Chapter 9: Political Divisions and The Long Parliament

Question 1

Wentworth’s Impeachment (November 1640)

Answer 1

• Proposed as Parliament hoped that without his ‘evil councillors’ Charles would see the need to accept reform and would form a good government
• Impeached through the Bill of Attainder in 1641, as rumours of a royalist ‘Army plot’ became prominent, and Charles was seen as involved with it

Question 2

Importance of John Pym (1624-1643)

Answer 2

• Helped to impeach Wentworth, formed strong links with Scottish Covenanters, a vocal face for opposition against Charles and helped the ‘London crowd’ to appeal
• Helped to create the Ten Propositions and got them through parliament and published, these outlined how radical parliament was willing to, and was, becoming against Charles

Question 3

The Root and Branch Petition (December 1640)

Answer 3

• Signed by 15,000 Londoners, it demanded the removal of bishops and the end of episcopacy and was heavily backed by the Puritans and Scottish
• Pym was one of the chief supporters of the petition, but didn’t aim to destroy the Church, but simply make it more local to the communities

Question 4

The Triennal Act (15 February 1641)

Answer 4

• This act abolished ship money without parliamentary consent, and that Charles had to call parliament every three years, and they should last a minimum of 50 days
• If this wasn’t done, then the Lord Chancellor would call parliament, this act ensured there wouldn’t be another extended personal rule

Question 5

The development of a ‘royalist party’ (May 1641)

Answer 5

• After Bedford’s death, Pym and other MPs attempted to solve parliamentary issues other ways, creating divisions in parliament, it’s said that without this division, the civil war in 1642 wouldn’t have occured.
• This group formed by Pym was called the Constitutional Royalists and were seen as more of a threat to the political order between 1640 - 1642 than Charles I was

Question 6

Ten Propositions (June 1641)

Answer 6

• This document made clear how radical parliament was becoming, but also that the king would need to make some concessions, including a parliamentary input into who was in his Privy Council, parliament control of those who around the queen and parliamentary control over religious education of royal children
• It was clear that Charles would be very unlikely to agree to such conditions and restrictions

Question 7

The reaction in Scotland (1640)

Answer 7

• In August 1640 the Earl of Montrose and 17 other Scottish nobles signed the Cumbernauld Band, stating a desire to defend the King, this signalled a significant division in Scotland
• Charles appreciated the agreement and left for Scotland in 1641 to agree on removing episcopacy in Scotland

Question 8

‘The Incident’ (October 1641)

Answer 8

• While Charles was in Scotland, there was a royalist plot to kidnap radical Scottish Covenanters, this destroyed Charles’ hopes of gaining any further support in Scotland as he was linked to the plot
• This was due to him being accompanied by the armed forces when he attended parliament, and he was forced to appoint his opponents to key posts in the English parliaments

Question 9

The Great Remonstrance (November 1641-1642)

Answer 9

• This was a list of key criticisms of Charles since 1625, which for Pym, clearly showed why the King could not be trusted with control of the Army
• It was made in time for the King’s return from Scotland, this was done to appeal to the London crows and gain their support
• There is debate as to whether the publishing of this highlighted real division in parliament, and caused the formation of the two sides that would fight in the civil war