The English Civil War and Revolution: A Sourcebook

214 Pages·1998·3.959 MB·English

by  Keith Lindley

THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR
AND REVOLUTION
The English Civil War andRevolution offers a wide range ofaccessible source
material covering the principal aspects ofthe mid-seventeenthcentury crisis,
andaguide to theprogressive, revisionist,post-revisionistandotherhistorio
graphicaldebates involved.
Thesourcematerialoffersdifferentperspectivesfrom variouslevelsofsociety,
drawing on controversial literature, official records, private correspondence,
diaries,reportsofgrassrootsreactions,minutesofdebates,contemporaryillus
trations and petitions. Each document has an introduction which provides
contextual information. The book also contains a comprehensive glossary of
seventeenthcenturytermsappearinginthesourcematerialandachronologyof
eventsforreference.
Whilst familiarising studentswithsomeofthe mainsources used incontem
porary historical debates, The English Civil WarandRevolution contains many
extracts from unpublished, manuscript sources. Source material is grouped
thematicallyinrelationtosixkeyquestions,thusaidingunderstandingofthis
complexperiodandprovidingauseful referencetool.
KeithLindleyisSeniorLecturerinHistory,UniversityofUlster.
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THE ENGLISH CIVIL
WAR AND
REVOLUTION
A sourcebook
Keith Lindley
I~ ~~O~:~;~!{;Up
LONDONANDNEWYORK
Firstpublished 1998
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
270MadisonAve,NewYorkNY 10016
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor& FrancisGroUI)
TransferredtoDigitalPrinting2005
©1998KeithLindley
TypesetinBaskervillebyRoutledge
Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedor
reproducedorutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,
orothermeans,nowknownorhereafterinvented,including
photocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformationstorageorretrieval
system,withoutpermissioninwritingfrom thepublishers.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Acataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefrom theBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationData
Acataloguerecordforthisbookhasbeenrequested
ISBN 0-415-17418-x(hbk)
ISBN 0-415-17419-8(pbk)
CONTENTS
ListofIllustrations
Xl
Acknowledgements XII
INTRODUCTION 1
1 THE COLLAPSE OF CHARLES I'S GOVERNMENT
Ship money 35
Thomas Knyvett's commentson Hampden's case, 1637 35
Resistance to payment inMiddlesex, 1639 35
Laudianism 37
Asurvey ofnonconformity in London, 1637 37
Anofficial record offactionalism inaLondon parish, c. 1640 39
Aprintedsheet ofverseagainst bishops, 1639 41
Archbishop Laud's accountoftheattack uponLambeth Palace,
1640 43
CommentonLaudand theLambeth attack by aBerkshire
husbandman, 1640 43
Scotland 45
WalterBalcanquall,A largedeclaration, 1639 45
TheScottish national covenant, 1638 46
ALondon tailorvoices support for the Scots, 1640 50
TheShort Parliament 51
SirThomas Peyton on its proceedingsand dissolution, 1640 51
Provincialgentry 53
SirHenrySlingsby's Diary, 1638-40 53
Disaffected peers 57
Petitionoftwelve peersfor the summoningofanew parliament,
1640 57
2 THE LONG PARLIAMENT
Members ofParliament 60
Theelection ofMiddlesexand LondonMPs, 1640 60
CONTENTS
The exclusion ofmonopolists, 1641 61
Petitions 61
The presentationofthe first London root and branchpetition,
1640 61
The remonstranceand petitionofthecountyofHuntingdon,
1642 62
London citizenson thecauses ofthedecayoftrade, 1641 65
A petitionofLondongentlewomenand tradesmen's wives,
1642 67
Parliamentaryproceedings 69
Lord Digby'sspeech in theCommons to the billfor triennial
parliaments, 1641 69
SirSimonds D'Ewes'sjournal, 1641 70
A bishop's diary, 1641 72
Army plots 73
Parliamentary investigation ofthe first armyplot, 1641 73
The five members 76
D'Ewes'sjournal, 1642 76
3 CHOOSINGSIDES
Ireland 79
An alleged proclamationofthe Irish rebels, 1641 79
The forged royal commissionof1641 80
Worseandworsenewsfrom Ireland, 1641 81
JosephLister'sAutobiography 83
Papists 85
Accounts ofapopishscare, 1641 85
A discovery ofahorribleandbloodytreasonandconspiracy, 1641 85
Religious radicalism 87
Depositions before theLordsaboutadisrupted communion
service, 1641 87
Apetitionabout theviolentdemolitionofaltarrails, 1641 88
D'Ewes'saccountofthe censure ofachurchwardenfor
iconoclasm, 1641 89
Lordsproceedingsagainstabaptistcongregation, 1641 90
Riots and disorders 92
Accounts byJPsoffenland riots, 1641,andaretrospective
viewoffenland politics, 1646 92
ArthurWilson's accountofanti-popish riots against the
Countess Rivers, 1642 94
Pressand pulpit 96
TheStationers' Company's report on unlicensedprinting to
theLords, 1641 96
VI
CONTENTS
Clarendon's History on the collapseofcontrolsoverpress
and pulpit 98
Control ofthe militia 98
The militiaordinance, 1642 98
Thomas Knyvett's dilemmaoverthe ordinance, 1642 100
The commissionofarray in Worcestershire, 1642 100
Neutralsand side-changers 101
ACheshire neutralityagreement, 1642 101
SirEdward Dering, A declaration, 1644 102
4 THE IMPACT OF WAR
Levies and distraints 105
An assessmentordinance, 1642 105
Distraints inLondon for nonpaymentofassessments, 1643 106
Grievances overparliamentaryassessments in Essexand Devon,
1644-6 107
Resistance to the royalist excise inSomerset, 1644 109
Plundering 111
A Commons ordertopreventpillaging bysoldiers, 1642 111
Plundering by royalist forces inWorcestershire, 1643 111
Sequestrationofroyalist estates 112
ACommons orderconcerning sequesteredestates, 1643 112
Impressment 113
An impressment ordinanceand its unpopularity, 1643 113
Committees 115
Thecommitteeforadvanceofmoney 115
SirJohnOglanderon the Isle ofWightcommittee 115
The order bookofthe Staffordshirecounty committee,
1643-5 116
The letter books ofSirSamuelLuke, 1644-5 116
Peacesentiment 118
TheLondon peacepetitionof22 December 1642 118
Threelooks overLondon, orplaindealingisajewel, 1643 119
War 122
The full and last relationofall things concerning Basing House,
1645 122
An Irish diary oftheConfederatewars, 1646 123
Trade 126
William Lithgow, ThepresentsurveyofLondonandEngland'sstate,
1643 126
Godly reformation 127
Commons ordersconcerningscandalousand malignant ministers,
1643 127
VB
CONTENTS
William Dowsing's iconoclasm in East Anglia, 1643-44 127
Thesolemn league and covenant, 1643 128
The register bookofthe fourth classis in theprovinceofLondon,
1646 131
The New Model Army 132
JoshuaSprigge,Angliarediviva, 1647 132
Clubmen 133
The desires and resolutions ofthe clubmenofthe countiesof
Dorsetand Wiltshire, 1645 133
5 COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES AND
REVOLUTIONARIES
Political Presbyterianism 136
TheCity remonstranceof26 May 1646 136
Robert Baillie, Letters, 1646-7 139
Londonand thearmy 142
ThomasJuxon's diary, 1647 142
The army'sdeclaration and the City's submission, 1647 143
TheLevellers 148
Thefirst AgreementofthePeople, 1647 148
William Clarke's record ofthe armydebates at Putney, 1647 150
John Rushworth's account oftheCorkbush Field mutiny,
1647 157
TheLevellerpetitionof11 September 1648 159
Thesecond civil war 163
Aletterfrom agentleman to afriend inLondon, 1648 163
Thedeclaration ofthe county ofDorset, 1648 164
6 REVOLUTION
CharlesStuart, that man ofblood 167
WilliamAllen's account ofthe Windsorprayermeeting of
1May 1648 167
Theparliament under the powerofthe sword, 1648 168
Acommonwealth without aking orHouseofLords 169
Theactabolishing the officeofking, March 1649 169
Anactabolishing the HouseofLords, March 1649 171
Anactdeclaring England to beacommonwealth, May 1649 171
Revolution halted 172
Richard Overton, TheHuntingoftheFoxes, March 1649 172
The Moderate on the executionofmutineers at Burford,
May 1649 173
KingJesus 174
Certain queries, February 1649 174
The Diggers 176
VH1
CONTENTS
Gerrard Winstanley, The TrueLevellers'standardadvanced,
April 1649 176
Notes 181
Chronology 185
Glossary 187
Select Bibliography 190
Index 192
IX