Part 3 - Royalism and Loyalism

Summary

Royalism and loyalism are a consistent theme within public and private discourse in North-East Wales in the period 1640 to 1688. Loyalty was a key element within Welsh historic culture, born out of a respect for lineage and tradition, as well as the Welsh ‘origin’ of the Stuart monarchs and of the Church of England. It forms a constant within North-East Welsh gentry behaviour and ideals throughout the period, and was a fundamental determinant of political allegiance. Even when the policies of James II were to prove too much for the North-East Welsh gentry to bear, their resistance to him was short-lived and their support for the new regime post-1688 at the very least ambiguous. Their identity, forged over centuries, was dynastic and patriarchal to its core. Legitimacy within an historic tradition was, therefore, a vital factor in royalism from 1642 to 1660 and loyalism after the Restoration. Chapter 9 explores loyalty as a rhetorical and visual device. It examines the ways in which the North-East Welsh gentry displayed their loyalty in the Civil Wars and Interregnum, and Charles I’s appeal to Wales in response to Welsh ideals. The discourse of loyalty was as much visual and material as it was verbal or written. This chapter identifies royalist and loyalist objects that betokened loyalty, and explains their significance within wider North-East Welsh historical culture. These objects range from ‘treacherous objects’ that indicated a royalist allegiance, to those memorialising either a royalist past or present, such as family portraits or funerary monuments. Finally, the chapter briefly examines loyalty in the context of late seventeenth-century politics. It discusses party politics in North-East Wales and the absence of strong party allegiances.

These concepts are then examined in action. Royalism and loyalism are discussed in Chapter 10 in their development and execution during the period. The chapter explores reasons given for royalist allegiance and describes royalist actions in North-East Wales at the outbreak of war in 1642. It then considers royalism at its lowest ebb, following the defeat of 1647 and the execution of Charles I in 1649. North-East Welsh royalist responses to the Interregnum changes in government are instructive in terms of the extent of loyalty and the compromises individuals and families made in this period.