Chapter 18: The emergence of court and country 'parties'

• What did the ‘Court’ refer to?

  Those who supported the political and religious direction of the monarch
• What did the ‘Country’ refer to?

  Those who were concerned about elements of the monarch’s policy
• The Cabal functioned as a court party attempting to influence Parliament. 
• By the time the Cabal collapsed in 1674, the ‘Country’ party gained the Duke of Buckingham and Earl of Shaftesbury
• Court

  • Key figures - Charles II, Earl of Danby
  • Interests and aims - (for Charles) toleration of dissenters and Catholics + strengthen ties with France
  • Attitude to Parliament - manipulated parliaments via Crown patronage system
• Country

  • Key figures - William Cavendish, Shaftesbury, Buckingham
  • Interests and aims - anti-Catholic, wanted to defend Protestantism, hostile to dissenters, Catholics and France
  • Attitude to Parliament - distrusted government, anti-absolutist and wanted to defend the rights of Parliament against the Crown's prerogative
• November 1675: publication of the pamphlet A Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend in the Country
• Significance of ‘A Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend in the Country’

  • probably written by Shaftesbury
  • argued that there was a conspiracy to impose absolutism by a ‘distinct party’ of ‘high episcopal’ men (bishops) and ‘Cavalier’ men through a standing army
• December 1677: Andrew Marvell’s An Account of the Growth of Popery and Arbitrary Government argued that there had been a ‘design’ to establish England ‘into an absolute tyranny’
• Peace of Nijmegen (1678): peace treaty between France and the Dutch
• Significance of the Peace of Nijmegen (1678)

  • Charles prorogued Parliament because he no longer needed war funds
  • However: kept his 30,000 troops and raised Country’s fears of absolutism through standing army
• Historian Tim Harris on the development of court and country


  ‘over the period 1660-78 the Crown experience a considerable loss of prestige’.
• What was Tim Harris’ argument that ‘over the period 1660-78 the Crown experience a considerable loss of prestige’ based on?

  • A monarch was supposed to be majestic
  • A monarch was expected to achieve glory for his nation through foreign policy
  • An English monarch was supposed to defend the Protestant faith
  • A monarch was supposed to protect the subjects in lawful rights
• Whigs and Tories derived from the ‘country’ and ‘court’ divide respectively. 
• Tories' beliefs

  • Anti-Exclusionist
  • divine right
  • civil authority comes from God
  • no right of resistance, even against tyranny
  • the threat of absolutism from Dissenters, republicans and Parliament
  • Church of England
• Whigs' beliefs

  • Exclusionist - supported the exclusion of James II from succession
  • Parliament representative of people and protector of Protestantism, liberty
  • civil authority from people
  • right of resistance against tyranny - contract of government
  • threat of absolutism linked to Catholicism
  • more favourable towards religious tolerance and dissent