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Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More
George IV and The Regency Era
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In 1811, Great Britain's aging king could no longer rule, and his extravagant son stepped in as Prince Regent. The years that followed saw the defeat of Napoleon, rapid industrial growth, political unrest, and a cultural style associated with elegance and excess. At the center of it all was the future King George iv, a man remembered as much for his buildings, clothes, debts and scandals as for his reign. Learn more about the Regency era and King George IV on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Quint's Several months ago I moved into a new apartment and I've been buying new furniture as of late. One of the other things I've been doing is shopping at Quint's for all my home decorating needs. From soft bedding and washable rugs to curtains, towels, decor and pieces that make a room feel more finished, Quince has become one of those places I trust when I want my home to feel a little more comfortable and put things together without overpaying. 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And right now, all plans are $15 a month, even the unlimited plan. It works on your current phone, your current phone number, and you can keep all of your contacts. That's why I recommend Mint Mobile. To get your new wireless plan for just $15 a month, go to mintmobile.comeed that's mintmobile.comeed cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.comeed that's it. There's no catch. $45 upfront payment required, equivalent to $15 a month dollar new customers on first three month plan only speed slower above 40gb on unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees and restrictions apply. See Mint Mobile for details. British and English history, like Taylor Swift, is often divided into eras that are associated with a monarch or a group of monarchs. You're probably familiar with the term Victorian era, which refers to the period associated with the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. Other English and British eras exist, but they're not all used with the same precision. Some are formal historical periods, some are cultural or literary labels, and some are a shorthand for a period of time. In this episode, I want to focus on the Regency era, which immediately preceded the Victorian era, and on the person it was associated with King George iv. The Regency era is sometimes considered its own thing and sometimes a subsection of the Greater Georgian era. The Georgian era is defined as the reigns of the first four British kings named George of the House of Hanover, who came to power in the aftermath of Queen Anne's death. The Georgian era began in 1714 with the Ascension of George I and ended with the death of George IV in 1830. It sometimes also includes the seven year reign of William IV, who was squeezed between the Georgian and Victoria eras. The Regency era doesn't have a set starting point. It's sometimes considered to have informally started in 1795, but more formally in 1811. It usually goes through the full reign of George IV, even though he was king and not regent. But regardless of where you put the starting point, it has to begin during the reign of King George iii. I covered the reign of George III in a previous episode. He was one of the longest reigning monarchs in British history, having reigned for 59 years. However, in his later years he suffered from a severe mental illness. When a monarch is unable to fulfill their duties, a regent is usually appointed to perform them in the monarch's name. Usually this is done for children who ascended the throne, but it can also be done in cases like George III. The first major regency crisis occurred in 1788. George III became seriously ill, spoke almost continuously and behaved in ways that alarmed his family and ministers. Parliament began debating whether his eldest son should be appointed regent. The king recovered before the matter was settled, but the crisis exposed a serious constitutional problem. Britain had no automatic procedure for transferring royal authority when a monarch became incapacitated. The relationship between George III and his eldest son was already strained. The Prince of Wales was everything his father disliked. The king valued domestic life, restraint and personal duty. The prince, on the other hand, loved gambling, expensive clothes, elaborate buildings, mistresses and public entertainment. He Accumulated enormous debts and associated with opposition politicians, particularly Charles, James Fox and members of the Whig party. The prince expected that a Regency would allow him to dismiss his father's ministers and appoint his political friends. Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger wanted to limit the prince's authority, at least temporarily. That political struggle became unnecessary when George III recovered, but it established the pattern that would reappear just two decades later. Prince George led a scandalous life. He had a relationship with Maria Fitzherbert, a Catholic widow. They went through a marriage ceremony in 1785, but the union was not legally valid under the Royal Marriages act because George III had not approved. Also created political and religious problems because the heir to the throne was prohibited from marrying a Catholic without losing his place in the line of succession. In 1795, George legally married his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick. The marriage was arranged partly to persuade Parliament to pay off his debts. George and Caroline disliked each other almost immediately. They had one child, Prince Charlotte, born in 1796, and then they separated. Both of them lived largely independent lives. George continued to have mistresses, while Caroline traveled abroad and was accused of improper relationships. George's allies investigated her conduct, but they failed to prove adultery conclusively. George III's health deteriorated again in 1810. The death of his youngest and favorite daughter, Princess Amelia, appears to have contributed to the crisis. By the end of the year, the king could no longer carry out his duties. Parliament passed the regency act in 1811. The act appointed the Prince of Wales as regent in his father's name. For the first year, his ability to grant peerages, offices and royal property was restricted. These limits were intended to preserve the possibility that George III might recover and return to power. However, he never did. The prince formally assumed his responsibilities. On February 5, 1811. The prince became George, Prince Regent. Commonly called Prinny by his contemporaries and later by historians, many members of the Whig party expected the new regent to dismiss the Tory government and bring them into office. The prince had spent most of his adult life presenting himself as a friend of Charles James Fox and the Whigs and the political opposition. Once in power, however, he retained the existing ministry. The regency did not produce the political revolution that many had expected. Instead, it continued the policies of George III's later years. But a lot happened during this period socially, culturally and geopolitically. The dominant international event of the early regency was Britain's struggle against Napoleon Bonaparte. Britain had been at war with France almost non stop since 1793, and by 1811, Napoleon controlled or dominated much of continental Europe. Britain's strongest Position was at sea. The Royal Navy's victory at Trafalgar in 1805 had destroyed Napoleon's ability to invade Britain directly. British naval power enabled the country to protect its trade routes, blockade French ports, seize overseas colonies and support military operations worldwide. On land, Britain's main effort was the Peninsular War. In Spain and Portugal, British forces under Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington, fought alongside Portuguese and Spanish forces against Napoleon's armies. The war was difficult and expensive, but Wellington gradually pushed the French out of the iberian Peninsula. In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia. The campaign ended in disaster, weakening the French Empire. Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria and other European powers formed a coalition that drove Napoleon back towards France. Allied armies entered Paris in 1814 and Napoleon abdicated. George, the Prince Regent, became the ceremonial center of the celebrations that followed. European monarchs, generals and diplomats all visited London. The prince hosted receptions and banquets, presenting himself as one of the architects of the victory. His personal contribution to military strategy was almost nothing, but he understood the political value of a good show. Napoleon returned from exile in 1815, beginning the period known as the Hundred Days, on which I've done a previous episode. The Duke of Wellington commanded the allied army that defeated him at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815. The battle ended Napoleon's rule for good and confirmed Britain's position as one of the leading powers in Europe. The defeat of Napoleon marked the beginning of a long period in which Britain faced no comparable European rivals at sea. It helped create the conditions for the expansion of the British Empire during the rest of the 19th century. France wasn't Britain's only enemy during the Regency. The War of 1812 against the United States resulted from several disputes, including British restrictions on American trade, the impressment of sailors, and British relations with Native American nations resisting American expansion. I covered The War of 1812, also in a previous episode. Victory over Napoleon did not bring immediate prosperity. The end of the war created serious economic disruption. During the war, the government had spent heavily on soldiers, sailors, weapons, ships and supplies. But when the war ended, military spending fell. Hundreds of thousands of servicemen returned home and entered the labor market. Industries that had depended upon wartime contracts lost business. Agricultural prices also declined as European trade reopened. Landowners feared that cheap imported grain would reduce their income. Parliament responded with the corn law of 1815, which restricted grain imports until domestic prices reached a higher level. The Corn Laws protected landowners and farmers, but they raised the price of food for urban workers. Bread was a major part of the working class diet, so grain prices had an immediate effect on living standards. The law became a symbol of a political system that appeared to serve the wealthy landowners at the expense of the general population. Britain's political system changed little during the Regency era, even though its society was changing rapidly. Representation in Parliament was based on old borough boundaries. Some small settlements with few voters elected members of Parliament, while large industrial cities such as Manchester had almost no direct representation. These tiny constituencies became known as rotten boroughs. Seats could often be controlled by a landowner or purchased through patronage. Voting rights varied from place to place and were generally restricted to men with property. Most working class and many middle class men could not vote and women had no formal political rights.par After 1815, demands for parliamentary reform grew. Reformers wanted wider voting rights, more equal constituencies, lower taxes, cheaper food and greater freedom of the press. Some sought moderate changes. Others demanded universal male suffrage and annual parliaments. Tensions reached a peak at St Peter's Field in Manchester on August 16, 1819. A large, peaceful crowd gathered to hear reformer Henry Hunt speak. Local authorities ordered the arrest of Hunt and the dispersal of the meeting. The mounted force charged into the crowd with sabers, and at least a dozen people were killed and hundreds were injured. The event became known as the Peterloo Massacre, a reference to the victory at Waterloo. Peterloo damaged the government's reputation and became a powerful symbol of political repression. The Regency also occurred during a major stage of the Industrial Revolution. Britain had already begun industrializing in the 18th century, but the pace of change increased during the early 19th century. Textile manufacturing expanded through the use of spinning machines, power looms and steam engines. Production moved from homes and small workshops into factories. Coal production increased because coal powered steam engines, heated homes and supported iron manufacturing. Improvements in iron production made it possible to build larger machines, stronger bridges and more efficient industrial equipment. James Watt's improvements to the steam engine had been developed before the Regency, but steam power spread more widely during this period. George iii died on January 29, 1820. The Prince Regent now became King George IV at the age of 57. His ascension did not create a sharp break because he had already been exercising royal authority for nine years. His coronation in 1821 was one of the most elaborate and expensive in British history. When George became king, Caroline returned to Britain and demanded recognition as Queen. George tried to divorce her through a parliamentary measure known as the Pains and Penalties Bill, and the proceedings became a national scandal. The bill actually passed the House of Lords by a narrow margin, but the government withdrew it because it was unlikely to pass the House of Commons. George barred Caroline, his own wife, from his coronation in 1821, and she died just a few weeks later. King George IV himself died in 1830, just as demands for parliamentary reform were reaching a new level. His brother William IV became king and two years later parliament passed the Great Reform act of 1832. George IV was not a strong ruler. He was inconsistent, self indulgent and more interested in appearances than administration. He disappointed the Whigs who had once considered him an ally, opposed reforms that he had little ability to stop, and damaged the monarchy through the treatment of his wife. His lifestyle made him deeply unpopular with the people. Many contemporaries saw him as a symbol of aristocratic waste at a time when workers faced hunger and unemployment. The Duke of Wellington, who knew him well, reportedly regarded him as one of the worst men that he had ever known. George IV is not the most well known British monarch. He's overshadowed by his father who came before him, and Queen Victoria, who came after him. Yet the Regency era is one of the most consequential in British history. Napoleon was defeated, Britain began the process of political reform and the Industrial Revolution gained momentum. All of this occurred during the reign of a ruler that nobody particularly liked. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible, and I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord. That's where everything happens that's outside the podcast, and links to those are available in the show notes. 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