Charles I: Personal Rule -> extent of Personal Rule in Scotland + Ireland + England Flashcards
What was Ireland’s historical attitude towards England?
- Filled with simmering resentment toward England
- Signified by the Nine Years’ War of 1593-1603 -> culminating form of resistance to English rule
What 3 distinct groups were living in Ireland by the 1630s?
- The Irish, who were Catholic
- The ‘old English’ who were Catholic
- The ‘new English’, who were Protestant settlers
What nickname was given to Thomas Wentworth?
‘Black Tom Tyrant’
Who was ‘Black Tom Tyrant’ ?
A political opportunist who rose following Buckingham’s death
What had Wentworth previously done in 1627 and 1628?
- 1627: refused to pay the forced loan
- 1628: played a key role in drafting the Petition of Right
What had changed in 1628 for Wentworth?
He abandoned the opposition and was termed the ‘Grand Apostate’ by Parliamentarians and was well rewarded for it by Charles
What titles did Wentworth receive from Charles?
- 1628: created Baron Wentworth
- 1632: made first Lord Deputy of Ireland
What did Wentworth’s rise indicate?
His political trajectory was a consequence of the opening of political power by Buckingham’s death
What was ‘Thorough’ an attempt to?
Thorough was an attempt to increase royal authority through imposing religious conformity and using prerogative courts
What did ‘Thorough’mean for Ireland?
It meant making a profit out of Ireland for the English crown, and controlling the parliament in the irish capital, Dublin
Who managed the administration of Church and State in Ireland?
Wentworth and Laud
- Wentworth’s ‘Thorough’ in Ireland came to be especially feared in England
Why did English observers fear Wentworth’s ‘Thorough’ rule in Ireland?
- They regarded Wentworth’s rule in Ireland as a testing ground for policies in England
- regarded by many in Parliament as the man with the potential to build for Charles a properly absolutist regime
How did Wentworth administer his policy in Ireland?
Systematically applied his policy in Ireland by dominating the main power groups by clever manipulation of the Irish parliament
- Thomas Wentworth at the heart of absolutism
What examples are there of Wentworth systematically applying his policy in Ireland?
- In collaboration with the Earl of Ormond, he built up an Irish army for the King’s use
- schemes were introduced to develop trade and industry of every kind
-> e.g. trade with Spain + promoting of linen manufacture
What financial reforms were enforced to increase Ireland’s revenue?
- The Irish Parliament granted a total of 10 subsidies
- a new Book of Rates was issued which caused customs duties to rise from £25,000 in 1633-34 to £57,000 in 1637-38
- all revenue went directly to the English government
Which court in Ireland did Wentworth confirm from Charles had power to hear suits between private parties?
The Court of Castle Chamber
What was Wentworth’s apparant aim with the Court in Ireland?
To encourage ordinary citizens to complain about abuses of authority by the rich and powerful
What was the Court of Castle Chamber used as?
An instrument for reinforcing and extending English power over Parliament inviting tyranny and therefore opposition
What example is there of opposition against Wentworth’s ‘tyranny’?
Some cases where Wentowrth was alleged by his enemies to have acted in a tyranical manner were heard by the full Privy Council, whereas others were heard in private sessions in his own rooms
What example shows Wentworth making full use of his powers against all those men whom he regarded as the King’s opponents?
Sir Piers Crosby and Lord Esmonde were convicted of libelling Wentworth by alleging that he had caused the death of a relative of Esmonde by ill-treatment
What did this signify?
- No one was safe on Ireland and all subject to Wentworth’s scrutiny
- he was willing to impose his control
What Laudian reforms did Wentworth introduce into the Church of Ireland?
- He imposed the Thirty Nine Articles of religion
- He established an Irish High Court of Commission to deal with clergy who refused to obey the new directives
What did Wentworth refuse to honour?
He refused to honour ‘The Graces’ which were concessions previously offered to the Irish which had included a relaxation of recusancy fines and guarantees of land tenue
What policy of Catholic Irish mistreatment did Wentworth continue and extend?
- The policy of expelling the native Catholic Irish population from their lands, and giving those lands to the new Presbyterian settlers, was continued and extended
- He planned the full-scale Protestant settling of the provinces of Connacht and Leinster by disputing Irish land titles and confiscating lands wherever possible to make way for the new settlers
What did Wentworth’s imposition of religious conformity signify?
- He was submitting the Irish country to every tenant of the British system who already had a deep-rooted resentment
- He was extending uniformity and the nature of political model imposed on ireland
Why was Wentworth eager to impose religious conformity in Ireland?
- Complete consistency makes it easier to control people
- common theme of uniformity in finances and religion
What promise of Charles’ did Wentworth ignore in 1635 that angered Catholic landholders?
Wentworth ignored Charles’ promise that no colonists would be awarded land, to the detriment of Catholic landholders, in Connaught
What title did Wentworth take in 1635?
In 1635 he raked up an obsolete title - the grant in the 14th century of Connaught to Lionel of Antwerp, whose heir Charles was - and insisted upon the grand juries finding verdicts for the king
What were the main causes of tension between the English Crown and the Irish?
- imperialistic imposition of English culture and tradition
- Religious reforms - aligning it closer to the Crown
- Financial reforms
- Authority and how far royal power stretched (Laudian ideas too)
Who were the ‘Old English’ ?
Descended from medieval English settlers this Catholic group had formed the elite of irish society for 200 years
How did the ‘Old English’ feel towards Wentworth’s policies?
They hated Wentworth’s policies of settling English and Scottish Protestants (known as plantation) on land that once belonged to them
What agreement had leading Old English landowners made with Charles?
The Graces
What were The Graces?
In return for a fixed sum, Charles promised not to interfere with certain lands
How did Wentworth only uphold part of The Graces?
He did not uphold claims to land that conflicted with the Crown’s interests
- united the Old English in hated to Wentworth
Who were the ‘New English’?
More recent Protestant settlers
What were the ‘New English’ attitudes to Laudianism and Arminianism?
- resisted the High Church Arminianism associated with Charles and Laud
- had predisposition against encroachment of the High Church + Arminianism
How had the New English acquired their vast wealth?
In their role as customs agents for the King and through corruption
Who were two of the most influential members of the New English group?
Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork and Francis Annesley, Lord Mountnorris who were prosecuted in the courts by Wentowrth
What was the aim of Wentworth’s policies in Ireland?
Not the prosperity of the irish but the benefit to the English exchequer (gov revenue)
What trade did Wentworth supress?
He suppressed trade in cloth ‘lest it should…prejudice that staple commodity of England’
What was Castle Chamber accused of?
Of brutal and arbitrary proceedings
What large-scale confiscations did Wentworth plan?
Wentworth planned large-scale confiscations of Catholic-owned land, both to raise money for the crown and to break the political power of the Irish Catholic gentry
What could Wentworth’s actions be viewed as?
A textbook study in absolutism because it increased the power of the English crown in multiple ways
Why was Wentworth’s absolutist ways worrying for the English political nation?
The fact that Strafford had created a predominantly Catholic army which could be utilised in England
- proved when Parliament attacked the personal Rule in 1640 its first target was the newly titled Earl of Strafford
Who/What were the main issues for Strafford?
- Old English
- New English
- Native irish
- Scots
- Anglicans
- Catholics
- Presbyterians
- Puritans
- Threat of rebellion
- English supremacy
When did the Scottish Rebellion turn into armed conflict?
In 1639-40, known as the Bishops’ Wars
