by Christopher Thompson
I have never been entirely
happy with the terminology used by historians to describe the events of the
1640s and 1650s in the British Isles and Ireland. Clarendon's use of the phrase
the 'Great Rebellion' appears inadequate in the light of scholarship since
c.1970 or so on the interactions between the three Stuart realms while the term
'the English Revolution' carries the weight of improbable Marxist claims about
the rise of the bourgeoisie and proto-proletarian agitation.
More recently,
investigations of the interactions between Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales
have suggested that the 'Wars of the Three Kingdoms' provides a better title
but this does not fully provide for the requirements of internal pressures and
struggles within those kingdoms.
Having looked around for an
alternative terminology, I wonder whether the French terminology for 'great
uprisings' may be more appropriate, i.e. 'Les grands soulèvements dans les îles
britanniques et en Irlande' or ' le grand soulèvement', since the conflicts of
the 1640-1660 period seem to me to have more in common with the revolt of the
Low Countries after 1566-1567 or the French Wars of Religion from 1562 to 1598
and the Frondes of 1648 to 1653. I should be interested to learn what others
think on this subject.
