John Pym, who was born in 1584 and died in December 1643, was one of the most important Parliamentary figures in the years leading up to the outbreak of the Civil Wars.
He earned a reputation as a parliamentary revolutionary, leading opposition to the arbitrary rule of Charles I. Throughout this time, Pym’s leadership in the Commons was vital for the Parliamentary cause and as a result unsurprisingly he was one of the five MPs who the King and his soldiers unsuccessfully attempted to arrest in the Commons’ Chamber in January 1642.
After hostilities began Pym played a prominent role in shaping the strategy of the Parliamentary cause, especially in negotiating and establishing the all-important alliance with the Scottish Presbyterians through the Solemn League and Covenant, before his career and life were suddenly ended, probably by cancer.
In this programme, Contributing Editor Professor Andrew Hopper of the University of Oxford discusses the importance of Pym with distinguished historian, Dr Stephen Roberts who was the Section Editor of the newly published volumes of the History of the House of Commons between 1640 and 1660.
