chapter eighteen Flashcards
the crowns attempts to manage parliament led to mutual mistrust ad the emergence of division in the period 1673-78 , when Danby was
most influential
this division came to a head with the exclusion crisis which was an attempt to
exclude James Duke of York from the throne after 1678
the ‘court’ referred to those who supported the
political and religious direction of the monarch
the ‘country’ referred to those who who were
concerned about elements of the monarchs policy
the court party was no a defined group , it consisted of
courtiers who supported the aims of Charles for a variety of reasons including shared beliefs but more generally ambition
the court party , acted as a client of the monarch in parliament by
suggesting or supporting proposals they knew the king wanted to proceed with
the cabal functioned as a court party , even though there were
differences between them , attempting to influence parliament
the development of court and country parties started when the cabal was in power
by the time the cabal collapsed in 1674 the ‘country’ grouping had added to its number the
Duke of Buckingham and earl of Shaftesbury
there was clearly some co ordination of parliamentary strategy by the country grouping in 1673-4 , for example the
1674 founding of the green ribbon club in a London tavern can be seen as a more formal generalisation of an ‘ opposition ‘ grouping.
the green ribbon club met up in the kings head tavern which was named after the green ribbons members wore to identify each other
key figures in the court party
Charles II
Earl of Danby
Sir Robert Murray
key figures in the country party
William Coventry
William Cavendish
Shaftesbury
Buckingham
interests and aims in the court party
for Charles , to tolerate dissenters and catholics and to strengthen ties with catholic absolutist france
interests and aims in the country party
they were anti catholic and close to the intolerant church of england
wanted to defend protestantism , domestically and abroad
were hostile to dissenters , catholics and france
the courts attitude to parliament
they manipulated parliaments via crown patronage system
the country’s attitude to parliament
disgusted the government believing it corrupt and wasteful
anti absolutist and wanted to defend the rights of parliament against the crowns prerogative §
William coventry 1627-78 county party
prominent on the attack on claredon in 1667
in 1669 imprisoned in the tower for sending a challenge to the Duke of Buckingham
became promiment in the attacks on danby , he would not support the exclusion bill and went into self imposed political retirement after the dissolution in July 1679
William Cavendish 1641-1701 country party
1670’s Cavendish moved towards a country position because of fear of popery , the French and distrust of the stuarts.
1673-4 he made frequent parliamentary attacks on the cabal
played an active role in the attempt to impeach on danby
more moderate in relation to exclusion , Cavendish voted against it in 1679
resigned with others from the privy council in 1680]]]]]
after the fall of the cabal , danbys re emergence in politics with a more anglican , pro dutch policy did not ease the
court-country divison
danbys crown patronage system was portrayed as trying to subvert the role of parliament , indeed danbys rile in politics encouraged the
development of a court faction
in November 1675 the pamphlet ‘ a letter from a person of quality to his friend in the country ‘ was published , which was probably written by
Shaftesbury
this pamphlet argued that there was a conspiracy to impose absolutism by a
’ distinct party ‘ of ‘ high episcopal ‘ men and ‘ cavalier ‘ men through a standing army
this court party sought to turn parliament into a body that merely
supplied money to the crown
in December 1677 Andrew Marvells ‘ an account of the growth of popery and arbitrary government ‘ argued that for some years there had been a
design to establish England ‘ into an absolute tyranny ‘ and to convert the established protestant religion into downright popery
after the dutch and French signed the peace of Nijmegen in 1678 , Charles
prorogued parliament because he no longer needed war funds
however he kept his 30,000 troops and thus raised the country’s fears of absolutism through a standing army
when it came into the open that danby had gone along with Charles continuing the links with the
French while getting money from parliament and raising troops , it totally undermined his position in parliament , and he was sacrificed by Charles in 1678
historian Tim Harris argues that ‘ over the period 1660-78 the crown experienced a considerable loss of prestige ‘ his judgement was based on the following criteria
a monarch was supposed to be majestic
a monarch was expected to achieve glory for is nation through fp
an English monarch was supposed ti protect the subjects in lawful rights
according to Harris , in ‘ all these resects the restoration regime proved a bitter disappointment ‘ and it was thus that provoked
a ‘ country ‘ or ‘ whig ‘ reaction and the exclusion crisis from 1678 onwards
most historians agree that both the whigs and tories derived from the ‘ country ‘ and ‘ court ‘ divide respectively , the terms whig and tory became
widely used by 1681 when the whigs became most associated with the attempt to exclude James Duke of York from the throne because of his catholocism
by the mid 1670s there was a social seperation based on taverns , coffee houses and clubs aligned with
whigs or tories
whigs saw tories as
promoting popery
tories saw whigs as
republicans
key figures in the tories
Roger north
Edward Seymour
George Jefferys
key figures in the whigs
Shaftesbury
sir William temple
sir Nicholas Carew
tories beliefs
anti exclusionist
divine right
civil authority comes from god
no right of resistance even against tyranny
the threat of absolutism from dissenters , republicans and parliament
church of england
whigs beliefs
exclusionist , supported the exclusion of James II from the succession
civil authority from the people
right of resistance against tyranny - contact of gov
threat of absolutism linked to Catholicism
parliament representative of people and protecter of protestansim , liberty
more favourable towards religious tolerance and dissent
