102. Aristocrats in pursuit of reform

102. Aristocrats in pursuit of reform

Just who were these Whigs? It turns out that, though theirs would be a government having to undertake reform, in its make-up it would be the most aristocratic of the century. Since the biggest obstacle to reform were the aristocrats and their acolytes, that was a tad ironic.

The problem was that the pressure to do something about the condition of the poor was becoming irresistible. And there was increasing awareness that if change was needed, it now had to come from Parliament. Royal power was continuing to fade as Parliament’s grew.

That just made it all the more urgent to get some kind of voice there.


Illustration: Sir George Hayter, The House of Commons, 1833, during Earl Grey’s Government. National Portrait Gallery 54

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

Jaksot(275)

26. Restoration

26. Restoration

As any fan of Tolkien's Lord of Rings can tell you, nothing beats the return of a king. After the chaos that followed Richard Cromwell's following Oliver as Lord Protector, the restoration of Charles ...

24 Maalis 202113min

25. Protectorate

25. Protectorate

In the 1650s, power concentrated in England into fewer and fewer hands, until in the end a Lord Protector was appointed and - surprise, surprise, since he dominated the Army Council which appointed hi...

19 Maalis 202113min

24. Republic

24. Republic

Who could imagine that England could ever be a republic? And yet for eleven years it became one. Still, it would be a serious mistake to confuse 'republic' with 'democracy'. It swiftly became clear, a...

14 Maalis 20219min

23. An uncertain throne and an oak tree

23. An uncertain throne and an oak tree

We start with Charles I's son mounting a throne in Scotland as Charles II, and end with him hiding up an oak tree, throneless once more. In between, lots of exciting battles, all rather boringly won b...

9 Maalis 20218min

22. A desert called peace

22. A desert called peace

This is the chapter where we reach the Third English Civil War. We've seen that though their concerns may have been mainly English, the civil wars were by no means limited to England. They were, indee...

4 Maalis 20218min

21. Round 2 and a deluded king’s fine death

21. Round 2 and a deluded king’s fine death

When the Scots began to worry about the increasing power of the New Model Army, and even whether it might be a bigger threat to them than the king, they decided to open negotiations with him. The resu...

27 Helmi 202111min

20. Interlude

20. Interlude

The First Civil War had ended. King Charles I had lost, which wasn't just a military or political problem, but a religious one too: after all, if God had made him king, and God also determined who won...

22 Helmi 202114min

19. First Civil War: Parliament gets serious

19. First Civil War: Parliament gets serious

Parliament getting serious about the Civil War, getting its act together on military matters - above all by launching its New Model Army - and starting to win some key battles. Against that context, a...

17 Helmi 20219min

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