3. Catholic influence within Charles I's court Flashcards
For what reasons did most people in England, Wales and Scotland share an intense fear of Catholicism?
- Excommunication of Elizabeth I in 1570
- Gunpowder Plot in 1605
- 30 Years’ War from 1618-48
Therefore - belief was strong that if they were given any power and influence - they would press for toleration and demand equality which would lead to the destruction of Protestantism
Why didn’t fear of Catholicism not mean hostility to every individual Catholic?
It was the Church an institution led from Rome that was feared.
However - application of terms such as popery and papist - indicated that every Catholic was suspect if they maintained loyalty to the Catholic Church
In light of widespread fear and mistrust of Catholicism, Charles I’s support for Arminianism was…
tactless and naïve - Charles was no doubt a faithful Anglican throughout his life - but his actions sometimes indicated otherwise
One of the primary initial reasons for suspicions about Charles?
- Marriage to Henrietta Maria - her accommodation of priests in the royal palaces and the access of Catholics to high-profile roles at court - all led to complaints
Religious actions of Charles I that caused upset
- Advancement of Arminian bishops in secular politics - at expense of the Puritan nobility
- Authoritarian behaviour towards parliament - the crisis over money and forced, and the Petition of Right in 1628 - mirroring powers exercised by Louis XIII
- The semi-religious mystique that Charles brought to the institution of monarchy - imagery and ceremony more usually associated w/ Rome
Catholic links within Charles I’s govt
- By mid-1930s - high profile Privy Council members, Francis Windebank and Francis Cottingham, had Catholic wives
- The royal children and growing number of courtiers - worshipped in the queen’s Catholic chapel
- King’s closest companion was the papal ambassador, George Con, with whom he shared a love of art
Ceiling of the Banqueting House painted by Peter Paul Rubens a Catholic
Soap monopoly
- Group of Catholic courtiers making large profits from a lucrative soap monopoly - while the regional nobility and gentry ordered to spend time in their localities
Opposition to Charles
- Those who protested silenced and subject to brutal punishment by the bishops and Privy Councillors who staffed the Prerogative Courts and Star Chamber
- Acting explicitly in the king’s name
Why did opposition believe the country was heading towards the kind of absolutism associated only w/ Catholicism?
- Authoritarian govt
- Lack of parliaments
- Overriding of common law
Unity of opposition against Charles
- Unity (created by his error in parliament) quickly dissipated when there was a need to agree on what should replace the structures of his personal rule
The Great Rebellion
By 1642 - Charles had rallied enough support to believe he could suppress what to him was the Great Rebellion
Catholic support for Charles I
- Within royalist ranks - the English Catholics formed a significant and loyal minority - to whom both of Charles’s sons acknowledge a debt of gratitude
- Ireland and Scotland - sizeable Catholic armies that plated a significant part in the war - albeit at a political cost that outweighed their military strength
Fear generated by Irish rebellion in 1641
Reinforced with the capture of Charles’s correspondence in 1645 - after the Battle of Naseby - where it was revealed he was planning to use Irish troops in England and receive help from the pope
What intensified the fears and prejudices of 1625?
The events of personal rule and struggles that followed.
