Kentish rebellion assisted by a mutiny in the Downs

Historical Context Note

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Domains

Civil Wars, Revolutions and Insurrections

Dates

Date of occurrence 1648-05-27

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

In the spring of 1648, when Charles I was in the possesion of the Parliamentarians - under arrest at Carisbrooke Castle, on the Isle of Wight - riots broke out in support of the Royalist cause across the South East. In Kent, rebels quickly seized many key towns, and their position was reinforced when the royalists took possession of three key 'castles of the Downs', at Walmer, Deal and Sandown. Moreover, the crews of ships at the Downs naval base, at Chatham on the River Medway, also mutinied, and helped the Kentish rebels to besiege Dover Castle.

General Fairfax, who had been heading north to deal with the Scottish threat, was forced to divert to face this new challenge. However, the Parliamentarians-turned-Royalists were no match for the New Model Army, and when the two forces met at the

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

179 words

Save this article