During the 1640s England was engulfed in a destructive and transformative civil war that mobilised roughly one quarter of the English male population in military service and resulted in the overthrow, trial and execution of King Charles I. This module will explore the causes of the war and its effects. It will investigate how developments in Scotland and Ireland as well as England and Wales are crucial to understanding the origins and progress of conflict. The module will also examine the trial and execution of the king, and the establishment of a republic. But the main focus of the module will be on the cultural and social impact of war in England. It will explore the impact of war on local communities, the role of women in war and the impact of the experience of military service on men. It will examine the impact of the collapse of censorship and the role of the press; it will consider the role of religious radicals like the Quakers and radical political groups like the Levellers who argued that a more democratic society should rise from the ruins of Charles I's kingdoms. Students will examine key debates in the broad historiography on the war. But for every theme they will also learn to analyse critically relevant primary sources including pamphlets, propaganda texts, visual images, letters, personal testimonies, memoirs, accounts, political tracts and speeches in relation to recent historical interpretations of the subject.
- Module Supervisor: Amanda Flather