ENGLANDS CIVIL WAR

PERIOD FROM 1640 1688

YEARS OF CONFLICT BETWEEN THE STUART

KINGS (successors of Elizabeth and the Tudors) and PARLIAMENT VERY IMPORTANT RESULTS: Limited monarchy Constitutional rule Inherent rights for all citizens

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

THE STUARTS
THEYRE EASY TO REMEMBER: James (I) Charles (I) Charles (II) James (II) They were kings of Scotland, then of England too.

James (Stuart) I (England) 16031625

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 and were influenced by Calvin

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

childless 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

 Edinburgh Castle

King of Scotland as well as England - James I of England was also James VI of Scotland

Petition of Right
Ideas that later became part of the US Constitution

The King May Not Imprison people without due Cause (6th Amend. US Const.) No taxation without Representation (Decl. of Indep.) No Quartering of Troops in Houses (3rd Amend. US Const.) No Martial Law in Peacetime (US Constitution)

 King cant suspend the laws of Parliament (see Declaration of

English (Bill of Rights) 1688 Declaration of Rights

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 US Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution)

English Civil War 1642-1649

Cromwells New Model Army (committed citizen-

soldiers as opposed to noblemen and their vassals or 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!

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 Milton

wrote Paradise Lost Law providing for Habeas Corpus (see US Constitution) Passed by Parliament
trial

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

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

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 over to 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 was the Duke of __ ___ ___ ___). Because there was already a city with the same name in England this American citys name begins with the word New)

A Catholic on the Throne is Dangerous! James was Catholic, but when made King his oldest
child was Protestant Has another child (a son) while King- This Child is Catholic
Causes fear that Catholicism will be restored

James appointed Catholics to high office- Upset

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

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 II and his brother Charles II John Locke writes the English Bill of Rights. This

places more limits on the power of the King and Queen Winners Parliament and Protestantism Losers- Monarchy, Catholicism, Irish and James II

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 it was evident that the time of apprenticeship had gone and that mature mastery had been gained. It would appear that Elizabethan audiences found more joy in plays less realistic and in particular they found their demands met more effectively in the chronicle histories and in various forms of romantic drama. Politically, one age ended and a new age began with James III of Scotland 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 in the 16th century with the erection of two important houses The Globe and The Fortune. It was the period of the private houses which were more comfortable in its appointments and more expensive than the public houses . the success of the private theatres was due largely to the changing social movements and moods.

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

gradual spread of their doctrines meant decrease in the play-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 private theatres suited them best. Their public was not a general one; they appealed mainly to intellectuals. This was the beginning and the vogue of the private theatres increased as the years went on; so that when we recall the final period of Charles reign we might be prepared to say that the drama had become the exclusive delight of the Kings courtiers.

17th c. Theatre
SATIRICAL AND CITIZEN COMEDY

The prevailing atmosphere of the playhouse during the last years of the 16th century was romantic but what characterises the first years of the 17th century is the determined effort of young men to use the antiromantic method with the object of presenting social criticism, generally satiric in spirit. In the development of the new form of comedy, one man, Ben Johnson, stands out pre-eminent. Among his most important works we may mention: Every man is in humour.

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, both actors and spectators frequently evaded the vigilance of soldiery and presented their show in defiance of the authority. Acting in the common wealth was of two kinds: at the old theatres with the performances by some of the players of Caroline days. at the theatres, booths, inns, halls, by bands of actors who performed before the spectators drolls or farces, usually taken from already existing plays. Thus, for example, the most comic portions of A Midsummer Nights Dream were extracted and performed by under the title of Bottom the Weaver. Of these

drolls there are two collections still in existence, one entitled The Wits (1622), and the other The Strollers Packet Open (1742). The droll tradition is an important one, for it runs its course by the side of the regular theatre tradition right on to the close of the 18th century.

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

Germany, linking the theatre between both Charles. The tradition of the written play was preserved in several ways. In the early 17th century some players seem to have believed that the drama unprinted was more likely to be popular in the theatre than a drama published or printed. Many actors found the regular sources of their income taken from them and they were forced to sell the manuscript that they had jealously guarded. So a rich array of the Beaumont and Fletcher drama were published in 1647. by all means the audience wanted to enjoy drama, at least, reading it.

The Restoration Theatre

In 1660 Charles II was restored to the throne accompanied by the Cavaliers and by many people who wanted the return of earlier Caroline traditions. As soon Charles was on his throne, bodies of actors gathered to form companies. The king was anxious to keep the affairs or the theatre in his own hands and it was not long till he issued orders and patents by which the numbers of companies was limited to two, one under Killigrew and the other under Davenant. In 1682 both companies were amalgamated into one and remained so till 1695 saw the separation of a number of the best actors. When we remember a London that thirty or forty years previously had been able to support as many as six theatres running , it becomes obvious that some great change had become over the play-going public.

 There was a gradual movement growing since the early

years of the century: the theatre had degenerated into one thing of the court while the middle classes were kept away. The typical audience was composed of the courtiers, their ladies, the gallants and the wits. The plays written for such a courtly and cavalier audience were calculated by their authors that they would exercise a great appeal to them, that is the explanation of the rise of the heroic tragedy and the comedy of manners, the one deals with aristocratic sentiments on the subject of honour; the other reflected the morally careless but intellectually brilliant atmosphere of the boudoirs and the taverns.

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. The new theatres were roofed in, and consequently lit by artificial light, its stage was long in shape with a semicircle that jutted out into the middle of the pit and a back portion that allowed the possibility of scenic display. Technically the plays written for this theatre show many anomalies because they are transition plays between Elizabethan and the altered stage. Playwrights began to change according to the influence of scenery. The plays become more coordinate and less scattered in subject matter than the plays written in Shakespeares times. 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 the element of verbal splendour was subdued). An important point of the restoration theatre is the introduction of actresses, and a woman first appeared in the English stage to speak the prologue of Othello and play the part of Desdemona.

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 comedy of 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 heroic play, sometimes came to a tragic conclusion, sometimes given a reasonably happy ending. Instead of continuing the use of the blank verse, the authors of these works deliberately chose to employ rhymed couplets. The plots and situations, too, were different. Artificial expressions of emotions were dominant in these plays and, virtually the only conflict admitted was that between love and honour. Among the important authors of this new style. John Dryden is the greatest and perhaps the 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 was due 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 Elizabethan times tragedy had been predominantly masculine, but now with the entrance of love into the theatrical themes, the heroine rapidly came to take a more prominent place. Towards the end of the century, we reach the she tragedy where the woman figure dominates the entire action of the drama.