MEET THE AUTHOR
Historian JESSIE CHILDS discusses her new book about the English Civil War The Siege of Loyalty House
What inspired you to write this book?
My last two books were about the Tudors, but I’ve always wanted to write about the Civil War. I think it’s the most important event in the most important century of our history, but it’s terribly neglected. So it was a case of asking myself, “What’s the most accessible way to introduce people to this incredible period?” For me, the answer was the story of the siege of Basing House near Basingstoke, which was a Royalist stronghold. The property was colloquially known as Loyalty House because of “Aymez Loyaulte”, the family motto of its owner John Paulet, the 5th Marquess of Winchester.
It was one of the longest sieges of the Civil War, and also one of the most brutal. And because of the really interesting people who were there – there were artists, apothecaries and actors, as well as merchants and the architect Inigo Jones – I could look not only at the military history, the exciting story of the siege, but also beyond those siege lines and out onto other vistas, be they commercial or artistic or scientific or even global, because the governor of Basing House was one of the first colonisers of Barbados.
Why do you think that the English Civil War is such an important event?
More lives were lost per head than during the First World War, so it was catastrophic in that sense. In fact it was probably the most traumatic event that’s happened here since the Norman Conquest – there was so much destruction. Faringdon, which was then in Berkshire but is now in Oxfordshire, was reduced to “ashes and rubbage”, in the words of the poet John Taylor.
There was huge destruction of property, there was terrible loss of life, and we chopped off the head of a king. That had not happened before. It was a precursor to the revolutions in the USA and France, and then we had a republic for 11 years. We abolished the monarchy, and we abolished the House of Lords. That’s an epochdefining, nation-building event, and yet people seem to be more interested in the Tudors. It’s extraordinary to me.
Why do people overlook the Civil War?
I think there’s a perception – which I think is misguided – that the subject is too difficult, too complicated, too multifaceted, and there’s too much religion. I think what it really is is just unfamiliar. I don’t think the era is taught enough in schools, and I don’t think TV programmemakers are ambitious enough. There’s no English Civil War equivalent to Ken Burns’ 1990 documentary series about the US Civil War, and there aren’t any great films or dramas about the English Civil War either. Perhaps there’s a lack of ambition in the powers that be.