The World Turned Upside Down - The British Civil Wars 1638-1651

One of the most frequently debated questions of the British and Irish Civil Wars has been, “At what point did the execution of Charles I become inevitable?”. Some historians maintain that the King’s fate was only decided during the trial in Westminster Hall while others argue that his fate was sealed well before Charles was ... Read more

The first session of the Cromwell Association Annual School’s History Conference addresses a critically important and frequently debated question: “Did Parliament win the Civil War of 1642 – 1646?”. Was it because it possessed more resources as Professor Andrew Hopper of the University of Oxford argues or, as Professor Emirates Peter Gaunt suggest, Royalist military ... Read more

Historical fiction is often a lens through which the memory of the Civil Wars has been shaped. Therefore, this is an important, but often forgotten topic for academic investigation and analysis. In this programme, we explore the “delicate interplay between fiction and history” with Farah Mendlesohn, former Professor of English and Media at Anglia Ruskin ... Read more

In 1654, the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell and a small circle of his closest supporters, secretly conceived a bold – but some would say, foolhardy – plan to conquer Spain’s colonies in the Caribbean. This became known as ‘the Western Design’. To achieve this goal a large force combining the army and the navy, set ... Read more

The tumultuous revolutionary decade between 1649 and 1660 is often portrayed through discussions of battles, political and religious conflicts and consequent death and disease. But in her recent book, which is now available in paperback, Republic, Professor Alice Hunt of the University of Southampton, shows that it was also a decade of exciting new ideas and innovations ... Read more

During the First Civil War, Cornwall remained a key royalist stronghold until a series of defeats culminated in the surrender of Cornish forces to Fairfax’s New Model Army in the spring and summer of 1646. But why was Cornwall so staunch in its support of the monarchy, even after much of the rest of England ... Read more

In this ongoing series of specially commissioned programmes for the World Turned Upside Down, Peter Gaunt, Professor of History at the University of Chester and author of the acclaimed The English Civil War: A Military History, discusses some of the pivotal battles fought during the conflict. As Professor Gaunt says in this programme the south-west of England ... Read more

In 1645, the military history of the civil wars was transformed by reorganisation of the Parliamentarian forces to form the New Model Army. The impact of this army on the course of the wars became apparent with their growing dominance in the field during the second half of that year. This well-trained and effectively-led force ... Read more

In this ongoing series of specially commissioned programmes for the World Turned Upside Down, Peter Gaunt, Professor of History at the University of Chester and author of the acclaimed The English Civil War: A Military History, discusses some of the pivotal battles fought during the conflict. In this programme he explores the second battle of Newbury fought ... Read more

1644 proved to be a pivotal year in the military history of the civil wars. While at the end of 1643 Royalist forces were predominant over much of England and Wales. the situation was about to change dramatically.  Intervention by a Scottish army shifted the balance of power in favour of Parliament and in the ... Read more

A bonus programme by Professor Peter Gaunt, Professor of History at the University of Chester describes the first pitched battle of the British and Irish civil wars fought by the two field armies. Both sides were left shocked by the extent of the casualties in a battle that only lasted for about 2 1/2 hours ... Read more

In the second part of this landmark series – specially commissioned for The World Turned Upside Down –  exploring the military history of the British and Irish civil wars, distinguished historian Peter Gaunt, Professor of History at the University of Chester begins to trace the chronology of the conflict. The story starts with the raising of the ... Read more

John Bradshawe (1602 – 1659) is one of the most famous – or depending on your view “notorious” figures of the period. Some remember him as the traitorous judge who sentenced his monarch – King Charles I – to death after presiding over a “show trial”.  Others consider that Bradshawe was a skilled lawyer who ... Read more

There has been a significant shift in understanding the origins of the Civil War which began in England in 1642 as historians have increasingly recognised that events in Scotland and Ireland had a profound impact in England and vice versa. During the years preceding the outbreak of war in England, it was events in Scotland ... Read more

Parliament’s Sequestration (or confiscation) of royalist assets – land, property and money – was one of the most divisive outcomes of the civil wars.  For the bankrupt victors, this was a critically important source of income. The regime had to repay the loans from London financiers that had financed the conflict as well as tackle ... Read more

What was the experience of the ordinary soldier’s, life in the ranks of a civil war army? It was hard and frequently uncertain. Simply surviving was a challenge, particularly as England experienced prolonged periods of cold, wet weather throughout the mid-seventeenth century. In the third programme in this landmark series specially commissioned for The World Turned Upside ... Read more

How do you recruit, train and organise an army? How can it be housed, fed and equipped with arms and munitions during a protracted war? How can you maintain moral and discipline? How can you care for the wounded and bury the dead? Every Royalist and Parliamentarian leader and every officer in the filed faced ... Read more

For decades the civil wars were presented as a “gentlemanly” conflict where both sides “played” by the rules of “civilised” warfare. But now we know the reality was very different. In fact this was a protracted, bloody fight that disrupted, and at times, destroyed, the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children ... Read more

While terms such as “slavery” and “liberty”, frequently occur in parliamentarian rhetoric, particularly when damning their enemies, ever-increasing numbers of West African people were actually being transported across the ocean to colonies in the Caribbean. According to distinguished parliamentary historian, Dr Stephen Roberts, it was during the Interregnum that the foundat...

New research now published by the Royal Historical Society reveals for the first time how Lord and Lady Brooke and their household made Warwick Castle a strategic stronghold for Parliament and withstood a Royalist siege. In this podcast, the authors of the book explore the lives of these men and women revealed in the household accounts of ... Read more

To mark Women’s History Month we invited distinguished historian Jackie Eales, Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at Canterbury Christ Church University, to explore the role of women in the civil wars – a topic largely ignored in earlier studies of the period. She concludes that overall changes in the social status of women were limited and ... Read more

Following the execution of Charles I on 30th January 1649, the Republic’s government faced a dilemma: How should recent events be remembered and how, if at all, should they be commemorated? In the decade between the Regicide and the Restoration, authorities and individuals who had fought on both sides of the recent bloody conflict struggled to ... Read more

The Saffron Walden debates In June 1646 as the First Civil War ended, there was an ever-widening gulf between the New Model Army and Parliament which would eventually split the two pillars of what later became Britain’s only experiment with a republican constitution. By the end of the year the pay of the New Model ... Read more

While the attention paid to the naval history of the British and Irish Civil Wars has increased in recent years, the parts played by women have often been ignored. In this programme, Dr. Elaine Murphy, Associate Professor in History at the University of Plymouth, reveals how more and more women engaged with Parliament’s navy in ... Read more

The histories of the British and Irish civil wars of the mid-Seventeenth century are usually written from the perspective of the conflict fought on land while the strategic importance of the war at sea which contributed so much to Parliament’s eventual victory, is often ignored or only mentioned in passing. But these maritime  engagements were ... Read more