Episode 2.108: The Second Restoration of the Rump

Spring 1653A long stand-off culminates in the forced dissolution of the Long Parliament, twelve and a half years after its initial elections.

30 Okt 202137min

1652-3Oliver Cromwell struggles to hold the disparate elements of the Commonwealth coalition together, but the mounting pressure seems to make a break all but inevitable.

23 Okt 202135min

1652Having pacified all organized resistance in Ireland, the Puritan Commonwealth regime contemplates how to rule a pre-dominantly Catholic nation.

16 Okt 202135min

1652The republics of England and the Netherlands test each other in battle, and in doing so act out a debate in naval tactics that had been brewing for a century.

9 Okt 202141min

1651-2As England prepares for a Dutch war, factions within the Commonwealth find that they have enemies at home.

2 Okt 202140min

1652Desperate to match the modernizing credit economy of the Dutch, the Commonwealth turns to a been enthusiast, an impoverished inventor, and England's spinsters.

25 Sep 202145min

1651-1652After decades of close co-operation, the Anglo-Dutch relationship falls apart due to heated economic competition.

18 Sep 202135min

1651Having pacified Scotland and Ireland, the Commonwealth regime looks to secure one last component of the old Stuart realms - the New World colonies.

11 Sep 202141min