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ENGLANDS CIVIL WAR PERIOD FROM 1640 1688

YEARS OF CONFLICT BETWEEN THE STUART

KINGS (successors of Elizabeth and the Tudors) andPARLIAMENT

VERY IMPORTANT RESULTS:

Limited monarchy

Constitutional ruleInherent rights for all citizens

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17th Century England

Assertion of Divine Right of Kings Secular and Religious Power in the Monarchy Disputes- Monarchy v. Parliament (1620s-1640)

War, Taxes and Religion Puritans migrate to New World in large numbers

Demand for More Rights - Petition of Right

Period of Religious Strife (1641-1650) English Civil War

Puritans v. Church of England Oliver Cromwell v. King Charles I

Roundheads v. Cavaliers

Age of Intolerance- Military Dictatorship Oliver Cromwell- Military Dictator Cavaliers migrate to Virginia in large numbers

Restoration- Protestantism v. Catholicism Part II Demand for more Rights (Writ of Habeas Corpus) Fear of Religion??? (power of Catholicism)

Glorious Revolution Power of Parliament v. King English Bill of Rights

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THE STUARTS THEYRE EASY TO REMEMBER:

James (I)

Charles (I) Charles (II)

James (II)

They were kings of Scotland, then of England too.

( ) ( )

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James (Stuart) I (England) 1603-

1625

Son of Mary, Queen of Scots Protestant (Church of England)

Church of England was Very Catholic Puritans protested Catholic Rituals

Remember Puritans were similar in their beliefs to Calvinists

Many had gone to Geneva and Holland during Bloody Marys time andwere influenced by Calvin

James chosen for the throne on the death of Elizabeth, who waschildless

Argued with Parliament - Hated to ask Parliament for Money for Wars(he felt above that type of thing)

Major Accomplishments- King James Bible Written in English, it is the dominant English language Bible to this day Ulster Plantation sends 20,000 Scots to colonize northern part of Ireland.

End of Irish independence

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King of Scotland

as well as England

- James I of

England was also

James VI of

Scotland

Edinburgh Castle

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Petition of RightIdeas that later became part of the

US Constitution

The King May Not

Imprison people without due Cause (6thAmend. US Const.)

No taxation without Representation(Decl. of Indep.)

No Quartering of Troops in Houses (3rdAmend. US Const.)

No Martial Law in Peacetime (USConstitution)

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English (Bill of Rights) 1688

Declaration of Rights King cant suspend the laws of Parliament (see Declaration of

Independence) Parliament had to meet frequently (US Constitution) Elections should be free and fair (US Constitution) Debates in parliament should be subject to freedom of speech (US

Constitution, several places) No Taxes without approval of Parliament (see US Constitution) No Standing Army without approval of Parliament (See US

Constitution) No excessive Bail (see US 8th Amendment)(These and other laws provide the foundation for the USDeclaration of Independence and the US Constitution)

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English Civil War

1642-1649

Cromwells New Model Army (committed citizen-soldiers as opposed to noblemen and their vassalsor mercenaries) v. Kings Forces

Hundreds of Thousands Died Cromwell later alienated Parliament-

Military Control despite Parliaments Protest

Puritans were majority of Cromwells Army Nobles and Church Officials provided majority of

Kings Army Charles I- Tried and Executed Cromwell Wins!

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Charles II as a Ruler Reasonable ruler, sought to give more religious

liberty Upset Parliament, that didnt like Catholicism

Arts flourished- Drama and Comedy, John Miltonwrote Paradise Lost Law providing for Habeas Corpus (see US

Constitution) Passed by Parliament

People could no longer be placed in Jail and not given atrial

Charles dies w/out an heir (childless)- always aproblem

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James II (1685-1688)

Brother of Charles II

Supporters of James II called Tories

Opponents of James II called Whigs

Whigs and Tories combine to oust James II from power His first daughter, Mary, (Protestant) living in the

Netherlands with her husband, William, is brought overto rule. (William and Mary, the school in Va. Is named

for them.)

(what American city was named for James II??? Hint: Before he was James II he wasthe Duke of __ ___ ___ ___). Because there was already a city with the same name

in England this American citys name begins with the word New)

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A Catholic on the Throne is Dangerous!James was Catholic, but when made King his oldestchild was Protestant

Has another child (a son) while King- This Child isCatholic Causes fear that Catholicism will be restored

James appointed Catholics to high office- UpsetParliament

Like Charles I he suspends Parliament from meeting->Demands for James removal

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GLORIOUS REVOLUTION

1688

Little bloodshed during the removal of James II

GLORIOUS REVOLUTION Main bloodshed is in Ireland- where Irish Catholics are

overwhelmingly defeated.

William and Mary- will have less power than James IIand his brother Charles II

John Locke writes the English Bill of Rights. Thisplaces more limits on the power of the King and Queen

Winners Parliament and Protestantism Losers- Monarchy, Catholicism, Irish and James II

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17th c. Theatre We can say that when the plague descended cruelly upon London, the

theatre had to be closed. When regular performances started again itwas evident that the time of apprenticeship had gone and that maturemastery had been gained. It would appear that Elizabethan audiencesfound more joy in plays less realistic and in particular they found theirdemands met more effectively in the chronicle histories and in variousforms of romantic drama.

Politically, one age ended and a new age began with James III ofScotland and James I of England so far as the theatre is concerned.However, the break between the old and the new came at the end inthe 16th century with the erection of two important houses The Globe

and The Fortune. It was the period of the private houses which weremore comfortable in its appointments and more expensive than thepublic houses . the success of the private theatres was due largely tothe changing social movements and moods.

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17th c. Theatre The opposition of the Puritans to the theatre and the

gradual spread of their doctrines meant decrease in theplay-going public. During the last years of Elizabeth reign,a group of young men started their activities within the

public houses, but now they soon found that the privatetheatres suited them best. Their public was not a generalone; they appealed mainly to intellectuals. This was thebeginning and the vogue of the private theatres increasedas the years went on; so that when we recall the final

period of Charles reign we might be prepared to say thatthe drama had become the exclusive delight of the Kingscourtiers.

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17th c. Theatre SATIRICAL AND CITIZEN COMEDY

The prevailing atmosphere of the playhouse

during the last years of the 16

th

century was romanticbut what characterises the first years of the 17th centuryis the determined effort of young men to use the anti-romantic method with the object of presenting socialcriticism, generally satiric in spirit. In the developmentof the new form of comedy, one man, Ben Johnson,stands out pre-eminent. Among his most importantworks we may mention: Every man is in humour.

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17th c. Theatre DRAMA UNDER THE PURITANS The theatres were officially closed by common wealth ordinance in 1642;

theoretically there was no further acting till the restoration of Charles II, bothactors and spectators frequently evaded the vigilance of soldiery and presentedtheir show in defiance of the authority. Acting in the common wealth was oftwo kinds:

at the old theatres with the performances by some of the players of Carolinedays.

at the theatres, booths, inns, halls, by bands of actors who performed beforethe spectators drolls or farces, usually taken from already existing plays. Thus,for example, the most comic portions ofA Midsummer Nights Dream wereextracted and performed by under the title of Bottom the Weaver. Of thesedrolls there are two collections still in existence, one entitled The Wits (1622),and the other The Strollers Packet Open (1742). The droll tradition is animportant one, for it runs its course by the side of the regular theatre traditionright on to the close of the 18th century.

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17th c. Theatre Actors formed themselves into a company and went to

Germany, linking the theatre between both Charles. Thetradition of the written play was preserved in several ways.

In the early 17th

century some players seem to have believedthat the drama unprinted was more likely to be popular inthe theatre than a drama published or printed. Many actorsfound the regular sources of their income taken from themand they were forced to sell the manuscript that they had

jealously guarded. So a rich array of the Beaumont andFletcher drama were published in 1647. by all means theaudience wanted to enjoy drama, at least, reading it.

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The Restoration Theatre

In 1660 Charles II was restored to the throne accompaniedby the Cavaliers and by many people who wanted the return ofearlier Caroline traditions. As soon Charles was on his throne,bodies of actors gathered to form companies. The king wasanxious to keep the affairs or the theatre in his own hands and it

was not long till he issued orders and patents by which thenumbers of companies was limited to two, one under Killigrewand the other under Davenant. In 1682 both companies wereamalgamated into one and remained so till 1695 saw the

separation of a number of the best actors. When we remember aLondon that thirty or forty years previously had been able tosupport as many as six theatres running , it becomes obviousthat some great change had become over the play-going public.

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There was a gradual movement growing since the earlyyears of the century: the theatre had degenerated intoone thing of the court while the middle classes were

kept away. The typical audience was composed of thecourtiers, their ladies, the gallants and the wits. Theplays written for such a courtly and cavalier audiencewere calculated by their authors that they wouldexercise a great appeal to them, that is the

explanation of the rise of the heroic tragedy and thecomedy of manners, the one deals with aristocraticsentiments on the subject of honour; the otherreflected the morally careless but intellectuallybrilliant atmosphere of the boudoirs and the taverns.

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The Restoration Theatre The restoration theatre differed from the Elizabethan theatre in so far

as it changed its shape. The open air public theatre disappeared. Thenew theatres were roofed in, and consequently lit by artificial light, itsstage was long in shape with a semicircle that jutted out into themiddle of the pit and a back portion that allowed the possibility ofscenic display. Technically the plays written for this theatre show manyanomalies because they are transition plays between Elizabethan andthe altered stage. Playwrights began to change according to theinfluence of scenery. The plays become more coordinate and lessscattered in subject matter than the plays written in Shakespearestimes. In the restoration theatre more was left to the scene designer

and to the machinist (more to the eyes and less to the ear so theelement of verbal splendour was subdued). An important point of therestoration theatre is the introduction of actresses, and a woman firstappeared in the English stage to speak the prologue of Othello and playthe part of Desdemona.

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LOVE AND HONOUR DRAMA The period of the Restoration is remarkable for the development of several

distinct species of drama. These types of drama, of which the heroic tragedy, the comedyof manners, the opera, and the farce are the chief , all the display a union of diverse

forces. The first two decades of Charles II reign are characterized by the cult of the heroicplay, sometimes came to a tragic conclusion, sometimes given a reasonably happyending. Instead of continuing the use of the blank verse, the authors of these worksdeliberately chose to employ rhymed couplets. The plots and situations, too, weredifferent. Artificial expressions of emotions were dominant in these plays and, virtuallythe only conflict admitted was that between love and honour.

Among the important authors of this new style. John Dryden is the greatest and perhapsthe first. These two dramas (love and heroic) introduce us to a dramatic development

certainly influenced by that of the heroic play, and that development unquestionably wasdue to a new appreciation of Shakespeare. Love and honour themes led men to stress the subject of amorous passion. In accordance

with this change of atmosphere went an alteration of tragic plan . in the Elizabethantimes tragedy had been predominantly masculine, but now with the entrance of love intothe theatrical themes, the heroine rapidly came to take a more prominent place. Towardsthe end of the century, we reach the she tragedy where the woman figure dominates theentire action of the drama.