J. F. Merritt. Westminster 1640–60: A Royal City in a Time of Revolution.

Abstract

This is a book about Westminster town (not city, it lacked an incorporated government) in topsy-turvy times from the Long Parliament until the last days of England's Republic (1640–1660). Westminster was home to explosive events, but J. F. Merritt argues that its spaces and structures are “invisible” in existing work and their impacts neglected. So much changed so quickly. The king, Privy Council, royal court, prerogative courts, and the Abbey's dean and chapter all disappeared. Westminster seemed suddenly vulnerable and its government more fragile. Real and rumored conspiracies and attempted assassinations made people edgy. Leveller plots on Westminster soil involving Westminster people deepened insecurities as the republic fell apart and each new royalist uprising seemed more serious than the last. Westminster was the “royal city” with a reputation for loyal royalism and, unsurprisingly, parliamentary/republican authorities worried about a royalist Trojan horse within their walls. Concerns were sharpened by the apparent substandard performance of Westminster's trained bands in putting down trouble. The Militia Company set up under Parliament authority in 1643 was more effective in quashing disorder and rooting out delinquents, but it became too intrusive for many.