Royalist Oxford surrendered to Sir Thomas Fairfax in June 1646 after negotiations preserved many civilian and university interests. The king had already escaped, and prolonged resistance had become pointless. The fall of the Royalist capital effectively ended its central administration and wartime print network.

Poets, scholars and clergy associated with the Royalist court faced dispersal, deprivation or accommodation with the victors. Oxford's surrender helped create the exiled and nostalgic tone characteristic of later Cavalier writing.