It was a dramatic scene by design. On the fateful day in January 1642 that King Charles I swept into Parliament expecting to arrest his enemies, he was embarrassed by their absence. Instead of the more famous John Pym, Denzil Holles, John Hampden, Arthur Haselrig, and William Strode, Charles found an older and even more dedicated opponent waiting for him. According to Samuel Butler, it was Alderman John Fowke, newly elected to the common council of London, who met the king and responded to his inquiry about the missing men with a “saucy, insolent speech.” - Apologies for my mispronunciations of Denzil Holles.
John Fowke Studies
Everything John Fowke related. London merchant adventurer and military entrepreneur John Fowke. My scholarship has centered on his role in the outbreak of the English Civil War, the parliamentary victory, and the birth of mass politics. Fowke and his partners shaped the nascent British gunpowder empire through the Restoration. No standalone volume about him exists.
Everything John Fowke related. London merchant adventurer and military entrepreneur John Fowke. My scholarship has centered on his role in the outbreak of the English Civil War, the parliamentary victory, and the birth of mass politics. Fowke and his partners shaped the nascent British gunpowder empire through the Restoration. No standalone volume about him exists.Listen on
Substack App
RSS Feed
Recent Episodes
Share this post