Q&A ALL ABOUT THE STUARTS
Why was Stuart England seen as a ‘failed state’ by its European counterparts?
One argument that attracted particular attention in my recent book, , was the claim that “to contemporaries and foreigners alike, 17th century England was a failed state: a discomfiting byword for seditious rebellion, religious extremism and regime change.” It was part of the book’s emphasis on Stuart England’s characteristic insecurity, instability and vulnerability, which is also reflected in its title. The nickname ‘Duyvel-Landt’, or ‘Devil-Land’ was applied to mid-17th century England by an anonymous Dutch pamphleteer in 1652, who had been