Booklet 1 - Charles and Parliament 1625 - 1629

Question 1

What happened in 1625?

Answer 1

• Problems: Outbreak of plague and continuation of war with Spain
• Charles I needed money for the war: he got a loan from the city of london merchants of £60,000 - not enough, had to call parliament
• Parliament gave 2 subsidies of about £120,000 to help with problems - not enough, Charles needed £1 million
• Parliament granted tonnage and poundage but only for one year - this forced Charles to have no choice but to call parliament
• Conscription of soldiers and billeting of troops took place due to large numbers of war casualties - failure at the port of Cadiz, army badly organised and ill equipped
• The arrival of Henrietta Maria led to suspicion of Charles being Catholic - she had a Catholic court
• Parliament focused on what they thought parliament should do e.g. taxation, defence of the common law and impeachment if needed
• Overall, 1625 is the start to many quarrels which led to the personal rule period

Question 2

What happened in 1626?

Answer 2

• Parliament do not like the religious situation - Charles wants to promote religious disussions
• Charles recalled parliament in February for more money for war with Spain
• Tensions between Charles and Parliament increase
• Parliament didn’t like Buckingham for failures of foreign policy
• Charles makes Mps who are trouble makers Sherrifs - prevents them from sitting in parliament
• Due to opposition of sherrifs and to assert prerogative power, Charles arrests Elliot and Digges - forced to release them or else parliament refuse to give subsidies and they impeach Buckingham
• In order to stop Buckingham’s impeachment, Charles dissolves parliament in June

Question 3

What happened in 1627?

Prerogative rule

Answer 3

• People were still made to billet soldiers in some areas, martial law was still imposed - created great opposition
• Still at war with Spain, about to have war with France, promised Denmark £30,000 a month as part of anti Hapsburg alliance
• To raise funds, Charles introduced the forced loan where the wealthy had to pay without parliment’s consent - created great opposition, makes £240,000 by July, success made parliament scared that Charles wouldn’t call them again
• 76 men arrested for not paying the forced loan - 5 took their cases to court
• This was called the 5 knight’s case: confirmed the men were imprisoned by “special command of our lord the king”
• The 5 knight’s case was a failure - charles insisted on publication of sermons in favour of the forced loan
• Parliament saw this prerogative rule as an abuse of prerogative power

Question 4

Explain 1628 to 1629 when parliament attacks the prerogative.

Answer 4

• Despite the forced loan, Charles didn’t have enough money, he had to call parliament in March1628, he had no choice
• Parliament give him 5 subsidies but he has to listen to their grievances which are put forward in the petition of right led by John Pym
• The petition of right - no loans or taxes without consent of parliament, no martial law or villeting of soldiers, nobody loses their freedom of property except according to the law of the land
• The king agreed with the p.o.r but wasn’t happy, he ignored it in the end and continue to collect money
• Charles continues to support Arminianism, 1629 - Laud becomes Bishop of London, anticatholic sentiment in parliament increases
• 2nd March 1629 - customs officers seize property of people who didn’t pay tonnage and poundage. This angers parliament an they try to pass a resolution to stop custom collections without parliamentary approval. 2 MPs including Denzel Holles held the speaker down to stop him from closing parliament and Charles ordered the mps to be arrested and parliament was dissolved - prerogative continues
• Buckingham is assassinated in Portsmouth so Charles replaces him with the Earl of Strafford