17th Century English

Literature
Dr. Ulaş Özgün
English Civil War (1642-51)

Royalists vs Parliamentarians
January 30, 1649 Execution of Charles I

A Contemporary German Print

What prompted this event?
• A mixture of various causes such as
• Rising tensions and intolerance between socially, and economically different
groups of people.

• Personal grudges, idiosyncracies, poor and rash decisions made by a small

group of individuals.
Religious and Cultural Tensions
• Puritan opposition to the practices of
William Laud, Archbishop of the Canterbury
Cathedral. The First Church in Dedham, Massachusetts, c.1636
• William Prynne reacted against Church rituals,
stainedglass windows as well as stage plays,
court masques, festivals etc.

• Sentenced to life imprisonment, his books were

burned, ears cut off.

Canterbury Cathedral
 Tensions Between the King and Parliament
• After ten years of ruling without Parliament, Charles I
convened Parliament to raise money for his soldiers
fighting in Scotland.

• Parliament abolished extralegal taxes by the King.

• Parliament persecuted the king’s ministers including

Archbishop Laud.

• Parliament suspended censorship which created an

opportunity for political discussion in the years to
come and enabled the development of weekly
newsbooks.
1640 Parliament
 Tensions Between the King and Parliament
• On 4 January 1642, the Rift between Charles I and
Parliament deepened when Charles I tried to arrest
five MPs for treason.

• On 10 January 1642, popular support for Parliament

forced Charles to flee London to York, his wife to the
Continent

• On 5 March 1642, Parliament passed the Militia

Ordinance, taking control of the army

• On 12 July 1642, Parliament resolved to raise an

army; On 22 August 1642, Charles raises his Royal Battle of Naseby by an unknown artist
Standard at Nottingham.
 Royalists vs Parliamentarians
• A Royalist (Cavalier) might:
• Believe in the Divine Right of Kings;
• Agree that Charles had the right to take taxes
such as ship money and grant monopolies when
he wanted
• Support the bishops and agree with Archbishop
Laud’s reforms in the Church of England.
• Think people ought to obey the king, and it is
wrong to go to war against the king.

• A Parliamentarian (Roundhead) might:

• Believe that Parliament should make the laws
and govern the nation
• Believe in the principle of no taxation without
Parliament’s agreement
• Hate the bishops and want Puritan reforms to
make the Church of England more Protestant
• Have no personal loyalty to the king and believes Cavalier Roundhead
there is no need to obey the king if he is wrong.
 The English Civil War (1642-51)
• The coming of the Civil War in 1642 divided friends, families, and local
communities.
• There was no such thing as a ‘typical’ Royalist or Parliamentarian.
• Soldiers on both sides fought for a variety of motives, and with varying degrees of
enthusiasm.
• Religious conviction, mistrust of Royal power, local rivalry, economic discontent or loyalty to King,
landlord, family or friends could all influence allegiances.
• Self-interest also played its part.
• There was profit to be made from confiscated lands, while professional soldiers on
both sides were suspected of wanting to prolong the fighting to keep themselves in
employment.
• Many of those who filled the ranks of both armies had little choice in the
matter, often following the lead of their landlord or local gentry.
• If captured, they were often drafted into the opposing army.
 Parliamentarian Victory
• In 1648, the King’s army was
defeated by the army led by Oliver
Cromwell.

• Perceived as a threat, Charles I was

brought to trial for high treason in
the Great Hall of Westminster.

• Executed outside the Banqueting

House.
Anonymous Dutch painting of the execution of Charles I
 The Interregnum (1653-60)
• After the king’s execution, the rump Parliament
immediately established a new government “in
the way of a republic, without king or House of
Lords”

• Oliver Cromwell suppressed rebellions in Ireland

and Scotland

• In 1653, power effectively devolved upon

Cromwell who was sworn in as Lord Protector for
life under England’s first written constitution.

Oliver Cromwell (1620-1658)

 The Restoration (1660)
• When Cromwell died in 1658, his son Richard
was appointed in his place.

• In 1660, General George Monck called for a

full and free Parliament

• The New Parliament immediately called

Charles II from exile in France.

• Parliament retained its legislative supremacy

and complete power over taxation and some
King Charles II’s Procession to London
control over king’s councellors.
 Consequences from the English Civil War and the
Interregnum
• These events prompted questions on three fundamental questionings
of bourgeoisie liberal thought:
• Popular sovereignty
• Religious toleration,
• Separation of church and state,
• Freedom of press
Literature and Culture, 1640-1660
• Theatre was banned.

• Many leading intellectuals were staunch royalists, or cavaliers who suffered

considerably.
• Robert Herrick lost his position as a cleric
• Richard Lovelace was imprisoned
• Margaret Cavendish went into exile to France
• Henry Vaughan went into exile
• Thomas Hobbes went into exile

• Suspension of censorship enabled the development of pamphlets that

would later on be turned into newspapers.
 Cavalier Poetry
• Considerably influenced by the poetry of Ben Jonson

• Poets such as Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, Sir John Suckling,

Richard Lovelace can be considered cavalier poets.
• Courtly, well-educated, genteel class of men.

• Their works celebrated the refined courtly culture: good food, plenty of
wine, good verse, hospitality, and loyalty to the king.

• One characteristic genre is love-lyrics often associated with the theme

of carpe diem.
 Carpe Diem (Sieze the Day)
• First found in Horace’s Odes (I, xi)

• In short: Enjoy yourself while you can.

• The realisation of the shortness of life

and the inevitability of death.

• Rose is associated with this idea and it

became the symbol of beauty and
transitoriness of life during the Middle
Ages
Hatay Archeology Museum, Roman mosaic
tiles written in Greek: “ΕΥΦΡΟCΥΝΟC
• Love poets especially cavaliers (euphrosynos): meaning joyful"
incorporated this theme and symbolism
in their appeals to their mistresses not to
deny them or disdain them.
 “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” By Robert Herrick

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.
Cavalier Poetry
• After the defeat of the royalists, they wrote movingly about
• the relationship between love and honour
• fidelity under duress
• longing for past eras of innocence
• of the like-minded friends sustaining one another in a hostile
environment.

• They presented themselves as amateurs writing verse I the

midst of war, love and the king’s service.
“To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” by Richard Lovelace
Tell me not (Sweet) I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.

True, a new mistress now I chase,

The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.

Yet this inconstancy is such

As you too shall adore;
I could not love thee (Dear) so much,
Lov’d I not Honour more.