English Revolution Chronology

1629–40

Charles I rules without Parliament (‘Personal Rule’)

1638

National Covenant signed in Scotland

1639

First Bishops’ War (between England and Scotland)

Suckling, Brennoralt, or The Discontented Colonel

1640

Thomas Wentworth elevated to position of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and created Earl of Strafford (January)

Carew, Poems

Davenant, Salmacida spolia

Jonson, The Underwood

Short Parliament (13 April–5 May)

Walton, Life of Donne

Second Bishops’ War

Long Parliament convenes (3 November)

Strafford impeached (11 November)

Root and Branch petition presented to Parliament (11 December)

Archbishop William Laud impeached for high treason (18 December)

1641

Triennial Act ensures that Parliament will sit at least once every three years (February)

The Heads of Several Proceedings in this Present Parliament (first weekly public newsbook)

Trial and bill of attainder against Strafford (March–April)

Milton's anti‐prelatical tracts

Strafford executed (12 May)

Act abolishing the Courts of Star Chamber and High Commission, collapse of censorship regulations (5 July)

Irish uprising breaks out in Ulster (22 October)

Grand Remonstrance of grievances against Charles I passed by Parliament (22 November)

1642

Charles I fails in his attempt to arrest five members of the House of Commons (4 January)

Cleveland, ‘The Rebell Scott’; The Character of a London‐Diurnall Cowley, A Satyre Against Seperatists;

Henrietta Maria departs for Holland (23 February)

The Guardian Denham, Coopers Hill (many expanded editions)

Charles I leaves London for the north (2 March)

Fuller, The Holy State Milton, The Reason of Church

Parliament passes Militia Ordinance (5 March)

Government; An Apology for Smectymnuus

Charles I denied entry at Hull, site of main northern arsenal (23 April)

Prynne, Sovereign Power of Parliaments (to 1643)

Parliament sends the Nineteen Propositions to Charles I (1 June)

Quarles, Observations Concerning Princes and States upon Peace and Warre

Parliament raises an army under Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex (July)

Charles I raises the royal standard at Nottingham Castle (22 August), beginning of First Civil War

Theatres officially closed (September)

Battle of Edgehill (23 October)

1643

Henrietta Maria returns from Holland with troops and supplies (February)

Browne, Religio medici

Cowley begins writing The Civil War

Westminster Assembly of Divines authorized by Parliament to reform the English Church (June); first meeting (July)

Davies, Star to the Wise; Samsons Legacie

Milton, The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce

Solemn League and Covenant ensures military alliance between Parliament and Scottish Covenanters and promise of church reform (September)

Nedham, Mercurius Britanicus (parliamentary newsbook, 1643–6)

Overton, Mans Mortallitie

1644

Battle of Marston Moor (2 July)

Henrietta Maria sails for France (14 July)

Milton, Areopagitica; The Judgement of Martin Bucer Concerning Divorce;

Commons requests that the Westminster Assembly prepare Directory of Worship to replace Book of Common Prayer (October)

Of Education; The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce

1645

Archbishop William Laud executed (10 January)

Fuller, Good Thoughts in Bad Times The Kings Cabinet Opened

Uxbridge Negotiations between King, Parliament, and Scottish Covenanters (January to February)

Lilburne, Englands Birth‐Right Justified

Milton, Poems…both English and Latin; Tetrachordon; Colasterion

Self‐Denying Ordinance and formation of New Model Army with Thomas Fairfax as Captain‐General (April)

Quarles, The Profest Royalist; Solomons Recantation Waller, Poems

Battle of Naseby (14 June); King's private correspondence seized by Parliament (June)

Walwyn, England's Lamentable Slaverie

1646

Charles I surrenders to the Scottish Army (5 May)

Browne, Pseudodoxia epidemica Crashaw, Steps to the Temple;

First Civil War ends with surrender of royalist Oxford (24 June)

The Delight of the Muses Edwards, Gangraena

Episcopacy abolished by parliamentary ordinance, sale of bishops’ lands authorized (9 October)

Overton and Walwyn, A Remonstrance of Many Thousand Citizens

Suckling, Fragmenta aurea; The Goblins

Vaughan, Poems

1647

Scots hand over Charles I to Parliament (30 January)

Cowley, The Mistress The Case of the Army Truly Stated

New Model Army removes Charles I from Parliament custody at Holmby House (4 June) to Hampton Court (24 August)

Davies, Excommunication out of Paradice

Leveller proposed constitution, Agreement of the People

Westminster Assembly presents Westminster Confession of Faith to Parliament (April)

Nedham, Mercurius pragmaticus (royalist newsbook, 1647–9)

New Model Army's Book of Declarations

New Model Army marches on London (6 August)

Putney Debates between representatives of New Model Army and Levellers on new constitution for England (October)

Charles I escapes from Hampton Court to Isle of Wight (11 November)

Charles I signs Engagement with the Scots (26 December)

1648

Scots intervene on behalf of the King, beginning of Second Civil War (July); Battle of Preston, end of Second Civil War (August)

Crashaw, Steps to the Temple (expanded edn)

Herrick, Hesperides; Noble Numbers

Lilburne, Foundations of Freedom

Army Remonstrance presented to Parliament (20 November)

Symmons, A Vindication of King Charles

New Model Army occupies London (2 December)

Pride's Purge: Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly prevents MPs conciliatory to Charles I from entering the House of Commons (6 December)

1649

Purged House of Commons (‘Rump’) sets up High Court of Justice to try the King (1 January)

Second Agreement of the People

Brome (ed.), Lachrymae Musarum

Charles I, Eikon Basilike

Trial of Charles I begins (20 January)

Coppe, A Fiery Flying Roll; A Second

Charles I, found guilty of tyranny and treason, is executed outside Whitehall (30 January)

Fiery Flying Roule

Culpeper, Pharmacopoea Londinensis

Digger manifesto: The True Levellers’

Charles II proclaimed in Edinburgh, with proviso that he take the Covenant (5 January)

Standard Advanced

Lilburne, Walwyn, and Overton, England's New Chains Discovered

Rump Parliament abolishes monarchy (17 March)

Lovelace, Lucasta

Milton, The Tenure of Kings and

House of Lords abolished (19 March)

Magistrates; Eikonoklastes

Diggers occupy St George's Hill in Surrey (April)

Winstanley, The Breaking of the Day of God; Declaration from the Poor

England declared a Commonwealth (19 May)

Oppressed People of England; A Declaration to the Powers of England

Leveller mutiny suppressed by Fairfax and Cromwell (May)

Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England chartered (July)

Printing Act outlaws unlicensed books, pamphlets, and newsbooks (September)

John Lilburne tried for high treason; found not guilty (October)

Cromwell heads military expedition to Ireland (August); storming and massacre of Drogheda and Wexford (September and October)

1650

Oath of Engagement (declaration of loyalty to the Commonwealth) extended to all males (January)

Anon., A Justification of the Mad Crew

Baxter, The Saints’ Everlasting Rest

Bradstreet, Tenth Muse

Charles II signs Treaty of Breda, promising to come to Scotland and to impose Presbyterianism

Davenant, Preface to Gondibert

Descartes, Passions of the Soul (first English translation)

Cromwell returns from Ireland (May)Cromwell succeeds Fairfax as Lord‐

Hobbes, Treatise of Human Nature; De corpore politico

General of the Army and marches for Scotland (June)

Blasphemy Act (9 August)

Hutchinson, translation of Lucretius’ De rerum natura (probably composed in the 1650s)

Cromwell's victory over the Scots at Dunbar (3 September)

Marvell, ‘An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland’

Nedham, The Case of the Common‐wealth of England, Stated; Mercurius politicus (continues to 1660)

Eugenius Philalethes [T. Vaughan], Anthroposophia theomagica.

H. Vaughan, Silex scintillans

1651

Charles II crowned at Scone (January)

Booker, The Bloudy Almanack

Charles II and Scots invade England (August)

Boyle, Parthenissa (in part)

Cary, The Little Horn's Doom & Downfall

Cromwell defeats Charles II and Scots at Worcester (3 September). Last major battle of the Civil Wars

Cleveland, Poems by J.C.

Coppe, Copp's Return to the Wayes of Truth; A Remonstrance

Navigation Act, aimed against Dutch trade (9 October)

Hobbes, Leviathan

Marvell, Upon Appleton House

Charles II flees to France (15 October)

Milton, Defensio pro populo Anglicano

Vaughan, Olor Iscanus

1652

First Anglo‐Dutch War (to 1654)

Crashaw, Carmen Deo nostro (Paris)

Winstanley, The Law of Freedom in a Platform

1653

Cromwell forcibly expels the Rump Parliament (20 April)

Cavendish, Poems and Fancies

Eliot, Tears of Repentance

Nominated Assembly (‘Barebones Parliament’) convenes (4 July)

François de la Varenne, The French Cook (first English translation)

Nominated Assembly resigns, giving power back to Cromwell (12 December)

Grey, A Choice Manual of Rare and Select Secrets

Cromwell installed as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland under the Instrument of Government (16 December)

Marvell, ‘The Character of Holland’

Overton, Vox plebis

Powell, Spirituall Experiences

Rogers, Ohel or Beth‐shemesh

Walton, Compleat Angler Spiritual Experiences of Sundry Beleevers

1654

Seizure of Dutch ships in Carlisle Bay (January)

Milton, Pro populo Anglicano defensio secunda

Peace with the Dutch (April)First Protectorate Parliament convenes

Nedham, A True State of the Case of the Commonwealth

(3 September)

Launch of Cromwell's Western Design, English naval attack on Spanish West Indies (October)

Trapnel, Strange and Wonderful Newes from White‐Hall; The Cry of a Stone; Anna Trapnel's Report and Plea; A Legacy for Saints

1655

Cromwell dissolves the First Protectorate Parliament (22 January)

Cavendish, Philosophical and Physical Opinions; The World's Olio

Penruddock's royalist uprising (March)

Fuller, The Church History of Britain

Henry Cromwell takes up appointment as Major‐General of the army in Ireland (9 July)

Goodwin, A Fresh Discovery

Hartlib, Chymical, Medical and Chyrurgical Addresses; The Reformed

Decimation Tax imposed on property‐owning royalists (21 September)

Commonwealth of Bees Marvell, The First Anniversary of the

Rule of the Major‐Generals in England and Wales (31 October)

Government under his Highness the Lord Protector

W.M., The Queens Closet Opened

Nedham, The Public Intelligencer (continues to 1660)

Talbot, Natura exenterata

Vaughan, Silex scintillans (expanded edn)

Waller, Ayres and Dialogues

1656

Charles II signs treaty with Spain (2 April)

Baxter, Gildas Salvianus: The Reformed Pastor

Second Protectorate Parliament convenes (17 September)

Cowley, Poems

Davenant, The Siege of Rhodes (Part 1)

James Nayler tried and convicted of blasphemy by Parliament (December)

Harrington, The Commonwealth of Oceana

Nedham, The Excellencie of a Free State

Vane, A Healing Question

1657

Decimation Tax and Rule of the Major‐Generals abandoned (28 January)

Harrington, The Prerogative of Popular Government

Humble Petition and Advice; Cromwell offered the crown (23 February)

Nayler, A True Narrative of the Examination, Tryall, and Sufferings of

Fifth Monarchist uprising thwarted (9 April)

James Nayler

Cromwell formally refuses the crown (8 May)

Revised version of Humble Petition and Advice passes in Parliament (25 May)

Cromwell's second installation as Lord Protector (26 June)

Henry Cromwell appointed Lord‐Deputy of Ireland (17 November)

1658

Cromwell dissolves Second Protectorate Parliament (4 February)

Baxter, Call to the Unconverted Marvell, ‘A Poem upon the Death of his

Savoy Conference of Independent ministers (April)

Late Highnesse the Lord Protector’Trapnel, A Voice for the King of Saints

Cromwell dies (3 September)

and Nations

Richard Cromwell proclaimed Oliver's successor in London, and then in Edinburgh and Dublin (September)

1659

Third Protectorate Parliament convenes (27 January)

Bishop, Mene Tekel Davenant, The Cruelty of the Spaniards

Cromwell orders dissolution of Council of Officers (17 April)

in Peru Dryden, Heroic Stanzas

Cromwell forced by army officers to dissolve Third Protectorate Parliament (22 April)

Evelyn, A Character of England; An Apology for the Royal Party; The Late Newes from Brussels

Cromwell forced to recall the Rump Parliament by Council of Officers (7 May)

Unmasked Milton, A Treatise of Civil Power;

Parliament elects Council of State (19 May)

Cromwell resigns (24 May)

Booth's royalist uprising (5–19 August)

Considerations Touching the Likeliest Means to Remove Hirelings out of the Church Vane, A Needful Corrective or Ballance

Rump Parliament reassembles (26 December)

in Popular Government Waller, Dryden, and Sprat, Three Poems upon the Death of his late Highnesse Oliver Lord Protector

1660

General George Monck brings army from Scotland into England (January)

Cowley, Ode, Upon the Blessed Restoration and Returne of his Sacred

Monck reaches London, restores Long Parliament, admitting members excluded by Pride's Purge (February)

Majestie, Charles the Second Dryden, Astrea redux Harrington, The Rota, or, a Model of a

Convention Parliament convenes (25 April)

Free State or Equall Commonwealth

Milton, The Readie and Easie Way

Charles II's Declaration of Breda read in Parliament (1 May)

Nedham, Newes from Brussels

Tatham, The Rump, or, The Mirrour of

Charles II declared King since 30 January 1649 (8 May)

the Late Times Waller, ‘To the King, upon his Majesties

Parliament orders arrest of surviving regicides (14 May)

Happy Return’

Charles II enters London (29 May)

Act of Indemnity and Oblivion (August)

Royal Society inaugural meeting (28 November)

1661

Fifth Monarchist uprising under Thomas Venner suppressed (6 January)

Cowley, A Proposition for the Advancement of Learning; The Visions

Bodies of Cromwell, Ireton, and Bradshaw exhumed and reburied at Tyburn on the twelfth anniversary of the regicide (30 January)

and Prophecies Concerning England, Scotland, and Ireland Davenant, The Siege of Rhodes (Parts 1 and 2)

Cavalier Parliament convenes (8 May)

Dryden, To his Sacred Majesty

Marquess of Argyll executed (27 May)

Corporation Act (December)

1662

Charles II marries Catherine of Braganza (21 May)

Anon., Rump: or an Exact Collection of the Choycest Poems and Songs Relating

Act of Uniformity requires the use of the Book of Common Prayer and episcopal ordination of all ministers (July)

to the Late Times Butler, Hudibras: the First Part Fuller, History of the Worthies of

Royal Society chartered (15 July)

England

Declaration of Indulgence (December)

Licensing Act imposes new print regulations

1663

Staple Act

Butler, Hudibras: the Second Part

Cowley, Verses on Several Occasions

1664

Conventicle Act outlaws meetings outside of the Church of England (May)

Cavendish, Sociable Letters and Philosophical Letters

English seize New Amsterdam, rename it New York (August)

Etherege, The Comical Revenge, or Love in a Tub

Flecknoe, Love's Kingdom

1665

Second Anglo‐Dutch War (to 1667)

Bunyan, The Holy City

Great Plague in London

Dryden, The Indian Emperor

English victory near Lowestoft (3 June)

Hooke, Micrographia

English defeat at Bergen (2 August)

Five Mile Act

Hutchinson, ‘Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson’ (c.1665–71)

1666

Four Days’ Battle (1–4 June)English victory near North Foreland

Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners

(25 July)

Great Fire of London (2–6 September)

Cavendish, The Description of a New World, called the Blazing World; Observations on Experimental Philosophy

Fell, Women's Speaking Justified

Waller, Instructions to a Painter

1667

Dutch fleet burns English ships and sails up the Medway (10–13 June)

Dryden, Annus mirabilis

Milton, Paradise Lost (10‐book edition)

Treaty of Breda ends war with the Dutch (21 July)

Marvell, Last Instructions to a Painter (written)

Clarendon impeached and exiled (October)

1668

Treaty of Aix‐la‐Chapelle (2 May)

Dryden appointed Poet Laureate by Charles II

Dryden, Of Dramatick Poesy

Traherne, Centuries of Meditation

1669

James, Duke of York, makes public his conversion to Catholicism

Dryden, Tyrannic Love

Walwyn, Physick for Families

1670

Hudson's Bay Trading Co. established (March)

Dryden, The Conquest of Granada

Behn, The Forced Marriage

Second Conventicle Act

1671

Stop of the Exchequer (January)

Buckingham, The Rehearsal

Milton, Paradise Regained; Samson Agonistes

1672

Third Anglo‐Dutch War (to 1674)

Dryden, Marriage à‐la‐Mode

Charles II's Declaration of Indulgence permits nonconformist and (private) Catholic worship (March)

Marvell, The Rehearsal Transpros’d

Wycherley, Love in a Wood

English embassy to the Hague (June)

1673

Parliament forces withdrawal of Declaration of Indulgence; passes Test Act. Catholics and Protestant dissenters are prohibited from holding public office (March)

Behn, The Dutch Lover

Milton, Of True Religion

Marvell, The Rehearsal Transpros’d: The Second Part