Date of Award

5-1990

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

History

Abstract

At the beginning of his reign the City of London was well-disposed toward King Charles I. Yet, in early January 1642, he felt compelled to flee the environs of the capital. This essay seeks to describe the cause of alienation between King and capital, concluding that Charles' policies so abused the City and its leaders that their natural royalist predisposition was shattered and London became the engine of Parliament's victory in the Civil War. Chapter One describes the physical appearance of the City of London at the time. The second chapter is a demographic survey portraying the city fathers' as they wrestled with the problems of poverty, over-population, and social unrest. Chapter Three is an examination of the Constitution of the City. The final section is a survey of the relationship between City and Crown from the accession of Charles I to the election of the first thorough-going Puritan Lord Mayor, Sir Isaac Penington, in July 1642.

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