Yorkshire politics, 1658-1688.

This thesis traces, chronologically, political developments In
Yorkshire between September 1658 and December 1688. It examines in
detail the attitudes and activities of the county's gentry, their
relationship with each other, the acquisition and exercise of their
power In the locality and their political relationship with the crown
In parliament and in the locality.
In order to investigate the nature of the gentry's authority In the
county, each chapter contains sections on local office holding, the
gentry's Influence In municipal corporations and on parliamentary
elections. It is argued that at the Restoration the cavalier gentry
restored their power successfully In all these spheres. No major
purges of local office holding took place until 1679-1683 when Charles
II removed his most determined political opponents with the general
support of Yorkshire's loyalist gentry. James II purged opponents of
his catholicising policy and alienated the majority of the gentry by
undermining their authority in the county.
The period is characterised by the gentry's consensus on the
fundamental principles which should govern politics and government but
disagreement over how problems should be solved. By '1667 the Yorkshire
gentry were dissatisfied with the Restoration settlement. Gentry
attitudes during the 1670s were fluid but there was a general trend
towards 'country' opposition, fuelled by fears of the growth of
popery. When the monarchy and prerogative were attacked by the extreme
opposition, between 1679 and 1683, most of the Yorkshire gentry
rallied to the crown's defence. Between 1681 and 1685 loyalist gentry
enjoyed, for the first time, a mutually supportive alliance with the
monarchy. James II's subversion of gentry power in the localities, his
attack on parliamentary freedom and his undermining of protestantism
broke this alliance with the gentry. When faced with a choice of
loyalties, most Yorkshire gentry opted for protestantism and liberty.