Parliament, print and the politics of disinformation, 1642–3

Abstract

This article explores the political uses of disinformation during the English civil war. It argues that forged and falsified publications formed part of a sophisticated propaganda strategy employed by the parliamentarian war party, aimed at discrediting Charles I during the first months of the conflict. It therefore offers an important corrective to traditional emphases on the anxieties that partisan print engendered. Furthermore, by showing that this strategy drew on both the practices and texts associated with early Stuart scribal opposition to Caroline rule, the article suggests an important link between pre‐war manuscript culture and the print practices of the sixteen‐forties.

Deportment, emotion and moderation at the Glasgow Assembly, 1638

“…Hamilton's conduct was on a par with other public pronouncements that sought to 'appease moderate opinion' and reduce the detrimental impact of Laudian religious innovations on the status quo. 53 Leading Covenanters jockeyed for the centre ground by responding with gentle and deferential requests that Hamilton remain with the assembly. Henderson told the audience that 'in all thinges', the assembly 'shall be so moderat', that 'the word of God and reason shall seeme to proceed in everie thing, and that we shall not goe forward ane steppe, but as a clear light shall be holden out before us'.…”