HISTORY 140B: Early Modern Britain, 1603-1689
Winter Quarter 2013 – Girvetz 2115 – MWF 9-9:50 am
J. Sears McGee - 4255 HSSB
e-mail: jsmcgee@history.ucsb.edu
Office Hours: Wednesday, 1-4pm and by appointment
Required Books:1
Robert Bucholz & Newton Key, Early Modern England, 1485-1714: A Narrative History, 2d edition
David Cressy & Lori Anne Ferrell, eds., Religion and Society in Early Modern England, 2d edition
Required Viewing: Three podcasts are available via the Gauchospace website for this course. These
should be seen if you did not view them last quarter in History 140A. Each is about 20 minutes long and
contains information that is important for your understanding of the history of seventeenth-century
Britain. For those of you who have trouble accessing the podcasts, it’s probably because you not have
the Quicktime plugin on your browser. But it is installed in all the computer labs, so go to the one that is
convenient for you and try it there. Here are the locations and opening times of the labs:
http://labschedule.collaborate.ucsb.edu
There will be questions on the exams that cannot be answered successfully without your comprehension
of the material in the modules. The titles are as follows and should be seen in this order by the
indicated date:
1. "The Social Order" (Jan 12)
2. "The Pre-Reformation Church in England - Part I" (Jan 16)
3. "The Pre-Reformation Church in England - Part II" (Jan 21)
Dates to Note:
Friday, Jan 16: Statement of book-reviewing or paper writing intentions due in class. Turn in a sheet of
paper with your name and e-mail address. Enter the titles and authors of the two books you have chosen
(or topic of your research paper with a brief, tentative bibliography). If you choose to do a research
paper, it is very important that you discuss it with me before Jan 16. E-mail statements of intention are
acceptable, but please note that that there will be a GRADE PENALTY if no statement is turned in
either in writing or via e-mail.
Friday, Feb 6: Mid-term exam (bring large-format bluebooks. Write on only one side of the page).
Friday, Feb 20: Double book review (or research paper) due if you would like the paper returned before
classes end. Papers will be accepted without grade penalty until March 9.
Monday, March 9: Double book review (or research paper) due.
These same two books are required for History 140A. If there is a possibility you will take 140A when it is
offered next year, you should keep these books.
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Wednesday, March 18: Final exam, 8-11am (bring large-format bluebooks. Write on only one side of
the page).
Grades: Grades will be based on the midterm exam (20%), the double book review or research
paper(40%), and the final exam (40%). Sample exams will be posted on Gauchospace.
The required reading assignments are short (averaging 35 pages per week) because I expect you
to give a considerable amount of time to your double book review or research paper. Books should be
chosen for their significance and interest rather than their brevity. The readings and lectures provide a
survey of Stuart Britain. The purpose of the writing assignment is to offer you the opportunity to work
in detail upon the events, people and issues that you personally find most interesting. I will be happy to
suggest topics and books if you are having trouble finding what you are looking for.
Before turning in your paper or review, take care to make sure that you have observed "The
Official Rules: Writing for History 140," which you will find on Gauchospace. A copy is also available
on the website. Besides suggestions on matters of style, I have listed numerous errors that I frequently
find in papers from UCSB students (spelling, punctuation, etc.). A good many of these common errors
will not be caught by spell-check programs (e.g., “thrown” for “throne,” “rein” for “reign,” “populous”
for “populace,” etc.). The grade penalties specified in the handout will be rigorously enforced. I will be
happy to read a draft of your paper, write comments on it and return it in time for you to revise it if you
wish. The deadline for submission of drafts, however, is Feb 20.
Research papers: these should be 8-10 pages long (2000-2500 words). They should employ at least five
sources (books and, in some cases, articles in scholarly journals), and it is very important that you
discuss the topic (or topics) you have in mind no later than Jan 16. Up-to-date and scholarly sources
should be used.
Double book reviews: The two books should be chosen from the list below with care so that your
combined review of them will constitute a coherent essay. The subjects need not overlap completely.
But there should be significant points of comparison and contrast, and you should make the most of
whatever potential exists for drawing material from both works for comparative discussion. The
comparison/contrast might be quite direct (as in the case, for example, of an explicit disagreement
between the two authors as to the cause of a particular event). Or you might be able to write about ways
in which the reading of one book throws further light upon an issue or issues discussed in the other
book.
Emphasize the historical themes and issues in the books rather than the writing styles of the
authors. The paper should be 8-10 pages (i.e., totaling 2000-2500 words). Be sure to write an
introductory paragraph that gives the reader a sense of the paper as a whole and mentions both books
that you are reviewing. Again, feel free to come in and ask me for further suggestions and help in
solving any problems you encounter. Obviously, you will benefit by beginning to read the books early
in the quarter so you will have time to seek help if you need it. Ideally, your paper would treat each
book separately for a part of your space and then deal with the way that the works interconnect. Do not
use a book that is not on the list below unless you have received my approval of it.
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The numbers following each title indicate the other books on the list with which each book might
be compared. They do not refer to chapters in the books.
1. Cynthia Herrup, A House in Gross Disorder – 2-4, 6-7, 9
2. Alan Macfarlane, The Family Life of Ralph Josselin – 1, 3-10
3. J. A. Sharpe, The Bewitching of Anne Gunter – 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9
4. Ann Hughes, Gender and the English Revolution -- 1-3, 5-9
5. Ian Gentles, Oliver Cromwell – 2, 4, 6-10
6. David Underdown, Fire From Heaven – 1-5, 7-10
7. David Underdown, Revel, Riot and Rebellion – 1-6, 8-10
8. Clive Holmes, Why Was Charles I Executed? – 2, 5, 6, 9, 10
9. Paul Seaver, Wallington’s World – 1-8, 10
10. Conrad Russell, The Causes of the English Civil War – 2, 5-9
Lecture Topics and Reading Assignments
Please note that the reading assignments vary considerably in length. You should do your best to
stay ahead so that you will not be left with too much to read on the eve of an exam. Copies of the
required books will be found on reserve. Note that some of the identification topics on the exams will
come from assigned reading in the textbook by Key and Bucholz and the sourcebook edited by Cressy
and Ferrell. Some of these topics will not have been mentioned in the lectures, and for those that are
mentioned in the lectures, the reading often supplies important additional information. The exams will be
designed in such a way that it will be very difficult to make an A if you do not display knowledge from
the documentary readings in Cressy and Ferrell’s book. Following this list of topics, you will find the
first installment of an accompanying list of names and terms that will be used in the lectures.
Part One: The Early Stuarts, 1603-1642
Jan 5: A Preview of the Stuart Century
I. Jan 7: Early Modern Britain: Economic, Social, and Political Structures.
Early Modern England, ch. 6.
II. Jan 9, 12: The Heyday of Salisbury, 1603-12 (or “God’s Silly Vassal” and his “Little Beagle”).
Early Modern England, pp. 212-22; Religion and Society, pp. 147-163.
III. Jan 14, 16: The Rise of the Favorites, 1612-21 (or, Dainty Dishes Set Before the King).
Early Modern England, pp. 222-27-; Religion and Society, pp. 163-168.
IV. Jan 21, 23, 26: The Winning of the Initiative, 1621-1629? (or, A Plethora of Parliaments).
Early Modern England, 227-239.
V. Jan 28, 30: The Personal Rule, 1629-40 (or, “Baby Charles” Has His Way).
Early Modern England, pp. 240-244; Religion and Society, pp. 169-200.
VI. Feb 2, 4: The Constitutional Crisis, 1640-42 (or, the Rise of “King Pym”).
Early Modern England, pp. 244-49.
Friday, Feb 6 -- MIDTERM EXAM (bring large-format bluebooks).
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Part Two: Civil Wars and the Interregnum, 1642-1660
VII. Feb 9, 11: Civil War and Revolution, 1642-49 (or, the Pot Boils Over).
Early Modern England, pp. 250-262; Religion and Society, pp. 201-233.
VIII. Feb 13, 18, 20: King Oliver and Army Rule, 1649-60 (or, From Praise-God Barebones to Monck’s
March).
Early Modern England, pp. 262-76; Religion and Society, pp. 233-44.
Part Three: The Later Stuarts, 1660-1714
IX. Feb 23, 25: The Restoration, Clarendon and the Cabal, 1660-1672 (or, Merrie Olde England
Again?).
Early Modern England, pp.277-89.
X. Feb 27, March 2, 4: The Age of the Exclusion Crisis, 1672-1685 (or, a Plethora of Plotters).
Early Modern England, 290-300.
XI. March 6, 9: The “Glorious” Revolution and the Revolution Settlement, 1685-89 (or, from Nosebleed
to Exile).
Early Modern England, 300-14.
XII. March 11, 13: Culture, Thought and Society in Late Stuart Britain
History 140B-- Names and Terms
Preview: the Stuart Century, 1603-1689
The Early Stuarts, 1603-1649
James VI (of Scotland) and I (of England), 1603-25
Charles I, 1625-1649
The Interregnum, 1649-1660
The Long Parliament
The Levellers
Oliver Cromwell
The Later Stuarts
Charles II, 1660-1685
James II, 1685-1688
William and Mary, 1688-1702
Anne, 1702-1714
Thomas Hobbes, John Locke
Inigo Jones, Christopher Wren
Sir Isaac Newton
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I. Early Modern Britain
the Whig interpretation of history
Parliament
absolutism, constitutionalism
peerage, gentry
municipal corporations
II. The Heyday of Salisbury, 1603-1612
Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury
Millenary Petition, Hampton Court Conference
Richard Bancroft; surplice
Gunpowder Plot (1605), Guy Fawkes
Foxe’s “Book of Martyrs”; recusancy
purveyance, subsidy
Whitehall, masques
Great Contract
Goodwin vs. Fortescue, the Buckinghamshire Election Case
Sir Edward Coke, “the ancient constitution”
Form of Apology and Satisfaction
shire-knights, burgesses
Committee of the Whole House
Bate’s case; impositions; tunnage and poundage
III. The Rise of the Favorites, 1612-1621
Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, Lady Frances Howard
Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton; Addled Parliament
George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham
baronetcy
Alderman Cockayne; Merchant Adventurers
Common Pleas, King’s Bench
prohibitions
Sir Francis Bacon
commendams
Frederick, Elector Palatine
George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury
Sir Thomas Overbury
Lionel Cranfield, Earl of Middlesex
Ferdinand II
Gondomar (Sarmiento)
[The continuation of this list of names and terms can be found on the Gauchospace website].
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