I Read Books: England Under The Stuarts
England Under The Stuarts
Subtitled The political, constitutional, and social history of England in the seventeenth century, this was first published in 1902, later revised in 1925, and a new edition in 1960 (the one I read) which reading between the lines of Preface is essentially the 1925 version with an expanded bibliography. Somewhat old-fashioned it’s aim is to demonstrate how England (and thus Britain and to an extent America, Europe etc) broke through to religious toleration, economic liberalism, democracy, free speech, civil rights etc.
To do this we get an overview of England at the end of Elizabeth’s reign, and how her cousin James VI of Scotland inherited, discovering the differences and difficulties of his new realm. From there we note how the now James I of England attempted to make the country his own, and his son Charles I failed to turn England and Scotland into “despotisms” on the continental model (I think we prefer Early Modern Absolute Monarchies as terminology). The power of the purse being in Parliament’s hands; the lack of a standing army; the religious differences which led to various protestant groupings in the House Of Commons coming together to resist the Laudian reforms. And thus to the English Civil Wars (as well as the others wars of the three kingdoms).
The book assumes we have some knowledge of the leading figures and events, choosing to expand on the outlines we might have. This requires a modern reader, their historical teaching of the period having been squeezed by the need to study the events of the 20th century, to scramble in some cases. The details of conspiracy and counter-conspiracy at the end of the reign of Charles II and into James II are in a chapter called “The Reigns Of Terror,” and make clear how timing and chance kept events from collapsing one way or another, how Charles adeptly kept himself in power, and James failed.
The author, G M Trevelyan, has been described as the last great Whig historian; not just because of his work here and elsewhere on the historical Whig Party (the ancestors of today’s Liberal Democrats). Whig History looks to see how events moved from the (benighted, oppressive) past to the (enlightened, progressive) present, with toleration, freedom, constitutional monarchy, and parliamentary democracy. The idea of such a constant progress was somewhat deflated by World Wars One and Two. Trevelyan here occasionally falls into this rather teleological view, suggesting that there was little progress towards modern liberalism in the 18th century as Britain had already strained as much towards it as the country could take; and that in contrast by holding it back in France it exploded into the Revolution there.
Read This: Old school history going into details of a
formative period of English History
Don’t Read This: Despite it’s lovely written phrases,
lengthy digressions into mostly justly forgotten events are not for you
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