FROM PURITANISM
TO THE
ENLIGHTENMENT
LOOKING AHEAD
In the 1640s, religious and political conflict between King Charles I
and the largely Puritan supporters of Parliament led to civil war, the
execution of the king, and a decade of stern Puritan rule. Following the
return of the monarchy in 1660, Parliament kept much of its power, but
Restoration culture reveled in a witty, worldly reaction against Puritan
severity. During the same period, a scientific revolution was blossoming into
Enlightenment, an intellectual movement whose participants reexamined all
aspects of life in the light of reason.
KING CHARLES I
THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR
King Charles I believed whole-heartedly in the divine rights of kings. He
essentially believed that relinquishing any of his power as king was an affront to god. As
a result, the conflicts between Charles and Parliament over economic and religious
matters eventually led Charles to disband Parliament for eleven years. When Parliament
finally reconvened, Charles rejected their demands for a new constitution and instead,
opted to move his court from London to York. These actions essentially drew the
ideological battle lines that lead to the civil war.
•
•
•
•
Cavalier s (Royalists)
Roundheads (Par liament)
Catholic
Supported King Charles I
Lost the war
King Charles was executed by
beheading.
• Puritan
• Supported Parliament
• Lead by Puritan extremist Oliver
Cromwell
• Won the war
CAVALIERS VERSUS THE
ROUNDHEADS
Cavaliers
Roundheads
THE BATTLE OF NASEBY
THE BATTLE OF MARSTON
MOOR
THE EXECUTION OF
CHARLES I
THE EXECUTION OF
CHARLES I
King: I go from a corruptible, to an incorruptible Crown; where no disturbance can
be, no disturbance in the World.
Doctor Juxon: You are exchanged from a Temporal to an eternal Crown; a good
exchange.
After having said two or three words (as he stood) to Himself with hands and eyes lift
up. Immediately stooping down, laid His Neck on the Block: And then the Executioner
again putting his Hair under his Cap, the King said, Stay for the signe. (Thinking he
had been going to strike)
Executioner. Yes, I will, and it please Your Majesty.
And after a very little pawse, the King stretching forth his hands, The Executioner at
one blow, severed his head from his Body.
That when the Kings head was cut off, the Executioner held it up, and shewed it to the
Spectators.
And his Body was put in a Coffin, covered with black Velvet, for that purpose.
The Kings body now lies in His Lodging Chamber at Whitehall.
OLIVER CROMWELL
ENGLAND DURING CROMWELL’S RULE
Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell
• A strong military leader and dictator
• Imposed strict Puritanical rule on public behavior and religious
worship.
• Banned Catholicism and destroyed Catholic religious icons
• Closed theaters and banned dancing and music
• He even ended the celebration of Christmas.
• Little entertainment or pleasure throughout the country
• The economy prospered
• Cromwell died in 1658, ending the period known as the British
Commonwealth.
THE RESTORATION
The restoring of the English Monarchy
• In 1660, Charles II, the son of Charles I, returns from exile to
reclaim the throne.
• Charles II was good-natured and enjoyed pleasures of all types.
• Charles became known as the “merry monarch.”
• He forgave many of his father’s enemies, with the exceptions
of the judges that sentenced his father and the signers of the
order of execution.
• He had Cromwell’s body dug up, beheaded, and buried in a
common pit.
KING CHARLES II
LIFE UNDER CHARLES II
•
•
•
•
•
Theaters were reopened
Music and masquerade parties were allowed again
In general, entertainment and pleasure were allowed again
The style of dress became elegant and elaborate with rich
materials and fabrics and lots of beadery
Aphra Behn became the first women in England to make a living
as a professional writer.
Once again, England had two political parties:
1. Tory Party- supported royal authority
2. Whig Party- sought limits to royal authority
THE ENGLISH ENLIGHTENMENT
The Enlightenment way of thinking led to a creative outburst of
scientific inquiry and intellectual freedom.
• Men met and exchanged ideas at coffeehouses
• Women held salons (private gatherings) to increase their knowledge
through reading and conversation
The logical methods of scientific inquiry were applied to many aspects
of life
• How did this happen?
• What caused this?
• What does it mean?
• How does it work?
• Can I prove it?
NEOCLASSICISM
• Writers of the period set out to identify universal laws of
human nature and portray these laws in their writings.
• They believed that nature was rational and orderly and that
even poetry, just as physics, was ruled by natural, not manmade, laws.
• The writers of the time turned to ancient Greek and Roman
texts because they believed those texts explained the natural
laws that governed why audiences laugh at comic characters, or
feel pity and terror for the downfall of a tragic hero .
HISTORICAL EVENTS
Improvements in:
• health due to smallpox vaccine
• agriculture due to more productive methods of cultivating and harvesting
crops and the breeding of larger animals
• Industry because of The Industrial Revolution- which gave England a solid
commercial and industrial base
Three important revolutions which occurred during this time period.
1. French Revolution
2. Glorious Revolution
3. Industrial Revolution
Two disastrous events which occurred that killed many in 1665 and 1666.
1. Plague of London
2. Great Fire of London
THE GLORIOUS (OR BLOODLESS) REVOLUTION.
The end of the Restoration and Enlightenment period is marked by the
Glorious Revolution.
• Charles II did not have any legitimate children with is queen, Catherine of
Braganza.
• James II, Charles's Catholic brother, became King of England of Charles's
rule ended.
• James II was replaced by William and Mary because he wanted to change
the state religion to Catholicism.
• The abdication-relinquishing of the throne-was peacefully negotiated; a
triumph of parliamentary rule over the divine right of kings.
THE LEGACY OF THE PERIOD.
• The British press and freedom of thought and expression became
increasingly less restricted.
• Intellectual life was more and more marked by the desire to share
information, explore new ideas, and to fight about them in print rather
than on the battlefield.
• The thinkers of the R&E period influenced the ideas of the American
Revolution.
• The ideas developed about science during this period laid the foundation
for a modern worldview based on rationalism, secularism, and the use of
the scientific method.
• The intellectuals of the Enlightenment period advocated the rights of the
individual.
LIFE DURING THE PERIOD
APPEARANCE
Samuel Pepys Diary extract
27th March 1667 'I did go to the Swan; and there sent for Jervas my old
periwig-maker and he did bring me a periwig; but it was full of nits, so as I was
troubled to see it (it being his old fault) and did send him to make it clean.'
Background information
Nits, lice, body odours - not glamorous, and not visible in the portraits of the
time. Charles II, the 'masquerading monarch', took to wigs when he saw his first grey
hairs, and most men followed him. He also pioneered the predecessor of the threepiece suit - knee breeches, waistcoat and long jacket. Women were still encased in stiff
corsets, and encumbered with long skirts. Men wore linen drawers, women did not wear
knickers.
Patches - artificial beauty spots - were worn by both sexes. Little bits of
mouse skin could replace unfashionable eyebrows. Cosmetics were alarming. Ceruse,
containing lead, produced the desirable mat white complexion, even on a smallpoxpitted skin, but it smelt, and cracked, and poisoned the wearer.
WOMEN’S FASHION
MEN’S FASHION
CHILDREN’S FASHION
WORKING CLASS FASHION
LIFE DURING THE PERIOD
FOOD
Samuel Pepys Diary extract
4th April 1663 'We had a fricassee of rabbits and chicken, a leg of mutton
boiled, three carps in a dish, a great dish of a side of lamb, a dish of roasted pigeons, a
dish of four lobsters, three tarts, a most rare lamprey pie, - a dish of anchovies - good
wine of several sorts; and all things mighty noble and to my great content.'
Background information
This was one of the feasts Samuel Pepys threw to celebrate his survival from
being cut for the stone. But it was typical in the amount of protein and the absence of
vegetables (this may have caused some of the century's bladder stones). Dinner was at
midday. It was usual to cover the table with fish and meat and sweet pies, and then
'remove' them and start again with the same mixture. Afterwards, sweetmeats and fruit
were served elsewhere, perhaps in the garden or a separate 'banqueting house'. After
that lot, you could survive on a simple supper. Breakfast hardly existed for most
people. Weak beer was the usual drink. Samuel Pepys may have been networking over
his breakfast of wine, oysters and anchovies. He did complain of indigestion.
LIFE DURING THE PERIOD
ENTERTAINMENT
Samuel Pepys Diary extract
13th October 1660 'I went out to Charing Cross to see Major-Generall Harrison
hanged, drawn, and quartered - which was done there - he looking as cheerfully as any
man could do in that condition. He was presently cut down and his head and his heart
shown to the people, at which there was great shouts of joy.'
Background information
There was nothing a 17th century crowd liked better than a good execution. If
there was nothing happening at Tyburn it might be fun to go and see the lunatics in
Bedlam. There would certainly be blood and guts enjoyably spilt at the bear-baiting or
bull-baiting on the south bank.
But for the faint-hearted, the animals in the royal menagerie in the Tower of
London were worth seeing. Men could patronise the new coffee-houses, or the floating
brothel thinly disguised as a restaurant, opposite Somerset House. Both sexes could
enjoy walking in the royal parks, or taking a boat trip up the river, or going to the
newly-opened theatres and watching actresses for the first time.
LIFE DURING THE PERIOD
SANITATION
Samuel Pepys Diary extract
20th October 1660 'This morning one came to me to advise with me where to
make me a window into my cellar in lieu of one that Sir W Batten had stopped up; and
going down my cellar to look, I put my foot into a great heap of turds, by which I find
that Mr. Turner's house of office is full and comes into my cellar, which doth trouble
me; but I will have it helped.'
Background information
London had had sewers for centuries but they only carried surface water.
Excrement went into the cesspit under the house or in the garden, and was - in theory regularly emptied. There was a system for rubbish collection, but somehow there were
always dead dogs and cats, and food refuse, and an overwhelming amount of animal
faeces in the streets.