It is surprising to learn that the carnage of the civil wars took place against an often unrecognised background of near-constant peace negotiations and that popular agitation for an end to the conflict was frequently expressed in petitions with thousands of signatures and public demonstrations calling for an end to the conflict. Apart from small ... Read more

On 19th March 1649 the House of Lords was abolished by an Act of Parliament, which declared that “…the House of Lords is useless and dangerous to the people of England.” But in 1657, the Cromwellian regime established a second Parliamentary chamber – the “Other House” – under the terms of The Humble Petition and Advice. ... Read more

In our regular series of programmes Key Questions: Expert Answers, we invited leading academics to address some of the most important questions – often controversial – asked about the causes, conflicts and consequences of the British Civil Wars. These are the thorny questions which are regularly asked about this unique period of British history which ... Read more

General George Monck is best known for the key role that he played in the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 when his actions undoubtedly changed the course of British history. Without his military intervention it is likely that Charles Stuart would not have regained the throne, that Britain would have remained a Republic or ... Read more

In just 40 weeks Oliver Cromwell ruthlessly subdued Ireland in a bloody and ruthless campaign which still casts a shadow over the remembrance of one of the most famous – or infamous – figures in British history. This campaign continues to be bitterly argued over by historians and politicians today. When he arrived on 15th ... Read more

In the seventeenth century the market town of Newark sat at the lowest bridging point across the River Trent astride the Great North Road which linked London with the north and Scotland. Unsurprisingly, control of this town became a strategic objective for both sides during First Civil War. Besieged not once but three times, by ... Read more

While witch-hunting and witch trials here in England never reached the levels reported in Europe, they were at their highest against the background of the turmoil of the 1640s. This was the time of the notorious Witch-finder General, Matthew Hopkins (1620-1647) and his associates, including John Stearne (1610-1670). These men operated in East Anglia, an ... Read more

Memorials of conflicts that have occurred since the nineteenth century are commonplace around the country. Most cities, towns and villages contain some form of physical structure dedicated to the memory of former inhabitants who gave their lives in service, especially those who fought during the First and Second World Wars. But did those who lived ... Read more

This is the second programme in our two-part series asking why England’s only experiment with Republicanism spectacularly disintegrated within a few months of the death of Oliver Cromwell, the first Lord Protector? You will hear from author and historian, Dr Henry Reece, Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, that the return of Charles II was ... Read more

This programme is the first of a two-part series telling the story of the turbulence and upheaval that followed the death of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell on 3rd September 1658 and which ended in the return of the monarch, Charles II, to London on 8th May 1660. In this episode we learn about the fall ... Read more