Part two: Charles I early reign - “The Beginning Of The End” - 1625 - 1629 Flashcards
How was Charles his own problem?
Formal, inflexible, cold, shift and could not compromise.
He was unapproachable, had a Catholic wife, did not explain his actions and his insecurities led him to constantly overstress his prerogative. This meant he had none of James’ political shrewdness or flexibility.
He listened to other people instead of making decsions himself, this meant influence over him was significant.
Explain Charles’ court?
It was serious and isolated. He cut if off from the outside world. It was dominated by Arminians and Catholics who shared Baroque art and had key influence over Charles.
This meant that to outsiders, a “conspiracy mentality” formed that Charles was becoming a Catholic, Absoloutist king.
What was Charles approach to religion?
He was not committed to being a royal peacemaker.
He sought to bring about a far reaching reform of the Church Of England. A matter which caused grave disquiet not just amongst Puritans, but amongst the Political Nation as a whole.
What was the York House Conference?
York House Conference 1626
Theological debate held in Buckinghams home to dicuss the growing tensions between Puritans and Arminians within the CoE.
Charles, did not even consider turning up, and was clearly not going to be swayed showing his inflexibility from the start.
They discussed Montagu’s Appeal To Caesar whose writings defened Arminianism. Buckingham, despite previous Puritan sympathies sided with the Arminians and Laud to maintain favour with Charles I. This further alienated Puritans.
What was the conflict over Montagu?
Montagu’s Appello Caesarem 1625
- Parliament attacked Charles support for the book and Arminian clerc who defeneded Arminiansm and attacked Puritans.
- Montagu argued that the King had the right to determine religious doctorine in the Church of England.
- In response to the attacks, Charles made Montagu his royal chaplain. He later made him Bishop of Chichester in 1628. two clear statements of Charles’ anti - Calvinism.
Charles appeared unaware of the problems that could arise over religion.
Who was Laud?
Laud was present at the York House Conference as a prominent Arminian theologist.
He later became Bishop of London in 1628 and was one of Charles “evil ministers” in his Personal Rule.
What was Charles policy towards the 30 years war and why did it create financial burdens.
Unlike his father, Charles I planned to participate in the Thirty Years War by joining the fight against Spain, due to the failure of the Spanish Match and his marriage alliance with Henrietta Maria.
His policy required signifcant expenditure like financial support for the Protestant dutch or the construction of a 6000 englishmen strong army to be led by a German Mercenary - Count Mansfield.
Charles planned a war expenditure of £1million.
What happened at Charles’ first parliament?
Charles needed cooperation from his first parliament if he wanted to join the 30 years war.
He refused to explain his position, goals or even ask for a specific subsidy.
The commons exhibited their distrust by granting only 2 subsidies totalling about £140,000 and only granting Charles the right to collect Tonnage and Poundage for a year.
Charles felt like his prerogative was massively attacked. He dissolved them.
What was the Forced Loan?
“A Test of Political Loyalty” - 1626
* Faced by financial difficulties he tried to cover his campaigns in France and Spain without Parliamentary approval.
He ordered wealthy subjects to lend money to the crown.
Why was the Forced Loan “forced”?
The loan was “forced” because those who refused could be imprisoned or have their properties seized (in fact 76 were imprisoned). This led to the 5 knights case.
Many of those who refused to pay or were imprisoned, like John Hampden, became symbols of resistance against royal overreach
How much did Charles collect from the Forced Loan?
Only about £267,000 or 70% of the expected amount was collected and his continued conflict with both Spain and France meant that he needed to turn to parliament in 1628 to request more funds.
What was the 5 knights case?
In 1627, five knights were imprisoned by Charles I for refusing to pay the forced loan, which Charles had imposed without Parliament’s consent.
The knights argued their right to be tried in court and that they could not be imprisoned without legal justification. The King’s Court ruled in favor of the crown, upholding Charles’ authority to imprison them without trial.
This led to the Petition of Right clause stating he could not imprison without cause.
Explain Cadiz
Cadiz, 1625
- Charles problems with his first parliament were followed immediatley by his disastrous anti - Spanish interevention with Buckingham as Lord High Admiral leading the invasion.
The English fleet failed to take the Spanish port and more troops died from lack of food rather than enemy combatants. It was an embarrasment and a financial disaster.
What was the other foreign policy failure of Charles I?
The troops he sent for Count Mansfield, the German Mercenary, were shipped with no training and limited equipment.
Out of 6000 troops, 4000 died of starvation and disease.
Why was Charles supporting Count Mansfield?
Beacuse the Protestant Germany and Catholic France were allied against Spain and the Hapsburgs.
Explain Charles’ second parliament?
Charles’ failure in Spain and with Mansfield forced him to recall parliament in 1626. He immediatly antagonised them by asking Laud - the Anti - Calvinist - to preach the opening sermon.
While parliament sought to place the blame for foreign policy failure at Cadiz on Buckingham as Lord High Admiral, Charles flipped it and blamed parliament for not providing adequate funding.
Why did Charles dissolve his second Parliament?
The turning point in this parliament was that MPs started impeachment proceedings against Buckingham.
Instead of approaching it diplomatically, Charles released a statement that was riddled with absolutism claiming he would dissolve parliament if they charged Buckingham for treason - he went through with this and dissolved parliament as they continued to try and get rid of Buckingham.
Explain La Rochelle
La Rochelle, 1627
- Villiers was again in charge of Charles policy in the 30 years war
- This time it was in support of the French Protestant Hugenots in hope to spark rebellion against King Louis XIII.
- Buckingham’s campaign was poorly planned and disastrously executed, resulting in a humiliating failure. Their ladders were too short to breach the walls and they had inadequate supplies.
- All it did was spark war with France.
Why did Charles want to help the Hugenots if he was allied with France.
Charles I supported the Huguenots to back Protestantism and weaken France’s internal stability, even though he was allied with Catholic France. He saw the Huguenots as a counterbalance to French royal power.
Explain Buckingham’s assassination?
After the failure of La Rochelle, one of the surviving troops stabbed him in hatred in 1628.
- He said Buckingham was cowardly and not deserveth of the name of a gentleman or soldier.
- News of his assassination was accompanied by public rejoice and bonfires were set off across the country in celebration.
- Charles blamed parliament for their negative portrayal of Buckingham for the assassination. Charles withdrew even further from the public and relations broke down further.
Explain Charles’ third parliament
Initially, compromise seemed possible in the 1628 - 1629 parliament - this was because Charles let his secretary of State, John Coke, communicate with the MPs directly instead of doing it himself and causing trouble.
Parliament, after careful handling by the king’s counsellor agreed to give Charles 5 subsides if the 3 grievances were addressed.
What were the 3 grievances parliament wanted to address from 1628 to 1629?
- Taxation Without Consent - like Charles continued collection of Tonnage and Poundage.
- Imprisonment without trial - Forced loan / 5 knights case.
- The Use of Personal Prerogative to Bypass Parliamentary Authority - The Three Resolutions of 1629.
What was the petition of right?
Petition of Right, 1628
- This was a significant constitutional document presented to King Charles I by Parliament, seeking to limit the king’s powers and protect individual liberties.
- It targeted grievances like his impostion of forced loans. The petition demanded that the King could not imprison subjects without just cause or collect tax without their consent.
Why did Charles accept the petition of right?
Charles agreed because he was desperate for finance after his two failed involvements in Cadiz and La Rochelle. He was at war with two European superpowers.
He also feared further parliamentary proceedings against Buckingham due to their visceral hatred for him, they believed he was the “cause of all our miseries”.
However, he did not fully comply with its terms.
Why did the petition of right fail?
Firstly, it did not explicitly mention specific types of tax, and as a result Charles continued to collect Tonnage and Poundage.
Also, Charles appointed Laud and Montagu as bishops in 1628 clearly showing Charles’ allegiance to Arminiansm.
There was also a question of trust, as at first Charles had not responded to the bill in a proper legal way. He also told the royal printer to deface the statue number making it not legally binding.
What were the three resolutions?
The three resolutions, 1629
- The Three Resolutions were passed by the English Parliament in 1629 in response to King Charles I’s actions, particularly his disregard for the petition of right.
- Just as the speaker was about to dissolve parliament by royal order, two radical MPs held him down until the three resolutions were passed.
- The resolutions condemned Arminians, rejected the king’s right to collect tonnage and poundage and also asserted parliament could not be dissolved without its own approval.
What was Charles’ response to the three resolutions?
These resolutions were a direct challenge to Charles’s authority - he saw them as acts of revolution, which led to the king dissolving Parliament and beginning his personal rule only 3 days later.
He immediately arrested his top critics and charged them all with treason.
Summarise the Charles period before his Personal Rule in relation to James’ rule.
The tensions of James I’s later parliaments derived from the interrelated issues of religion, foreign policy, favourites and finance.
James’ resistance to involvement in the Thirty Years war meant that he was able to manage the tensions from these issues.
In contrast, Charles’ decision to intervene in the European conflict combined with his failure to successfully do so enhanced every issue James had to a much more dangerous and desperate level. Foreign policy meant Charles needed more finance than James did. Religious policies and alignments with France also enhanced religious problems James might have had with parliament.
Overall, Charles was naive of the problems he would cause with his religious and foreign policy.
The interevention (and its failure) of the 30 years war excacebarted all the problems James’ had to a much more critical level.
