stuarts 1- civil war Flashcards
whig interpretation civil war
part of a wider conflict over religion and politics.
Gardiner, Macaulay, Neale, Notestein and Trevelyan.
Neale emphasis on democracy,
Notestein sees it as a key episode in the progress from medieval authoritarianism relying on religious persecution to liberal, constitutional and parliamentary monarchy.
marxist interpretation civil war
rise of a capitalism and a bourgeois class. More likely to rescribe it as the ‘English Revolution’ and describe its effect on social relations. Tawney and Hill. More recently, Nora Carlin and Brian Manning. – to a degree Lawrence Stone.
civil war- hist Charles fault
Within a European context Blanning focused on the importance of the monarch in the fall of the ancien regime. Fletcher argued the war was blundered into but has a particular emphasis on Charles’ mistakes.
revisionists- civil war
- largely accidental civil war
Chance, missed opportunities, and unforeseen events multiplied the interconnectedness of these contingencies. Key revisionists include, Lawrence Stone, Kevin Sharpe, Conrad Russell, Barry Coward, Nicholas Tyacke, Mark Kishlansky, John Morrill, Gerald Aylmer, Clive Holmes, Derek Hirst, Anthony Fletcher, Perez Zagorin, Ivan Roots and Robert Ashton.
post revisionism civil ar
There were, they claim, two great structural problems affecting the mid 17th century Stuart state, whose origins stretch back to the Tudors, if not earlier. :- Problem of multiple kingdoms
-problem of religious heterodoxy.
-created problems which the King was too incompetent to handle.
Anne Hughes, Richard Cust, Johann Sommerville, John Adamson, Michael Braddick, Ronald Hutton, Conrad Russell, Austin Woorych and David Smith. Also Tim Harris.
long term causes of civil war
composite monarchy
Elizabeth I
assertive parliament s
financial weakness of crown
issues reformation era
issues reformation era - civil war lt
somerville
Peter lake
Religious compromise: Covenanter Samuel Rutherford: “conjectural, fluctuating beliefs” “leaving room to believe the oppositte tomorrow.”
- Inherent ambiguities over ‘King in Parliament’ – it worked in the 1530s when there wishes were synonymous but was not designed for a climate in which they might be inimical.
reformation- civil war- Somerville
: 1603, about the locus of sovereignty
issues reformation era - civil war - lake
Reformation but neglects the most salient issues.
composite monarchy- lt civil wr
James unrealistic
religion
ireland
composite monarcy- lt - james unrealistic
- 1604 Commission of the Scottish Synod questions “how is there to be unit between the kirks unless one gives place to the other?”
- In light of this James’ discussion of a ‘conquest of love’ was deeply irresponsible.
- Logistical problems should be considered: James and the Five Articles of Perth had already showed the limitiations of ‘governing by pen’ and Ireland under Sidney and Skeffington the power of self-interested messengers.
composite monarchy- lt - religion
- Galloway: questions of religious uniformity had “offensive implications of inequality” between the two nations.
- The Scots, for example Melville, came to see the safety of the Scottish church in the conquest and Reformation of the English Church.
ireland composite monarchy lt
- In Ireland, plantation and settlement policies had created a united anti-English bloc;
the Reformation had failed;
the Dublin Administration remained insolvent;
the Act of Concealment had not been brought across to Ireland in 1624 which would have appeased them with sureties of tenure.
elizbeth I - lt civil war
stone
fifth monarchist
coward and giant
failures
e1- lt civil war failures
- Failure to develop a national, paid bureacracy or a standing army; the effect of the religious compromise in bringing about a large and assertive middle-class imbued with a diffuse Puritanism.
- Parliament becomes more assertive, venality takes root, failure to reform the finances, alienates Ireland.
stone- e1- lt civil war
implicates her in particular: “slendid but involuntary betrayer of the cause of monarchy.”
fifth monarchist e1 civil war
1653- sluttish housewife
coward and gaunt e1- civil war
exempt James from blame by blaming Elizabeth and Charles;
but we should remember that James had many advantages for the reform of these problems which Elizabeth did not enjoy: European peace,
Reformation taken hold,
Ireland pacified.
assertive parliaments lt cause of civil war
- start under e - Neale
or even Mary - eb harbinson - James
-kishlansky
Charles
asertive palriamnets - lt - james
- 1614 addeld parliament pass no leg
- 1621 parliament - clash over finances, (statute monopolies 1624 king dont have ability), concerns james tatempt marry son charles off to spanish princes, commons protestation 1621 right to fre speech demanded, james tore up and dissolved palriament
- The pitchforks are raised too early in Charles’ reign for us to blame him: 1625 refusal to give a sufficient subsidy for a war which parliament themselves demanded. 1627: one Mp describes the session as one in which parliaments fate, whether it should “live or die”, would be decided.
kishlansky asertive parliaments civil war
Parliament who was extreme in many of the confrontations under Chalres I: he convened sessions in 1628, 1629 and 1640 at the behest of parliament and against his own judgement; during the Petition of Right it was he who did all the running: parliament demanded assent of all its articles.
Charles- assertive parliaments - lt
adopted the anti-Catholic policies, to the short-term detriment of his marriage, at the beginning of the reign: approved all the anti-Catholic petitions presented to him, declaltred war on Catholic Spain, disarmed Catholic peers, didn’t allow his children to be educated or baptised under Catholic rites.
financial weakness of crown
- The Stuarts inhereited a financial system on the point of collapse: Robert Cecil speaks to this effect in Parliament in 1610.
- Becomes a weapon for parliament
- Russell:
- Becomes beholden to parliament and reliant on expediency.
- Disrupts the patronage system.
Russell- financial weakness lt
symptomatic of the desacralisation of the monarch: “not even the most rabid presbyterian would have told Elizabeth that she could not have tonnage and poundage unless she abolished the episcopacy.”
middle term causes of civil war
lauding church
personal rule
other policies
socioecon
socioecon- middle term causes of civil war
- Hill, Harrington and Stone on the importance of the growth of the puritan industrious class.
- Charles alienates this group
- Parker:
- Even then only 500 on the street after the closure of the Short Parliament.
Parker- socioeconomic- middle civil war
Europe wide phenomenon, weather and fall in living standards “lowers the boiling point”
other policies- middle cause civil war
- assc oppression
Judith richardness
smuts
kishlansky
Judith richards- civil war
Charles’ reclusiveness and how he stops giving arms: this is important because the giving of alms and touching for the king’s evil were important tools in ensuring the monarch’s image was a benevolent one.
±smuts- civil war causes
“strange form of internal exile” which, in Peter Lake’s view, exacerbated fears of Evil Counsel.
kishlanksy - Charles court
not as insular as has been suggested:
Sir William Noy for example, had acted as Counsel to Sir Walter Erle in the Five Knights’ Case,
was an ouspoken opponent of a clause about the King’s prerogative being inserted into the Petition of Right,
1631 he was not only offered the Attorney Generalship but he was pressurised by Charles to take it.
Wentworth had been a central figure in the creation of the petition of right.
personal rule- middle cause cw
inevitable to war- no supporters, no outlet for frustrations
finance reposes by parliament - escalated
holding speaker down
personal rule - inevitable cw
September 1638, Laud to Wentworth: “no small evils” oncoming, “no cure without a miracle.”
- Venetian ambassador in 1637: “disposition to revolution” in England, the King has “no friends in England, less in Ireland and none in Scotland.”
- Escalated the political problems of the previous five years by creating no outlet.
escalation personal rule to war
Parliament cut 60% of the crown’s revenue in 1641 as a response to this
1628 scuffle
why finances so bad
- finances already struggling- Charles inherit 1.3mill shortfall jaems spending on wars irelnd aid king of France
- gentry undervalued estates, communities refuse pay taxes, ocfrod response ship money
forced loan date
1626
parliament response to forced loan
petition of right- 1628 por- sign petition or palriamnet would refuse grant future taxes- no further imprisonments without trial nd unlawfulness. Martial law
why forced loan needed
money anglo Spanish wa r1625-30
unhappiness by parliament after 1628
consider how 7 and then 12 peers were ready to commit treason (12 a magic number)
holding speaker down
holding speaker down
1629- mps sought pass leg before speaker dissolved palirmanet on king command- parliament no longer actiong in kings business
lauding church - cause for civil war
changes under laud
scotland
secular roles bishops
opp
stone and ksihlansky
war religious deliniatioms
religious deliniations- cw
20/22 Puritan preaching hotspots came up Parliamentarian; and that in Hobbes’ Behemoth a full 3 of 7 of his ‘factions’ which led to the Civil War are religious ones.
lauding changes
Push for conformity in a religiously diverse country was inevitably going to result in problems.
- archbishop cantebruy – 1633- encouraging parishioners come up to rials recive communion, signif sscramnets
- bok of sports- allow morris dancing and may day clerbations
- more ceremonialism than seen for 60y
- Religious deviation was a dangerous game given the Homilty on Obedience: “must obey God rather than man.” – no more Job-like fidelity.
Scot and laud- middle term change cw
particularly problematic in Scotland, see Galloway above, but also because a campaign for uniformity was naturally going to chafe on the points of maximum difference and thus become a campaign of English hegemony.
- prayer book, nnat cov 1638
secular roles bishops - cw
frontmen for other oppresive acts, like the collection of Ship Money. Therefore, even the bishops in the church was not getting more overbearing, the extending responsibilities made it seem like they were.
opp to regime on laud - cw
August 1641 demand for the abolition of the episcopacy. – root and branch and 19 propositions
Trial of Prynne and others in 1637 a martyr machine
trial of prynne
- p puritan lawyer and writer openly critical of king
- Histriomastix (1633) attacked the theatre and condemned women acting on stage, which included criticism of Queen Henrietta Maria’s involvement in court masques.
- rynne was arrested for seditious libel and blasphemy due to his attacks on the monarchy and Church, especially his criticism of the Queen. His work was deemed offensive by King Charles I and Archbishop Laud.
Trial: Prynne was tried in the Star Chamber and found guilty. The court imposed harsh punishments: - including life imprisonement in tower and wars cut off
significant trial of prynne
uritan martyr for freedom of speech. The harsh punishment contributed to growing opposition to the monarchy and Church.
stone and kishlansky on laud
examine the poor advice given to Charles by Laud amongst others
st causes civil war
composite problems heightened
Scots erupted
importance bishop war
democratic principle lacking?
composite monarchy- st
- diff religion
- ireland
- English calvanissts
- problem of monarchy elsewhere
ireland - composite monarchy- st
1641 irish reblellion – caused by cont plantations settlements Ireland, lack political rep ad persecution of catholics, wentworth politics, trigger proporguing of irish parliament two month prior- catholic hysterior
English Calvinists - st composite monarchy
For those in England of a strongly Calvinist persuasion, Edinburgh became an example: William Prynne’s News from Ipswich was probably printed from Edinburgh – people “hoped to find America in Scotland” (Russell). – this is one of the ways in which Scottish politics served to polarise English politics.
problems monarchy elsewhere- st
Problems of monarchy are manifest throughout Europe: Catalonia and Portugal;
or particularly apt were Spain and the Netherlands due to the religious differences: t
he central problem is allowing something somewhere else which you outlaw at home.
Scots - st
- scottish prayer brook
- more power to Scots
prayer book ritoss
Scots- st - praye brook
Prayer Book of 1637 was characterized by outright rejection, violent protest in Edinburgh , and the formation of the Scottish National Covenant. This resistance marked a key moment in the lead-up to the Bishops’ Wars and contributed to the political and religious tensions that eventually led to the English Civil War. For the Scots, it was about defending their Presbyterian beliefs, resisting royal interference in their religious practices, and maintaining their traditional church structure against perceived threats from the Anglican Church and King Charles
Charles more power to scot- st
gives the covenanters “all the attributes of sovereingty” (Kishlansky). They could summon and dissolve General Assemblies and Parliaments; levy taxes; decide foreign policy and raise armies. Charles complained in 1638 of how he had allowed them to reduce him to a ‘doge of Venice’
riots catalyst scot st
Prayer Book riots served as the catalyst for a rebellion which was, at its root about the Union.
As Hamilton, who presided over the General Assembly in the King’s name, said: “these people have somehwat else in their thoughts than religion”, rather,
religion “must serve for a cloak to rebellion.”
direct parliamentary resistance - scot- st
not until 1640 when parliament called to finance war against Scotland, royalist accounst aprliamnet sought to ‘destroy royal autjority’ by removing evil counsellors
remove evil councillors
fortunes tennis ball’ despite doing well under Charles ‘rpdie will take a fall’ due to palriamnet actions0 impeached and irpisoned
- eg laud in de c1640 for subverting religion and causing division between iking and sujects
importance of bishops war
polarises English politics: anti-Scot and Royalist became synonymous
- irish response
-treaty of Berwick
bishops war- significant - eng
- Sees 12 peers commit treason and weds parliament to Scottish demands – death of Strafford and establishment of presbyterianism in England – to which the King would never agree.
bishops war- signif- Irish - st
One Irish Rebel, when asked why, replied: “to imitate Scotland who got a privilege by that course.”
- Also scares Irish, Presbyterianism might make the whole British Isles unsafe for papists.
treat of Berwick - bison war signs
Charles should never have signed the Treaty of Berwick to end to First Bishops’ War:
John Adamson calls it “the greatest mistake of his life.”
He had military superiority, even though Leslie’s tactics made it seem otherwise; retreat discredited him further; Charles was now completely bankrupt and made a number of concessions. That said, the failure of Phillip IV to fund the English effort as predicted was significant, an uprising in Barcelona having distracted him and used up any excess funds in the Spanish treasury.
statues inevitability of civil war
No high-road to Civil War” (Elton)
many factors limited- politics, religion, rule of law
political inevitability
Russell: we should seriously consider whether the only truly ‘political’ dispute until well into the 1640s was that between the Scottish covenanters and the English Crown.
Note also how the Imperial Scottish vision was the most unpalatable prospect possible for the English crown.
No leading parliamentarian in 1642 would support the regicide in public at the end of the decade.
religious divisions inevitability- civil war
Religious divisions in the country up to 1639 did not seem to be causing a bitter enough odium theologicum to make them a likely cause of war. There was a level of social toleration and my Calvinist were friends with papists: D’ewes and Count of Egmont.
rule of law - inevitability civil war
Who could mobilise the ‘rule of law’ argument? – it meant different things to both sides. Pym could readily imprison unconvicted recusants and still declare the law to be on his side because in the bourgeois, property owning minds of the parliamentarians the most important ‘law’ was that against the king arbitrarily taxing the people.
Hobbes on civil war inevitability
described England as “boiling hot with questions concerning the right of domination and the obedience due from subjects” – yes, the ideological debate was a negative one rather than a positive one.
- Death of Bedford, most powerful moderate, in May 1641.
act of concealment
The Act of Concealment of 1624 was a law passed during the reign of James I in England. It was aimed at addressing the issue of concealed lands—property that had been secretly transferred or hidden to avoid paying taxes or debts.
hoped to raise finances
implications act of concealment on Irish
The Act increased the scrutiny on land ownership, making it harder for Catholic landowners to conceal their holdings, which were sometimes seized as part of confiscations following rebellions or political upheavals. This had implications for the social and economic structure of Irish society, where many Catholic landowners were displaced.
The Act indirectly contributed to the consolidation of English control over Irish land, particularly in the wake of the 1641 Irish Rebellion, in which Irish Catholics rose up against English rule.
Act of Settlement
1652, confiscated large swaths of Irish land from Catholics, redistributing it to English Protestants
how does Charles alienate industrial puritan class
with his abitrary government which is seen to enroach on free trade: consider the arrest of 30 members of the Levant company in 1629 when they refused to pay an arbirary increase in the imposition on imported currants.
ship money
first imposed 1634
1637 court case and won, had right
tax enforced 1640
controversy for paying ships in wartime, coastal areas yet expanded include non coastal area
bishops war
hops’ Wars (1639-1640). These conflicts were fought between the Scottish Covenanters (who were largely Presbyterians) and the forces loyal to King Charles I, who sought to impose his religious policies on Scotland.
The First Bishops’ War (1639) ended in a stalemate, but it forced Charles I to call Parliament to raise funds, as he was unable to raise money on his own. This led to further political and financial tensions between the king and Parliament, contributing to the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642.
