Hobbes and the ‘Covenanted Interest’ of the Three Kingdoms

Dr. Kirsteen MacKenzie

Hobbes and the ‘Covenanted Interest’ of the Three Kingdoms

How did Hobbes approach the ‘Covenanted Interest’ in Behemoth?  This paper will explore his attitude towards the National Covenant, the Solemn League and Covenant and its adherents throughout the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. It will contextualise his opinions on the ‘covenanted interest’ by comparing and contrasting his approach with other contemporary writers and histories which also had connections to the Stuart family and the royal court, most notably Edward Hyde’s History of the Rebellion (revised 1671, published 1702- 1704) and William Dugdale’s A Short View on the Late Troubles in England (1681).  In doing so it will place Behemoth in its contemporary context and reflect upon the complexities of writing and publishing histories of the civil war in the aftermath of the conflict. It will conclude by highlighting Anglo-centric biases and misunderstandings by Hobbes and his contemporaries about events in the other Stuart kingdoms, therefore arguing that Anglo-centric approaches to the Wars of the Three Kingdoms was not just the sole preserve of English Parliamentarians and Whig historians

Dr Kirsteen M MacKenzie is a historian and broadcaster specialising in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638-1660 and Jacobitism c.1688-1788.  Her monograph on the Solemn League and Covenant and the Three Kingdoms c.1643-1663 was published by Routledge in 2017.  Her current interests are in British and Irish book history c.1603-1707. You can follow Dr MacKenzie on Twitter @kirsteenmm.

This is the second of four talks from the Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury Society