Episode 96: Stone Dead Hath No Fellow
Spring 1641 The Junto faces its first test of unity - whether to seek the death, or just the political ruin of Thomas Wentworth.
Feb 22, 2020•36 min
Early Stuart England
A narrative history of England (1603-1642)
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Episodes
Episode 95: The Triennial Act
Winter 1641 The Junto hopes that a popular bill requiring a parliament every three years will distract from their controversial religious alliance with the Presbyterian Scots. Charles works to ensure it does not.
Feb 15, 2020•40 min
Episode 94: The Long Parliament
Fall 1640 Less than 6 months after he dissolved the Short Parliament, Charles opens a new session at Westminster, the Long Parliament. This time the dissident peers and their Scottish allies hold all the cards.
Feb 08, 2020•31 min
Episode 93: Our Honest Ends
1640 Charles attempts to throw back the Scottish invasion, but finds that his efforts and undermined by collaborators within England.
Feb 01, 2020•35 min
Episode 92: A Wretched and Beggarly Condition
1640 After a failed parliament, Charles scrambles to prepare for another summer of war. Meanwhile the Scots make much better use of the winter truce.
Jan 25, 2020•31 min
Episode 91: The Short Parliament
1640 After an eleven year hiatus, a parliament once again opens at Westminster. While Charles hopes that the threat of a Scottish rebel army will inspire his subjects to be co-operative, a group of dissidents plays their own game.
Jan 18, 2020•38 min
Episode 90: Divide and Conquer
1635-1640 Thomas Wentworth uses threats and intimidation to cow the various factions in Irish society. As Charles prepares for the first parliament in 11 years, Wentworth comes home to try his methods in England.
Jan 11, 2020•35 min
Episode 89: The Two Kingdoms
1639 While a Scottish parliament confirms the legality of the Covenantor revolution, Charles decides to rally his English subjects with a parliament of their own.
Jan 04, 2020•32 min
Episode 88: The First Bishops' War
1639 Almost two years after the Prayer Book protests, Charles finally uses military power to suppress his unruly Scottish subjects. Or, at least tries to.
Dec 28, 2019•31 min
Episode 87: Preparations
1639 Scotland and England mobilize for war. Defying generations of precedent, Charles does so without the aid of a parliament.
Dec 21, 2019•33 min
Episode 86: The Theatre for These Kingdoms
1638 Charles finally starts treating the situation in Scotland seriously. However, he is torn between finding a political solution and a more direct, military one.
Dec 14, 2019•41 min
Episode 85: The Covenant
1637-8 In the absence of a coherent state response, the Scottish Prayer Book Rebellion morphs into a provisional government. At its core is the Covenant, a bold statement of religious and political principles.
Dec 07, 2019•31 min
Episode 84: A New Book
1637 Charles and William Laud attempt to impose an English-style Book of Common Prayer in Scotland. It does not go well.
Nov 30, 2019•33 min
Episode 83: Moral Victories
1637-8 When Charles rejects their request for a parliament, the Providence Island gang decides to force the King's hand by challenging Ship Money collections in court.
Nov 23, 2019•29 min
Episode 82: Stigmata Laudis
1637 In an effort to stamp out Puritanism, William Laud has three religious radicals publicly mutilated.
Nov 16, 2019•32 min
Episode 81: The Politics of Culture
1630-1636 Charles encourages a flourishing of painting, poetry, and theatre that articulates and supports his larger ideological project.
Nov 09, 2019•36 min
Episode 80: Clash of the Titans
1635-1636 As France fully commits to the conflict on the continent, Charles hopes to take advantage by selling his Ship Money fleet to the highest bidder.
Nov 02, 2019•33 min
Episode 79: Remember Caesar
1635 The death of Lord Treasurer Richard Weston opens up a stiff competition at court to replace him. The outcome of the contest will shape future English policy.
Oct 26, 2019•30 min
Episode 78: Ship Money
1634-1635 Seeking to once again insert England into European geo-politics, Charles implements a revenue raising scheme to pay for a powerful navy - Ship Money.
Oct 19, 2019•34 min
Episode 77: The Fens
1634 A massive drainage project in the marshlands of East Anglia creates tensions between the Crown, local land owners, and commoners.
Oct 12, 2019•30 min
Episode 76: The UnDecay of Trade
1634 A peace-time trade boom creates new winners and losers among London's merchant oligarchs. Municipal power shifts from merchants doing business in the Netherlands to those exploiting markets in the Mediterranean and the East.
Oct 05, 2019•32 min
Episode 75: Managerial Overkill
1633 Charles visits Scotland to receive his crown and continue his father's religious reforms. Though he finds himself a stranger in his native land.
Sep 28, 2019•29 min
Episode 74: Thorough
1633 Intent on turning Ireland into a profitable enterprise, Charles selects a new Lord Deputy - Thomas Wentworth, his top man in the north of England.
Sep 21, 2019•31 min
Episode 73: An Unspectacular Orthodoxy
1633 The newly elevated Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud, puts his distinctive stamp on the English Church.
Sep 14, 2019•35 min
Episode 72: Paying the Bills
1630-1633 Having determined to work without parliament, Charles gets creative in extracting revenue from his subjects.
Sep 06, 2019•30 min
Episode 71: Reversing the Conquest
1632 As the Swedish King, Gustavus Adolphus, re-draws the map of Germany, Charles contemplates calling a parliament and re-joining the Protestant war effort.
Aug 31, 2019•32 min
Episode 70: The Lion in the North
1630-1631 The Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus overturns a decade of Catholic dominance in Germany, opening new diplomatic opportunities for England.
Aug 24, 2019•30 min
Episode 69: The Book of Orders
Winter 1631 In the wake of widespread social unrest in 1629, England's property owning elites and the central government co-operate on the reform of county governance.
Aug 17, 2019•31 min
Episode 68: A Godly Community
1630 Squeezed out by William Laud's anti-Calvinist Church, the Calvinists of England struggle to adapt to their new circumstances. Some look to escape England altogether, and establish a new life in America.
Aug 10, 2019•30 min
Episode 67: Peace
1630 Rival pro-French and pro-Spanish factions race to make peace with England's enemies. In doing so, they establish the main division at court for the next few years.
Aug 03, 2019•34 min
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