The idea that there was a cultural life to Cromwell’s Protectoral court is unfamiliar to some and unbelievable to others. This event will consider different aspects of that cultural life and then look at elements of how Cromwell has been represented in contemporary culture.  From oil paintings to Richard Harris and Milton to modern fiction; a day of interesting insights and contrasts.

This talk looks at how writers, including Andrew Marvell, John Milton, Edmund Waller and Payne Fisher, represented Cromwell in literary panegyric. Cromwell was reluctant to engage in the kind of programmatic cultural patronage that many early modern political figures developed in order to project their authority in personal terms, yet there was wide public interest in Cromwell’s intentions across Britain and Europe. This tension became in itself a source of literary energy and innovation, as Cromwell’s leading panegyricists sifted different literary languages and parallels for his likenesses. The discussion will look closely at Marvell’s famously ambiguous ‘An Horatian Ode’, as well as some lesser-known, but equally probing, attempts to grasp Cromwell’s cultural significance. The talk will do this in the light of a recent European turn in Civil War literary studies, which has given renewed attention to the continental influences and contexts shaping English vernacular writing during the 1640s and 1650s. The growing importance in the seventeenth century of what has been called ‘public diplomacy’, the use of textual and visual sources to shape European public opinion, meant that Cromwell’s presence in literature was often connected to diplomatic occasions, and the need to ‘translate’ him into others languages and cultures.

This talk will explore how Cromwell has been depicted on screen, in films and on television, from the silent era down to the present day.  It will consider what these portrayals reveal about the times in which they were made, and the ways in which they reflect changing perceptions and interpretations of Cromwell.  Discussion of the portrayals of Cromwell in various films and television productions will be set in the context of wider historiographical trends in Cromwell’s reputation and shifts in public opinion about him.  The talk will look at changes in fashion and will focus in detail on some of the most famous cinematic portrayals of Cromwell.  These include the classic movie Cromwell made in 1970 and starring Richard Harris in the title role; two memorable portrayals of him by Patrick Wymark; and more recently the 2003 film To Kill a King, in which Cromwell was played by Tim Roth.  Throughout, it will seek to contextualise how Cromwell was presented on screen and to assess the films and television productions as forms of historical documentation in their own right.

Drawing on reading almost 200 novels set in the English Civil War, this talk will focus on the ways historiography shifts in fictional depictions. Although the focus will be on the fascinating changes in the depiction of Cromwell it will also look at how interests have shifted and how the Civil War has stood in for a range of contemporary concerns.

Antonia Senior is a novelist, critic and journalist. She studied history at Cambridge University, and has retained a lifelong interest in the Seventeenth Century. Antonia has published three novels, two of which are set during the Civil Wars. Treason’s Daughter was picked for the WH Smith Fresh Talent initiative, and The Tyrant’s Shadow was longlisted for the HWA Gold Crown award.

Antonia has spent more than a decade as the historical fiction reviewer for The Times. She spent thirteen years on staff at The Times in various roles, including acting Business Editor.

Antonia left the paper after the birth of her second child to become a freelancer and writer. She has written for, among others, the Spectator and the Guardian.