The 17th century in England was a time of religious, political, and social turmoil between the royalist Cavaliers and the puritan Roundheads. This led to a civil war and the temporary overthrow of the monarchy. Key events included Queen Elizabeth's death in 1603, the accession of King James I, the English Civil War and beheading of King Charles I in 1649, Oliver Cromwell's rule as Lord Protector, and the restoration of the monarchy with King Charles II in 1660 after Cromwell's death. Literature flourished during this period with metaphysical and cavalier poets, playwrights like Ben Jonson, and influential works such as John Milton's Paradise Lost, John Bun

1. 17th Century
(1625 – 1700)
The
Cavaliers
&
Puritans

2. Turmoil
Religious & Political
Queen Elizabeth dies 1603
King James 1603-1625
King Charles 1625-1649
Oliver Cromwell 1642 - 1660
King Charles II 1660 - 1685
“GLORIOUS REVOLUTION”

3. The Controversy
Royal family are Anglican
(Catholic sympathizers)
WHILE
Common people are
Protestant sympathizers

4. Divine Right
of Kings
King is Head of
Church & State

5. King James
Not a picture of health…
-- crippling arthritis
-- weak limbs
-- colic (digestion problems)
-- gout
-- difficulty walking
-- tongue problems
After numerous attempts on his
life, he required constant care.
Invented British flag -- combined England's red cross of
St. George with Scotland's white cross of St. Andrew.

6. Religious
Non-Conformity
Puritans/Separatists
Congregationists/Presbyterians
Church government styles
congregation vs. bishop
liturgical vs. non-liturgical

7. King James &
the Non-conformists
“I shall make them
conform themselves
or I will harry them
out of the land, or
else…do worse.”

8.  Angers Parliament
 Angers Puritans
 Private arrests, trials
 Catholicize worship (High
Church)
 Last straw - Presbyterian
Scots & the new liturgy!
King Charles

9. CIVIL WAR
 Roundheads = Puritans
 Cavaliers = Royal Loyalists
 Council of State - backed by revolutionary
officers
 Cromwell assumes control as “Lord
Protector of the Commonwealth”
The Bloody Revolution!
King Charles beheaded
in 1649!

10. Cromwell’s Rule
Puritan strictness
Military power
Suppression of
theatre
& other frivolous
activities
Tyrant/dictator

11. The Restoration
 Cromwell’s death
dooms Puritan rule
 Parliament asks King
Charles II back from
exile in Holland
 People revolted vs.
Puritan strictness

12. Hatred of Cromwell

13. Charles II
 Catholic sympathizer
 Repressive religious
measures
 Allied to Catholic
France
 Discontent grows vs.
monarchy

14. James II
 Catholic sympathizer
 appoints Catholics to
influential govt &
military posts
 Vatican reps in court
 religious persecution
of Scottish Protestants

15. Glorious Revolution
(Bloodless Revolution)
 William of Orange
(Protestant)
 Mary (James II’s
daughter)
 Parliament asks
them to rule in
place of James II
 New limited monarchy

16. London grows to 600,000!

17. Historic Events
Great Plague
in London
1665
-------------
68,000
die!

18. Historic Events
Great Fire of London - 1666
(Christopher Wren - rebuilder)

19. Cavalier Poets
-- Lovelace, Suckling, Herrick --
 Anglican
 supporters of the King
 topics of wine, women, war
& love
 simple & easy to understand
 avoided religious topics
 witty & satirical
“Tribe of Ben”

20. Metaphysical Poets
-- Donne, Herbert, later Herrick --
 Protestant
 Not happy with the King
 religious & philosophical topics
 challenging, demanding, symbolic
 metaphysical conceits – unusual
metaphors

21.  John Milton
 Paradise Lost (over 10,000 lines)
 Puritan look at fall into sin
 “justify the ways of God to man”
 great English classic
17th Century
Poetry

22. 17th Century Poetry
 John Dryden
 Poet laureate of Charles II
 Neoclassic style (odes &
satires)
 literary criticism
 essayist - “father of
modern prose”
 translator
 debater

23. 17th Century Drama
He was not of an age, but for all time.
-- To the Memory of Shakespeare
 Ben Jonson
 Comedies
- Satiric Comedy
- Tragicomedy
- Comedy of Manners
 Puritans close theater
 Actresses acceptable by
end of century

24. 17th Century Prose
 Scientific writing
 Hobbes & Locke –
Philosophical writing
 Izaak Walton –
The Compleat Angler
 John Dryden –
Literary criticism
 Samuel Pepys –
The Diary (in code)
 John Bunyan –
The Pilgrim’s Progress
 King James Bible

25. John Bunyan
Our Father which in heaven art,
Thy name be always hallowed;
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done;
Thy heavenly path be followed
By us on earth as 'tis with thee,
We humbly pray;
And let our bread us given be,
From day to day.
Forgive our debts as we forgive
Those that to us indebted are:
Into temptation lead us not,
But save us from the wicked snare.
The kingdom's thine, the power too,
We thee adore;
The glory also shall be thine
For evermore.

26. Bunyan’s
Pilgrim’s Progress
 Written in prison
 Main character is Christian
 Allegory of Christian Life
 “Last great Christian
classic”

27. Samuel Pepys –
Diary Writer
June 15th
The Duke of Yorke not yet come
to town. The town grows very
sickly, and people to be afeared
of it - there dying this last wek of
the plague 112, from 43 the week
before - whereof, one in
Fanchurch-street and one in
Broadstreete by the Treasurer's
office.

28. Watch for . . .
 Spelling becoming set (1st dictionaries)
 Satire - moral writing to expose evil
 Heroic couplet in poetry
 Rise of comedies
 Shakespeare considered “rough,
uncultured” - not often performed