Perceptions of a Monarchy without a King
Reactions to Oliver Cromwell's Power
- 240 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
Oliver Cromwell had not a drop of royal blood in him. Yet in 1657, prompted by the political chaos that followed the execution of Charles I and inspired by a belief that a return to monarchy was the only way to stabilize the nation, parliament offered Cromwell the crown of Britain. In Perceptions of a Monarchy without a King, Benjamin Woodford explores how factions both inside and outside of government reacted to this unprecedented event.
Moving away from a biographical focus on Cromwell, Woodford looks to the print culture of the period to examine kingship and the Cromwellian regime as a complex phenomenon that elicited diverse reactions - from broadly in favour to dead-set against. Woodford analyzes Cromwell's speeches along with propaganda, newspapers, poetry, republican writings, and the works of religious sects. The fact that many of these writings were produced by men and women who were not members of the government demonstrates that both politicians and the general public were interested in the topics of Cromwell and kingship.
Cromwell's military and political power rendered him a candidate for kingship, but even with his record of achievement, the offer of the crown to a non-nobleman was controversial. Perceptions of a Monarchy without a King reveals the entire nation's responses to the kingship debates while simultaneously illustrating the persistence of the monarchy in the 1650s.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Contents
- Copyright
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Oliver Cromwellâs Kingship Speeches and the Arguments of the Kingship Committee
- 2 The Absence of Kingship in Printed Propaganda
- 3 Mercurius Politicus: A Newsbookâs Account of the Kingship Crisis
- 4 Cromwellian Writers: Marchamont Nedham, John Milton, and Michael Hawke
- 5 Cromwellian Poets: Edmund Waller, Andrew Marvell, George Wither, and John Lineall
- 6 Cromwellian Monarchists and Stuart Loyalists: A Split in the Royalist Movement
- 7 Religious Reactions to Cromwellian Power
- 8 James Harringtonâs Oceana and Its Relation to the Protectorate
- Conclusion
- Abbreviations
- Bibliography
- Index