عنوان

The political career of Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill, 1636-1660.

Number

TLets392120

Title Proper

The political career of Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill, 1636-1660.

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Little, Patrick John Seymour.

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Birkbeck (University of London)

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2000

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

Birkbeck (University of London)

Text preceding or following the note

2000

Text of Note

This thesis explores the career of Lord Broghill, one of the most important politiciansof the Civil War and Interregnum period. The first chapter looks at his political'apprenticeship' in the late 1630s and early 1640s, and his place in the Boyle dynasty,which had a profound affect on his later career. Chapters two and three consider hisexperience of the Irish rebellion in the 1 640s; his involvement in the factionalism ofhis home province of Munster; and his contact with the political parties atWestminster. Chapter four evaluates Broghill's relationship with Oliver Cromwell,and charts his rise to the head of a distinct Irish Protestant party, with its owncoherent political strategy for the 'settlement' of all three nations. From 1655 until1656 Broghill was president of the council of Scotland, which is the subject ofchapter five. There he tried to create a moderate, civilian administration, and to makecompromises with the 'Resolutioners' within the Scottish Kirk. His activities can beseen to parallel the attempts of Henry Cromwell to bring stability to Ireland. Inchapter six there is an attempt to step back from the narrative, and to examine twoimportant influences on Broghill's political career in the 1650s: the perilous state ofhis finances, and the strength of his religious convictions, both of which encouragedhim to push for 'settlement'. Chapter seven provides a detailed analysis of Broghill 'srole in the 1656-7 parliament, his importance in framing the Humble Petition andAdvice and the offer of the crown to Cromwell, and his skill in marshalling English,Irish and Scottish MPs in support of his reform programme. With so much at stake,Cromwell's refusal of the crown was a personal as well as a political disaster forBroghill and his allies. Chapter eight, which takes the form of an epilogue, followsBroghill's decline in influence and enthusiasm at the end of the decade, and suggestsreasons for his support of the Restoration in 1660.

Little, Patrick John Seymour.

Birkbeck (University of London)

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y