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18th Century history

  • ‘Time, that great discoverer of truth and falsehood’: the calendar change of 1752 and the dating of Easter

    Robin Eagles

    As Easter weekend – late this year – approaches, Dr Robin Eagles, Senior Research Fellow in the House of Lords 1660-1832 section, discusses the timing of Easter and the 18th century change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar… On…

  • Edmund Burke and the Brexit debates

    Paul Seaward

    For the second week in a row, parliamentary business is dominated by the government’s ‘Brexit bill’. For many, this bill rekindles the dilemma – put so famously by Edmund Burke – of what an MP should do when their opinion…

  • A ‘Glorious’ Revolution?

    Robin Eagles

    This week the BBC’s new series ‘British History’s Biggest fibs’ tackles some of the myths surrounding the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688-1689. Dr Robin Eagles casts a glance over some aspects of the revolution’s commemoration… In July 1789 the House of…

  • ‘A good preparation for Christmas’: Revolution and Augustan Yuletides

    Robin Eagles

    Christmas cheer at times came a distant second to political intrigue for those featured in our recently published volumes, The House of Lords 1660-1715. Dr Robin Eagles and Dr Charles Littleton tell us more… Christmas was not always a time of…

  • Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: Paul Seaward, ‘Do our buildings shape us’?

    Paul Seaward

    Last month our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, spoke at our ‘Parliaments, politics and people’ seminar on ‘Do our buildings shape us? On oblongs, hemicycles, and the style of British politics.’ Here he reports back on his paper… We shape our…

  • History of Parliament dissertation competition 2016

    Emma Peplow

    Every year the History organises a competition for the best undergraduate dissertation presented in 2016 on a subject relating to British or Irish parliamentary or political history before 1997. Universities across the country submit a wide range of entries of…

  • Parliaments, Politics & People seminar: Alex Lock, ‘Sir Thomas Gascoigne (1745-1810), national politics and the York county election of 1784’

    Emma Peplow

    Thanks to Parliament Week, we’re a little behind in our ‘Parliaments, politics and people’ seminar reports. Before tonight’s seminar, here’s our latest report… A month ago Dr Alexander Lock, Curator of Modern Archives and Manuscripts at the British Library, spoke…

  • The ‘marriage’ of Aubrey de Vere, 20th earl of Oxford

    History of Parliament

    Today, our post is another inspired by our recently-published volumes on the House of Lords. In this blog the editor, Dr Ruth Paley, describes the infamous matrimonial affairs of the 20th earl of Oxford… Sometime in the early 1660s, Aubrey…

  • Parliamentary timetabling

    Paul Seaward

    Back to Westminster for MPs this week! Our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, discusses the history of the parliamentary timetable… It may be a warm October, but with the nights drawing in, the party conferences over and Parliament back, there’s still…

  • Parliament, patriotism and the Last Night of the Proms

    Robin Eagles

    As the Proms come to an end this Saturday with the traditional ‘Last Night’, Dr Robin Eagles, Senior Research Fellow in the House of Lords 1660-1832 section, discusses the political history of the proms… Few events appear more synonymous with…

  • ‘At whose door must this resentment be laid?’ The Whig Schism of 1717

    Robin Eagles

    The fall-out from Brexit has caused considerable disarray in the British party system, and over the course of this summer four parties either have new leaders or are holding leadership contests. Over the summer we’ll take a look at some…

  • House of Lords 1660-1715… and divorce

    History of Parliament

    The History of Parliament publishes our first set of volumes focusing on the House of Lords TODAY. Covering the period 1660-1715, this five-volume work is still available for a special introductory price at Cambridge University Press. Over the past month…