The people of West Nottinghamshire and the English Revolution

Contrary to the recent tendency to obscure the English Revolution behind a nebulous 'British' dimension, we reassert the convention that the central issue related essentially to England. No causative part could be played by Ireland, since it lacked a central government, and was dominated by English colonists. Scotland's priority was to extend the influence of the Kirk, tending towards a theocratic polity. England, by contrast, was becoming a fully politicised nation-state, and this was the context pf parliament's challenge to the crown. The most obvious causes were distinctively English in character and contained within a unifying trend. We see how these emerging patterns of unity applied in the parliamentary stronghold of West Nottinghamshire. This is reflected in the uniquely coordinated economic and political structures through which the practical imperatives of parliamentarians were formed, and in the specific statements of motivation and public principle made by activists.