Chapter 10 - Pym and the development of Parliamentary radicalism Flashcards
Pym and the development of Parliamentary radicalism
Pym’s personality
- Clarendon said had a “wonderful vocabulary”, was “striaightforward and respectful” and “understood the temper and affections of the kingdom as well as any man”
- Other Histories focus on his lack of humour and people skills
- Pym, more than anyone else, shaped the workl of the Commons in the crucial years bewteen 1640 and 1643
Pym’s aims
- sort out the King’s finances
- feared that the King, especially through Thorough, was trying to undermine the legal system
- Puritan and anti-Catholic
- He didn’t want a seperate Puritan Church, but to restore the Church to how it was during James I’s reign; Laudianism had led it astray
The Army Plot
- 19th April 1641
- news emerged that Charles had ordered all his army officers to return to their commands with the English Army in the north
- rumour emerged that Charles had a more elaborate plot
- Once reunited with its officers, the army would march to London where it would free Strafford and allow the king to dissolve Parliament
- Futher rummours indicated that the queen had negotiated with Catholic powers to bring foreign troops over to help
- this marked the beginning of a new level of scrutiny of the actions of the queen and her Court
The significance of May 1641
Pym was able to use the Army plot to push the Commons into a new burst of activity:
1) A ‘Protestation Oath’ was issued on the 6th of May
2) The Act against the dissolution of Parliament without its own consent passed on teh 10th of May
3) Parliament stepped up its efforts against Strafford, leadint to his execution on the 12th May
The Protestation Oath
- Charles gave his royal assent for the Oath in July 1641
- due to the threat to his wife and family
- responsibility for enforcing it fell to the JPs
- in 1642, the scope of the Oath was extended to all adult males in England and Wles
- the Protestation Oath was despatched to each parish in England and a list of subscribers was sent back
- However, it played a crucial role in spreading debates that were happening in London, in Parliament, across the whole country
- every parish, church and county assembly now had the oppourtunity to identify some of the key issues that were passing through Parliament and discuss them at length
St Thomas the Apostle
- John Blackwell, leading parishoner
- broke down the altar rails, claiming that they were popish innovations against the spirit of the Oath
- also threatened to burn the vicar and his priestly robes as well
- soon, more parishoners joined in
The Grand Remonstrance
- Novemeber 1641, Pym introduced it into the Commons
- division that had emerged were now significant fissures
Content of the Grand Remonstrance
- Pym led the Recess Committee that worked on shaping policy
- this committee included John Hampden
- the Remonstrane contained an overview of Charles’ reign
- it blame the evil advisers, corrupt bishops and papists for the present troubles in the kingdom
-It presented a list of demands for constututional change:
- Parliament was to have more influence over the selection of royal officers
- the House of Lords was to be cleared of Bishops and Catholic peers
- the Church was to be reformed under the watchful eye of an Assembly
The Remonstrance actually shifted the focus to a proactive programme of limiting the king’s own power and reforming the Church
Pym’s miscalculation
- Remonstrance passed by only 159 to 148 votes
- this close margin indicated real divison within the Commons
- Pym sensed a pyrrhic victory and decided not to push it onwards to the House of Lords
- Huge debate in Commons over whether or not to publish the Remonstrance
- Those is favour of publication hoped that it would force the king to respond
- Swords were drawn in Commons for the only time in history
- Commons went ahead with the publication
- the arguments over the Remonstrance marked the beginning of a move towards the coalescence of a Royalist grouping, loyal to the king
Why was the decision not to publish the Remonstrance particularly charged?
1) tradition - fear of disorder
- open criticism of the King was seen as dangerous
- and likely to stir up rebellion
- therefore was avoided
- published the Remonstrance would destabilise the political order of the country
2) a new force in politics - the London Mob
- growing awareness of the potential power of the London Mob
- to push through a more radical agenda
The London Mob
- derogatory way to describe the population of London who participated in politics
- snobbish: the Mob is made up of a ‘lower sort’
- this wasn’t a cohesive movement
- there was no membership or structure
The connection bewteen the Mob and Pariament
- Puritan settlement in London had already begun radicalising under the pressure of Laudianism
- radicalise further in the 1640s as Charles lost control over the censorship and press
- parliament began to harness the Mob to increase pressure on the king
- readily mobilised in support of religious reform
- e.g. the Root and Branch bill signed by 15,000 Londoners
Newspapers and Tracts
1630s = 7,770 titles published in England and Wales
1640s = number tripled
- first ever weekly newspaper commented on key developments
- major speeches by leading members of Parliament were copied and sold for pennies
- satires, such as The Wren’s Nest Defiled, an attack on the Laudian Bishop Matthew Wren and other anti-episcoal tracts of 1641 did much to spread and endorse radical ideas, connecting people together, not least by helping them see that they were not alone in their opinions
Popular radicalism
Riots after the Protestation Oath
- St Thomas the Apostle
- St Olave’s
- St Magnus the Martyr
What happened:
- rails pulled down and burned
- priests were threatened with bodily harm
- reports came in across the country of services being interrupted by protesters finally able to vent their fury about the Laudian Prayer Book
More:
- books that were formerly censored, finally reached their intended audiences
- for example, Samuel How, a cobbler, had published a book talking about how neither education nor priests were necessary to understand the ways of God
Religious radicalism
Neutralising of William Laud
- 1640, Laud was impeached and imprisoned to await trial for treason
Abolition of Prerogative Courts
- Star Chamber and Court of High Commission removed
- radical ideas and practice were no longer so dangerous
Collapse of Thorough
- conformity could no longer be enforced
- this was due to the loss of authority of bishops and clergymen
Release of prisoners
- Puritan pamphleteers, such as Prynne, had their convictions quashed
- they returned to the streets eager for vengence
The Puritan network
- key members in the Long Parliament
- e.g. Providence Island Company taking on leading roles in the opposition to the king
The collapse of censorship:
- pamphlets and newspapers speading radical ideas surged after 1640
