The Royal College of Physicians and interregnum politics.

When Sir George Clark wrote the official history of the College of Physicians he based much of his research on the private annals of the institution.' His work centred round the constitutional growth and structure ofthe College and proved to be extremely valuable in outlining its organic development throughout four hundred years of existence. The very scale of this task meant that the history was often synoptic rather than exhaustive. Thus, of necessity, it failed at certain points to give a full picture of the wider activities and complex relationships maintained by the Fellows, both individually and corporately. One of the periods which received inadequate attention is to be found during the Commonwealth and Protectorate.2 To remedy this situation other commentators have since published studies which help to clarify the corporation's history during this period.8 However, certain fundamental questions about the relationship between the College and the government remain unanswered. Why, for example did the administration not reform this monopolistic body which many puritans regarded as socially destructive and professionally corrupt? It certainly did not refrain from taking stringent remedial action in other cases and could easily have reorganized or disbanded the corporation while utilizing the skills of individual Fellows. Instead, the government maintained a stance of benign neutrality towards the College, and on several occasions encouraged it to consolidate its influence. Furthermore, certain anomalies can be detected in the internal politics of the institution which have usually gone unremarked and unexplained.