The Civil War and the Interregnum hold a prime place in the history of English political thought. There is a high degree of unanimity amongst historians that English political discourse faced an abrupt and total turning point in the 1640s and that the period between 1640 and 1660 gave rise to an exceptionally diverse body of political understanding and interpretation. One of the most significant and far-reaching traditions to emerge upon the stage of English political thinking was republicanism, in the writings of such men as John Milton, Marchamont Nedham, James Harrington and Algernon Sidney. Whilst scholars have long been aware of the great importance of these theorists, they have been keen to emphasize two issues in so far as the moment of the emergence of republicanism is concerned.

In the first place, they have pointed out that distinctively republican themes were discussed in a comprehensive manner relatively late. During the Civil War the idea of kingship was tenaciously held, and republicanism only gained currency for the first time after the regicide, as a device to legitimate the foundation of the republic. Secondly, and closely related to this, scholars have stressed even more strongly that before the Civil War there were no discernible signs of republicanism. That is to say, the republican strand of political discourse only appeared in England after the collapse of the traditional frames of reference. Before this there was simply ‘no room for republican notions’; the dominant modes of discourse stressing eternal unity, harmony and hierarchy effectively inhibited the emergence of republican modes of thinking.