Introduction

The literature on English republicanism in the seventeenth century is too extensive to be done justice here, but several key approaches and developments continue to influence the historiography. Republicanism as 'a language, not a programme', and explored the neo-Roman concept of political liberty. The chapters in the present collection address all of the above. The case study of the Wansleben Manuscript as well as the many others brought together in this volume show possible avenues for further research on the significance of English republican ideas and networks in Europe. Blair Worden's chapter, 'Liberty for Export', traces traditions of English thinking, from the sixteenth century through the Civil Wars to the eighteenth century, whose passage across the Channel is explored in later chapters. Rachel Foxley, meanwhile, has identified several German works among the range of sources used by the political journalist Marchamont Nedham in support of the English Common wealth.