Charles I, 1625-40 Flashcards
What were Charles’ aims in 1625? (7)
1) To rule as king who believed he was answerable only to God.
2) To bring about Church reform such as beautifying churches.
3) To support the powers of bishops.
4) To restore his sister and her husband in the Palatinate.
5) War with Spain.
6) To keep the Duke of Buckingham as his key advisor.
7) To marry Henrietta Maria of France.
What problems did Charles face in 1625? (4)
1) Problems over restoring the Palatinate - Frederick and Elizabeth living in Exile in the Hague, protestant churches had been close and English troops could not have much impact because the Palatinate was land locked.
2) Problems over war with Spain - following the failure of Mansfield’s expedition and James’ reluctance to do with the large grant that parliament had made, what parliament wanted, they were critical when they first met Charles.
3) Problems over Buckingham - many resented his closeness to the king because it meant he received the lion’s share of patronage, he was also blamed for the failure of Mansfield’s expedition.
4) Problems over marriage with Henrietta Maria - no more acceptable to parliament than the Spanish match.
How many parliament did Charles call and when did they meet?
He called three parliaments, they met:
1) June to August 1625
2) February to June 1626
3) March to June 1628 and January to March 1629.
What problems arose in Charles’ foreign policy up to 1629? (4)
1) Expedition to Cadiz in 1625 was a complete failure.
2) The French alliance did not prosper and sending troops to fight the French Protestants was very unpopular.
3) French peace with Spain led Charles and Buckingham to war with Spain, which failed and resulted in the death of around 1/3 of the troops.
4) Successive failures in foreign policy meant that parliament was unwilling to grant large sums of money, lack of funds led to further failings in foreign policy.
What problems arose over religion up to 1629? (4)
1) Parliament complained that the penal laws were not being enforced strongly enough.
2) Parliament also attacked Richard Montagu’s sermons, he was Royal Chaplain and an arminian.
3) In 1626, Charles took a stronger anti-catholic line and sent many of his wife’s advisors home.
4) The promotion of William Laud as well as many Arminian bishops caused disquiet.
What financial issues did Charles face up to 1629? (3)
1) The 1625 parliament was angered by the fact they had been asked to grant funds before redress of their grievances - they granted two subsidies but only gave Charles tonnage and poundage for a single year.
2) In 1626, the house of commons was reluctant to grant any funds until they had redress of their grievances - to get funds Charles imposed a forced loan and imprisoned those who refused to pay.
3) In 1628, Parliament again refused to grant any funds without redress, but Charles continued to collect tonnage and poundage.
What document was presented to Charles in 1628 in response to his actions with regard to generating funds?
What was the king’s reaction?
Which rights of the king were curbed by the petition?
The Petition of right 1628
It stated that the crown could not collect taxes or loans without the consent of parliament.
Charles resented it but was forced to accept the Petition but continued to collect customs duties without parliamentary sanction.
1) Right to imprison opponents without charge.
2) Right to impose martial law and billet troops on households.
3) Right to raise arbitary taxation.
What issues arose over the Duke of Buckingham? (4)
1) As Lord Admiral he was blamed for the failure of Cadiz.
2) Both houses of parliament opposed him by May 1626.
3) He led the army that went to France in 1626, so was blamed for the failure of the expedition.
4) Buckingham’s dominance had suppressed effective discussion in the privy council, so that parliament became the only place for expressing discontent.
What occurred when Charles attempted to dissolve parliament in 1629?
What were the three resolutions?
The doors of the Houses of Commons were locked against Black Rod.
The three resolutions condemned anyone who:
1) Promoted innovation in religion, popery or Arminianism as ‘a capital enemy to the king and commonwealth’
2) Counselled the collection tonnage and poundage without parliamentary consent.
3) Voluntarily paid the duties.
How did Charles reduce expenditure during Personal Rule? (4)
1) Charles made peace with France and Spain as the wars were very costly.
2) Charles did not always pay the interest on loans.
3) He did not give out lavish gifts to courtiers as his father had done.
4) There were regular investigation into royal expenditure and how it could be reduced further.
How did Charles raise more money during Personal Rule? (5)
1) Customs duties - a new Book of Rates was issued in 1635.
2) His attorney-general revived old laws such as forestry laws and the Distraint of knighthood and laws against building outside the boundaries of London and then fined people for breaking them.
3) Yield from established sources of income, such as the court of wards and recusancy fines was increased.
4) Monopolies such as in the production of soap were sold to companies.
5) Ship money was extended to the whole country as opposed to just the coastal counties and collected regularly between 1935 and 1938.
What was the impact of financial policies during the personal rule? (4)
1) By around 1936, Charles had halved his debt and was living within his income.
2) Some of the methods of raising funds were seen as illegal because Charles did not have parliamentary consent.
3) Reviving old laws as well as increasing recusancy fines and rents paid on wardships alienated groups that would ordinarily be loyal to the king.
4) Ship money was not justified as there was no emergency and the sale of monopolies led to rising prices.
What issues arose in religious policy during the Personal Rule? (3)
1) In 1628, Charles made William Laud, an Arminian, Bishop of London and in 1633 he was made Archbishop of Canterbury.
2) Laud’s policies were seen as popish and people were suspicious that he was part of a plot to impose Catholicism in England.
3) There was much opposition to Laud and his policies from landowners who did not like being told what to do by priests and bishops who were not their social equals.
What were Laud’s main policies? (4)
1) To create more respect for the House of God in parishes by railing in altars at the east end of the church, and music of a high standard, and candles and altar cloths.
2) To ensure all clergy followed the same rules by making the prayer book the only form of prayer, punishing any who defied him and insisting all priests were a surplice.
3) To stop the spread of Puritan Ideas by preventing puritan gentry from appointing ministers or preachers, punishing outspoken puritan gentry such as Bastwick Burton and Prynne who published pamphlets
4) To get more respect and power for the clergy by making sure they were well-educated and had only one parish and encouraging them to get involved in parish affairs.
What was the policy of thorough?
In which two main areas was it carried out?
Was it a success?
The policy of thorough is associated with Sir Thomas Wentworth and William Laud.
‘Thorough’ involved the efficient management of crown resources and the relief of the poor so that all would benefit from the rule of Charles I.
It was carried out mainly on the North and in Ireland.
They had good intentions but their disregard for the interests of the ruling classes undermined their success.
Charles was not always supportive if their actions disadvantaged his friends.
