chapter 7 Flashcards
role of Thomas wentworth
- in three parliaments was a vocal critic of crown policy and opponent to Buckingham and pro-spanish policy
- arrested in 1627 for refusing to pay forced loan
-1628 one of the MP’s who devised the Petition of Right - given key royal appointment: presidency of the Council of the North became one of Charles most trusted advisors
Thorough
-Thomas Wentworth and William Laud worked long hours and known for attention to detail, demanded same of royal officials
-believed corruption should be rooted out of public life and order retuned to church and state
-non conformity challenge to King’s authority
-waned royal officials to be held accountable for their actions in the king’s service so need to monitor what officials are doing
-Laud and Wentworth were different in their expectation of how effectively Thorough could be implemented. w was a realist, l more pragmatic
policies in england
-1628 Wentworth became Lord President of the council of the North responsible for implementing royal policy, embodied Thorough.
- e.g. insistence on conformity to 1631 Book of Orders, ensured lower class saw their life improved - ie measures to ensure poor farmers not illegally evicted from their farmland by wealthy landowners
- cost: north of england not prepared for imposition of central government control. long established gentry families resented loss of power & offended by W authoritarian communication. W saw attacks on him as attacks on King, used council to enforce submission.
policies in ireland
-July 1633, promoted to lord deputy of Ireland (due to reputation, Charles greatly appreciated him but kept him at a distance
- previous lord deputies from within Ireland’s elite families, he was an outsider
- Wentworth had 3 goals for Ireland:
*impose authority to English crown
*impose religious uniformity and conformity in Laudian style
*make Ireland more profitable for King
The graces
- 1628 previous Lord Deputy and representatives of Catholic old English and Irish Catholics reached agreement
- parliamentary grant of 3 subsidies of £120,000 over 3 years in return for following concessions:
- recusancy fines not collected
- relaxation of requirement for catholics to take Oath of Supremacy
- Guarantee of land titles over 60 years old
- expected wentworth to honour, suggested to Parl to take 2 sessions but once subsidies were voted Graces were not adressed.
reactions in Ireland against the crown
-1639 Wentworth summoned to England. every group in Ireland had been negatively impacted in multiple ways by his policies but not yet organised opposition
- his ruthless suppression of ciritics allowed him to act swiftly when opposition began to emerge, terrified most into submission
- Irish privy council subservient so less of a challenge
- wentowrth forced change into existing political factions and structures in Ireland
reactions in England
- late 1630s opposition to king’s personal rule becoming more visible
- Hampden ship money case, Trial and punishment of Prunne Bastwick & Burton, king’s circle of advisors continued to shrink creating alienation, Thorough meant king’s authority reached further into localities
demands for recall of English Parliament
- tension building across Charles’ kingdoms
- absence of Parl prevented political nation from debating
- Thorough’s control of the regions meant many were experiencing clampdown on ability to dissent in home localities. Greater conformity through reforms
- increasingly narrow court circle meant nobility lost personal access to king and institutional access via Parliament
