Stuart Successions is a three-year project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which examines the writing printed at moments of royal and protectoral succession in Britain between 1603 and 1702.

From October 2015, the project team of Andrew McRae (PI), Paulina Kewes (CI), and John West (Impact Manager) will be working on a follow-on project entitled The Stuart Successions: Fresh Approaches to the Understanding of Seventeenth-Century History and Literature, about which more can be read here.

The project team at the Universities of Exeter and Oxford is looking at a wide range of printed sources and shedding light on the largely neglected body of succession literature in seventeenth-century Britain. We are seeking to understand how writers responded to unpredictable moments of political change and to uncover the ways their work helped to shape political personalities, ideas, and actions across a century of unprecedented and violent upheaval.

On this website you can find further information about the project, along with details of the publications and resources that have emerged, or that are forthcoming, as a result of our research, including: a searchable on-line database of succession literature; an edited anthology of primary material; and a wide range of analytical and interpretative essays, including an edited volume. You can also keep track of our progress and contribute to the project’s discussions via our blog.