433 9.1 Restoration, Revolution and the English Enlightenment

·35 min·2 clips

Voltaire in 1733 called England 'the only people upon earth who have been able to prescribe limits to the power of kings' — and this is the constitutional achievement Series 9 will trace.

1. The History of England episode 433 opens Series 9, covering the period 1660 to 1714 under the title Restoration, Revolution and Enlightenment. 2. Host David Crowther is a former commissioning editor turned independent podcast historian, presenting solo in his characteristic mix of self-deprecating wit and substantive historiographical argument. 3. The episode's purpose is to frame the period for new and returning listeners: Crowther argues 1660-1714 is far more radical and consequential than mainstream historiography has acknowledged. 4. The first period (1660-1685) covers Charles II's Restoration of the Stuart monarchy, which began with popular relief but became increasingly rocky over concerns about absolutism, the succession, and what Crowther calls Charles's 'torpidity.' 5. The second period (1685-1689) covers James II's brief reign, the Glorious Revolution, the arrival of William and Mary, and the Bill of Rights — events Crowther notes resolved fundamental constitutional questions left open since the 1640s. 6. The third period (1690-1714) covers the exhaustion of the Stuart line under Queen Anne, whom Crowther calls 'the best of the Stuarts,' and the Act of Union of 1707, which he will defend as inspired statesmanship despite nationalist revisionism. 7. Crowther explains that the Restoration has been the 'Cinderella period' of English historiography — dismissed by Whig historians as a corrupt interlude, scorned by Scots for the Killing Times, and awkward for Irish historians because of the Protestant Ascendancy. 8. Even the Glorious Revolution of 1688 has had 'an ambiguous place' in English historiography: liberals called it anti-Catholic bigotry, Tories resented the Act of Succession, and GM Trevelyan's lukewarm verdict — 'the sensible revolution' — Crowther calls 'not exactly Che Guevara.' 9. Historian Neil Mortimer's Time Traveller's Guide to Restoration Britain argues that 1660 stands comparison with 1066 as a turning point, marking the moment 'the last dying notes of the medieval world are drowned out by the rising trumpet fanfare of modernity.' 10. Crowther accepts Mortimer's basic thesis but places the seed in the revolutionary chaos before 1660, arguing that intellectual innovations of that period 'come to full flower' during the Restoration. 11. Practical markers of modernity Crowther lists for the period include museums, tourist maps, improved postal services, an explosion of newsprint, and the founding of the Royal Society under Henry Oldenburg as first secretary. 12. John Locke's authorship of the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina in 1669, which gave masters absolute authority over enslaved people, is cited as an example of the period's 'discombobulating contrasts and impossible illogicalities.' 13. The English slave trade's serious expansion begins in this period, with English Caribbean slave-based economies established as a major and explicitly condemned theme Crowther flags for Series 9. 14. Crowther argues for adopting the term 'English Enlightenment,' citing Roy Porter's case that Britain was 'the true crucible of modernity,' despite the phrase being virtually absent from academic usage. 15. An American historian's dismissal of 'English Enlightenment' as 'jarring and incongruous' is contrasted with the fact that Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot, and Abbé Prévost all explicitly acknowledged England's primacy in developing Enlightenment principles. 16. Voltaire's 1733 Lettres philosophiques declared England 'the only people upon earth who have been able to prescribe limits to the power of kings by resisting them,' framing English constitutional development as Europe's template. 17. The episode balances genuine enthusiasm for the period with consistent self-aware wit — Crowther promises a 'rant' about the missing phrase 'English Enlightenment' and advises listeners to 'put the kettle on.' 18. The pace is measured and expository, delivered in a solo narrative voice with frequent asides, literary quotes, and historiographical debates; no guests are present. 19. Listeners who enjoy intellectual history, historiographical debates, and the long arc of English constitutional development from the 1640s through the Act of Union will find this a rich scene-setter. 20. Those expecting battlefield narrative, social history of ordinary people, or coverage outside England and its three kingdoms will need to wait for subsequent episodes in Series 9.

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