As Lord Protector, did Oliver Cromwell seek to make himself leader of a Reformed Protestant alliance in Europe? This talk looks at a forgotten aspect of Cromwell's foreign policy.
Through the examples of the collections of a large sum of money on behalf of the Vaudois Protestants of the Piedmont, the commissioning of a foreign policy mission on their behalf, the extension of this aid to central European Protestants, and the expansion of the merchant colonial efforts in the Atlantic, it is evident that Cromwell sought to expand the powers of the Lord Protector in novel and interesting ways that challenge some of the traditional conceptions of the Protectorate period.
Jordan Sly is a Ph.D. student studying Early Modern Europe and the Early Modern Atlantic World at the University of Maryland, USA. Jordan focuses on intellectual, political, and religious entanglements of the 17th Century with specific focus on the Cromwellian Republic and Protectorate and aspects of early empire. Jordan is also a librarian in the McKeldin Library and an affiliated faculty member of the university's iSchool.
This talk is part of a four part lecture series; for season tickets please click here.
This talk will be recorded and put on a private channel after the 'live talk' for ticket holders to view at their leisure if they miss the live talk or wish to view it again.
We are delighted to welcome over four successive Wednesdays:
Wednesday 28 May – Jordan Sly on 'Protector of the Reformed?'
Wednesday 4 June – John Rees on ‘The Fiery Spirits: London Radicals and Regicides’
Wednesday 11 June – Erica Canela on ‘Cromwell and the Quakers’
Wednesday 18 June – Jonathan Healey on 'The Blood in Winter'
Click on the titles for more information and individual bookings.
PLEASE NOTE: These talks will be held online via Zoom. Joining details will be sent 48 hours before the talk.
