Changes in Science, Philosophy and Political ideas, 1625-88

How did the Civil War and the execution of Charles I lead to the emergence of radical political ideas?

Censorship of the press and religious uniformity collapsed. Ideas were spread by various puritan sects

What is millenarianism?

Belief that the second coming of Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth is near. These ideas intensified after the collapse of the 'earthly' monarchy in England.

What are 5 examples of radical religious and political groups that existed during the Civil War/Interregnum?

- Levellers
- Ranters
- Diggers
- Seekers
- Quakers

When were the Levellers active?

1645-49

What was the levellers most influential work?

An Agreement of the People (1647)

Who was the highest ranking leveller in the Army?

Colonel Thomas Rainsborough

What were the Levellers' political demands?

- House of Lords abolished
- Universal male suffrage
- New constitution
- Religious freedom and legal equality for all

How influential were the levellers?

- Most successful revolutionary group - ideas promoted later democratic movements
- Responsible for encouraging conservatism in army grandees
- Limited success due to disagreements between their leaders and inconsistent messaging

Who were the Ranters?

Small group of preachers in London in 1650
Believed they were predestined to be saved and were therefore incapable of sin. Engaged in immoral behaviour e.g. sex, drinking, crime.

How were the Ranters significant?

Reports of their activities were exaggerated by conservatives and used to create fear of radicalism.
Allowed the Rump to pass acts that reduced religious toleration

Who were the Diggers?

A group of 'true levellers' that set up rural communes for the poor on common land. First commune was set up in Surrey but was removed after 4 months due to the Diggers losing a court case to the local gentry.

What were the main political ideas of the Diggers?

- Common ownership of the means of production
- Compulsory education of boys and girls
- Abolition of the monarchy and House of Lords

Who were the Seekers?

A group who believed that all churches and traditional clergy were unnecessary as god could be found within each person. Their ideas posed an enduring threat to organised religion.

Who took up the seekers' claims and started the Quakers?

George Fox

Why were the ideas of the Quakers significant?

- The idea that religion comes from the voice of God within was popular with many
- George Fox's personality and missionary work was able to spread Quaker ideas
- Quaker groups needed no external organisation which made them suited to remote rural districts

How many Quakers were there in England by 1660?

35,000

What is a confessional state?

A state where a single type of religious practice is enforced.

What ideas were held about religious uniformity in 1625?

- The concept of a single national religion was extremely widely supported
- Those who did not conform accepted the right of the state to punish them
- The vast majority of non-conformists disagreed with Anglicanism specifically rather than the idea of uniform practice as a whole.

How did the Civil War impact ideas of religious uniformity?

- When the monarchy collapsed it gave people the opportunity to debate alternatives to the Church of England.
- Although radicals never received widespread support they started a debate that seriously undermined the concept of uniformity

What was the confessional state unable to be completely resorted in 1660?

The Interregnum had allowed the number of dissenters to grow to the point where they could not be eradicated

In what way did political thinkers begin to question the confessional state after the restoration?

They questioned the necessity of the confessional state and argued that political loyalty did not depend on religious agreement. This laid the foundations for the secular state.

What can the glorious revolution confirm about the confessional state?

Any attempt to re-establish the confessional state (as James II had done) would fail

Give examples of how the opinions of the clergy had shifted by 1688?

- Richard Claridge (A rector in Worcestershire) told his congregation that God should have no role in the Civil government
- Arminian Priest Daniel Whitby argued that no monarch could claim to rule by Divine Right as God never intended it.

Who was the most important political philosopher during the Interregnum?

Thomas Hobbes

When did Hobbes write Leviathan?

1651

What was Thomas Hobbes main point in Leviathan?

- People are violent and struggle for power
- Fear of this violence compels people to enter into a social contract where absolute power is transferred to one political body
- People give up some liberties to be protected by the state.

Why was Leviathan written?

To justify support for the Stuart monarchy and absolutism.

What new ideas did Locke inspire?

He created a new era of Liberal philosophy. Influenced the Whigs, French philosophes e.g. Rosseau, Voltaire and the American/French Revolutions.

When was Two Treatises of Government written?

1689

When was Essay Concerning Human Understanding published?

1690

What was Locke's general philosophy?

- A government was made by the people to protect life, liberty and property
- If a government interfered with these basic human rights the citizens had a right to take up arms against it
- Opposed powers of the absolute monarchy in favour of individual rights and liberties.
- Father of empiricism
- Argued legislative, executive and judicial branches of government should be kept separate

Why were Locke's essays written?

As a justification for the glorious revolution

What was the Scientific Revolution?

The emergence of modern scientific beliefs and methods after 1550

Give 3 early contributors to the scientific revolution?

- Copernicus
- Kepler
- Galileo

Why is Francis Bacon a significant figure in the scientific revolution?

Founded the scientific method to peruse experimental and rational concepts

What are the key elements of the Baconian method?

- Believed scientific discovery is best aided by accumulating as much data as possible
- Rejected preconceived theories
- Believed methodical and meticulous observation were the best way to understand natural phenomena

What influence did Bacon's ideas about science have?

- Work was revisited after the Civil Wat caused changing attitudes and was emulated by others
- Influenced the founding of the Royal Society
- Encouraged other thinkers e.g. Lord Falkland, Locke to apply his method to other philosophical issues.

How did Bacon's ideas influence thoughts about religion?

Through investigation with the Baconian Method Lord Falkland and other intellectual thinkers concluded that different interpretations of the Bible were inevitable and that no one denomination of Christianity had the right to dictate how people should worship.

When did Isaac Newton first write letters to the royal society concerning his research into the spectrum of light?

1672

When was Philosophia Naturalis Principia Mathematica published?

1687

What did Newton's publication of Principia represent?

A break from the mindset of the middle ages.
The culmination of an over 100 year long process of scientific discovery

When was the Royal Society founded?

1660

When did the Royal Society dedicate itself to only scientific pursuits?

1684

Why was the Royal Society able to gain better scholars than Oxford and Cambridge in the post-restoration period?

- Religious non-conformists were excluded from both universities
- People going to Oxford and Cambridge were mainly doing so for the status rather than a genuine desire to push the boundaries of science.

In what ways was the Royal Society significant?

- The Society was well respected and had royal approval which helped to make scientific ideas be viewed with less suspicion
- Knowledge was gained for the purpose of public good rather than only for intellectuals e.g. public lessons and lectures carried out
- Allowed sharing of information between scientists
- Royal Society created a model that was copied in France and the Holy Roman Empire

When was the first scientific journal Philosophical Transactions published by the Royal Society?

1665

How far did new intellectual challenge change society 1625-88?

- Majority people were to yet affected by changing ideas
- New desire to question accepted traditions was a major achievement of the period.
- Ideas formulated 1625-88 had a large impact on the 18th and 19th centuries