Charles I Relations with Parliament Flashcards
When did Charles reign
1625-1649
Effect of Charles’s upbringing
- Had been very sickly as an infant - had a stutter etc which made him appear to be a weak king
- His experience with James’s court = very bad, and so he made his court the complete opposite
Problems with his personality
Lack of confidence mad it difficult for him to accept criticism - relied on the advice of his favourites and accepted Catholic ideas which angered the Protestant population
Tensions in the First Parliament
- June - August 1625
- Charles failed to explain his foreign policy to parliament - wanting a land war instead of a naval war and needing funding of £1million
- Charles only granted tonnage and poundage for 1 year - Charles saw this as attack on prerogative and collected it after this time
- 2 subsidies granted but less than a quarter of what Charles needed
- Growth of Arminianism led to an attack on Montagu who was one of Charles’s favourites
Tensions between the first and second parliament
- Failure of the Cadiz expedition
Tensions in the Second Parliament
- Feb - May 1626
- William Laud (anti-Calvinist) preached the opening sermon which annoyed MPs
- Commons wanted to remove Buckingham due to his foreign policy failure at Cadiz - Charles blamed Parliament for not granting enough subsidies - Sir John Elliot began the impeachment process against Buckingham
- Charles Dissolved parliament to save Buckingham from impeachment
Tensions during the interval between Second and Third parliament
- 1626 - 1627
- Charles called for a forced loan in 1626 to finance war efforts
- 1627 = ‘Buckingham’s war’ with France - Buckingham had involved England in 2 unsuccessful wars which reduced his popularity
- Five knights case 1627 challenged the right to arrest refusers of the Forced loan after 76 had been arrested
Tensions in the Third Parliament (1st Session)
-March 1628 - March 1929 (the whole third parliament)
- Charles released those involved in the five Knights case - committee of grievances set up to cover the issues of this case
- This committee created a petition of right 1628 which stated Charles could not be trusted with an unwritten constitution - it meant that no tax could be levied without parliament and no martial law etc - Charles was pressured into signing by the commons
- Coke called Buckingham the ‘the cause of all our miseries’
Tensions between the 1st and 2nd session of the 3rd parliament
- Buckingham assassinated by Felton
Tensions in the Third parliament (2nd session)
Jan - March 1629
- Charles accused of breaching the petition of right in the Rolle’s case
- Attack on Arminians as Charles promoted Montagu
- Charles wanted to adjourn parliament however members refused this and held down the speaker, Flinch - Three resolutions were passed - however those who had passed the resolutions were labelled as traitors - Charles arrested 9 MP’s as a result and dissolved parliament on the 10th March
Charles I Problems - Religion
1625 - Montagu made Royal Chaplin
1627 - Arminians, who were opposed to Calvinism, defended the Kings right to raise the forced loan
1628 - Arminian Leader William Laud made bishop of London
1629 - fears Charles wanted to restore Catholicism and become an absolute monarchy
Charles I Problems - Foreign policy and war
1625 - MP’s distrusted him after a disastrous and costly land expedition
1626 - Buckingham caused Cadiz expedition and war with France which led to parliament wanting him impeached
1629 - Peace negotiations bring peace with France
Charles I Problems - Relations with parliament
1626 - Charles dissolved the parliament without receiving any financial support
1628 - Forced to call new parliament as he was still at war and in desperate need of money
1629 - Celebrations over Buckingham’s death which angered the king and led to Charles undermining parliaments control of taxation
The court of Charles I
- dominated by Catholics and Arminians - Catholicism was linked with absolutism at the time
- Charles imposed strict order on hid court - made it seem isolated from the rest of the country
The Commons defies the King
2nd March 1629 - Charles wanted to close parliament - Sent ‘black rod’ to do so - Doors of the Commons shut in his face and the speaker was forced into his chair - The Commons quickly adopted the Commons Protestation of 1629
- An assault on the speaker was an assault on the king - Charles would dissolve parliament and start his ‘personal rule’ which would last 11 years
What Does Coward claim (historian)
- James maintained working relations with parliament
- There was no fundamental breakdown in the relationship between Charles and the Political nation at this time
Reasons for the start of the personal rule - Role of Favourites
- Charles under influence of Buckingham - led to disastrous foreign policy which damaged relations with parliament
- Since 1625, Parliament had demanded Buckingham’s downfall as they believed he was responsible for all the decisions the king made
- No-one could advance their career as Buckingham controlled access to the king - many forced to bribe him to see the King
- Encouraged James to declare war on Spain and invade Palatine - Encouraged Charles I to declare war on France
Reasons for the start of the personal rule - Parliament
- Attack on the speaker on 2nd March 1629 led to the beginning of the Personal rule
- When Charles came to the throne he was inexperienced - bound to make mistakes - Parliament took advantage of this, with the Commons taking power from the Kings royal prerogative
- Commons threatened death penalty for anyone who tried t change the CofE - Parliament strongly against Catholicism
Reasons for the start of the personal rule - Charles I
- Believed his subjects were obliged to obey him
- Collected Tonnage and Poundage before and after he had permission from parliament to do so
- Marriage to Catholic Sister of King of France - Parliament saw this as a threat to the English church
Reasons for the start of the personal rule - Long-term problems of crown-parliament relations
- Charles came to the throne during a time of anger between the crown and parliament - any king would have found themselves on a collision course with parliament
- James I third parliament saw the house of commons receive an impeachment - Second session he dissolves the parliament and tears the protestation out of the Commons journal
Charles’s Proclamation at the end of parliament
He would summon no more parliaments until his subjects had a better understanding of what he sought to do
Was their any resistance to the dissolution of the parliament
There was very little resistance besides a brief refusal by merchants to pay Tonnage and Poundage
Was the dissolution of parliament exceptional
It can be argued that it wasn’t as it was normal for long periods of time between parliaments
What was the Centre of Administration
The Privy council - controlled local governments and was made up of the king’s chosen advisers - Charles attended meetings regularly and and ensured his decisions were put into effect, unlike James I
