English Civil War - 1637 Flashcards
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Causes
Charles had begun to rule without parliament, which he did for 11 years. This was known as Personal Rule. The King had the right to call and dismiss parliament at will, so this was something he had the authority to do, but parliament became agitated when he raised taxes without Parliament’s permission.
He instituted Ship Money, a tax usually levied in war time for coastal areas, he extended this to all of England and in peacetime. His argument was that because the King is in charge of foreign policy, that this was just an extension of foreign policy. Ship Money became very unpopular.
England was a mainly protestant country but Charles married a French Catholic princess, Henrietta Maria, and people were worried about her influence.
William Laud became the Archbishop of Canterbury. Laud was not Catholic, but Arminian, a form of Protestantism that shares some forms of worship with Catholicism. Puritans in parliament opposed Laud’s reforms. When three MPs, Prynne, Bastwick and Burton protested, they had their ears cut off.
Charles believed in the Divine Right of Kings. He preferred the advice of his few favourite ministers, to consulting with parliament. The Duke of Buckingham was constantly advising him, despite his spectacular failures in foreign policy, losing against the French at La Rochelle.
Parliament kept calling for his impeachment, but Charles ignored and dissolved parliament whenever they protested.
Methods
In 1637, Charles and Laud introduced a new prayer book in Scotland, which was based on the Church of England. In Scotland, they were also Protestant, but they were Presbyterian.
There were riots, and in 1638, the Scots signed an agreement called a covenant, saying that they would not accept the changes. In 1639, Charles sent an army to Scotland, the Covenanters defeated Charles I then invaded England. Charles needed money to defeat the Scots.
In April 1640, Charles recalled Parliament, which was known as the Short Parliament, parliament made a lot more demands on Charles as a condition for their assent to the tax. Charles would not agree to their demands, and his friend Thomas Wentworth, the Earl of Stafford encouraged him to close parliament after one month.
Charles goes to war with the Scots again and loses, the Scots occupy Newcastle. Charles had to call another parliament in November 1640, which became known as the Long Parliament. Parliament demanded the removal of Stafford and Laud, that ministers would be appointed by Parliament to advise Charles; That Parliament would have to meet regularly; That no taxes would be levied without parliament and that Laud’s reforms would be reversed. The King agreed to the execution of Stafford, the imprisonment of Laud; Some of Charles’ critics became his advisors, parliament was to meet every three years and Ship Money became illegal.
In 1640/41, there was a rebellion in Ireland, thousands of Protestants were killed by Catholics, and in London there was great paranoia that Charles was engineering a plot with the Catholics to make England Catholic and to punish parliament
Parliament took control of the army. John Pym, a leading MP in parliament presented the King with a list of grievances called the Grand Remonstrance, Charles was furious. He raised an army and went to parliament to arrest Pym and 4 other men (The Five Members). The men escaped but Charles had entered Parliament with his troops.
In August 1642, Charles declared war on Parliament. The royalist army was known as the Cavaliers, support mostly came from the North and supporters were mostly wealthy landowners. The parliamentarian force, the Roundheads, were based in the South, and in London, and supporters were mainly from the middle classes, the peasants, the workers.
The Royalists were successful in the beginning but Oliver Cromwell, a general, created a New Model Army, which was better equipped and trained, than that of the royalists. Generals were only promoted who had proved themselves by merit. The men of the NMA were very religious and believed that their war was supported by God. In 1645, the NMA won the Battle of Naseby, which was the end of the King’s army. In 1647, Charles was captured, imprisoned and negotiated with the army. Charles made a secret pact with the Scots during the negotiations, leading to the Second Civil War. At the Battle of Preston in 1648, the Scots were defeated.
MPs were divided on how to deal with the King. Colonel Thomas Pride went to parliament with the army and ejected 300 MPs who were known to support the King, known as Pride’s Purge. The new parliament was called The Rump and the king was called before Parliament where a special commission had been put in place to try him for treason. Of the 135 who should have attended, only 68 turned up, the rest were scared of being involved. Charles refused to give a plea, because he said that Parliament had no right to act as judge and jury and to try the King of treason. Charles argued with Bradshaw, the chief judge, and was removed from the proceedings. Witnesses gave evidence but there was no one in court to support Charles, Charles was sentenced to death.
He was beheaded on the 30th of January 1649. The monarchy was abolished, England became a republic, known as the Commonwealth, the Protectorate, or the Interregnum. For 11 years there was no King. England ruled itself first by Parliament, then by Cromwell, then by the army. None worked, so after Cromwell died (1658), Parliament restored the monarchy but the relationship was different. When they called Charles II to be king, he had become King not by inheritance but because Parliament had asked him to, parliament met more regularly after this and was not as influenced by the king.
Cromwell had won wars against the Dutch and Spanish. He promoted freedom of worship. He protected English shipping with the Navigation Act. Allowed Jews back into England. He had appointed Major Generals to keep strict control on many aspects of life. The Levellers, a group that believed in equality for all, were imprisoned and their leaders killed. In Ireland, Cromwell ordered the killing of Catholic women and children at Drogheda. Land was taken from Catholics and given to Protestants. He also closed parliament and ruled with the army.
Outcomes
Long Term: Only after the Glorious Revolution of 1688, where parliament invited a foreign invasion from William of Orange, where they managed to gain more power than the monarchy.
Short Term: Established commonwealth that lasted for 11 years.
Jews were allowed back into England
The Levellers, a group that believed in equality for all, were imprisoned and their leaders killed.
