Teaching & Learning Guide for

Author's Introduction This article is intended to introduce the Restoration and the last generation of historical scholarship about it. Opening with a critical literature review, it thereafter focuses on a series of questions about the fragile character of the Restoration settlement and about the unsettling political and religious issues of the reign of Charles II. The article employs a three‐kingdom approach and integrates the Restoration histories of England, Scotland, and Ireland. It concludes with an appraisal of James II and the origins of the Glorious Revolution. Focus Questions How has the political and religious history of the Restoration been reconceived in the last twenty‐five years? What were the principal factors that contributed to political instability during the Restoration? How successful were the established Episcopal churches of England, Scotland, and Ireland in maintaining their positions against other religious interests? What were the principal dimensions of the crisis that began in England in 1679, and to what extent did this crisis become a general crisis of church and state in all three kingdoms? Was the Glorious Revolution a reaction to a Stuart drive for absolutism in the three kingdoms? Consider evidence that supports and contradicts such an interpretation. Author Recommends Tim Harris, Restoration : Charles II and His Kingdoms , 1660–1685 (London: Allen Lane, 2005) and Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685–1720 (London: Allen Lane, 2006). Tim Harris's two‐volume study of Britain in the era of the Restoration and the Glorious Revolution is now the standard survey. These volumes are the first to provide a three‐kingdom framework for the study of the era, and they provide insightful treatment of both Charles II and James II. Gary S. De Krey, Restoration and Revolution in Britain: A Political History of the Era of Charles II and the Glorious Revolution (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2007). My survey of British political history is intended to help students and non‐specialists master the era of the Restoration and the Glorious Revolution. It integrates the histories of England, Ireland, and Scotland, and it explores connections between political divisions and religious disagreements. John Spurr, England in the 1670s: ‘This Masquerading Age’ (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000). A comprehensive survey of the history of the second decade of Charles II's rule. Spurr examines both the unsettled parliamentary politics at the beginning of the decade and the crisis of politics and religion with which the decade concluded. William A. Speck, Reluctant Revolutionaries: Englishmen and the Revolution of 1688 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). William Speck's history of the Glorious Revolution was written for its tercentenary. The book remains a student‐friendly survey of the era of James II and the Revolution. It pays significant attention to the issues of the 1680s and to the perspectives of critical political actors. Edward Vallance, The Glorious Revolution: 1688 – Britain's Fight for Liberty (London: Little, Brown, 2006). A recent history of the Revolution that begins with the Popish Plot. Vallance's well‐written narrative is intended for a broad audience. It challenges numerous assumptions about the Glorious Revolution, including the idea that it was a relatively bloodless affair. Mark Goldie, ‘John Locke and Anglican Royalism’, Political Studies , 31 (1983): 61–85; and ‘The Unacknowledged Republic: Officeholding in Early Modern England’, in T. Harris (ed.), The Politics of the Excluded, c.1500–1850 (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001), 153–94. Two influential essays (of dozens) authored by one of the most penetrating historians of Restoration politics, religion, and political theory. The first defines the political ethos of Anglican royalism, which was challenged both by John Locke and by dissenting authors. The second examines office‐holding in early modern England and analyzes the implications of its broad extent. Steven Pincus, ‘The European Catholic Context of the Revolution of 1688–89: Gallicanism, Innocent XI, and Catholic Opposition’, in A. I. Macinnes and A. H. Williamson (eds), Shaping the Stuart World, 1603–1714: The Atlantic Connection (Leiden: Brill, 2006), 79–114. An important restatement of the absolutist interpretation of James II in the broader context of European affairs by another leading Restoration‐era historian. The essay previews arguments that the author will further develop in future work. Clare Jackson, Restoration Scotland, 1660–1690: Royalist Politics, Religion and Ideas (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2003). A critical volume in the current revival of interest in Restoration Scotland. Jackson examines the relationship between royalist politics, religious ideas, and political theory as well as the collapse of the royalist paradigm in the reign of James II and the Glorious Revolution. Restoration Ireland: Always Settling and Never Settled , ed. Coleman A. Dennehy (Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate, 2008). An anthology of essays by established and junior scholars that builds upon the renewal of interest in Irish history between the 1640s and the 1690s. Comprehensive in scope, the volume covers political, religious, social, and intellectual history. Online Materials http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/g04.pdf Quick overview of the reign of James II, the Glorious Revolution, and its constitutional aftermath for the absolute beginner. http://www.british‐history.ac.uk/Default.aspx Essential research site with digital copies of some of the most important printed primary sources from the Middle Ages through the modern period. Its premium content (available by subscription) includes the Calendar of State Papers for the reigns of Charles II and James II. http://www.constitution.org/liberlib.htm The ‘Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics’ maintained by The Constitution Society includes digital copies

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