Oliver the red-nosed protector: Cromwell’s physiognomy revisited
In today’s blog we hear from Patrick Little, senior research fellow in our Commons 1640-1660 project, who is looking into one of Oliver Cromwell’s more famous assets… Oliver Cromwell is famous for his warts. In the Horrible Histories series, the volume devoted to the lord protector is called Oliver Cromwell and his Warts; a Google search of ‘Cromwell warts’ yields 1.4 million results; ‘warts and … Continue reading Oliver the red-nosed protector: Cromwell’s physiognomy revisited
Speaking about Animal Rights in the History of Parliament Oral History Project
As two animal welfare Bills progress through the stages of debate in Parliament, in our latest blog Emme Ledgerwood looks through our Oral History Project archive to explore former MPs’ responses to animal rights issues during their careers… The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill and the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill are currently making their way through Parliament, the latest additions to the UK legislation which … Continue reading Speaking about Animal Rights in the History of Parliament Oral History Project
Plots, petitions, prelates and popery: Parliament and the tumults of December 1641
December 1641 was a month of high tension in Parliament, as Dr Vivienne Larminie from our Commons 1640-1660 project explores… It was after fierce debate that on 9 December 1641 MPs expelled three of their number from Parliament. After months of leaks, rumours and investigations, the Commons finally resolved that Henry Wilmot, William Ashbournham and Sir Hugh Pollarde stood accused of misprision of treason, a … Continue reading Plots, petitions, prelates and popery: Parliament and the tumults of December 1641
Recovering Europe’s Parliamentary Culture, 1500-1700
Since late September, we’ve been working with a new project at the University of Oxford, called ‘Recovering Europe’s Parliamentary Culture, 1500-1700’, and the Centre for Intellectual History at the University of Oxford to put together series of blogs that explore European Parliamentary Culture. The series is focused on the Early Modern period – roughly 1500-1700 – but they have ranged more widely, seeking to bring … Continue reading Recovering Europe’s Parliamentary Culture, 1500-1700
Death of a Queen: the tragic end of Caroline of Ansbach
In the latest post for the Georgian Lords, Dr Robin Eagles, considers the grisly end of Queen Caroline of Ansbach, the botched efforts of her physicians to assist her and her wider importance to the Hanoverian regime. On 20 November 1737 Queen Caroline of Ansbach, who reigned alongside George II for just over a decade, died after an agonizing last illness. Caroline’s final days pointed … Continue reading Death of a Queen: the tragic end of Caroline of Ansbach
Gladstone and Ireland: A Financial Approach
Ahead of next Tuesday’s Virtual IHR Parliaments, Politics and People seminar, we hear from Dr Douglas Kanter of Florida Atlantic University. On 7 December 2021, between 5.15 p.m. and 6.30 p.m., Douglas will be responding to your questions about his pre-circulated paper on ‘Gladstone and Ireland: A Financial Approach’. Details of how to join the discussion are available here, or by contacting seminar@histparl.ac.uk. William Ewart … Continue reading Gladstone and Ireland: A Financial Approach
Disability at Court in Early Modern England
As the UK marks Disability History Month over the next few weeks, in today’s blog Dr Andrew Thrush, editor of our Lords 1558-1603 project, looks into the prominent early modern figures who had physical disabilities and their treatment at court… Writing in the late 1590s to his sister-in-law, the dowager Lady Stourton, Secretary of State Sir Robert Cecil observed that it was ‘the fashion of … Continue reading Disability at Court in Early Modern England
The hanging of Thomas Fiennes, Lord Dacre: Henry VIII and the abuse of law
On our blog today Dr Simon Payling, Senior Research Fellow in our Commons 1461-1504 project, looks into the landmark case of Thomas Fiennes, Lord Dacre, the first peer to be executed for an offence other than treason. But what led to this sentence– and was it deserved? The hanging of Thomas Fiennes, Lord Dacre, on 29 June 1541 has a particular and important place in … Continue reading The hanging of Thomas Fiennes, Lord Dacre: Henry VIII and the abuse of law
The good, the bad and the visually memorable: characterising the Commons 1640-1660
With Westminster once more ringing with allegations of corruption, it is as well to recall that MPs have rarely been elected on account of their unimpeachable conduct. And, as Dr Vivienne Larminie of our Commons 1640-60 section explains, while modern politics is sometimes dubbed a ‘beauty contest’, quite a few mid-seventeenth-century Members were eye-catching for the wrong reasons… The make-up of the House of Commons … Continue reading The good, the bad and the visually memorable: characterising the Commons 1640-1660
‘Housewives in the House’: Labour Women MPs in Parliament, 1945-1951
Ahead of next Tuesday’s Virtual IHR Parliaments, Politics and People seminar, we hear from Dr Lyndsey Jenkins of Queen Mary, University of London. On 23 November 2021, between 5.15 p.m. and 6.30 p.m., she will be responding to your questions about her pre-circulated paper on ‘Housewives and the House: Women Labour MPs and ‘the housewife’ in Parliament in the 1940s and 1950s’. Details of how to join the discussion are available here, … Continue reading ‘Housewives in the House’: Labour Women MPs in Parliament, 1945-1951