This thesis examines a wide variety of writings by exiles in the English Revolution and its aftermath, emphasising the personal and political import of exilic testimonies, and the difficulty of distinguishing between the two. Employing a case study approach, I begin by considering the experiences of a prominent royalist, Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, in his first exile, focusing heavily on his devotional work, Contemplations and Reflections on the Psalms of David. I then analyse the impact on royalist exiles, as manifested in their correspondence, diaries and poetry, of ceremony and grief, with particular reference to the ministry of the Anglican divine, George Morley, in Antwerp in 1651-3. Internal royalist exile is also considered, notably the cavalier sub-genre of 'London' poetry generated by numerous Acts of Banishment from the capital during the 1640s and '50s, and I also give critical attention to how royalists respond to being confined to their estates. Parliamentarian figures are also featured in this study, as I demonstrate that exile, and the cultural forms in which it is couched, is by no means the sole preserve of royalists; indeed, that exile with its root causes in the English Revolution extends well beyond the cut-off point provided by the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. To this end, I appraise the poetry and translations of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, composed at Nun Appleton after he retires from publiclife in 1650, as well as the correspondence ofthe regicide Williarn Goffe, who flees to the New Jerusalem of New England in 1650, dying there nearly twenty years later. Writings of exile are found to both reinforce and bridge the central factional divide of the period, to display artifice and artlessness, often in equal measure, and to articulate a rich diversity of survivalist responses, including stoicism, companionship, and denial.

This thesis seeks to offer a re-evaluation of the nature of political culture in England during the years of civil war through the use of visual material. There exists a rich body of pictorial evidence and yet it is frequently overlooked completely or used very selectively to illustrate conclusions reached through close studies of other source material, particularly popular print. However, this thesis takes as its starting point the intensely visual nature of early modern political and popular culture and utilises material as wide-ranging as court portraiture, satirical woodcuts and objects such as coins and medallions. By focusing in particular on the visual language of idealised kingship which developed under Charles l, this thesis will question the existence of the bi-polar model of political participation so frequently depicted in the historiography of the period by demonstrating the conservative and consensual nature of much of the imagery. Therefore, this study explores the manner in which a broad and popular audience responded to the pictorial depiction of their king as divine and as the fulcrum of social order. This makes it necessary to consider the manner in which the imagery of idealised kingship was disseminated outside the court, therefore placing it within the context of an increasingly politicised populace. Through this, the extent to which models of conflict and consensus could co-exist will be demonstrated, leading to an evaluation of the intrinsically conservative self-identification of the parliamentarian cause and of popular allegiance, particularly through the polemical constructs of 'cavalier' and 'roundhead '. It will be suggested that propagandist images of kingship became embedded in political culture because they reflected broadly accepted norms of social behaviour. This proves to be essential in understanding the influence of and the extent to which Charles I became the personification of the body politic, ultimately enabling his aura of sanctity to deepen during the wars and after the regicide, whilst hindering the possibility of the Rump establishing its own distinctive imagery of political authority. By offering an alternative body of evidence, this thesis seeks to demonstrate that the visual language of king ship became the language of social normality and authority.

This thesis investigates the origins of the political and religious movement which developed within the New Model army between March 1647 and May 1649, by examining the preceding period (1644-1647) when the army was formed and began its activity. It tries to elucidate how an army, raised with strictly military aims and subjected to a particularly rigorous discipline, could develop representative structures (General Council, agitators) and constitutional programmes. As there is relatively little direct evidence concerning the army's religion and politics before 1647, I have analysed the influences to which the soldiers would have been subjected. Two main factors have been isolated, which contributed to the process of politicisation in the New Model. One concerns the army more directly and specifically: the propaganda addressed to soldiers by Parliament (newsbooks, declarations) army commanders and especially preachers. By instilling a sense of personal commitment to a cause and justifying resistance of subjects to their King, this propaganda encouraged the soldiers to think and decide for themselves. This, in turn, tended to conflict with the unquestioning obedience required by the military code. The other factor is more long-term and tends to involve English society at large. It is a complex of processes taking place in church and state on the eve and during the civil war. In both spheres a greater participation of common people in public affairs began to develop. The spreading of "gathered churches" and the campaign of popular petitions and demonstrations in 1640-1642 are the most significant examples. Finally, some attention has been paid to the early manifestations of a political or religious radical consciousness, in the New Model and other parliamentary armies. The experience of the latter may also have had an influence on Fairfax' s army.