Pax Britannica: A History of the British Empire

Samuel Hume

Pax Britannica is a narrative history podcast covering the empire upon which the sun never set. Shortlisted for the 2023 Independent Podcast Awards, Pax Britannica follows the events which created an empire that dominated the globe. Hosted by Dr Samuel Hume, a historian of British Imperial history, Pax Britannica aims to explain the rise and eventual fall of the largest empire in history. After all, how peaceful was the 'British Peace'? read less
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Episodes

03.28 - In the Name of God, Go!
2d ago
03.28 - In the Name of God, Go!
Back in London, Oliver Cromwell loses patience with the Rump Parliament. The New Model Army is getting restless, and Parliament appears to be prioritising its own power over the reforms its soldiers fought for. Have your say in the Airwave survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PAXBRITANNICA Join the Mailing List! Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes! Jonathan Barth, The Currency of Empire, Money and Power in Seventeenth-Century English America (Cornell University Press, 2021). Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick. The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023. Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022. John Morrill, The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Vol 2: 1 February 1649 to 12 December 1653, 2023 Nicholas Rodger, The Command of the Ocean: a Naval History of Britain, Volume 2, 1649-1815, 2004. Ian Roy, 'Prince Rupert', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Roger Hainsworth, Christine Churches, The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars, 1652-1674, 1998. Christian J. Koot, ‘A “Dangerous Principle”: Free Trade Discourses in Barbados and the English Leeward Islands, 1650—1689’, Early American Studies, 5.1 (2007), 132–63. John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660. Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004. Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
03.25 - Evil as well as Good
15-04-2024
03.25 - Evil as well as Good
After the Battle of Kentish Knock, the English navy is over confident. At the Battle of Dungeness, the Dutch hit back, led by the resurgent Admiral Tromp. Have your say in the Airwave survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PAXBRITANNICA Join the Mailing List! Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes! Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick. The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Nicholas Rodger, The Command of the Ocean: a Naval History of Britain, Volume 2, 1649-1815, 2004. Ian Roy, 'Prince Rupert', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Roger Hainsworth, Christine Churches, The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars, 1652-1674, 1998. Christian J. Koot, ‘A “Dangerous Principle”: Free Trade Discourses in Barbados and the English Leeward Islands, 1650—1689’, Early American Studies, 5.1 (2007), 132–63. Thomas Leng, ‘Commercial Conflict and Regulation in the Discourse of Trade in Seventeenth-Century England’, The Historical Journal, 48.4 (2005), 933–54 Jonathan Barth, The Currency of Empire, Money and Power in Seventeenth-Century English America (Cornell University Press, 2021). John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660. Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004. Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
03.22 - A Mountain of Gold
18-03-2024
03.22 - A Mountain of Gold
Two of the greatest naval commanders of the 17th century - Robert Blake and Maarten Tromp - face off in the English Channel. After months of growing hostilities, a refusal to salute English ships is enough to spark a shooting war between the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Have your say in the Airwave survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PAXBRITANNICA Join the Mailing List! Facebook | Twitter | Patreon | Donate Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes! Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick. The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Nicholas Rodger, The Command of the Ocean: a Naval History of Britain, Volume 2, 1649-1815, 2004. Ian Roy, 'Prince Rupert', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Roger Hainsworth, Christine Churches, The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars, 1652-1674, 1998. Christian J. Koot, ‘A “Dangerous Principle”: Free Trade Discourses in Barbados and the English Leeward Islands, 1650—1689’, Early American Studies, 5.1 (2007), 132–63. Thomas Leng, ‘Commercial Conflict and Regulation in the Discourse of Trade in Seventeenth-Century England’, The Historical Journal, 48.4 (2005), 933–54 Jonathan Barth, The Currency of Empire, Money and Power in Seventeenth-Century English America (Cornell University Press, 2021). John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660. Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004. Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
03.21 - Going Dutch
04-03-2024
03.21 - Going Dutch
On the surface the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and the Commonwealth of England should have been firm allies: both Protestant, both Republics, both naval powers. And yet the first of the Anglo-Dutch Wars was fought between them. Was this just commercial rivalry, or were there other reasons for this global naval conflict? Have your say in the Airwave survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PAXBRITANNICA Join the Mailing List! Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes! Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick. The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Nicholas Rodger, The Command of the Ocean: a Naval History of Britain, Volume 2, 1649-1815, 2004. Ian Roy, 'Prince Rupert', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Christian J. Koot, ‘A “Dangerous Principle”: Free Trade Discourses in Barbados and the English Leeward Islands, 1650—1689’, Early American Studies, 5.1 (2007), 132–63. Thomas Leng, ‘Commercial Conflict and Regulation in the Discourse of Trade in Seventeenth-Century England’, The Historical Journal, 48.4 (2005), 933–54 Jonathan Barth, The Currency of Empire, Money and Power in Seventeenth-Century English America (Cornell University Press, 2021). John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660. Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004. Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
03.16 - To Hell or Barbados
29-01-2024
03.16 - To Hell or Barbados
Transportation, to Europe or to England's colonies, was the fate for thousands of Irish soldiers, clergy, and civilians. Join the Mailing List! Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes! Sarah Barber, ‘Settlement, Transplantation and Expulsion: A Comparative Study of the Placement of Peoples’, in British Interventions in Early Modern Ireland, ed. by Ciaran Brady and Jane Ohlmeyer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005). Heidi J. Coburn, 'Cromwellian Transplantations of the Irish to the Colonies', in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives (Liverpool, 2020) John Cunningham, ‘Politics, 1641-1660’, Cambridge History of Ireland Elaine Murphy, Micheál Ó Siochrú, Jason Peacey, John Morril, eds. The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Crmwell: Volume II, 2022. David Edwards, ‘Political Change and Social Transformation, 1603-1641’, Cambridge History of Ireland Micheál Ó Siochrú, (ed.) Kingdoms in Crisis: Ireland in the 1640s, 2000 Micheál Ó Siochrú, Confederate Ireland, 1642-1649, 1999 Micheál Ó Siochrú, God’s Executioner: Oliver Cromwell and the Conquest of Ireland. Micheál Ó Siochrú, 'Atrocity, Codes of Conduct and the Irish in the British Civil Wars 1641-1653', Past & Present , 195 (May, 2007), pp. 55-86 Micheál Ó Siochrú and David Brown, 'The Down Survey and the Cromwellian Land Settlement', in Jane Ohlmeyer (ed), The Cambridge History of Ireland: Volume II. Pádraig Lenihan, Consolidating Conquest: Ireland 1603-1727 (England: Pearson, 2008). Pádraig Lenihan, Confederate Catholics at War, 1641-49, 2001 Pádraig Lenihan, 'Siege Massacres in Ireland: Drogheda in Context', in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives Patrick J. Corish, ‘The Cromwellian Regime, 1650–60’, in A New History of Ireland: Early Modern Ireland 1534-1691, ed. by T. W. Moody, F. X. Martin, and F. J. Byrne (Oxford University Press, 2009) Carla Gardina Pestana, 'Atlantic Mobilities and the Defiance of the Early Quakers', Journal of Early Modern History, 2023. James Scott Wheeler, 'Ormond and Cromwell: The Struggle for Ireland', in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives Martyn Bennett, ‘God’s Wall of Brass: Cromwell’s Generals in Ireland, 1649-1650’ in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives Derek Hirst, ‘Security and Reform in England’s Other Nations, 1649-1658’, in Michael J. Braddick. The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution. Jenny Shaw, Everyday Life in the Early English Caribbean: Irish, Africans, and the Construction of Difference (Athens, United States: University of Georgia Press, 2013) R. Scott Spurlock, ‘Cromwell and Catholics: Towards a Reassessment of Lay Catholic Experience in Interregnum Ireland’, in Constructing the Past: Writing Irish History, 1600-1800, ed. by Mark Williams and Stephen Paul Forrest, Irish Historical Monographs (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2010). Jennifer Wells, ‘Proceedings at the High Court of Justice at Dublin and Cork 1652-1654, part 2’, Archivium Hibernicum, 67, 76-274. Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
03.15 - Protestants, Ascendant
14-01-2024
03.15 - Protestants, Ascendant
Irish land is awarded to English Adventurers and Cromwellian soldiers, and Protestant dominance is secured. Join the Mailing List! Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes! Sarah Barber, ‘Settlement, Transplantation and Expulsion: A Comparative Study of the Placement of Peoples’, in British Interventions in Early Modern Ireland, ed. by Ciaran Brady and Jane Ohlmeyer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005). Heidi J. Coburn, 'Cromwellian Transplantations of the Irish to the Colonies', in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives (Liverpool, 2020) John Cunningham, ‘Politics, 1641-1660’, Cambridge History of Ireland Elaine Murphy, Micheál Ó Siochrú, Jason Peacey, John Morril, eds. The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Crmwell: Volume II, 2022. David Edwards, ‘Political Change and Social Transformation, 1603-1641’, Cambridge History of Ireland Micheál Ó Siochrú, (ed.) Kingdoms in Crisis: Ireland in the 1640s, 2000 Micheál Ó Siochrú, Confederate Ireland, 1642-1649, 1999 Micheál Ó Siochrú, God’s Executioner: Oliver Cromwell and the Conquest of Ireland. Micheál Ó Siochrú, 'Atrocity, Codes of Conduct and the Irish in the British Civil Wars 1641-1653', Past & Present , 195 (May, 2007), pp. 55-86 Micheál Ó Siochrú and David Brown, 'The Down Survey and the Cromwellian Land Settlement', in Jane Ohlmeyer (ed), The Cambridge History of Ireland: Volume II. Pádraig Lenihan, Consolidating Conquest: Ireland 1603-1727 (England: Pearson, 2008). Pádraig Lenihan, Confederate Catholics at War, 1641-49, 2001 Pádraig Lenihan, 'Siege Massacres in Ireland: Drogheda in Context', in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives Patrick J. Corish, ‘The Cromwellian Regime, 1650–60’, in A New History of Ireland: Early Modern Ireland 1534-1691, ed. by T. W. Moody, F. X. Martin, and F. J. Byrne (Oxford University Press, 2009) James Scott Wheeler, 'Ormond and Cromwell: The Struggle for Ireland', in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives Martyn Bennett, ‘God’s Wall of Brass: Cromwell’s Generals in Ireland, 1649-1650’ in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives Derek Hirst, ‘Security and Reform in England’s Other Nations, 1649-1658’, in Michael J. Braddick. The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution. Jenny Shaw, Everyday Life in the Early English Caribbean: Irish, Africans, and the Construction of Difference (Athens, United States: University of Georgia Press, 2013) R. Scott Spurlock, ‘Cromwell and Catholics: Towards a Reassessment of Lay Catholic Experience in Interregnum Ireland’, in Constructing the Past: Writing Irish History, 1600-1800, ed. by Mark Williams and Stephen Paul Forrest, Irish Historical Monographs (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2010). Jennifer Wells, ‘Proceedings at the High Court of Justice at Dublin and Cork 1652-1654, part 2’, Archivium Hibernicum, 67, 76-274. Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
03.14 - To Hell or Connacht
24-12-2023
03.14 - To Hell or Connacht
The Commonwealth, hungry for land, confiscates massive amounts of property from Irish Catholics. Most are ordered to move elsewhere in Ireland, to the Province of Connacht or County Clare. To refuse risked death. Join the Mailing List! Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes! Sarah Barber, ‘Settlement, Transplantation and Expulsion: A Comparative Study of the Placement of Peoples’, in British Interventions in Early Modern Ireland, ed. by Ciaran Brady and Jane Ohlmeyer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005). Heidi J. Coburn, 'Cromwellian Transplantations of the Irish to the Colonies', in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives (Liverpool, 2020) John Cunningham, ‘Politics, 1641-1660’, Cambridge History of Ireland Elaine Murphy, Micheál Ó Siochrú, Jason Peacey, John Morril, eds. The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Crmwell: Volume II, 2022. David Edwards, ‘Political Change and Social Transformation, 1603-1641’, Cambridge History of Ireland Micheál Ó Siochrú, (ed.) Kingdoms in Crisis: Ireland in the 1640s, 2000 Micheál Ó Siochrú, Confederate Ireland, 1642-1649, 1999 Micheál Ó Siochrú, God’s Executioner: Oliver Cromwell and the Conquest of Ireland. Micheál Ó Siochrú, 'Atrocity, Codes of Conduct and the Irish in the British Civil Wars 1641-1653', Past & Present , 195 (May, 2007), pp. 55-86 Pádraig Lenihan, Consolidating Conquest: Ireland 1603-1727 (England: Pearson, 2008). Pádraig Lenihan, Confederate Catholics at War, 1641-49, 2001 Pádraig Lenihan, 'Siege Massacres in Ireland: Drogheda in Context', in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives James Scott Wheeler, 'Ormond and Cromwell: The Struggle for Ireland', in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives Martyn Bennett, ‘God’s Wall of Brass: Cromwell’s Generals in Ireland, 1649-1650’ in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives Derek Hirst, ‘Security and Reform in England’s Other Nations, 1649-1658’, in Michael J. Braddick. The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution. Jenny Shaw, Everyday Life in the Early English Caribbean: Irish, Africans, and the Construction of Difference (Athens, United States: University of Georgia Press, 2013) R. Scott Spurlock, ‘Cromwell and Catholics: Towards a Reassessment of Lay Catholic Experience in Interregnum Ireland’, in Constructing the Past: Writing Irish History, 1600-1800, ed. by Mark Williams and Stephen Paul Forrest, Irish Historical Monographs (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2010). Jennifer Wells, ‘Proceedings at the High Court of Justice at Dublin and Cork 1652-1654, part 2’, Archivium Hibernicum, 67, 76-274. Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
03.13 - The Tory War
17-12-2023
03.13 - The Tory War
After the defeat of the Royalist coalition, the last military resistance to the Commonwealth in Ireland are irregular Tories - isolated, cut off from the chain of command, thousands of veteran Irish fights live off the land, establish bases in bogs and hills, and hit the English occupation forces wherever they can. The Commonwealth goes to extreme lengths to crush them. Join the Mailing List! Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes! Sarah Barber, ‘Settlement, Transplantation and Expulsion: A Comparative Study of the Placement of Peoples’, in British Interventions in Early Modern Ireland, ed. by Ciaran Brady and Jane Ohlmeyer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005). John Cunningham, ‘Politics, 1641-1660’, Cambridge History of Ireland Elaine Murphy, Micheál Ó Siochrú, Jason Peacey, John Morril, eds. The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Crmwell: Volume II, 2022. David Edwards, ‘Political Change and Social Transformation, 1603-1641’, Cambridge History of Ireland Micheál Ó Siochrú, (ed.) Kingdoms in Crisis: Ireland in the 1640s, 2000 Micheál Ó Siochrú, Confederate Ireland, 1642-1649, 1999 Micheál Ó Siochrú, God’s Executioner: Oliver Cromwell and the Conquest of Ireland. Micheál Ó Siochrú, 'Atrocity, Codes of Conduct and the Irish in the British Civil Wars 1641-1653', Past & Present , 195 (May, 2007), pp. 55-86 Pádraig Lenihan, Consolidating Conquest: Ireland 1603-1727 (England: Pearson, 2008). Pádraig Lenihan, Confederate Catholics at War, 1641-49, 2001 Pádraig Lenihan, 'Siege Massacres in Ireland: Drogheda in Context', in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives Wheeler, James Scott, 'Ormond and Cromwell: The Struggle for Ireland', in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives Martyn Bennett, ‘God’s Wall of Brass: Cromwell’s Generals in Ireland, 1649-1650’ in Martyn Bennett, Raymond Gillespie, and Scott Spurlock (eds), Cromwell and Ireland: New Perspectives Derek Hirst, ‘Security and Reform in England’s Other Nations, 1649-1658’, in Michael J. Braddick. The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution. R. Scott Spurlock, ‘Cromwell and Catholics: Towards a Reassessment of Lay Catholic Experience in Interregnum Ireland’, in Constructing the Past: Writing Irish History, 1600-1800, ed. by Mark Williams and Stephen Paul Forrest, Irish Historical Monographs (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2010). Wells, Jennifer, ‘Proceedings at the High Court of Justice at Dublin and Cork 1652-1654, part 2’, Archivium Hibernicum, 67, 76-274. Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices