The Storm over the gentry was a major historiographical debate among scholars that took place in the 1940s and 1950s regarding the role of the gentry in causing the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...
of the 17th century. (The British
gentry
Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past.
Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies
''Gentry'', in its widest c ...
was the rich landowners who were not members of the aristocracy.)
Economic historian
R.H. Tawney had suggested in 1941 that there was a major economic crisis for the nobility in the 16th and 17th centuries and that the rapidly-rising gentry class was demanding a share of power. When the aristocracy resisted, Tawney argued, the gentry launched the civil war.
Lawrence Stone, in a 1948 article, made an effort to use statistical data and methods to prove Tawney's thesis. However, Stone's argument was marred by methodological mistakes, and he came under heavy attack from
Hugh Trevor-Roper
Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton (15 January 1914 – 26 January 2003) was an English historian. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford.
Trevor-Roper was a polemicist and essayist on a range of ...
and others. Trevor-Roper argued that the gentry was declining and so tried to improve its fortune through the law or the court office. Christopher Thompson, for example, showed that the peerage's real income was higher in 1602 than in 1534 and grew substantially by 1641. Many other scholars entered the fray and produced many valuable studies.
American scholar JH Hexter developed a widely accepted view that largely ended the debate by saying neither a rise nor a decline of the gentry could explain the Civil War; such theories could explain only a deliberate revolution, which did not take place.
[J.H. Hexter, 'Storm over the Gentry', in ''Reappraisals in History'' (1961) pp 117-62]
See also
*
Historiography of the United Kingdom
The historiography of the United Kingdom includes the historical and archival research and writing on the history of the United Kingdom, Great Britain, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. For studies of the overseas empire see historiog ...
*
Stuart period
The Stuart period of British history lasted from 1603 to 1714 during the dynasty of the House of Stuart. The period ended with the death of Queen Anne and the accession of King George I from the German House of Hanover.
The period was plagu ...
References
Further reading
*{{cite book, author1=Fritze, Ronald H. , author2=William B. Robison , name-list-style=amp , title=Historical Dictionary of Stuart England, 1603-1689, url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio00frit, url-access=registration , year=1996, publisher=Greenwood , page
205€“7
* Hexter, J.H. ''On History'' (1979) pp. 149-236.
* Hexter, Jack H. ''Reappraisals in history: New views on history and society in early modern Europe'' (1961)
* Loades, David, ed. ''Reader's Guide to British History'' (2003) 2:1200-1206
* MacDonald, William W. "English Historians Repeating Themselves: The Refining of the Whig Interpretation of the English Revolution and Civil War." ''Journal of Thought'' (1972): 166-175
online* Richardson, R.C. ''The Debate on the English Revolution'' (Issues in Historiography) (1998). pp 98-132.
* Stone, Lawrence. ''Social Change and Revolution in England, 1540–1640'' (1965)
* Stone, Lawrence. ''The Crisis of the Aristocracy, 1558–1641'' (1965), 841pp
*
Trevor-Roper, R. H. "The Gentry 1540-1640." ''Economic History Review'' 1 (1953): 1-55.
* Tawney, R. H. "The rise of the gentry, 1558-1640." ''Economic History Review'' 11.1 (1941): 1-38
online launched a historiographical debate
* Tawney, R. H. "The rise of the gentry: a postscript." ''Economic History Review'' 7.1 (1954): 91-97
online
Historiography of England
Social class in the United Kingdom