Oliver Cromwell, who chaired most of the Putney Debates,  took a different approach to that of his son in law, Henry Ireton, who confronted the radicals head-on and tried to undermines their arguments.  In contrast, Cromwell was more placatory and sought to preserve the unity of the army rather than simply win the argument.  However, ... Read more

Henry Ireton was the eloquent spokesperson for the Grandees of the New Model Army who sided with his father-in-law Oliver Cromwell.  At Putney they were pitted against the Republicans and the Levellers, who believed that the King had blood on his hands having fought against and killed his own people. But the radicals feared that ... Read more

“the poorest hee … in England hath a life to live, as the greatest hee.” Thomas Rainborowe was the romantic rallying point of the radicals during the debates.  The de facto leader of the radical group of New Model Army officers. he argued vehemently in favour of The Agreement of the Peopledrawn up by the ... Read more

John Wildman was one of most active members of the group of radical Levellers who argued for democratic, republican government in the Putney Debates of 1647.  He was one of the most enigmatic and fasinating figure whose life spanned two revolutions and a bewildering range of political alliances. At Putney much of the debate centred ... Read more

By the summer of 1647, Parliament had won the First Civil War.  At the battles of Naseby and Langport, the New Model Army had crushed the Royalist field armies and the King himself was now their prisoner. But all was not well on the parliamentary side. There was disquiet and dissatisfaction in the New Model’s ... Read more

Following the execution of Charles I in 1649, Parliament began a search for religious uniformity and the final completion of the Reformation begun by Henry VIII. Their aims were defined in the Grand Remonstrance which insisted that religious conformity was vital to England’s future and insisted that the whole church should be reformed. For many ... Read more

In the eyes of many Protestants, the religious Reformation begun by Henry VIII after 1534 was unfinished. It resulted in a Protestant Church of England, with a level of ritual and teachings which left the doors open to the reinstatement of Catholic practices. Against this backdrop, the actions of Charles I after his accession in ... Read more

The Tudor Reformation resulted in widespread dissatisfaction. Many Protestants considered the Reformation unfinished as the established Church of England retained some of the rights and practices of Catholic worship. Meanwhile, Catholics were oppressed and marginalised. Scotland was similarly divided between strict Protestants, (Calvinists) and staunch Catholics, while in Ireland most of the population was Catholic, ... Read more

While Christian belief was universal throughout the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland there were fundamental and deeply held differences in worship. The Tudor Reformation of the 16th century had never been completed. Within England these discontented groups of Catholics in 1605 had come close to destroying King and Parliament in the Gunpowder Plot. ... Read more

While the setting, processes and personnel of the trial of Charles I may appear less important than the interchanges between the king and the President of the Court, John Bradshaw, they are critical to revealing the wider purpose of Charles’ trial which was to establish the Commons as the supreme authority in England, as the ... Read more