Stuart England
King v. Parliament (who will be the dominant power?)
The
Issues:
·
Absolutism
v. Constitutionalism
o
Does
the King rule by the grace of God, or rule by the will of the people?
·
Religion
o
England
is an Anglican country, but the Stuarts tend to sympathize with Catholics and
do not want to make the Church more Protestant, as the Parliament does
·
The
“Power of the Purse”
o
Who
claimed to have the power, based on taxation? – Parliament!
·
Foreign
Policy
o
Stuarts
want strong relations with Catholic countries. This upsets Parliament and the
Puritans
·
The
Puritans wanted
o
Eliminate
the remaining Catholic rituals in the Anglican church
o
To
end the Episcopal system of Church government
James I (1603-1625)
– “The Wisest Fool in Christendom”
·
Remember James for…
o
Supporting Divine Right
§
He rules because God wants him to do
so. This does not sit well with Parliament
o
“No Bishop, No King”
§
James’ response to Presbyterians,
telling them that he can’t help them. If they don’t like it, they can leave
(and, in 1620, Puritans (pilgrims) will leave England because of James’
policies)
o
“Favoring” the Duke of
Buckingham
§
They just might have been more than
“good friends” ;)
o
Foreign Policy Issues
§
Wants to ally with Spain.
·
What?!?! Elizabeth has just saved England from the Spanish Armada, now he
wants to ally England with them?
o
He already has a strike against him,
because he has succeeded a legend (Elizabeth)
o
He wants to marry his son to a
Spanish princess, but Parliament says “No!” However, he marries him to a French
princess, which is almost as bad
Charles I (1625-1649)
·
Remember Charles I for…
o
His creative efforts to
raise money
§
Ship Tax = before, only
coastal cities had to play it. Charles now decides to make everyone pay it. He
says that this is not a new tax, just a “different” way. Parliament says, no,
this is a new tax, and it won’t work.
§
He tries to quarter to
quarter soldiers in private homes – nope, no thanks!
§
His shifty policies do not
sit well with England and Parliament
o
Rejecting the Petition of
Right (1625)
§
He disbands Parliament for
11 years
o
Supporting Archbishop
William Laud
§
He is a very Catholic sort
of Anglican. He starts putting very Catholic items into churches. This does not
make people happy.
§
He makes a really BIG
mistake when he tries to force the Book of Common Prayer upon Scotland. They
are so upset that they rise up in rebellion.
·
What will Charles do now?
How will he get the money to fight the Scots?
o
He tries to fight them, but
loses battles. Now, in order to raise money, he
needs to call Parliament to session in 1540.
·
The Long Parliament
o
This will last until the
reign of Parliament
o
They will try to force
Charles to make concessions
·
Charles is ticked off, so
he tries to arrest 5 of the top Puritan leaders. They escaped, but people are
very ticked off at him invading Parliament, and they go into the Civil War.
The English Civil War (1642-1649)
(Parliament’s supporters) (King’s
supporters)
This
is not a really, really bloody war, as there are only about 4 major battles.
Parliament will eventually win and capture Charles.
(A Mother Goose moment :
“Humpty Dumpty”)
Charles
is savvy – he tries to play enemies off each other to keep his head and his crown
Presbyterians – Seek accommodation with Charles I. They do not want an execution.
Independents
– Refused to compromise, and want a trial and an execution
The Presbyterians will be
kicked out of Parliament as a result of their refusal to execute Charles.
So,
the Rump Parliament will sign the execution papers.
Charles
will ultimately condemned for treason, tyrannical rule, and murder during the
Civil War.
Execution of Charles I (January 30,
1649)
·
With
this, the House of Lords is ABOLISHED
·
We
now have a Commonwealth for 9 years, ruled by Cromwell.
o
This
is unpopular. The people will
eventually call for Charles II to take
the throne back, then James II after him.
James
II will openly convert to Catholicism, and is son is also a Catholic. Parliament
is VERY ALARMED at this.
They
call for Charles I’s daughter, Mary, to take the throne with her husband,
William of Orange.
·
Mary and William will stage a coup
against James and take back control of the throne.