Revisiting the origins of the ‘Roundhead’: Political language, anti-Puritan satire, and the ‘December Days’ of 1641

Bowen, Lloyd ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3458-4740 2027. Revisiting the origins of the ‘Roundhead’: Political language, anti-Puritan satire, and the ‘December Days’ of 1641. The Historical Journal Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This article revisits the contested origins of the political label ‘Roundhead’ during the English Revolution, challenging the conventional view that the term originated spontaneously during the Westminster tumults of December 1641. While historians have generally relied upon John Rushworth’s later account of David Hyde denouncing parliamentary crowds as ‘round-headed dogs’, this study demonstrates that the contemporary evidence is more ambiguous. It explores alternative formulations, particularly Hyde’s reported insult ‘Ram-headed rogues’, and situates both terms within a wider culture of anti-puritan satire, theatrical caricature, and political mockery. Drawing upon pamphlets, dramatic literature, manuscript annotations, and print culture, the article argues that ‘Roundhead’ may already have circulated before December 1641, notably in Richard Brathwaite’s Mercurius Britannicus. The essay therefore proposes a more complex genealogy for the term, showing how political identities emerged through the interaction of print, performance, satire, and popular mobilisation rather than through a single moment of invention.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	0018-246X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	10 July 2026
Date of Acceptance:	7 July 2026
Last Modified:	08 Sep 2026 10:25
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/188107

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