The document provides context for English authors from the Restoration period such as Dryden, Pepys, Bunyan, and Behn by summarizing key events in England from the 16th to late 17th centuries. It describes the shift from Catholic to Protestant rule under Queen Elizabeth I and King James I, the tensions between the monarchy and parliament that led to the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell's rule as Lord Protector during the Commonwealth period, and the restoration of the monarchy with King Charles II in 1660. It also briefly discusses the Great Plague of 1665, the Great Fire of 1666, the reopening of theaters, and increased trade and colonization during the Restoration period.

1. The Restoration in
England
Context for Dryden, Pepys, Bunyan, and Behn

2. The Reformation in England
1517: Martin Luther
Protests Catholic Church at
Wittenberg
1547-1553 Protestant
Edward VI
1553-1558 Catholic Queen
Mary I
1558-1603 Protestant Queen
Elizabeth I

3. Queen Elizabeth broadens British “Empire”
Britain enters into slave trade
1583: Charter for Colony of Virginia Granted

4. The Early 17th Century
1603: James I of Scotland ascends
to the throne
1611: Publication of King James
Bible
1625: James dies; his son Charles I
becomes king
Both James and Charles are
“absolutist” kings
Increased Tensions between
Parliament and Crown King James I

5. English Civil War
1642: Parliament raises army 1653-1660 England is a
and civil war begins Commonwealth, not a
Monarchy
Ceremonialists/Monarchists
vs. Puritans/ 1658: Cromwell dies and his
Parliamentarians son replaces him
1649: Charles I tried for 1660: Charles II (son of
tyranny and treachery, Charles I) returns from exile
beheaded in public on a large in France and is crowned
scaffold king; this event is called the
“Restoration” of the
1653: Oliver Cromwell sworn monarchy
in as Protector

6. King Charles I Oliver Cromwell

7. Great Plague of 1665
Bubonic Plague decimates
London
Spread by fleas on rats
Rich flee to countryside;
Gates of London locked
An estimated 100,000
people die in 1665

8. The Great Fire of 1666
80% of London Destroyed, including 13,000 houses

9. 1660: Charles II founds
Royal Adventurers into
Africa (Trade Company)
Hundreds of thousands of
Africans are sent into
slavery
10-30% die in the Middle Passage
Sugar Trade: Barbados,
Surinam, etc.
Abolitionists begin protests in
C18

10. Restoration Daily Life
Theaters re-opened by Catholics and
Charles II Nonconformists (Puritans)
persecuted
Women allowed to perform
onstage Scientific discovery / trade
and colonization
Trade increases
Literary interest in
Coffee! refinement and elegance (in
Book of Common Prayer contrast to Renaissance
imposed extravagance and evocation)

11. Samuel Pepys
Cambridge-educated
Secretary of the Admiralty
Ladies’ man
Pepys (“Peeps”)