ABSTRACT
The revolution at the centre of the state, with the imperative demand for representative processes and freedom of trade, was reflected in the character of parliamentarian allegiance on the ground. Contemporary commentators were clear that the underlying strength of the parliamentary cause lay in the rise of the independent yeomanry, or “able substantial freeholders”. They had acquired socio-economic weight and local political status, and they showed a general inclination to favour parliament. Similarly, it was recognised that parliament had the backing of the merchants and traders in the towns. This was a striking phenomenon, though historians have evaded the force of it, seeking explanations that ignore the real working character of the market towns. This chapter extends the earlier analysis of merchant radicalism to show that the towns were driven by economic imperatives. They now operated in a coordinated and commercialised interregional market, which engendered a demand for freedom of trade. Contemporary views attributed the parliamentary loyalties of the townspeople to a fundamental objection to the impositions and restraints of royal economics.
