***A Best Book of 2022, The Times*** ***Book of the Year, Spectator*** A myth-busting biography of Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, which retells the dramatic story of the civil war from her perspective Henrietta Maria, Charles I's queen, is the most reviled consort to have worn the crown of Britain's three kingdoms. Condemned as that 'Popish brat of France', a 'notorious whore' and traitor, she remains in popular memory the wife who wore the breeches and turned her husband Catholic - so causing a civil war - and a cruel and bigoted mother. Leanda de Lisle's White King was hailed as 'the definitive modern biography about Charles I' (Observer). Here she considers Henrietta Maria's point of view, unpicking the myths to reveal a very different queen. We meet a new bride who enjoyed annoying her uptight husband, a leader of fashion in clothes and cultural matters, an innovative builder and gardener and an advocate of the female voice in public affairs. No bigot, her closest friends included 'Puritans' as well as Catholics, and she led the anti-Spanish faction at court linked to the Protestant cause in the Thirty Years' War. When civil war came, the strategic planning and fundraising of his 'She Generalissimo' proved crucial to Charles's campaign. The story takes us to courts across Europe, and looks at the fate of Henrietta Maria's mother and sisters, who also faced civil wars. Her estrangement from her son Henry is explained, and the image of the Restoration queen as an irrelevant crone is replaced with Henrietta Maria as an influential 'phoenix queen', presiding over a court with 'more mirth' even than that of the Merry Monarch, Charles II. It is time to look again at this despised queen and judge if she is not in fact one of our most remarkable. 'this is revisionist history at its absolute best' ANDREW ROBERTS 'beautifully written and endlessly fascinating' ALEXANDER LARMAN 'popular history of the finest kind' RONALD HUTTON

The book provides an overview and analysis of the witch trials in the Scottish Borders in the 17th century. The 17th century was a time of upheaval in Scottish and British history, with a civil war, the abolition of the monarchy, the plague and the reformation all influencing the social context at the time. This book explores the social, political, geographical, religious and legal structures that led to the increased amount of witch trials and executions in the Scottish Borders. As well as looking at specific trials the book also explores the role of women, both as accuser and as accused.

Tracing the interwoven traditions of modern welfare states in Europe over five centuries, Thomas McStay Adams explores social welfare from Portugal, France, and Italy to Britain, Belgium and Germany. He shows that the provision of assistance to those in need has faced recognizably similar challenges from the 16th century through to the present: how to allocate aid equitably (and with dignity); how to give support without undermining autonomy (and motivation); and how to balance private and public spheres of action and responsibility. Across two authoritative volumes, Adams reveals how social welfare administrators, critics, and improvers have engaged in a constant exchange of models and experience locally and across Europe. The narrative begins with the founding of the Casa da Misericordia of Lisbon in 1498, a model replicated throughout Portugal and its empire, and ends with the relaunch of a social agenda for the European Union at the meeting of the Council of Europe in Lisbon in 2000. Volume 1, which focuses on the period from 1500 to 1700, discusses the concepts of 'welfare' and 'tradition'. It looks at how 16th-century humanists joined with merchants and lawyers to renew traditional charity in distinctly modern forms, and how the discipline of religious reform affected the exercise of political authority and the promotion of economic productivity. Volume 2 examines 18th-century bienfaisance which secularized a Christian humanist notion of beneficence, producing new and sharply contested assertions of social citizenship. It goes on to consider how national struggles to establish comprehensive welfare states since the second half of the 19th century built on the power of the vote as politicians, pushed by activists and advised by experts, appealed to a growing class of industrial workers. Lastly, it looks at how 20th-century welfare states addressed aspirations for social citizenship while the institutional framework for European economic cooperation came to fruition

A Chronological History of the British Civil Wars, in England, Scotland and Ireland. Covering all of the battles, events of the first Civil War leading up to the Regicide of King Charles I, the Second Civil War, the Third Civil War, the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the Irish Confederate War. The Establishment of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector. The Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland, the first Anglo- Dutch war, the Anglo Spanish War, the colonizing of the New World, and the death of Oliver Cromwell and the events that lead to the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660. . This book endeavors to provide you with something refreshing and new. An easy to use interactive ready reference covering the turbulent period between 1639 -1661 all in chronological order. . Twenty Two Turbulent Years 1639-1661. The turning point that changed Britain forever, detailing all the events ( over130 battles with the Commanders) during the Bishops War 1639-40, The Irish Rebellions, 1641-49. The First English Civil War, 1642-46. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms, 1644-51, The Second English Civil War,1647-48, Events leading to the Regicide of King Charles I on January 30th. 1649. The Third English Civil War, 1648-51. The Scottish Civil War 1649-51. Oliver Cromwell's Conquest of Ireland, 1649-51. The establishment of The Commonwealth 1649-53, and the Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell. 1653-58. after Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658, succeeded by his son Richard Cromwell, as Lord Protector and his subsequent removal nine months later, leaving the way clear for the restoration of King Charles II in 1660. Expansion of the English Navy, with the First Anglo Dutch War 1652-54. The Anglo Spanish War and conquest of the Caribbean colonies 1654-60. English Commonwealth Navy in the Caribbean. ( Barbados). The Americas: June 9th.1650 The Harvard Corporation. Colony of Maryland and the English Civil War. Colony of Massachusetts. Rhode Island passes the first law in North America making slavery illegal. May 18th. 1652. New Haven Colony, Connecticut. Virginia Colony ( 1653). Influence on the American constitution. The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates. Civil War Commanders. Parliamentarians. Civil War Commanders. Royalists. Commanders Irish and Covenanters.