The Royalist Republic
Literature, Politics, and Religion in the Anglo-Dutch Public Sphere, 1639–1660

In 1649, Charles I was executed before Whitehall Palace in London. This event had a major impact not only in the British Isles, but also on the continent, where British exiles, diplomats and agents waged propaganda battles to conquer the minds of foreign audiences. In the Dutch Republic, above all, their efforts had a significant impact on public opinion, and succeeded in triggering violent debate. This is the first book-length study devoted to the continental backlash of the English Civil Wars. Interdisciplinary in scope and drawing on a wide range of sources, from pamphlets to paintings, Helmer Helmers shows how the royalist cause managed to triumph in one of the most unlikely places in early modern Europe. In doing so, Helmers transforms our understanding of both British and Dutch political culture, and provides new contexts for major literary works by Milton, Marvell, Huygens, and many others.

Introduction: the royalist republic; Part I. Public Spheres and Discursive Communities: 1. The translation of politics: civil war polemic in the Dutch Republic; 2. Unity and uniformity: the first civil war and the Anglo-Scoto-Dutch puritan community; 3. Emerging royalism: anti-puritanism and Anglo-Scoto-Dutch history; Part II. Maps of Meaning: 4. Eikon basilike translated: the cult of the martyr king in the Dutch Republic; 5. 'When in my neighbourhood the cannons raged': war and regicide in estate poetry; 6. The cry of the royal blood: revenge tragedy and the Stuart cause in the Dutch Republic; 7. The English devil: stereotyping, demonology, and the First Anglo-Dutch War; 8. Representing restoration: politics, providence, and theatricality in Vondel and Milton; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Helmer J. Helmers is Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) Veni-fellow and lecturer in early modern Dutch literature and culture at the University of Amsterdam. He specializes in early modern political culture, news culture and Anglo-Dutch exchange.