Monarchs and Parliament ( Charles)

Question 1

Why was Charles initially seen as a popular candidate by parliament ?

Answer 1

as he supported the idea of a war with Spain. At the beginning of his reign he was give the nickname “ Prince Bred in Parliament “

Question 2

What was the aim of the siege of La Rochelle ?

Answer 2

it was Charlse’s reversal of the crown policy of aiding the French monarchy against the protestant huegonots.

Question 3

Why was the siege of La Rochelle a failure ?

Answer 3

• the policy reverse was essentially useless because the King of France and his chief minister had already made peace with the huegonots
• Buckingham had lost 2989 soldiers out of a total of 7833 soldiers.
• This siege signaled that Brittan were at war with Spain and France.

Question 4

What happened at Cadiz ?

Answer 4

an English fleet failed to take over the Spanish port of Cadiz. This is because most troops had no training and enough equipment.4000 out of 6000 troops died due to starvation.

Question 5

What happened at the 1625 parliament ?

Answer 5

Charles wanted 1 million pounds to finance the war against Spain. He secured a subsidy of 140000.However Charles still believed that it was too little. Then Parliament voted to give Charles poundage and tonnage for a year. This angered Charles.

Question 6

What happened at the 1626 parliament ?

Answer 6

• Financial disagreements between Parliament and Charles. Charles blamed parliament for not giving enough money to fund the war against Spain.
• Parliament attempt to impeach Buckingham. Charles dissolves parliament as a result of that.

Question 7

What was the forced loan ?

Answer 7

this is where Charles used his prerogative power and enforced a forced loan. People would pay this loan through public meetings and if people did not pay it was seen as an act of opposition and would be thrown to jail.

Question 8

What was the petition of right ?

Answer 8

it was a settlement of parliaments complaints against the Kings non-parliamentary taxation and imprisonment without trial and the unlawfulness of martial law and forced billets.

Question 9

What was the five knights case ?

Answer 9

this happened in 1627 in response to the forced loan. The five knights were five men who refused to pay the forced loan. They were imprisoned for treason. MP’s were not happy with the imprisonment of these five men. This led to a trial. Judges found Charles in favor and therefore the five men were imprisoned. Charles further tried to amend the judgment to make it so that he can imprison anyone. The judges said that it only applies to this case. This case was an example of absolutism.

Question 10

What happened in 1629 ?

Answer 10

this is where Charles dissolves parliament and does not call upon them for another 11 years. This period was known as the 11 years tyranny.

Question 11

Give me a summary of Charles’s court ?

Answer 11

• he imposed a strict order
• it included only his supporters, therefore it seemed isolated
• court was dominated by Catholics and Arminians. This caused political damage because Catholicism was at the time strongly linked with absolutism

Question 12

What were the two key prerogatives courts ?

Answer 12

• Star Chamber
• Court of High commission

Question 13

How did Charles raise money in the 11 years tyranny ?

Answer 13

• Knighthood : brought in £100000 a year
• Forest Laws : fines were made if a person were living on “ royal forests “
• Wardship : brought in about £75,000 a year
• Monopolies : this earned Charles around £33,000
• Custom duties : brought in £425,000
• Ship Money : brought in £200,000

Question 14

How much of a success was the Personal Rule at the beginning?

Answer 14

the personal rule began on a high note, a combination of growing trade and ship money offered the prospect of financial independence. Due to his early successes Charles decided to extend his programme of reform into his outlying kingdom. For example in 1637 he ordered a new prayer book in Scotland. When the book was read out in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, a women named Jenny Gedders was so angry that she threw her stool at the bishop who was reading it. This lead to a series of riots who were infuriated by the book and the way in which it was imposed. This is a great example of how unhappy people were with Charles’s personal rule.

Question 15

Give me a quick summary of the First Bishops war in 1639 .

Answer 15

The cause of the first bishops war was due to the riots in Edinburgh in 1637 and in February 1938 a Scottish petitioning movement known as the Scottish National Covenant. And it was a manifesto to unite opposition to Charles’ religious policy and to maintain Presbyterianism as the main religion of Scotland. This then in 1639 led to Charles gathering an army o f 15,000 men to the Scottish border. However because Charles had trouble collecting ship tax, his army lacked sufficient funds and he had little confidence in his troops. Because of the delays, the covenanters were even more prepared. Not wanting to recall parliament to resolve the financial issues. Charles agreed, by the pacification of Berwick to leave the Scots alone. The first Bishops War thus ended without battle. It was agreed that both armies would be disbanded.

Question 16

Give me a quick summary of the Second Bishops war in 1640.

Answer 16

The cause of the Second Bishops War was due to interpretation of the pacification treaty. As Charles discovered that Scotland was dealing with France he was determined to use force. In order to be prepared for the war against the covenanters Charles was forced to call parliament. This was known as the short parliament, however this parliament insisted first on discussing the grievances against the government and was against the idea of the renewal of the war against the Scots. Therefore Charles dissolved the parliament and created a new expedition of his own. The Scots crossed the river tweed and entered England in August 1640 to little resistance. After a minor encounter, the Scots occupied Newcastle. In October Charles reluctantly agreed to the Treaty of Ripon, which stated that Charles would pay the Scottish armies living costs while they occupied English soil. This then forced Charles to summon the Long Parliament to reverse the damage he has caused.

Question 17

What did the Long Parliament achieve ?

Answer 17

One of the first acts of the Long parliament in November 1640 was the impeachment of Wentworth for attempting to bring the Irish Army to England to help Charles control his country. The impeachment was proposed for two reasons:
* Parliament hoped that without his ‘evil counsellors’ such as Wentworth Charles would see the need to accept reform and rule with parliament.
* Would allow men like Bradford and Pym to become members of parliament and would ensure that Parliament stayed and was good.

Question 18

Why was Jhon Pym important ?

Answer 18

he was influential in strengthening parliament. Pym’s policy was that to force the King to accept a government in which parliament had confidence. Pym was instrumental in securing an act forbidding the dissolution of parliament without its consent. This was followed by an act abolishing the the whole apparatus of personal rule.

Question 19

Summary of puritanism.

Answer 19

• They were the hotter sorts of protestants. Those who placed religion at the centre of their lives and wanted to reform the church of England. Puritans directed their attention to anti-Catholicism.

Question 20

What was the St Gregory’s case?

Answer 20

this was one of the first open signs of opposition to the religious changes. In 1633 parishioners of St Georges church challenged the moving of the communion table.

Question 21

What was the Prynne, Bastwick and Burton case

Answer 21

they were fined £5000 and imprisoned for life for printing pamphlets attacking Laud. In addition their ears were chopped of. This caused public sympathy and showed what will happen when you oppose religion.

Question 22

What was the Army plot ?

Answer 22

On 3 May 1641 Pym revealed rumours of a royalist ‘Army Plot’ to Parliament. The plot centred on an attempt by officers to seize the Tower of London, release Wentworth and dissolve Parliament. The evidence for Charles’ involvement was circumstantial, but many MPs believed he played a part.

Question 23

What was the great remonstrance ?

Answer 23

The Grand Remonstrance was a list of grievances presented to King Charles I of England by the English Parliament on 1 December 1641, but passed by the House of Commons on 22 November 1641, during the Long Parliament

Question 24

What was the 5 members coup ?

Answer 24

In January 1642King Charles I ordered the attorney-general to indict treason of 5 men which were: John Pym, Jhon Hampden, Denzi Holes, Sir Arthur Heslridge and William Stride. This is because these men played the most prominent role in parliaments attempt to transfer control of armed forces away from the crown. On 3rd of January a herald was sent to the House of Commons to order the 5 members to surrender themselves to answer the charges against them. The house refused to comply with the King’s command because it was an infringement of parliamentary privilege. Therefore on the 4th of January 1642, Charles 1 marched to Westminster himself to arrest the 5 members in person.

Question 25

What was the Hampdens case?

Answer 25

In November 1637, Charles took Hampden to court for his refusal to pay ship money. Charles hoped that Hampdens persecution would make a point to all that Charles authority should be obeyed. However Charles narrow victory displays how Charles’s personal rule was under strain.

Question 26

What was the plantation in Ireland ?

Answer 26

this policy involved land being taken by the English Crown and then given to English settlers.

Question 27

What caused opposition in Ireland ?

Answer 27

due to the policy of plantation more protestant settlers emigrated to Ireland. And in 1632 Thomas Wentworth was appointed by Charles to be his representative in Ireland. He had two main roles and they were:
* enforcing the authority of the English crown and Church over the Irish.
* allowing the English crown to profit more from Ireland by increasing custom duty.

Question 28

What were the causes of the Irish Rebellion in October 1641 ?

Answer 28

• presbyterian Scots were controlling Scotland and were in alliance with English puritans. Their growing influence threatened catholic Ireland
• when Wentworth left Ireland to help with the Scottish Rebellion. The Irish sought to prevent radical outsiders imposing harsh protestant rule on them.

Question 29

What was the outcome of the Irish Rebellion in 1641 ?

Answer 29

The Irish seized an attack against the protestants in Ulster, killing at least 3000.

Question 30

What was the Triennial Act ?

Answer 30

passed on 15th of February. Abolished ship money without parliamentary consent. In addition Charles had to call parliament every 3 years and it should last a minimum of 50 days. If Charles failed to do this Lord Chancellor would call parliament. This would mean that there would be no more personal rule.

Question 31

What were the 10 propositions ?

Answer 31

The 10 propositions proposed by parliament on the 24th of June 1641 was an example of radicalism. The King had to make a few concessions such as:
* parliamentary input into who was in the privy council
* parliamentary control over religious education for royal children
* parliamentary control over those around the Queen

Question 32

What was the incident ?

Answer 32

In August 1640, the Earl of Montrose and 17 other Scottish nobles signed the Cumbernauld band, stating a desire to defend the king. However this support diminished due to the incident. This is because whilst Charles was in Scotland there was a plot to kidnap radical Scottish Covenanters. He was linked to this plot because he attended the parliament in Edinburgh on 12th of October, accompanied by an armed force.