All stuarts

Parliament of 1604 - 11 key issue:

Parliamentary privilege

4 main ancient privileges of parliamentarians

1. free access to monarch and HOL to convey their opinion

2. right to correct mistakes

3. freedom of arrest while parliament is sitting

4. freedom of speech

Buckinghamshire election 1604

Outlaw sat as MP and James thought that parliament were acting illegally in letting him do so. It became a constitutional dispute

Shirley’s case 1604

MP arrested for debt during parliament against parliamentary privelige

Union of England and Scotland 1606

tension over 'great britain' - MPs were also scared that James would become too powerful

Great Contract

Robert Cecil fails financial negotiation

Key issue of ‘Addled parliament’ 1614

Finances → (cecil's death) + Impositions (duties on trade, additional to Customs duties)

Key issue of 1621 parliament

Monopolies (favourites) and spanish match

Key issue of parliament of 1624

Anti-spanish policy → MP’s reluctant to provide funds

Parliament of 1525 key issue

1. Financing Spanish war → Parliament refused £1m request and granted t+ p year

2. Buckingham + favourites → retained influence

3. Arminianism → Montagu made Chaplain

4. Attitude → Charles did not consult, made no concessions and dissolved

5. Humiliating Cadiz defeat

Key issues between Charles and parliament

1. Finance

2. Foreign policy

3. Favourites

4. Religion

Key issues 1626 parliament

Laud opening ‘obey the king’ sermon

Charles and D.O.B try and stack courts

parliament blamed cadiz on d.o.b as he was the lord general and began impeachment charges against him →charles threatens + dissolves parliament

Ambassador to spain accuses Charles of bribing spanish with catholic concessions

Key issues 1628-29 parliament

Parliament hoped to compromise and proposed the :
-petition of right (1628) - gave power to parliament through taxation
- Three resolutions (1628) - Parliament agreed to give 5 subsidies in return for taxation, martial law and billeting to be addressed
- Five knights case (1627) - put 5 opponents to the forced loan on trial but falsified records and this was made public
- Buckingham's assassination (1628) - death led to public rejoicement which led to tension between the parliament and king

When was Charles' Personal Rule?

1629-1640

Who were Charles' closest advisors during his Personal Rule?

Weston, Laud and Juxon

Why was finance initially a problem for Charles I?

Because he failed to secure subsidies from parliament before his Personal Rule

What was Charles' debt by 1629?

£2 million

How did Charles and Weston plan to go about cutting his debt?

Increasing revenue and cutting expenditure

Which two treaties did Charles use to cut expenditure

-Treaty of Susa, 1629 (peace with France)
-Treaty of Madrid, 1630 (peace with Spain)

How did Weston use Charles' court to reduce expenditure?

He reformed court finance to reduce its running costs

What did the Book of Rates 1635 do?

Increased tax on custom duties

How much did custom duties raise by the end of the 1630s?

£425,000 per year

How much did wardship raise per year?

£75,000

How much did the Monopolies Act raise?

£33,000

How much did recusancy fines raise by 1634?

£27,000

Distraint of Knighthoods raised ...... by 1935

£175,000

When did ship money move to become an inland tax?

1635

How much did ship money raise per year?

£200,000/year

Through exploiting his prerogative in his personal rule,, Charles increased his income from ...../year to ...../year

From £600,000/year
To £900,000/year

What backlash followed the Laudian prayer book in 1637?

-Riots in Glasgow and Edinburgh
-Scottish privy council forced to abandon Edinburgh

What was the Scottish National Covenant 1638?

It was petition to unite against Charles' religious policy and to maintain Presbyterianism as the main Scottish belief

When were the Bishops Wars?

1639-1640

What was the Bishops War?

It was when the Scottish Rebellion escalated into war

How many soldiers did Charles have in 1639? What state were these soldiers in?

-Charles had 15,000 soldiers
-They were untrained

When did the Scots cross the river Tweed into England?

1640

When did the Scottish Army occupy Newcastle?

1640

What was the Treaty of Ripon, 1640?

Where Charles agreed to pay the Scottish armies living costs while in Newcastle. This caused Charles to need to call parliament to fund the payments

Why were the Covenanter army so strong?

Because many of their soldiers fought in the Thirty Years War

What three groups was Ireland split between?

-Irish Catholics
-Old English Catholics
-Presbyterian Scots

When was Wentworth appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland?

1632

What two things did Wentworth succeed at in Ireland?

-Enhancing the authority of the English church and crown over the Irish
-Allowing the English crown to profit off of Ireland through increasing custom duties

When was the Irish Rebellion?

1641-1642

Did Wentworth succeed at alienating Irish factions?

Yes

When and why did Wentworth leave Ireland?

-1637
-To help deal with the Scottish rebellion

Why did Irish Catholics rebel against Charles?

-The alliance of Presbyterian Scots and Puritan Englishmen threatened Irish Catholicism
-To prevent radical outsiders imposing harsh Protestant rules on them

How many Protestants did Irish Catholics kill in Ulster, 1641?

3000

Why was there opposition in England to Charles?

-His Personal Rule
-Religious and financial policy

What was the Hampden case, 1637? And what did it mean for Charles?

-Hampden was a prominent member of the gentry, had associations with Fiennes, Warrick and Pym
-He refused to pay ship money and Charles took him to court, hoping to show his authority and that he should be obeyed
-Crown won very narrowly
-This was politically costly for Charles and showed that his Personal Rule was under strain

Why did people emigrate from 1637?

As you couldn't publicly express controversial opinions, people had to show their discontent towards Charles in other ways, so emigrated often to North American to establish religious communities

When was the Short Parliament?

1640

How long did Charles' Short Parliament last?

22 days

Why was Charles' Short Parliament so short?

Charles recognized he would have to make significant concessions to get the 12 subsidies he wanted for the Bishop's War due to MP's resentment of him, so he dissolved parliament

Which key parliamentary figures were in a league with Scottish Covenanters?

Pym and Fiennes

Why was the stance of MP's on of Bishop's War so surprising?

Because they preferred their traditional enemy of Scotland over their own King

Following the Short Parliament, who and why did Charles arrest?

Charles arrested Pym, Hampden, Warrick and Fiennes arrested because he regarded them as his leading critics

Why was there political radicalism during and after the British Civil Wars?

Because political instability provided fertile ground for political and religious radicalism

What four key things did the Levellers want?

-The extension of the franchise (women's right to vote)
-A written constitution
-House of Commons legislative, removing monarchical power
-Religious freedom

Where were the Levellers based?

London

Who was the most significant figure within the Levellers?

John Lilburne

What were the three ways in which the Levellers publicised their movement?

-Pamphlets
-Newspaper
-Petitions

What was the Levellers' newspaper called?

The Moderate

How many different pamphlets did the Levellers produce between 1645-1649?

250

What were two petitions the Levellers produced?

-The Large Petition
-The Woman's Petition

How did the Levellers initially try to influence a post-war settlement, 1647?

-They became closely linked with the 'agents' of low ranked NMA officers who were concerned of a settlement with Charles which would sell them short

What was the name of the Levellers pamphlet in 1647 which caused Army officers to take them as a serious threat?

They produced pamphlets entitled 'The Case of the Army Truly Stated' which criticised Army leadership for attempting to settle with Charles

What was the name of the Levellers' proposed war-settlement?

The 'Agreement of the People'

When did the Putney debates begin?

November, 1647

What were the Putney Debates?

The discussions between the NMA and the Levellers which discussed how England should be governed in the future

What were the key points of the Levellers' first 'Agreement of the People'?

-MP's should be elected in proportion to the population of their constituency
-MP's should be elected every other year
-Parliament should consist of one chamber

What was so significant about the Putney and Whitehall debates?

The fact that political debate took place outside of Parliament was a remarkable sign of revolution

Who was Ireton?

A leading Army officer during the Civil Wars

Why did the Levellers lose their influence after the second Civil War?

The outbreak of the second Civil War caused Army officers to reunite, they were then payed payed by the Rump, causing Ireton and Cromwell to reaffirm their control as discontent vanished

When were the Whitehall debates?

1648-1649

What were the Whitehall Debates?

The discussion of the Levellers' 'Agreement of the People' in the context of Charles' trial ad execution

What caused friction between the Levellers and the Army at the Whitehall debates?

The Levellers wanted the 'Agreement of the People' to be a written constitution whereas the Army didn't, causing both to write their own agreements, which again significantly differed as the Levellers denounced the Rump

What happened to the Levellers in March 1649?

Their leading members, including Lilburne, were arrested

What happened to the Levellers' third 'Agreement of the People' in 1649?

They attempted to ignite a mutiny, which had limited effect and they were consequently crushed by Cromwell in May 1649

When did the Diggers come to prominence?

1649, after the Kings execution

Who were the Diggers?

Led by Winstanley, they were an extremely religious group who lived outside of London in communes

What did they Diggers believe in?

They believed in total social and political equality

Who viewed themselves as the 'True Levellers'?

The Diggers

What ominous phrase did Winstanley preach?

'Freedom is that man that will turn the world upside down'

Why were the Diggers of little threat?

Because they had very few followers

When were the Diggers crushed?

1650

Where does the Diggers' significance derive from?

They laid the early foundations for communism and environmentalism

In what way did the Diggers show influence?

Small Diggers communes formed from Kent up to Leicestershire

Which group of people associate with millenarianism, 1650?

Fifth Monarchists

What book did Fifth Monarchists believe was gospel and what did it say?

They believed in the Book of David, which stated that the kingdom would last forever after the second coming of Christ

Who was a Fifth Monarchist? And how did this effect the influence of millenarianism

NMA Colonel Harrison was a fifth monarchist which caused the belief to spread through the Army on a small scale

When did Charles I's Long Parliament begin?

November 1640

What were the three reasons Parliament opposed Wentworth?

-He was the man who could make Charles absolutist
-Because he took a heavy handed approach to the Irish and wanted war with the Scots
-Parliament couldn't directly attack Charles so blamed his evil councilors instead

When was Wentworth impeached?

1640

What reason did Parliament have to impeach Wentworth?

He attempted to bring the Irish army to England to help Charles gain control

What was the Bill of Attainder, 1641? And who was to imposed on?

-It allowed anyone who was seen as a threat to the state to be removed by Parliament without trial
-Parliament imposed it on Wentworth
-Wentworth was held in the Tower of London whilst it was debated

In 1641, what two things did Scotland state must happen in order for them to make peace?

-The Scottish episcopacy to be abolished
-Wentworth to be dead

What was the 'Army Plot', 1641?

Revealed by Pym, it was Charles' plan for officers to seize the tower of London, release Wentworth and dissolve Parliament

What happened to the Bill of Attainder following the Army Plot?

It was passed

What three factors made Charles Pass the Bill of Attainder?

-The atmosphere following the Army Plot
-Heightened pressure from the London Mob
-Charles' fear for his family, especially his Catholic wife

When was Wentworth executed?

May 1641

What was the Root and Branch Petition, 1641? And how many signatures did it get?

-It was a London petition which called on Parliament to abolish the episcopacy
-15,000 signatures