stuarts KQ1- the quest for political stability

only first 2 parts of 1.1

1625 parliament- finance

charles i inherited an empty treasury in march 1625 and secured a £60,000 loan from City merchants but had to call Parliament in June. MPs were angered by the failed Mansfeld campaign and only granted 1 year of tonnage and poundage.

1625 parliament- social

- charles married catholic queen henrietta maria

- he promoted arminians like richard montagu

- bad economy due to plague, troop conscription and billeting

- cadiz expedition

cadiz expedition

late 1625, led by buckingham's nominee viscount wimbledon but failed disastrously. commons discussed impeaching buckingham so charles dissolved parliament.

1626 parliament

in early 1626 charles called another parliament, which again attacked buckingham. to halt impeachment charles dissolved parliament and imposed a forced loan.

forced loan

refusals led to imprisonment and conscription. lord chief justice carew dismissed for oppoing it and in 1627 5 imprisoned knights sued for release (five knights' case) but charles claimed emergency arrest (prerogative) powers, denying them trial.

conflict in 1628

charles needed funds for wars with spain and france, including failure at la rochelle. MPs voted 5 subsidies but presented the petition of right. charles reluctantly agreed but later reasserted his right to tonnage and poundage and punsihed non-paying merchants (eg Richard Chambers was re-imprisoned via Star Chamber). He also appointed Arminian William Laud as Bishop of London.

1628 petition of right

demanded an end to forced loans, imprisonment without trial, martial law and billeting.

buckingham's assassination

august 1628, publicly celebrated despite charles' grief.

conflict in 1629

parliament reconvened and protested breaches of the Petition of Right. charles ordered adjournment but MPs led by Denzil Holles and Sir John Eliot forced through resolutions against arminianism and illegal taxation by holding the Speaker in his chair, leading to charles dissolving parliament and beginning personal rule.

1629 personal rule

dubbed 'eleven years' tyranny'. some historaisn argue he aimed to establish absolute monarchy by imprisoning MPs like John Eliot, but others see his goal as efficient, centralised rule based on his political/religious ideals. initially charles governed through his privy council with trusted advisors like william laud and thomas wentworth.

government and finance 1630-1636

1. 1630 treaty of madrid ends war with spain, cutting annual military costs from £500k to under £70k.

2. charles revived feudal fines and monpoly licenses like soap monopoly in 1634.

3. imposed ship money nationally from 1635 and became an annual levy by 1636, raising £200k a year.

4. enforced distraint of knighthood and fined 9000 landowners for not presenting at his coronation.

church reforms and opposition 1629-36

1. charles and laud enforced arminian reforms emphasising ritual, order and hierarchy

2. puritan practices suppressed and over 100 ministers emigrated to new england

3. the feoffees for impropriations (purtian group) shut down

4. churches ceremonially transformed, decorations and altar moved eastward

5. increased fears of catholicism as queen was catholic and from 1635 there was a papal ambassador

6. william juxon, bishop of london became lord treasurer in 1636 (church and state interlinked)

growing resistance 1636-40

- resistance networks formed via providence island company, led by pym and hampden etc

- 1636 hampden refused ship money and his 1637 trial became a test case, judges narrowly ruled (7-5) in king's favour but hostile public reaction

- 1637 harsh punishments for critics like burton, bastwick and prynne intensified opposition

- by 1639 ship money yielded only 20% as government focus shifted to raising troops for conflict vs scotland

the scottish crisis and collapse 1637-40

charles misunderstood scotland's presbyterian church and imposed reforms. 1639 first bishops' war ended with treaty of berwick after charles' poorly funded militia failed.

reforms in scottish presbyterian church

- 1636 book of canons issued

- 1637 english prayer book introduced and riots in st giles in edinburgh

- 1638 scottish nobles signed national covenant to defend their kirk

fall of personal rule 1640

- impossible to fund war due to 1639-40 taxpayer's strike

- charles called short parliament in apr 1640 but dissolved after 3 weeks when MPs resisted his demands

- second bishops' war 1640: charles' troops sympathised with scots, he lost battle of newburn

- treaty of ripon oct 1640 meant he had to pay scots £850 a day to occupy newcastle

- forced to summon long parliament in nov 1640, ending personal rule desperate and defeated