The two centuries between the Wars of the Roses and the Glorious Revolution saw the end of the feudal order, astonishing revolutions in church and state, a literary renaissance, two ruling queens and one executed king in a deeply patriarchal and hierarchical society, civil wars, the beginnings of the British empire, and the emergence of a recognizably modern society of newspapers, scientific experiments, and political parties. These extraordinary developments were, however, far from being natural or predetermined. This course will explore how such dramatic transformations took place in a society seemingly resistant to change.
