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Latest episodes from Early Stuart England

Episode 2.111: Conclusion

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2022 33:17


Wherein the podcast, like the English Republic, disappears from history.

Episode 2.110: The Return of the King

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2022 36:22


Spring 1660After a long exile, the rightful King returns, to restore the line of his ancestors.

Episode 2.109: A Free Parliament

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2022 34:32


January 1660A broad movement for a free parliament unites royalists, Presbyterians, the apprentices of London, and the only coherent army left in England.

Episode 2.108: The Second Restoration of the Rump

Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2022 31:20


December 1659Assailed on multiple fronts, the Committee of Safety simply dissolves. Without any other immediate options, England (for the third time) turns to the Rump.

Episode 2.107: As Hot as They Can Suffer It

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2022 33:19


1659As the Committee of Safety struggles to establish itself as England's new government, London falls under the sway of different ruler - coffee.

Episode: 2.106 - Dangerous to the Commonwealth

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2022 31:36


1659Army officers and the Rump squabble over the remains of the increasingly irrelevant Commonwealth state

Episode 2.105: Booth's Uprising

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2022 36:44


Summer 1659The new regime at Westminster is briefly united by the most dangerous royalist insurgency parliament has yet faced.

Episode 2.104: The Rump Resurrected

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2022 32:28


1659Having run out of ideas, England once again turns to the men of the Rump parliament, who Oliver Cromwell had banished from Westminster six years earlier.

Episode 2.103: The Young Gentleman

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2022 32:28


Fall 1658With the death of Oliver Cromwell, the Protectorate seeks stability under a new, untested Lord Protector.

Episode 2.102: The Northern Theatre

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2022 36:35


1658Just when Cromwell completes his dream of securing Dunkirk, England is drawn into a new war in Scandinavia.

Episode 2.101: The Other House

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2022 30:22


January 1658Oliver Cromwell (who is the Lord Protector, definitely not the King) seeks to control the House of Commons through the new "Other House" (which is definitely not the House of Lords).

Episode 2.100: Normalcy Amid Revolution

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2022 35:19


1657Outside of London and Westminster, the people of England adapt to a new normal.

Episode 2.99: The Non-Alliance Revisited

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2022 31:13


1657Thirty years after the Duke of Buckingham's French alliance failed in spectacular fashion, Oliver Cromwell and the Protectorate once again outdo their Stuart predecessors.

Episode 2.98: A Crown Rejected

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2022 30:07


1657Rival Cromwellian factions in parliament (who had disagreed on just about everything so far) once again split on a final question - whether to make the Lord Protector a King.

Episode 2.97: Shake All Foundations

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2022 29:24


1657The Second Protectorate Parliament gathers, but rather than heeding Cromwell's call to confirm the existing constitution, the men at Westminster re-open fundamental questions of religion and money.

Episode 2.96: A Wicked Spirit Risen Amongst Friends

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2022 31:14


1656A new radical religious group (the Quakers) suffers an internal power struggle, which threatens to de-stabilize the new parliament gathering at Westminster.

Episode 2.95: The Colour of Your Detestable Practices

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2022 37:55


1656It's election season for the Second Protectorate Parliament, and English voters use the opportunity to contemplate the meaning of republicanism, and how to reconcile liberty in Britain with slavery in the New World.

Episode 2.94: Spanish Gold

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2022 31:08


1656England once again makes the capture of a Spanish treasure fleet the centre-piece of their war strategy. Only this time, it works!

Episode 2.93: The Sceptical Chymist

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2022 34:32


1656While Oliver Cromwell and his friends re-make the English state, a collection of eccentric academics and amateur enthusiasts re-make the field of natural philosophy.

Episode: 2.92 - The Hope of Israel

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2022 35:02


1656The Lord Protector, an Amsterdam Rabbi, and a merchant in the underground Jewish community of London seek to reverse a 350 year old ban on Jews in England.

Episode 2.91: The Younger Cromwell

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 22, 2022 36:28


1655Oliver Cromwell sends his son Henry to Ireland, for an apprenticeship in ruling a nation.

Episode 2.90: The Major-Generals

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2022 34:04


1655Stymied by traditional institutions like parliament, the Protectorate turns to the army to extend its rule into the provinces.

Episode 2.89: The Western Design Part 2

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2022 37:28


1655The New Model Army finds waging war on the other side of the world, and with little local intelligence, is harder than it looks.

Episode 2.88: The Western Design Part 1

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2022 34:29


1654-5The Protectorate state draws up plans for the most ambitious amphibious campaign in English history, and the first step in conquering a global empire.

Episode 2.87: The Sealed Knot

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 25, 2021 35:04


Spring 1655An underground network of royalists seek to take advantage of instability within the Protectorate regime, but find that they are hampered by internal divisions of their own.

Episode 2.86: The Protectorate Parliament

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2021 35:26


Fall 1654Lord Protector Cromwell opens his first parliament, and soon discovers what James or Charles could have told him - that managing the men at Westminster is no easy task.

Episode 2.85: Opinions Derogatory to God

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2021 36:29


Now Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell is forced to finally make some concrete decisions about England's spiritual life. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his choices are as much political as religious.

Episode 2.84: The Imperial Turn

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2021 39:28


1654Having seized control of the state, Cromwell immediately ends the war with the Dutch, and adopts a much more conventional foreign policy.

Episode 2.83: The Instrument of Government

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2021 36:48


December 1653John Lambert, after orchestrating the demise of the latest attempt at a political settlement (the Nominated Assembly), produces his own solution - a written constitution.

Episode 2.82: The Nominated Assembly

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2021 36:16


1653With the Rump hastily dissolved, England turns to an ad hoc assembly to craft a new political order.

Episode 2.81: French Roundheads

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2021 45:24


1654As social unrest in France takes a revolutionary turn, England sends out feelers to potential republican comrades.

Episode 2.80: Commonwealth Scotland

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2021 41:53


1652-3With England distracted by the Dutch War, and turmoil at Westminster, a group of soldiers and administrators are left to determine Scotland's future on their own.

Episode 2.79: An End to Your Sitting

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2021 37:01


Spring 1653A long stand-off culminates in the forced dissolution of the Long Parliament, twelve and a half years after its initial elections.

Episode 2.78: Impatience of Spirit

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2021 35:32


1652-3Oliver Cromwell struggles to hold the disparate elements of the Commonwealth coalition together, but the mounting pressure seems to make a break all but inevitable.

Episode 2.77: Adventurers and Soldiers

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2021 35:17


1652Having pacified all organized resistance in Ireland, the Puritan Commonwealth regime contemplates how to rule a pre-dominantly Catholic nation.

Episode 2.76: The Anglo-Dutch War

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2021 41:06


1652The republics of England and the Netherlands test each other in battle, and in doing so act out a debate in naval tactics that had been brewing for a century.

Episode 2.75: The Rump and the Army

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2021 40:25


1651-2As England prepares for a Dutch war, factions within the Commonwealth find that they have enemies at home.

Episode 2.74: The Key of Wealth

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 25, 2021 45:23


1652Desperate to match the modernizing credit economy of the Dutch, the Commonwealth turns to a been enthusiast, an impoverished inventor, and England's spinsters.

Episode 2.73: The End of a Friendship

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2021 35:52


1651-1652After decades of close co-operation, the Anglo-Dutch relationship falls apart due to heated economic competition.

Episode 2.72: Barbados

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2021 41:46


1651Having pacified Scotland and Ireland, the Commonwealth regime looks to secure one last component of the old Stuart realms - the New World colonies.

Episode 2.71: Tied to Impossibilities

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2021 34:27


1651Amid the soul searching after their defeat at Worcester, the royalists re-assess the philosophical underpinnings of their cause.

Episode 2.70: The Tories

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2021 40:07


1650-1As Henry Ireton seeks to impose Commonwealth rule on Ireland, he finds his work obstructed by a persistent guerilla campaign.

Episode 2.69: A Bell, a Bib, and a Rattle

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 21, 2021 38:53


1651When the Scots and Charles find themselves unable to defend Scotland, they turn the tables on Oliver Cromwell, and invade England.

Episode 2.68: The Commonwealth Navy

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2021 41:33


1649-50In an effort to project the Commonwealth's military and economic power beyond the British Isles, the New Merchant faction re-organizes the navy.

Episode 2.67: Almost a Miracle

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2021 39:59


Summer 1650Oliver Cromwell marches north to Scotland - and into a well laid trap.

Episode 2.66: The Exile King

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2021 38:39


1649-1650Charles II attempts to balance his desire for revenge on the men who killed his father, and the need to build allies in Europe.

Episode 2.65: I Do Declare and Promise

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2021 43:02


1650The Commonwealth government searches for the words to define itself, and at the same time, bind the people of England to its rule.

Episode 2.64: The Propagation of the Gospel in Wales

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 17, 2021 39:14


1650A divided Commonwealth government institutes a pilot program in Wales that will determine the future of religion in England.

Episode 2.63: A Concentrated Assault on Sin

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2021 38:31


1649-50While Cromwell continues his campaign in Ireland, Scotland veers from theocracy to reconciliation with the Stuart monarchy.

Episode 2.62: Hatred and Horror

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2021 37:29


Summer/Fall 1649Oliver Cromwell takes the New Model Army into Ireland, where it faces a renewed coalition of royalist forces.

Episode 2.61: England's New Chains Discovered

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2021 35:42


Spring 1649Fearing that they have merely traded one tyranny for another, the Levellers rise up to overthrow the infant Rump regime.

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