History Cookbook

It is called the Stuart period as King James was a member of a family called the Stuarts. The period lasted until James 1’s great grand daughter, Queen Anne, died,  over a hundred years later, in 1714. 

The plot was overseen by Robert Catesby. It was discovered in the nick of time and the participants were either shot as they fled a farm house where they were hiding or were hanged, drawn and quartered for treason, including Guy Fawkes who was in charge of executing the plan. Real or imagined Catholic plots troubled the country for many years to come.

The Puritans wanted the power to be in the hands of the local congregations. They believed that individuals could have a direct communication with God, without the need for bishops and elaborate ceremony. They sought a 'purer' type of church worship, with the practices inherited fom the Church of England's Catholic past abolished.

King James saw the Puritans as heretics, and their denial of the Divine Right of Kings as almost treason. During the reign of Charles I, William Laud, Bishop of London, an advisor to Charles, encouraged the King to pursue policies to eliminate their religious practices. This saw some leave the country to form new communities.  The most famous group, the Pilgrim Fathers, fled the East Midlands and established a colony (in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts) in 1620. It became the second successful English settlement (after the founding of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607).

The persecution of the Puritans saw them align with the movement to restore 'England's ancient liberties', and they formed the backbone of Parliament. This meant that many people in Parliament were reformers. Given the central place that religion had in the life of the nation at that time, the stage was set for conflict. 

The conflict started after Charles I attempted to enforce Anglican forms of worship in Scotland. The King summoned Parliament but, when it refused to give funds to support the war with Scotland, he dissolved it. The King was beaten by the Scots and forced to recall Parliament again. Parliament then passed a law preventing the King from dissolving it. Tensions finally came to a head after Charles attempted to arrest five Parliamentary members. In 1642, the King raised his standard, declaring war. The first war ended in 1646 with the King's withdrawal to Scotland. The second war (1648–49) began after the King negotiated a deal with the Scots promising church reform. A series of royalist rebellions and a Scottish invasion took place in July 1648. The King's troops were defeated but the army, angry that Parliament was still considering Charles as a ruler, marched on Parliament in December 1648; 45 MPs were arrested, 146 refused entry to Parliament, and only 75 allowed in to do the army's bidding. These formed the "Rump" Parliament.
 

After the army marched on Parliament, in December 1648, a 'Rump Parliament'  was formed. This Parliament was ordered to set up a high court of justice in order to try Charles I for treason. The King was charged with subverting the fundamental laws and liberties of the nation and with maliciously making war on the Parliament and people of England. The trial started on 20th January 1649 and the King was beheaded on January 30th 1649. Oliver Cromwell, one of the commanders of Parliament's army, became leader of a short-lived Commonwealth (1649 to 1653). He quelled revolts in Ireland and Scotland in 1649-50 and engaged Charles II in battle at Worcester on September 3rd 1651. The defeated Charels II fled to France, ending the Civil War.  The government from 1653 to 1659 was known as 'the Protectorate', and saw direct personal rule by Oliver Cromwell, as Lord Protector, until his death in 1658 and, then, for a short while, by his son, Richard.

The last execution for witchcraft occurred in Exeter, when Alicia Molland died in March 1684.  After this, the influence of the church and a move to more rational scientific arguments saw the end of the widespread belief in witchcraft.

The conditions guaranteed the rights of Parliament and the individual liberties of English citizens. This "Bill of Rights", and other decisions of the time, laid the foundations for the political system known as "Constitutional Monarchy", by which - although always changing - Britain has been ruled ever since.

The Puritan home was plainly decorated and rejected excess of any kind, including ornate displays of wealth. The true 'godly way' was one of simplicity and purity that was reflected in the home as well as at church.

Long waistcoats with matching outer coats also became popular. The Puritans favoured more modest styles and fabrics, in simple browns and blacks.  The Puritan lady wore a simple unadorned dress that covered her almost from the neck to toes, and a white apron; she had her hair covered by a simple white head-dress.  Puritan men wore dark clothes and their hair short.

At the beginning of the Stuart era, Jacobean decoration saw gilding, murals and elaborate decorations in green and coral pink. French tapestries were hung from walls covered in oak panelling. A style known as Palladian, introduced by Inigo Jones, based on classical designs, established itself in late Stuart times and, although the Restoration of the Monarchy saw a return to ornate painted ceilings, great panels, ornamented fireplaces doors and windows, they were set in simpler rooms. 

Economic growth, already well underway in Tudor times, continued unchecked throughout the period, during which the foundations of Britain's overseas trade and empire were laid. These changes laid the foundations for the Industrial Revolution which would come later, in the 18th century.

These overseas bases needed a strong navy to defend them and, by the end of the period, Britain had the largest, the best led and most efficient fleet in the world.

Joint-stock companies were the ancestors of today's limited companies. The most famous of these, the East India Company, was actually set up at the very end of the Elizabethan era. The trade in shares in London began when The Muscovy Company and the East India Company raised the money to undertake two costly voyages, by selling shares to merchants. In return, the merchants had a right to a portion of any profits made. The idea soon caught on and was followed by the development of the West India Company, the Royal Africa Company, and several companies involved in the founding of different colonies in the New World. By 1695, there were around 140 joint-stock companies.

The Patent Office arose as a result of the technical innovations taking place at the time. It became an important factor in stimulating further innovation - on a completely unprecedented scale.  

The Agricultural Revolution in Britain occurred between the 17th century and the start of the 19th century. It saw a massive increase in agricultural productivity and output. This, in turn, supported population growth and, by freeing up a significant percentage of the workforce, helped to drive the Industrial Revolution. Greater mechanization, four-field crop rotation, selective breeding and enclosure all contributed to the improvements.

The mining industry of Northumberland and Durham had expanded vastly, as a growing London population sought fuel for its hearths. By 1688, England, Scotland and Wales were producing fourteen times more coal than in 1558 and London was importing 30 times as much coal. Spin-off industries such as gunpowder, salt, glass and metal goods also grew. The system of wooden - later steel - railways, on which ran horse-drawn carts, provided a springboard for engineering projects to come. Elsewhere in the country, Abraham Darby had built the first coke-fuelled blast furnace in Europe, for producing high grade steel, at Coalbrookdale. Coal, steel and steam - these were what later made the first Industrial Revolution.

It is thought that this consolidation of land was an element in the political stability of the country during the period that followed the Stuarts, in the Eighteenth century. Most of these families formed a group which has been labelled the "Whig Aristocracy", which successfully managed Parliament and government through their wealth, contacts and patronage.

In the small but growing towns lived merchants, craftsmen and town labourers, as they had in previous centuries, but the opportunities to trade and amass wealth had never been better.

The ideas of the English philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke sowed the seeds for the later American and French Revolutions, by stating that government should involve a "social contract" between ruler and ruled. William Shakespeare was still writing under James I, who also comissioned the new Authorized Version of the Bible. This brought the common man into daily contact with a new level of written English. The poets John Donne and John Milton were writing for wide and discerning audiences and Purcell was one of the first great English composers.

The fire broke out in a bakery in Pudding Lane on September 2nd, 1666, and burnt for three days, destroying the medieval centre of the city. 13,200 houses were destroyed, as well as a host of famous and historic buildings.

All this makes it easy to understand why this country became home to the first industrial society in the world, about fifty years after the Stuart period ended.

When the Puritans gained power, they closed theatres and tried to impose a godly pattern of behaviour on all people.  After the Restoration of the Monarchy, Puritans who remained within the Church of England became known as Nonconformists, whilst those who left were known as Dissenters. The Dissenters established their own denominations. The government attempted to suppress these organizations by a code (the Clarendon Code) that effectively barred them from public office, from attending meetings or worshipping in their own way. The Suppression continued until the Toleration Act of 1689.

At first sight, however, English society in the 17th century and early 18th century looked very similar to Tudor society. Most people - perhaps 70% of the total population - were still wholly or partially engaged in farming, but there had been significant cultural change and a new social mobility (i.e. new people were gaining money, power and influence). Social change was on the way.