The English Revolution

Legacy of James 1

Religious issues: conflicting views between Catholics and Puritans.

* 1604 conference Hampton Court addressing Puritan grievances "No bishops! No king!"


* Book of Sports 1618 promoted recreational activities on Sundays - angered Puritans.
* Gunpowder Plot 1605 increased recusancy fines and anti-Catholic hysteria.

Legacy of James 2

Relations with foreign powers: James saw himself as a Rex Pacificus:

* Treaty of London 1604 ended war with Spain.


* Marriage alliance with France 1609 between Charles and Henrietta Maria.
* Dismissed Parliament's wishes to join the 30 Years War to avoid destabilise foreign relations.

Legacy of James 3

Financial weaknesses: the Crown was in debt when James inherited the throne.

* Peace with Spain reduced expenditure but James' personal spending was extravagant.


* James paid a lot of money to his advisors.
* 1606 Parliament gave James 3 subsides but by 1620 the Crown debt was £900,000

Charles I’s character

* Poor public speaker -stammer and grew up away from the Royal Court
* strong believer of DR -enormous sense of his own importance and became an uncompromising ruler e.g food on bended knees and Armanian chaplains who believed in DR
* reclusive - difficult to access and placed unmatched power in his favourites

Impact of marriage to Henrietta Maria

* Charles granted concessions to English Catholics -non enforcement of penal laws
* Queen brought many Catholic courtiers to court and iconographies -tension and isolation from the rest of the nobility

Foreign policy before PR

The Cadiz expedition 1625: invasion fleet sent to the Spanish border. Humiliating: soldiers drunk >failed to capture port or treasure -P furious & blames Buckingham. Charles blames P for not funding his policy

La Rochelle raids 1627: another failed expedition this time because the English scaling ladder was too short -P furious & blames Buckingham. Charles blames P for not funding his policy

Finance before PR

* Charles aimed to carry out anti-Spanish policy and needed 1mil. Forced loan 1627: all liable summoned to public meetings and pressed to pay -opposition was anonymous
* Five Knights Case: five issued habeas corpus >Charles had no choice but to take them to trial >tendencies of autocracy

Religion before PR

* Promoted Arminianism because it supported DR -Charles and Buckingham suspected to be closet Catholics
* 1626 York House Conference in Buckingham’s house pitted Arminianism against Puritans whose grievances only served to harden Charles religious views -same year proclamation that forbid the discussion of sensitive religious issued; 1627 William Laud promoted to Privy Council

Parliaments’ actions in 1628

* Petition of Rights drafted by Elliot and allies: no martial laws in peacetime; no taxation without P; no imprisonment without cause; no quartering
* Three Resolutions criticised Charles’ method of collecting money and Arminian religion and demanded: denouncement of Charles’ advisors and Tonnage and Pounding -dissolved in March 1629

prerogative courts:

* Without Parliament Charles couldn’t enact new laws but he could influence how existing laws were interpreted through prerogative courts
* Star Chamber made up of the PC and used to attack any opposers of the Crown e.g Bastwick and Prynne fined £5000 imprisoned for life and parts of ear cut off for publishing anti-Laudian propaganda
* Court of High Commission used to enact canan laws upon the Church -Laud used prerogative courts with greater frequency and harsher punishments e.g introduced decorated alters

Religion during PR

* Laudianism entailed beautifying the Church with embroidered cloth; return of status; stained glass and colour -Catholicism
* clergy politicalised as priests made Justice of the Peace making them vulnerable to political assaults -bishops expected to sent reports of activities to archbishop who reported to Charles

Charles advisors during PR

* Laud: became Archbishop of Canterbury 1633; famously anti-social; active in PC -not since the reign of Henry VIII had a clergy exercised such political power
* Wentworth: Lord Deputy if Ireland 1632 responsible for implementing THOROUGH by making Ireland profitable, imposing religious uniformity and conformity

Impact of Ireland

* Wentworth able to make the Irish Parliament grant Charles 10 subsides and issued the new Book of Customs which doubled income from custom duties
* policy of imposing political authority suppressed critics of the Crown but also de-established the balance factional politics brought to the Ireland and united all parties against Crown
* Old English detested Wentworth settling Protestants on the land that belonged to them for 200yrs and signed Graces with Charles with fixed payment of sum Charles wouldn’t interfere with certain land
* New English resented Wentworth mainly due to him promoting Arminanism and he persecuted some of their influential members

Scotland during PR

* 1637 Prayer Book met with disturbance when it was first used in St Giles Cathedral -reports of the dean being shouted down by a crown >1638 Charles made it treason to protest against the Prayer Book
* 1638 Book of Canon contained layout of church associated with CofE -canon issued without the ratification from the SGA
* 1639 First Bishops War ended without a battle after Charles signed the Treaty of Berwick -disagreement over pacification broke out when Scots intrigued with France
* 1640 Scottish Covenanters invaded Northumberland -English sympathised upon hearing stories of alter railing burning
* Treaty of Ripon Charles had to pay £850 a day and Scots had control over Northumberland and Durham until settlement reached >recall of P

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Finance during PR

* 1630 Treaty of Madrid reduced annual spending on war from £500,000 to £70,000
* knighthood revived those with land worth over £40 had to be knighted during Charles coronation £175,000 raised
* Ship money traditionally only levied on coastal towns in times of emergency but Charles levied on all towns -complaint regarded how much it was being levied £200,000 raised between 1634-40

1636 Hampton case

John Hampton publicly challenged Ship Money by refusing to pay >Charles used him as a trial case in the Star Chamber in 1637

7 ruled for Charles to continue and 5 against it >gentry reaction to results was hostile and added to the reason why only 20% of expected income was collected by end of decade

The Bridge Appointment 1641

* abolish most hated advisors
* hold regular Parliament
* could have resolved financial issue and reduced vulnerability to grievances before supply debate

The army plot 1641

Charles had ordered his army to unite and march down to London to free Strafford and forcibly dissolve P -Tower of London guarded heavily

Protestation Oath 1641

men over 18 had to sign oath of allegiance to Charles and CofE as a way of reducing tension across the kingdom -way of establishing the number of Roman Catholics in England in order to tax them more heavily

Ten Propositions 1641

* a list of suggestions brought by Pym regarding settlement: P input into PC members; oversight of Queen’s court; education of royal children

Root and Branch 1640

* signed by 15,000 Londoners listed religious grievances e.g abolishment of bishops
* would have dismantled the structure of CofE and radically altered HoL >remove traditional supporters
* shelved in 1641 as it was too divisive

Execution of Strafford 1641

* attempting to establish “arbitrary government”
* Bill of Attainer brought Charles into direct involvement turning it into a test of goodwill
* vote passed 204 to 59
* fearing London Mob Tonnage and Pounding and Ship Money abolished; prerogative courts outlawed

Grand Remonstrance 1641

* contained lists of grievances over financial and religious matter during PR >passed 159 to 148
* P to have control over army and approve ministers
* HoL to be cleared of bishops >crowd prevented them from taking seats and 12 impeached

5 Members case 1642

* MPs like Pym, Hampden and Hasling targeted
* Charles entered HoC with an armed escort demanding the whereabouts of the 5 MPs >breach of P privileges
* 19 Propositions issued which Charles rejected

Irish Rebellion 1641

* religious anxiety and power vacuum led to overexaggerated rebellion radicalised P as they elided with an intense fear of Catholics >Grand Remonstrance and debate regarding control of army
* claims that Charles supported the rebels and that English Catholics rose to join emerged >anxiety

support for Charles 1642

* fear of disorder: sat at the pinnacle of hierarchy
* constitutional royalism: debate over GR showed divide in method
* religious moderates: Catholics and Arminanins naturally side with him also Root and Branch showed religion was divisive topic
* 1/3 of Commons and 2/3 of Lords
* access to resources: better equipped than P due to individual wealth e.g Earl of Newcastle and Worcester donated £700,000 and £900,000

Why Royalists lost 1

Geography: unable to access heavily populated areas like London south and east -lack of access to strong militia that had been trained from as early as 1630s e.g no. of London militia 20,000 by 1643/ Charles did have men from 30yrs war e.g Prince Rupert; P access to major ports blocked Charles from getting foreign support e.g unable to use HM support from Holland when she landed in the Yorkshire coast/ Cessation Treaty 1643 only 2,500 evident in P victory battle of Nantwich 1644

why Royalists lost 2

Finance: by 1644 traditional levies had run dry only in 1644 Charles emulated P using excise tax -P access to large population meant they raised more money; division within rise of peace and war factions so Cromwell issued Self Denying Ordiance 1644 removing MPs from military posts so division wouldn’t make it to front line -Royalists had united goal to defend monarchy under one leadership

Why Royalists lost 3

NMA: 1645 ordinance created them; single nation force of 21,000 men; members well paid and disciplined e.g fined for swearing and standardised uniform; promotion based on merit rather than social class like Charles; had intelligence department responsible for gathering info on enemy

Battle of Edgehill

Oct 1642: indecisive 25,000 troops Earl of Essex withdrew towards Warwick leaving the road to London open -Royalists failed to capitalise as Rupert left after the fleeting troops; The Solemn League and Covenant

The Solemn League and Covenant

1643 establish Presbyterianism in return for military aid; 1644 troop of 20,000 entered led by Leslie; Royalist defeat that lead Newcastle to exile and Rupert to head south -battle showed strength of NMA and Scots

Battle of Naseby

June 1645 NMA outnumbered Royalists 2:1; Cromwell’s disciplined troop defeated secured victory

1646 Newcastle Proposition

accepting the covenant; installing a Presbyterian form of church government; giving Parliament control of the Army for 20 years; turning over key supporters for punishment

Levellers

* Emerged after the CW and were a secular group


* Wanted a constitutional government; abolish HoL; religious freedom e.g 1647 Putney debate Agreement of the People Rainsborough argued that all men should be able to vote but Ireton said only those with land worth £200 or more -showed people taking charge
* Lilburn arrested by Parliament in 1645 -showed they were a threat but never committed to the use of violence and their values not supported by gentry as the implementation of Levellers values would decrease their power

Quakers

* God had direct relationship with people and so there was no need for baptism, holy communes or church


* By far the most disturbing group e.g would shout down priests during church services and expressed beliefs with vigorous disregard for property
* Numbers increased during the 1650s under the Barebone Parliament

Ranters

* Religious members like preachers that believed that spirit of God was in everyone; rejected Church and obedience


* Lack of conformity posed a threat to the order of things and potential anarchy

Fifth Monarchist

* Prepare for the second coming of Christ to rule for 1000 years before Judgement Day


* Members included army officers and commanders
* Saw Cromwell as hindering God's purpose and sought to assassinate him on many occasions e.g 1657

Charles actions 1646-

Newcastle proposition 1946 response:

* Letter to Henrietta Maria loss of "conscience, Crown and honour"


* Delayed response because he wanted to play the internal opposition in Parliament (Independents vs Presbyterians)
* Agreed for Parliament to control army for 10 years instead of 20 but rejected adopting the covenant

The Engagement 1647:

* Charles double crossed Parliament and made a deal with the Scots


* In return for military aid he would unite the kingdoms and adopt Scottish Protestant for 3yrs
* Vote of No Address passed by Parliament in 1648 as they waited for the Scots to make a move -prevail only with military victory

Parliament actions 1

Heads of Proposals 1647:

* Drafted by Ireton with Cromwell's help


* Control of army for 10 years; the dissolution and recall of Parliament to be no longer than 2 years
* Power of bishops reduced
* Council of State in charge of foreign affairs and would need Parliaments approval to start war or peace

Windsor Prayer Meeting 1648:

* Grandee members like Ireton and Lambert holding a prayer meeting whilst Cromwell away fighting CW


* They receive the news of Fleming having been killed at the hands of the Royalists
* Meeting a turning point as Charles labelled "man of blood" who needs to answer for the "blood he has shed"

Parliament actions 2

Pride's Purge 1948:

* 6th of Dec 186 MPs still favouring peace settlement with the King prevented from entering Parliament


* This left 240 members and 71 of which would become directly involved in Charles' execution
* Shows Charles' execution to be the result of minority in Parliament

Ireland 1649:

* 20 warships built in case of foreign attack


* Cromwell took 30,000 army members to suppress what he thought would be a quick event of Royalist rising
* Victory only achieved once Cromwell stormed Drogheda and Wexford and slaughtered thousands Cromwell justified this as divine providence

Rump Government 1948:

* Established after Pride's Purge and struggled to establish legitimacy due to Ireland was Royalist stronghold and Scotland named Charles II as King in 1649


* Rump tasked itself with removing Royalists and established itself as legislative power
* Reforms issued include -Commonwealth established in May, HoL and monarchy abolished in March, Council of State elected to act as governing government
* Overwhelming ratio of gentry meant groups such as Levellers saw a decline in numbers as leaders were imprisoned in Tower of London
* Religious reforms: Toleration Act 1650 -not a requirement for people to attend Church as long as they participate in religious service -allowed religious groups like Quakers to spread ; Adultery Act -committing adultery punishable by death; Blasphemy Act aimed to restrict radical groups
* Failures -overtime lost popularity among the gentry; rate of improvement decreased e.g 125 reforms passed in 1649 but only 51 by 1652

Barebone Parliament 1653:

* Elected to create Cromwell's "Godly society"


* Humane treatment of the insane promoted; civil marriage legalised; tougher measures on highwaymen and thieves; first assembly to include MPs from all 4 kingdoms
* Division within group -radicals wanted ability to appoint vicars and not pay ministers from public money, abolish common laws as they were less concerned about property; conservatives wanted to completely reform the Church not in favour of land reforms

Why Charles II was restored

* Rising radical groups alarmed the political nation e.g 60,000 Quakers by 1956
* Charles Declaration of Breda in 1660 offered religious toleration and payment of arrears to the army
* The quick collapse of the republican government showed political stability could only be maintained under monarchy

Legacy of English Revolution

* Divine Right of Kings questioned for the first time in history
* England experienced first and last period time of military government
* Church courts abolished and laws became a secular matter