17th Century British History Review

Elizabeth Isham

  • A pious noblewoman whose diary provides insights into the intellectual and spiritual life of early 17th-century Protestant women.

  • Her life demonstrates how the Reformation empowered women to engage with scripture and personal piety.

Chain of Being

  • A hierarchical structure of all matter and life, decreed by God.

  • Reinforced monarchist and patriarchal structures.

  • The chain of being was destabilized during the civil wars as radical groups questioned traditional authority.

Daughters of Eve

  • Refers to the misogynistic notion that women were inherently sinful.

  • Heavily influenced social, legal, and religious views of women during this period.

  • Justified control over women in both church and state.

Emmanuel College

  • A Cambridge college known for training Puritan ministers.

  • Played a crucial role in spreading reformed theology.

  • Created the intellectual base for Parliamentary resistance.

Calvinist Consensus

  • A broad Protestant agreement under Elizabeth I and James I was based on Calvinist doctrine.

  • Its decline under Charles I fueled religious tensions and division.

Gunpowder Plot (1605)

  • A failed Catholic plot to blow up Parliament and kill King James I.

  • Cemented anti-Catholic laws and paranoia throughout the century.

Amboyna Massacre (1623)

  • English traders were executed by the Dutch in Indonesia.

  • Became a propaganda point to stir anti-Dutch and pro-imperial sentiment, tying trade to national honor.

Ulster Plantation

  • Colonization of Northern Ireland with English and Scottish Protestants.

  • Deepened sectarian divides.

  • Set the stage for later Irish rebellions and resistance.

Tobacco

  • A crop introduced via colonies like Virginia.

  • Became a key economic driver, linking Britain’s transformation to global commerce and colonial exploitation.

New England Way

  • A Puritan model of church governance in early American colonies.

  • It embodied ideals of congregational independence and moral society.

  • Often used to critique England’s religious compromises.

Overbury Scandal (1613)

  • The murder of Sir Thomas Overbury revealed a web of court corruption.

  • Undermined public trust in the monarchy, especially under James I's rule.

George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham

  • A royal favorite under James I and Charles I.

  • His monopolization of patronage and military failures helped stoke elite and popular resentment, fueling pre-revolutionary tensions.

Frederick V

  • A Protestant Elector Palatine and briefly King of Bohemia.

  • His defeat in the Thirty Years’ War pulled England closer into continental Protestant-Catholic conflicts.

  • Influenced English foreign and religious policy.

Spanish Match

  • Charles I proposed marriage to a Spanish Catholic princess.

  • Fierce opposition in Parliament revealed deep anxieties about Catholic influence and foreign entanglements.

Henrietta Maria

  • A French Catholic queen consort of Charles I.

  • Her religion and influence at court were seen as threats to Protestantism.

  • Intensified anti-Catholic sentiment and fear of absolutism.

Forced Loan (1626-27)

  • Charles I attempted to raise funds without Parliament.

  • It was seen as illegal taxation on citizens.

  • Heightened political unrest and constitutional conflict.

John Felton

  • Assassination of George Villiers (Duke of Buckingham) in 1628.

  • He was seen as a hero by many who blamed Villiers for failed military expeditions and corruption.

  • Highlighted political tensions during Charles I’s personal rule.

Jenny Geddes

  • Allegedly threw a stool at a minister in protest of the Anglican style BOCP being imposed in Scotland (1637).

  • Symbol of grassroots Presbyterian resistance that sparked the Bishops’ Wars.

Beauty of Holiness

  • Aesthetic and ritual emphasis in worship was promoted by Archbishop Laud.

  • Seen as “popish” by Puritans.

  • Contributed to religious conflict leading up to the Civil War.

Thomas Wentworth (Earl of Strafford)

  • Charles I’s key advisor and enforcer of authoritarian policies in Ireland and England.

  • He was executed by Parliament in 1641.

  • His fall marked a key moment in the breakdown of royal authority.

Covenanters

  • Scottish Presbyterians who opposed Charles I's religious reforms.

  • Their resistance led to the Bishops’ Wars.

  • Undermined royal authority and triggering the English Civil War.

Irish Rebellion (1641)

  • Catholic uprising against Protestant settlers.

  • It was used by Parliamentarians to justify the war against Charles I, who was accused of secretly supporting the rebels.

Independents

  • Radical Puritans advocated for congregational autonomy.

  • They clashed with Presbyterians.

  • Influenced the political/religious ideology of the New Model Army.

New Model Army

  • Parliament’s professional military force in the Civil War.

  • Radically democratic in structure and politics.

  • Central in the execution of Charles I and the rise of the Commonwealth.

Levellers

  • Radical political group advocating for suffrage, equality, and religious freedom.

  • Influenced by the Army.

  • Their ideas prefigured modern democratic theory.

Putney Debates (1647)

  • A series of discussions within the New Model Army about governance and rights.

  • A critical moment for democratic thought and political radicalism.

Drogheda (1649)

  • A site of a brutal massacre by Cromwell’s forces in Ireland.

  • Became symbolic of English cruelty.

  • Deepened Irish hostility toward English rule.

Royal Oak

  • Symbol of Charles II’s escape after the Battle of Worcester.

  • Became a royalist myth after the Restoration, emphasizing loyalty and divine favor.

Quakers

  • A radical religious group emphasizing inner light and equality.

  • Challenged both church and state authority.

Clarendon Code

  • A series of laws aimed at enforcing conformity to the Church of England and suppressing dissenters.

  • Reasserted Anglican dominance post-Civil War.

RAC (Royal African Company)

  • Chartered in 1672, it monopolized English involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.

  • It embodied the brutal expansion of empire and commerce.

Great Fire (1666)

  • Devastating fire in London that was blamed on Catholics, further inflaming anti-Catholic sentiment.

  • Led to modernization of the city but also reinforced religious paranoia.

Louis XIV

  • King of France, model of absolutist Catholic monarchy.

  • English fears of “popery and tyranny” often drew from anxieties about his influence over English affairs.

Test Act (1673)

  • Required public officials to swear against transubstantiation.

  • It effectively barred Catholics from office, signaling deep entrenchment of Protestantism.

Tory vs. Whig

  • Emergent political factors.

  • Whigs were generally anti-absolutist and pro-Parliament; Tories were royalist and pro-church.

  • Their conflict shaped the future of British political parties.

Aphra Behn

  • One of the first professional female writers.

  • A staunch royalist, her work reflects post-Restoration royalist and colonial ideologies, especially in relation to gender and empire.

Mary of Modena

  • Catholic wife of James II.

  • Her birth of a Catholic heir in 1688 triggered the Glorious Revolution as it raised the prospect of a lasting Catholic monarchy.

  • It was speculated that James was smuggled into her chambers in a warming pan and that he was her illegitimate son.

Battle of Boyne (1690)

  • Decisive Protestant victory over James II in Ireland by William III.

  • Marked the final failure of a Catholic restoration and cemented Protestant ascendancy.