Charles I

Question 1

charles I personality

Answer 1

‘complete contrast to his father’ - Kevin Sharpe
charles was shy and had a speech defect. he was approachable but more damaging and uncommunicative with parliament.
he was also much more insecure about his position in comparison to james.

Question 2

views on monarchy

Answer 2

charles had an inferiority complex that made him overstress his prerogative. he was unwilling to compromise, and unable to understand viewpoints that differed from his. slight criticism he often considered as rebellion.

Question 3

court of charles

Answer 3

regarded as a microcosm of his state, and a model of what could be achieved in country.
there was strict order imposed in court, which made him appear isolated from the country.
dominated by catholics + arminians - catholics strongly linked to absolutism.

Question 4

finance of the crown

Answer 4

crown debt was over £1 million>
charles asked for a loan of £60,000 from london merchants.
parliament offered to give charles tonnage and poundage for only a year.

Question 5

forced loan

Answer 5

force loan was non-parliamentary taxes which charles demanded from the political nation without parliaments permission.
what he asked for was equivalent to 5 parliamentary subsidies.
this was a test of political loyalty, and 76 people were imprisoned for refusal to pay the loan. only 70% of respected amount was collected.

Question 6

foreign policy failure : cadiz

Answer 6

1625 : this was an anti-spanish intervention in the 30 year war.
6,000 troops to spanish netherlands : 400 died of disease and starvation. there was no training and limited weaponry.
england had no money so this was an attempt to take spanish gold. lots of troops were lost on the way.
another call for parliament in 1626 asking for money, but buckingham was blamed for the failure.

Question 7

parliament 1626

Answer 7

charles removed much of his opposition like the lord keeper.
charles blamed failures at cadiz on parliament for not giving him enough money. but parliament was unwilling to give large amounts of money for the invasion.
parliament attempts to impeach buckingham, which results is charles dissolving parliament to protect buckingham.

Question 8

la rochelle 1627

Answer 8

buckingham as lord high admiral controls the fleet, with a force landing on Ire de ce - an attack on french.
when they arrived to the fortress which they waited months to get to, their scaling ladders were too short.
they sent 8k soldiers but only 3k returned, this was incredibly embarrassing and lost charles’ prestige.
britain was now at war with spain and france.

Question 9

parliament 1628-29

Answer 9

parliament agreed to give charles 5 subsidies if certain grievances were addressed : the three resolutions

Question 10

three resolutions

Answer 10

• charles promotion of arminianism.
• charles’ continued collection of tonnage and poundage without parliamentary consent.
• If anybody pays Tonnage and Poundage not granted by parliament they shall be seen as an enemy to the kingdom.
  charles dissolved parliament.

Question 11

the five knights case

Answer 11

1628 : this was a reaction to the forced loan.
5 knights were men who refused to pay the loan.
they were imprisoned for treason.
MPs were unhappy with the decision to imprison them.
charles attempted to amend judgement to make it so he could imprison anyone.
judges refused.

Question 12

the petition of right

Answer 12

1628 : This asked for a settlement of Parliament’s complaints against the King’s non-parliamentary taxation and imprisonments without trial, plus the unlawfulness of martial law and forced billets

Question 13

st gregory’s case

Answer 13

1633 : parishioners of st gregory’s church in london challenged the moving of their communion table to a different spot.
meant that family pews would have to be moved which caused offence.
heavily upset puritan sensibilities.
parishioners brought to privy council by charles as a test case.

Question 14

john williams

Answer 14

bishop j williams was imprisoned in 1637.
this was a result of his publishing criticism of altar policy in “the holy table, name and thing”.
criticism indicate terminology was source of debate - “altar” regarded as catholic.

Question 15

prynne, burton, bastwick

Answer 15

1637 : they were well respected puritans brought before star chamber for criticism of church policy.
men were found guilty of criticising laud’s measures.
they were fined £5,000 and imprisoned for life.
they went through public cropping of ears that earned sympathy.

Question 16

john lilburne

Answer 16

was a puritan who helped distribute Batswick’s work.
driven to oppose laudinism, committed himself to print. he was found guilty at star chamber of printing unlicensed literature.
punishment : fined and whipped, pilloried in public.
in prison he still continued to write.

Question 17

personal rule : knighthood

Answer 17

1629-40 : in 1629 charles had a debt of over £2 million.
he enforced a law that all men owning property over £40 per annum should receive knighthoods.
he fined everyone who didn’t complete this.
distraint of knighthood brought over £100k.

Question 18

personal rule : wardship and monopolies

Answer 18

the right to run any estate inherited by an heir under 21 years old of adulthood. wardship increased by 1/3 to £75,000.
charles continued to grant companies monopolies, most famously, “popish soap”, which earned charles £33,000.

Question 19

personal rule : tonnage and poundage

Answer 19

charles continued to collect tonnage and poundage, extended monopolies and impositions. 1631-35 brought £270,000 annually.
1630s custom duties brought £425,000.

Question 20

short parliament

Answer 20

Short Parliament, (April 13–May 5, 1640), parliament summoned by Charles I of England, the first to be summoned for 11 years, since 1629, and the prelude to the Long Parliament. Determined to impose the Anglican liturgy on the Scots, Charles sent an army northward in the first of the so-called Bishops’ Wars.

Question 21

first bishop war

Answer 21

bishops war (1639-40) and the start of the civil wars :
charles failure to secure money from the short parliament, scottish forces prevented earl of Strafford from landing a force from Ireland.
scottish covenanter army was 200,000 solders. they attacked strongly but were poorly equipped.
charles’ army deserted him and was forced to make peace with scots. charles agreed to pay scots £850 daily to occupy the north.
charles was in a desperate situation.

Question 22

irish rebellion

Answer 22

The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was a result of Protestant plantations taking over Irish lands. an uprising by Catholics in Ireland, whose demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and return of confiscated Catholic lands.

Question 23

second bishop war

Answer 23

charles had attempted to impose a new prayer book upon the Scottish Kirk. The Scots not only rejected it, but abolished the bishops in retaliation. one example is Jenny Geddes who threw a chair at the minister after the first public reading of the new prayer book.

Question 24

long parliament

Answer 24

Thomas Wentworth was recalled from Ireland to aid charles in facing Scots. he was regarded as a man with the potential to make charles absolutist.
1st act of the long parliament was impeaching thomas for attempting to bring Irish army to england to held control his country.
thomas skilfully defended himself.

Question 25

bill of attainder

Answer 25

to proceed against thomas, they created the bill of attainder.
some of parliament fully supported the bill but members such as Bedford were more cautious.
scots made it clear they wouldn’t make peace unless end to bishops war and thomas was dead.
204 votes to 59, only half of the members in parliament, showing MPs did not actively want to oppose or vote against the king, only committed MPs.
thomas’ execution hardened charles’ attitude to parliament, he was no less inclined to negotiate.

Question 26

john pym

Answer 26

he was educated at oxford but had no degree. he sat in every parliament. and was a loyal subject who was anxious to maintain a good relationship between the crown and parliament.
his main obstacle was thomas wentworth, as he found it difficult to prove him a traitor.

Question 27

the root and branch petition

Answer 27

signed by 15,000 Londoners demanding the end of bishops. this caused divisions among parliament.
pym was seen as the number 1 supporter of it, as the aim wasn’t to destroy church but removal of charles’ influence.
this system allowed locals to control of their church.

Question 28

triennial act

Answer 28

• passed in 1641
• abolished ship money without parliaments consent
• charles had to call parliament every 3 years, lasting a minimum of 50 days

Question 29

10 propositions

Answer 29

1641 : increased radicalism of pym seemed to be confirmed by 10 propositions which was a document that made it clear that charles would need to make concessions :
- parliament input into who was in the privy council
- parliament control of those around the queen
- parliament control over religious education for royal children

Question 30

reaction in scotland

Answer 30

1641 : the earl of montrose and 17 scottish nobles signed the Cumbernauld band stating desire to defend the king. there was a lot of division in scotland.
charles used the division by accepting abolition of bishops and reforms to date.
some were questioning the growing divisions in parliament.

Question 31

the incident

Answer 31

a royalist plot to kidnap radical scottish covenanters, and to get rid of leading radical converter leaders.
this contributed to civil war as the incident destroyed charles’ hopes of gaining further support in scotland.

Question 32

grand remonstrance

Answer 32

1641 : this was drafter between august and november by pym and his supporters.
it was a long document listing all the grievances against perpetrated by charles’ government in church + state since the start of his reign.
it emphasised the role of bishops.
house of commons presented as true defender of charles’ rightful prerogative, of protestant faith, privileges of parliament + liberties of people.
house of commons passed grand remonstrance by narrow 159 to 148 votes. rejected by charles.

Question 33

militia bill

Answer 33

charles and parliament agreed an army had to be formed to crush irish rebels, but both sides couldn’t trust on another with the army.
parliaments militia bill proposed lord general to be appointed to raise and command militia.
and lord-admiral appointed to control the navy.
charles refused to surrender control of armed forces, but in 1642, parliament issued the militia bill as ordinance, allowing parliament to act independently of the king in interests of national defence.

Question 34

five members coup

Answer 34

charles announced impeachment of opposition - including pym.
house of commons refused to comply as it was an infringement of parliamentary privilege.
charles’ attempted coup failed, so he entered commons with force to arrest them but found they had been forewarned and left. great political damage.
members of parliament no longer felt safe from charles and decided to form their own army.

Question 35

exclusion bill

Answer 35

at the end of 1642 there was a petition for removal of bishops from parliament and it gained 30,000 signatures.
lords accepted the exclusion bill due to pressure from London crowds, this lessened the influence of the king on parliament.

Question 36

nineteen propositions

Answer 36

1642 : parliament demanded that :
- all privy councillors to be approved by parliament
- 5 impeached MPs were to be pardoned
- Charles had to accept the triennial act and the militia ordinance.
- parliament would direct a reformation to the church.

Question 37

civil war in scotland

Answer 37

scottish rebellion started in 1637 was the start of British civil war.
swift military defeat by covenanters during bishops war - charles was forced to sign the truce of ripon.
this meant that charles’ supporters were initially isolated.
the scottish noble earl of montrose led royalist forces north of border against covenanters.
- won multiple victories
- victories saw highlanders in montrose’s force slowly
- leave the army
covenenteer army, 6k troops crushed M’s remaining troops.

Question 38

civil war in ireland

Answer 38

the outbreak of irish rebellion started in 1641.
the gaelic irish and old english joined, forming a confederation.
opposition : protestants in ulster and around dublin under earl of ormond.
ormond signed a one year truce with catholic confederation.
22k irish troops were transported to england and in 1644 charles gave aid to the royalist army.
this had little impact - was propaganda of his desire to impose catholicism.

Question 39

battle of edgehill

Answer 39

there were 2 nearly even forces discovered they lay only a few miles apart. parliament had 12k infantry, 2k calvary, and 30 canons.
charles had the capital in oxford and hoped to win a quick victory.
it ended in a draw and parliament attempted to halt charles’ march on london but this was only partially successful.

Question 40

battle of marston moore

Answer 40

1644 : one of the largest battles fought on english land.
prince rupert had only relived the siege on the royalist stronghold on york when he took up his position against combined forces of around 22k parliamentarians and scottish covenanters.
the battle confirmed how well-equipped and trained army could win the war and establish oliver cromwells’ reputation.
royalists effectively abandoned all control in north of england.

Question 41

the new model army

Answer 41

at the beginning of war parliament relied on soldiers recruited by large landowners who supported cause.
oliver cromwell realised these soldiers wouldn’t be good enough to defeat cavaliers.
he imposed strict discipline.
house of commons formed a new army of pro soldiers (NMA) made up of 10 cavalry regiments of 600 men each, 12 foot regiments of 1.2k men, 1 regiment of 1k dragoons.
oliver cromwell resigned as an MP and became lieutenant-general and took charge of cavalry.