Architecture & Politics in Stuart England c.1603 - c.1688 - HOA00003H
- Department: History of Art
- Credit value: 40 credits
- Credit level: H
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
Module summary
This course explores the relationship between architecture and politics in England from 1603 to 1688.
Module will run
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2022-23 to Summer Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
Seventeenth-century England has long been recognised as the stage
upon which rival ideas of government, religion and authority strove to
assert themselves. From these conflicts emerged the notions which
shaped the early modern era and which still resonate with contemporary
notions of nationhood and identity. England’s political course veered
between ideologically opposed extremes. During the 1630s, England was
ruled without a Parliament by the king’s direct authority, as
exercised through his Ministers of State. The collapse of the regime
and its policies unleashed the turmoil of successive Civil Wars,
effectively concluded by Charles I’s trial and execution in 1649.
The new Commonwealth eventually found leadership under Oliver
Cromwell as Lord Protector. After its disintegration after Cromwell’s
death, the monarchy was restored in the person of Charles II. This act
defined the following two decades (still known as the ‘Restoration’
period), which lasted until Charles’ brother, James II, was challenged
by leading aristocrats on account of his pro-Catholic policies. This
political circle invited the Protestant William of Orange to take the
throne as joint-sovereign with Mary, sister to Charles and James.
Despite vast upheavals witnessed during the century,
architecture was one means of demonstrating social status and
visualising messages about ideological identity. What emerges
consistently across this period is the gradual assimilation of a
classically-inspired type of architecture, drawn from both written
treatises and Continental visual exemplars. Two crucial figures in
this process provide the linchpins for this module: Inigo Jones and
Christopher Wren. These two architects’ separate careers raise not
only questions of architectural design and patronage, but also the
wider meanings behind questions of style, form, and the ways in which
these may have been understood in seventeenth-century England.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module students should have acquired:
- a knowledge of landmark works in the careers of Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren, and comparative architectural projects from their contemporary period.
- a knowledge of the immediate historical and cultural contexts from which architectural designs emerged.
- an awareness of seventeenth-century discourses upon architecture and its wider cultural significance.
- an ability to analyse architectural design through examination of preparatory drawing and built fabric.
- A critical awareness of the debates within the discourse of architectural history upon the meanings of stylistic associations in seventeenth-century England.
Indicative assessment
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100.0 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100.0 |
Module feedback
You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.
The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Supervisor during their Office Hours.
Indicative reading
- Kerry Downes, Christopher Wren, London 1971.
Lisa Jardine, On a Grander Scale: the Outstanding Career of Sir Christopher Wren, London 2002.
Timothy Mowl and Brian Earnshaw, Architecture without Kings, Manchester 1995.
John Summerson, Sir Christopher Wren, London 1953.
John Summerson, Inigo Jones, Harmondsworth 1966.
John Summerson, Architecture in Britain 1530-1830, New Haven and London 1993.
David Watkin, English Architecture: a Concise History, London 2001.
Giles Worsley, Classical Architecture in Britain: the Heroic Age, New Haven and London 1995.