an open schism in the aristocracy

sh
either in favor of Catholic Spain and issues in the power and authority dynamic in

Portugal or Protestant England. the British parliament and secondly, the

rising influence of the Mercantile and

The Stuarts were seen as having a divine

right toward the Monarchy. Based on an

unquestioned prerogative of power. They

Jo trading community. To Lawrence Stone,

therefore, it was a conflict within the society

rather than with the regime. To Hobbes, the

na
imposed a new set of taxation. The Court of
situation was boiling hot, almost willing to
Wards became a method of generating
erupt, while Henry Parker argues that the
income, Lawrence Stone points out the new
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power was vested in the greater good and

taxation policy that was imposed from the
therefore, the character of the English
sale of peerages in the period of 1603 to
Ap

Revolution was to be judged in terms of

1629. He further argues that Charles I,
involvement from the bottom rather than
regulated the market economy in the case of
that from the top. In terms of ideological
the Ship Money 1637, and there was a
paradigms during the English Civil War, two
climax of friction between the mercantile
primary factions were identified within the
bourgeoisie and the Crown. Further, friction
ranks of the rebels.
was created between the Levant East India
This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the Author, no part of it can be reproduced or
transmitted without her express and prior permission

This ideological divide was characterized Another Group, the Fifth Monarchy Men of

by the intellectual alienation of the educated which Oliver Cromwell was a part, asserted

elites by the governing class. The diggers that government and religion need to be

and the Levellers. The Diggers or Royalists seaparated, they opposed the idea of

popularly termed the Whigs after 1679, this temporal monarchy. Other than this, another

group of Presbyterian elites supported the radical group were the quakers, who

i
sh
Stuart dynasty and their absolute right to displayed an usual passive tendency towards

rule. They were led in their attempt by all forms of government and thus, thye

Thomas Cartwright. opposed the idea of a monarchal

As Christopher

Protestantism,
Hill

Puritanism,
points

parliamentarian, worked against the attempt

Jo
out,

and
government. These ideas were also reflected

in the writings and poetry of Milton.

na
of Laud to reverse history”

The second group were the Levellers,

Impacts
ar

The English Revolution, unfolded in three

were those from the small proprietary towns
distinct stages, in the First Stage, Oliver
and cities, they were part of the
Ap

Cromwell created the Protectorate of the

Anti-enclosure movement and they
Common Wealth from 1649-1660, in this
formulated a radical Democratic
phase of the English Revolution, there was a
programme. The levellers passed a
stern military restructuring of the British
Agreement of the People to formally
Army, that was opposed by the Rump in
propose constitutional amendments and
1653.
rights.
This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the Author, no part of it can be reproduced or
transmitted without her express and prior permission

in the development of international trade

Cromwell intended to solidify his rule with

the Constitutional procedure. , in order to links.

achieve this he plied support with the However, after the death of Oliver

nobility and gentry, this was followed by the Cromwell, GM Traveleyan points out a dual

period of the protectorate that was from restoration, one in the convention of

1653-1660, in this phase, Oliver Cromwell Parliament and secondly in the model of the

i
sh
acquired the office of the Lord Protector of Church and government. However, with the

England, Whales and Scotland, in this signing of the magna Carta, Charles II

process the Quakers, Presbyterians and other opened the doors to the constitutional form

religious supported the Levellers. The

Protectorate amended the economic policies

of England, they focussed on regulating the

Jo of monarchy.

The Ward system of the courts of Justice

were also given up in order to make the

na
economy. However, on the issue of religious courts more accessible. Hill however argues
conflict, the parliament was dissolved. After that this system was replaced by a monetary
ar

the fifth conquest of Ireland, the Union of compensation for the ruling class. In 1688,
England and Scotland was termed a Short the glorious Revolution paved the way for
Ap

gun Marriage. Further, the navigation Acts the Hanovarian dynasty, that was led by
of 1651 promoted colonial development and William of orange and Queen Anne, the
was instrumental in the conquest of Jamaica. daughter of Charles II. Aylmer suggests that
Lewis Namier points out that in this context, the glorious revolution, though bloodless
trade had a positive impact with agriculture was a media propoganda coup that divided

the levellers into the Whigs and the Tories.

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This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the Author, no part of it can be reproduced or
transmitted without her express and prior permission

It also limited the power of the monarch, and authority, this can be seen in the post

who was placed on the throne as the part of restoration period of 1660, the Puritans

a constitutional amendment. imposed a rigorous Scientific basis in the

knowledge system, Sir Francis Bacon and

The Act of Settlement, Mutiny Act and the

Act of Toleration, aimed to consolidate Tori Robert Boyle, emerged in post restoration

control on the Monarch. David Linsey Keir England as the beacons of this new

i
sh
points out that these acts did not consolidate approach, they established the Royal Society

but limited the powers of the King. In his to promote the study of science and new

work, the two treatises of government, John instruments that were introduced such as the

Locke, saw all men as rational and able to

make impartial decisions.

However, the concept of trust is not

Jo violin.

Therefore, it can be said that the English

Revolution was not merely an economic but

na
apparent. To Karl Max and marxist also a socio-political event that cast a long

historians however, this was not a revolution Shadow on Political developments in

ar

but merely a well-executed palace coup. It England.

was only in the second phase of the Bibliography

Ap

hanovarian dynasty that these political

The English Revolution- Arvind Sinha
parties took an active role in the proceedings
Tudors to Stuarts- Roger Lockyer
of the government, through the House of
Cambridge Economic History of Europe
Commons.

The English Revolution- Christopher Hill

After the English revolution, there was an

intellectual shift in the perception of power Mercantilism- F Eli Heckscher