HIS-30087 - The World Turned Upside Down: the English Revolution, c.1646-53
Coordinator: Ian J Atherton Room: CBB0.046 Tel: +44 1782 7 33205
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 6
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733147

Programme/Approved Electives for 2021/22

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None


Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2021/22

The English civil wars, the execution of King Charles I, the abolition of the monarchy and house of lords, and the establishment of the first (and currently last) republic in England constitute the most revolutionary period in English history. To contemporaries they were the world turned upside down. They retain their hold today over the popular and scholarly imaginations and can still bitterly divide amateur and professional historian. Many issues of the period - such as the nature of the relationship between England, Scotland, and Ireland, the character of the political process, or what to do about the monarchy or house of lords - find echoes today. This module will seek to explore and analyse the character and events of the 'English revolution' from the the end of the first civil war and the surrender of the king to the Scots, through the regicide and establishment of the first English republic, to the establishment of the Protectorate in 1653, which some saw as the destruction of the changes they had fought for in the previous decade. Topics to be covered will include the development of newspapers in the period, the execution of the king, radical political ideas and the Levellers, political crisis and the failure to find a settlement, and the growth of radical religious ideas.
This module is linked to the module HIS-30086, The English Civil War, c.1640-6, which precedes this. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History: there is a wealth of source material for a dissertation on the political, social, cultural, military or local history of mid seventeenth-century England available at Keele, including access to every book published in Britain in the period through Early English Books Online.
Students interested in some introductory reading should start with one of the many histories of the civil wars. Among the best are Michael Braddick, God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars (2008), and Ian Gentles, The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms 1638-1652 (2007), which is particularly good on the military side, or Diane Purkiss, The English Civil War: A People's History (2006) for the social history of England in the 1640s. For an overview of the 1640s and 1650s, see Barry Coward, The Stuart Age (3rd or 4th edition, 2003, 2011), or Austin Woolrych, Britain in Revolution 1625-1660 (2004).

Aims
To analyse the political, social, religious, cultural and military history of England from the end of the first civil war, 1646, through the execution of the king and establishment of the English republic, to the collapse of the Rump Parliament and the rule of a Lord Protector, 1653; to enable students to analyse some of the sources used and debates produced by historians in exploring the period.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/his-30087/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

explain the history of England between c.1646 and c.1653, particularly political, religious, social and cultural change: 1,2
evaluate and critically assess a range of primary sources and use them appropriately in the development of historical analysis: 1,2
compare contemporary responses to the political crises of the period: 1,2
analyse debates about the nature of the English revolution in the period: 1,2

Study hours

150 hours: 20 hours of seminars; 50 hours of seminar preparation; 40 hours researching and writing the source assessment; 40 hours revising for and completing the exam.

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Case Study weighted 50%
Source assessment
Assessment (2000 words) of a type of source (such as newspapers, letters, or diaries) from the period, discussing their uses and limitations for historians.

2: Unseen Exam weighted 50%
Take-Home Exam
A 12-hour take-home examination in which students will have to answer two essay questions from a list of c.8 questions. The exam requires the students to demonstrate detailed knowledge of specific aspects of the topic, to reflect critically on the key areas outlined in the module and to show well-organized analysis and clear argumentation.