Early Stuarts, Civil Wars, and the English Revolution Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes on the Early Stuarts, the Civil Wars, and the English Revolution (1603-1660).

Divine Right of Kings

The belief that a monarch is chosen by God and answerable only to God.

The Trew Law of Free Monarchies

Written by James I, this expresses his ideas on monarchy, stating "The King is above the law, as both the author and giver of strength thereto."

Prerogative Powers

Powers that the monarch could exercise without the consent of Parliament, including control over foreign policy, war and peace, overseas trade, and the pardoning of criminals.

Hampton Court Conference

A meeting called by James I in 1604 in response to the puritan Millenary Petition, which ended with some agreement on reforms that were later blocked.

Canons of 1604

Issued by Richard Bancroft with James I's approval, these aimed to divide the moderate puritan clergy from the more subversive ones by requiring acceptance of the English Prayer Book and the 39 Articles.

King James Bible

Published in 1611, this became the definitive version of the Bible in English and a major contribution to the unity and identity of the Church of England.

Book of Sports

Issued in 1618, this document gave official blessing to certain sports on Sundays, opposing radical puritan ideas that Sundays should be reserved for worship only.

Recusants

English Catholics who refused to attend the Church of England; by 1600, they numbered around 350,000, or 15% of the population.

Oath of Allegiance

Introduced in 1606 by James I, this allowed Catholics to live in peace with the government if they swore allegiance to the Crown and paid their recusancy fines.

Arminians

A faction within the Church of England that rose during James I's reign, opposing predestination and emphasizing ritual and ceremony in church services.

The Great Contract

Proposed in 1610, this aimed to transform royal finances by having Parliament grant James I £600,000 to wipe out debt and an annual grant of £200,000, in return for James abandoning some unpopular means of raising money.

New Books of Rates

Introduced by Robert Cecil, these increased the rate of tax on imported and exported goods, increasing crown revenues.

Cockayne Project

A 1615-1617 project where a city merchant proposed exporting finished cloth instead of half-finished cloth, leading to a new company with a monopoly over the cloth industry.

Court Factions

Groups of men who sought to influence the king and increase their power.

Overbury Affair

A scandal involving Robert Carr and Frances Howard, where Sir Thomas Overbury was murdered for opposing their marriage, leading to the demise of Carr and the Howard family.

Treaty of London

A treaty in 1604 where James I made peace with Spain, ending 19 years of war.

Palatinate Crisis

The crisis in 1618 when Archduke Ferdinand was elected as king of Bohemia and Frederick of the Palatinate accepted the Bohemian crown, leading to war.

5 Members’ Coup

Charles attempted the arrest of 5 leaders of the opposition in Parliament.

Militia Ordinance

Parliament's policy to put the the militia on stand-by.

Commission of Array

Charles' policy in reply to the Militia Ordinance to put his own militia on stand-by.

The Battle of Edgehill

First Civil War battle where raising royal standard at Nottingham on 22 Aug. 1642 attracted such little support that Charles had to postpone his advance on London until he had sufficient troops.