Political and legal conflicts during the English Revolution of 1640–1660

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the main political and legal conflicts of the period of the English Revolution of 1640–1660. The methodological basis of this study is the conflictological, hermeneutic and socio-cultural approaches. The authors focus on the fundamental conflict between supporters of the absolutist reception of the Divine Right of Kings and adherents of the principles of common law, which led to the Civil Wars of 1642–1646 and 1648, as well as the search for new forms of legitimacy during the independent republic and protectorate. The historical experience of the English revolution of the mid-17th century is important, given the study of the possible and the impossible, alternatives between a personalist and representative government, a monarchy and a republic, the power of an oligarchic or military minority and popular sovereignty, contradictions between religious form and political content, the good aspirations of the people. Collective subjects of social dynamics and the negative consequences of their implementation. Based on the study of extensive material, conclusions were drawn that: 1) throughout the entire period of the revolution, that is, from 1640 to 1660, various political and legal ideas collided and competed with each other in the public space and mass consciousness of the British, ranging from official receptions of absolutism and ending with the original concepts of the republic and the people’s 2) conflicting social and cultural communities proposed antagonistic concepts of power, legitimacy and the public good; 3) the political ideas of the conflicting parties were expressed mainly in the language of the Bible, which was the main source of meanings; 4) common law lawyers played a huge role in curbing anarchy and revolutionary chaos.