Act of Oblivion: Robert Harris (1660)
Welcome to the sixth season of Travels Through Time. We begin with one of England’s great contemporary historical novelists. Robert Harris is the number one bestselling author of works like Fatherland, An Officer and a Spy and Conclave. Today he takes us back to the historical period at the heart of his latest novel, which is called Act of Oblivion.
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In England the mid seventeenth century was a bloody and disorienting time. In 1649, after years of civil war, King Charles I was executed on a chilly January day in Whitehall. For eleven years thereafter England became a republic. It was a restless time of social experimentation that saw the early stirrings of imperial expansion.
In 1658, however, the figure at the centre of this regime, Oliver Cromwell, died. The power vacuum created by his death was never adequately filled. In early 1660, after an unpredictable few months, the dead king’s oldest surviving son, Charles Stuart, was invited to return from the Continent to regain the throne for the Stuart family.
King Charles II returned to London on 29 May 1660, his thirtieth birthday. (Wiki Commons)
Charles II entered London in triumph on 29 May 1660. The enthusiastic welcome he received was caught best of all in the pages of John Evelyn’s journal.
This day came in Majestie Charles the 2d to London after a sad & long Exile, and Calamitious Suffering both of the King & Church: being 17 Yeares: This was also his Birthday, and with a Triumph of above 20,000 horse and foote, brandishing their swords and shouting with unexpressable joy. The ways straw’d with flowes, the bells ringing, the streets hung with Tapisstry, fountains running with wine. The Major, Alderman, all the Companies in the liveries, Chains of Gold, banners, Lords & Nobles, Cloth and Silver, Gold & Velvet ever body clad in the windows and balconies all set with Ladys, Trumpets, Musick.
So began a new period in English history, one that is known to us today as ‘The Restoration’. But while many people’s minds were fixed on creating a more settled future, there was some outstanding business. After all the violence and division, an Act of Oblivion was deigned to bring an end to the acrimony. The only ones to be excluded from this law – which expunged all previous ‘crimes’ – were the fifty nine ‘regicides’. These were Charles I’s fiercest opponents. The individuals who had signed his death warrant in January 1649.
This is the historical backdrop to Robert Harris’s new novel Act of Oblivion. The book opens at the time of Charles II’s return to London, which was also the moment that an astonishing international manhunt commenced for two of the killers of the king. These regicides, Edward Whalley and William Goffe, had fled England to Boston in the colony of Massachusetts. Even now this is a vast distance: an ocean and three thousand miles away. But back then, it was not far enough to guarantee their safety.
In this episode Harris guides us through the events of 1660. He explains the nature of the political experiment of the 1650s and the challenges that Cromwell’s death brought. He gives us his assessment of Charles II’s personality and he tells us about the research that he did and the character he created, as he wrote Act of Oblivion.
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Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris is available now.
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Show notes
Scene One: 29 May 1660. Charles II returns to London after being exiled and is proclaimed lawful monarch.
Scene Two: 29 August 1660. The Act of Oblivion is passed in Parliament.
Scene Three: 27 July 1660. Colonels Edward Whalley and William Goffe, two regicides, arrive in Boston
Memento: Charles I’s death warrant
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Presenter: Peter Moore
Guest: Robert Harris
Production: Maria Nolan
Theme music: ‘Love Token’ from the album ‘This Is Us’ By Slava and Leonard Grigoryan
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About Robert Harris
Robert Harris is the author of fifteen bestselling novels: the Cicero Trilogy - Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator - Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, The Ghost, The Fear Index, An Officer and a Spy, which won four prizes including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, Conclave, Munich, The Second Sleep, V2 and Act of Oblivion. His work has been translated into forty languages and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in West Berkshire with his wife, Gill Hornby.
1660 - Events in the run up to the Act of Oblivion
January
On the first day of January 1660 General Monck orders some of his troops to cross from Scotland in England. Within days Monck decides to continue this march to London. Arriving at St Albans, just to the north of the capital, Monck writes to the Parliament, requesting that all London’s troops be dispersed to locations across the country.
February
The month starts with unrest among soldier in London. Parliament votes to cover their outstanding pay and then orders a number of these to leave the capital. Following the withdrawal of these troops, Monck’s army enters London. On 11 February the general writes to Parliament, mollifying them and asking for steps to be taken towards a new election.
Shortly after seventy three purged MPs from the Parliament of the mid-1640s are invited back. Legislative work begins to undo some of the resolutions passed since Charles I’s trial and execution in January 1649. Monck is meanwhile proclaimed as commander in chief of the army in England, Scotland and Ireland. A day of thanksgiving is held.
March
The mood is tense. In London moves to restore the old regime go forward while competing interests, in the capital and out in the country, publish tracts defending their political stances. On 17 March Monck holds a secret meeting with Sir John Grenville, the representative of Charles Stuart, at St James’s Palace. At this Monck makes a pledge of alleagiance to the man he considers to be the rightful king.
April
In London the Convention Parliament assembles and plans accelarate for Charles’s return. Some opposition remains. John Milton’s work, The Ready and Easy Way to Establishing a Free Commonwealth tries desperately to put the counter case.
May
The crucial month of May begins with Charles Stuart’s ‘Declaration of Breda’ being presented before the House of Parliament. The Lords and Commons knowledge that England is a monarchy. Over the days that follow excitement mounts. Bonfires burn and the streets fill with popular rejoicings. On 8 May Charles II is proclaimed in the streets, while in Westminster a declaration is passed affirming that, since January 1649, he has been England’s rightful king.
Meanwhile a fleet of ships leave for the Continent to collect Charles and bring him home. It leaves on 11 May and Charles and his vast entourage embark on the twenty third. The king sails on the flagship Naseby. Two days later he lands at Dover and begins his progress back to the capital. On 29 May, his thirtieth birthday, Charles enters London where he is greeted with huge enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, on 14 May, Parliament has passed a bill that demands the arrest of all the surviving regicides.
August
On 29 August, the Act of Oblivion is passed in Parliament.
King Charles II of England arrives in Rotterdam, May 1660
Image credit: Wiki Commons
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