'The Stuart Successions: fresh approaches to the understanding of seventeenth-century history and literature' has been developed out of, and would immediately follow, the AHRC-funded 'Stuart Successions Project'. In this project we explored a category of writing which has long been recognized but never well understood. Each of the six Stuart successions (James I in 1603, Charles I in 1625, Charles II in 1660, James II in 1688, William III and Mary II in 1688-89, Anne in 1702) generated a wealth of publications. So did the accession to the role of Lord Protector by Oliver Cromwell in 1653, and that of his son Richard in 1658. Succession literature includes a range of elegies on the old monarch and panegyrics on the new; indeed most of the greatest poets of the day felt the need to participate in this activity, some on successive moments of transition. Other kinds of succession literature include histories, genealogies, sermons, satires, news-reports and political tracts. Through surveying and analyzing this material we have been able to throw fresh light on particular moments of transition and also on processes of change across this turbulent period of British history. Our outputs include a database of succession writing, a major volume of essays, and an anthology of primary texts. As this research has demonstrated to us, however, Stuart succession literature holds more than merely academic interest. The Stuart era is widely recognized as a pivotal one in the development of British political and cultural life; it has an established place in the media and the cultural sector (e.g. museums), and recent reforms to school curricula, in History and English Literature, are according it increasing prominence. This is hardly surprising given the achievements and events of the period: Shakespeare was a Stuart for half of his working life; others to shape this century include Milton, Hobbes and Behn. The Stuart era included the greatest British civil war, an unprecedented experiment with republicanism, and eventually the founding of Great Britain itself. The topic of succession, meanwhile, is today pressing itself increasingly upon the public consciousness, as journalists and playwrights, among others, are already speculating about the impact of a third Caroline reign. In this context, we identify four user-communities with which our follow-on project will engage: secondary schoolchildren and their teachers; our partner organizations, united by their commitment to education about the past; media programme-makers; and the general public. We propose a focused and collaborative project involving all three members of the current project team and four major partners: the Ashmolean Museum, the Bodleian Library, the Historical Association and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. It will be supported by Historyworks, a company committed to bringing academic research into the public domain in professional, creative and effective ways. We will select items drawn from the collections of partners, and work collaboratively to develop for each one a range of original interpretative materials. Among other outputs, we will produce: a bespoke website; learning materials (including lesson plans); a series of c.20 vodcasts (short documentary-style audio talks illustrated with still photographic images, suitable for publication via a website as well as for use by our partners); a one-day 'Shakespeare and the Stuarts' workshop for A-Level English and International Baccalaureate students; a 'Stuart Successions and Seventeenth-Century History' study day for secondary teachers; and treatments for radio and television programmes. The project is designed to combine quality impact directed at specified audiences with a commitment also to reach a much wider range of potentially interested parties. It also balances a focus on particular events with an interest in providing resources that will be of use across a longer period.