Popular Politics in the English Revolution, 1640-60

Historian Waseem Ahmed explores popular politics during the upheavals of the mid-17th century and the legacy they left behind.

In the mid-1600s, the British Isles were beset by devastating conflicts with profound political repercussions. The years between 1638 and 1660 can be viewed as Europe’s first modern revolution.

Two civil wars and rising political radicalisation culminated in the execution of King Charles I in 1649. For the next 11 years, a series of different political regimes vied for power until the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.

This was a period of intense political experimentation as people attempted to grapple with dramatic challenges to traditional institutions, systems and beliefs. The breakdown of censorship in 1641 led to a print revolution that transformed political life, unleashing pamphlets, petitions and polemical literature on an unprecedented scale. It brought to the surface radical ideas about church and state, and fostered new forms of political participation across the social spectrum.

Radical political groups, such as the Levellers and Diggers, took up these bold new ideas to push for major social, political, economic and religious reform. At the same time, ordinary men and women played an active role in shaping and transforming the nature of politics as they sought to navigate the revolutionary state of affairs. 

As this talk will reveal, these popular political upheavals left behind a legacy of ideas and novel political practices that anticipated future revolutions.

About the speaker

Waseem Ahmed is a PhD student in History at University College London (UCL), writing a thesis on loyalty and popular politics in 1650s England. He is a teaching assistant at both UCL and King's College London, and is currently co-editing a book on Christopher Hill and the English Revolution.