From Restoration to Revolution 1660-88

Militia Act 1661

Confirmed the monarchy as the head of the country’s military

What previous issues or areas of conflict were being addressed by this term?

• Ensure someone politically powerful (e.g. Cromwell) would not be able to sway the army again

• Parliament have been keen to approve person in charge of army

Corporation Act 1661

Removed those who were not loyal to the crown from a variety of offices, filling the vacancies with staunch Royalists

What previous issues or areas of conflict were being addressed by this term?

• Prevents uprising against the King - Civil War

• Strengthens Charles and Cavalier Parliaments’ positions

King’s Purse

Granted an annual income equivalent to £1.2 million, to be paid mostly through duties and taxes on trade. The King still had to ask Parliament for income. All other ways of gaining income were barred to the King.

What previous issues or areas of conflict were being addressed by this term?

• Charles couldn’t abuse ship money/forest law to earn his own money - so he can’t rule by himself - has to rely on Parliament - has to answer to Parliament (has to work with them)

King’s Advisors

The King was allowed to choose his own advisors

What previous issues or areas of conflict were being addressed by this term?

Surround him with own supporters (Laud, Wentworth, Buckingham) potential issue of conflict as seen before

King’s Courts

The King’s prerogative courts were still banned

What previous issues or areas of conflict were being addressed by this term?

• There were heavy threats of Catholicism in Charles I’s Courts and they often influenced the King too much

• Should be reliant on Parliament

• Bastwich, Burton + Prynne - misuse of the courts

Parliament

New elections were held which turned out a Royalist majority

What previous issues or areas of conflict were being addressed by this term?

• So Parliament would not rise up against him

• Stops threats of Republicanism

Petitions

A law passed against large crowds accompanying petitions

What previous issues or areas of conflict were being addressed by this term?

• Holding the Army outside the Rump - used to influence Houses of Parliament in the Post

• When Stafford was put on trial - Charles I

• Wentworth - forced to sign the Act of Attainder

What were the weaknesses within the Restoration and why were they likely to cause difficulties in England’s quest for political stability?

• Charles II’s ongoing belief in the divine right of Kings

• The Convention removed and replaced with Cavalier Parliament who wanted revenge

  • Restoration was effectively unconditional, had to wait until the King returned so they were subject to Royal and more widespread manipulation

• King is limited in his financial abilities - limited to £1.2 million a year - fewer prerogative powers - feudal and prerogative taxes, prerogative courts

• Corporation Act showed willingness to prosecute non-conformists

• Clarendon Code - re-emergence of religious divisions

• Triennial Act of 1641 replaced in 1664 with weaker version

• Desire for a tolerant church was resisted

• Suspected Charles of pro-Catholic changes

• Theoretical power for declaring war - Parliament had to finance it

When Charles was restored he claimed to be in the 12th year of his reign, why is this significant?

• Showed that he believed in Divine Rights, despite him being called in by Parliament and only just being coronated and in exile for years prior to this

• Shows him to be almost ignorant of Parliament of their significance and powers

Charles II’s Character

• Came to the throne at 30

  • Been in exile near all of the last 14 years

  • Had a profound effect on his political development

  • Learnt the arts of political manoeuvre

• Easily bored of administrative details

• Gaiety and scandals of his court degraded the reputation of the monarchy

• Ruled pragmatically

• Striking physically

• Fixed determination to stay on England’s shores

Election of the Convention Parliament

• 1660

• Parliament not called by a King - prime role to call monarchy and start restoration settlement

• Provided a form of governance - Anglicans and Presbyterians needed to provide religious tolerance

Declaration of Breda

• 1660

• Charles issued statement outlining what he would do if he was asked to be King. He promised a general pardon for everything done during the Republic and to pay the army the money it was owed.

• He also avoided any details on how the new government would actually function.

• When Charles returns though he said that 1660 was the twelfth year of his reign.

• Began a rift between Charles and Parliament - Divine Right makes him believe he does not have to listen to Parliament and should be able to be an absolute ruler

Act of Indemnity and Oblivion

• 1660

• Pardoned all those involved in the execution of Charles except the regicides themselves

• Presents Charles as a fair and just King

• Compensated people by giving land back

Restoration Settlement

• Did not repeal laws from early 1640s that had made ship money illegal, abolished the prerogative courts and the king’s feudal rights

• House of Lords was restored and bishops were readmitted, the press was censored and Parliament was not allowed to pass laws without the King

• Lands confiscated from the church or crown were reclaimed but those sold by royalists to help pay fines were not

• Charles retained prerogative powers in foreign policy

• Charles doubled the size of the privy court - more difficult to manage

• Charles relied more on an inner circle

• Some areas weren’t definitive - caused issues down the line

Militia Acts

• 1661 + 1662

• Confirmed the monarch as the head of the army

• Reduced militia strength

• Continued rumours of plots and rebellions

• Potential instability - Power over army but no power or money

Corporation Act

• 1661

• Removed those not loyal to the crown from offices and gave them to Royalists

• All in powers were Royalists

Venner’s Rising

• 1661

• Failed rebellion in London, led by the Fifth Monarchist Venner, reignited fear of radical groups.

• Elections that followed produced a massive royalist majority (Cavalier Parliament)

• Local Government wished for a return to normal practice dealt with quickly

• Returned to the hands of traditional political nation

Act of Uniformity

• 1662

• All church services had to follow the Book of Common Prayer and all ministers had to be appointed by a bishop

• 1800 ministers were unable to conform and were expelled from their livings

• Excluded all non-conformists/dissenters

Quaker Act

• 1662

• Quakers were forced to swear the Oath of Allegiance or accept severe penalties

• Many were imprisoned as a result because Quakers refuse to take oaths of any kind

• Severe penalties by authorising magistrates to offer them the oath of allegiance

First Declaration of Indulgence

• 1662

• An attempt to suspend the Act of Uniformity, stating that the penal laws against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters were to be suspended.

• Commons reject this and Charles is forced to withdraw it in 1663

Dunkirk sold to Louis XIV

• 1662

• End of English possessions in France - loss of land was seen by some to be a failure but had been costly to maintain control

Hearth Tax

• 1662

• To raise money for King but only raised £250000, a third of what was predicted

• This helped cause money problems for the monarch

• Less likely for Personal Rule to occur

• Charles forced to rely on Parliament

Triennial Act

• 1664

• Confirmed that Parliament should be called every three years but had no mechanism for ensuring this happened

• Carried out to avoid future personal rule

• Supposed to protect Parliament’s permanence

Conventicle Act

• 1664

• Outlawed religious assemblies of more than five people outside the Church of England

• Stopped non-conforming churches from meetings

• Excluded dissenters

Second Anglo-Dutch War

• Mostly about trade

• Ended in disaster when the Dutch forces sailed up the Medway and attacked the English fleet at Medway

• Shows England’s weakness to foreign powers

• 1665-67

Great Plague

• 1665

• Bubonic plague killed about 100000 people in London

• In 7 months, almost ¼ of London’s population died from the plague

• Superstition - thought it reflected negatively on Charles’ rule

Five Mile Act

• 1665

• Prevented any preacher who did not accept the restored Anglican church from coming within five miles of a town or city

Great Fire of London

• 1666

• It consumed 13200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul’s Cathedral and most of the buildings of the City authorities

Dismissal of Clarendon and start of rule by Cabal

• 1667

• Clarendon was replaced as chief minister by a group of five advisers known as the Cabal.

• Using Catholic advisers shows internal success and infiltration of Catholics

James announced conversion to Catholicism

• 1668

• Heir to the throne

• Anxiety over an absolute Catholic monarch

• Goes against most of England

• Confirms belief of Catholic advisers

Treaty of Dover

• 1670

• Charles promised to support France against the Dutch and Louis promised to help Charles financially when he dissolved Parliament to pursue pro-French policies

• Destabilised Anglo-Dutch War

• Charles able to be semi-financially independent

Third Anglo-Dutch War

• 1672-74

• Charles was forced to support France against the Dutch due to the secret Treaty of Dover

• After several defeats, Parliament forced Charles to make peace

• Costly and embarassing

Second Declaration of Indulgence

• 1672

• Controversially included Catholics

• Parliament forced Charles to withdraw it in 1673 when he had to recall them to raise money

• Destabilised relationship between Parliament and King

Test Act

• 1673

• Prevented non-Anglicans from holding public office

• Public were not nearly as bothered as Parliament

• Charles forced to issue further subsidies for Anglo-Dutch War

• Created tension and confrontations

What was the nature of Danby’s policies?

• Foreign Policy favoured Dutch (Protestant, Trade) - arranged marriage of James Duke of York’s Protestant daughter Mary to William of Orange

• Supported High Anglican policy for Clarendon Code and Church of England

• Restored Royal Finances

What changes did Danby oversee and what was the outcome for the Crown’s income?

• Danby pursued policies favouring strict conformity that offended Shaftesbury

What were Danby’s methods of parliamentary management?

• Use of patronage, bribes, offices and entertainment (forming a group to challenge the Country opposition)

Why did Charles II appoint Danby as Treasurer?

• Charles II obliged by Treaty of Dover to start 3rd Anglo-Dutch War and without money so she needed to call Parliament

• Had to withdraw Declaration of Indulgence and pass Test Acts (1673)

• Charles II realised he had overstepped and appointed Danby - impeccably Anglican and Protestant

What happened in 1678-9?

• Shaftesbury and his associates wanted to challenge Danby’s power and sought to impeach him in 1678

• Charles II dissolved Parliament in January 1679 in an attempt to protect him but the new elections led to an anti-Danby majority

Causes of the Popish Plot

• Religious fears that Charles and his brother’s conversion to Catholicism had created lay closed and reappeared with the emergence of the Popish Plot

• Anti-Catholicism from the Great Fire of London and the Great Plague

• James Duke of York was heir to the throne - fear of Catholic Monarch and absolutism

• Charles II married to a Catholic

• Charles keeps trying to pass Declaration of Indulgence 1672

• Pro-French and Catholic foreign policies

Popish Plot

• 1678-81

• Totally fictitious but widely believed plot in which it was alleged that there was a Catholic plot to assassinate Charles II in order to bring his Catholic brother, the Duke of York (afterward King James II) to the throne

• The allegations were fabricated by Titus Oates, who informed the government of the imagined plot and eventually gained access to the Privy Council, where the king’s questioning showed Oates to be lying

• However, Oates also made a sworn deposition of his “evidence” to a Westminster JP, Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, and when Godfrey was found murdered in October, there was a popular panic

Consequences of Popish Plot

• Investigation established in London

• Coleman’s letters of restoring Catholicism to England found

• Exclusion Crisis

• Licensing Act expired in 1679 - very few restrictions on print so contained accounts of trials were spread - more than 2000 printed pamphlets

• Charles proclaimed all Catholics should leave London and stay at least 20 miles away - pragmatism

• Commons ordered its members provide lists of all suspected Catholics in their county

• 35 men executed for treason

• No Catholics allowed in HOC

• 1678 - Test Act is passed

• Anti-Catholic propaganda

Causes of the Exclusion Crisis

• Popish Plot

• Shaftesbury uses the Popish Plot as an opportunity to undermine Danby

• Charles refused to divorce, make an illegitimate heir legal, or bypass his brother in favour of Mary, James’ eldest daughter

Exclusion Crisis

• 1679-81

• After the Popish Plot, Whigs in Parliament tried to impeach Danby, accusing him of corruption funded by French money

• Charles tried to save Danby by holding an election but the Whigs won

• Parliament now forced Charles II to accept Whigs, including Shaftesbury in his Privy Council and introduced an Exclusion Bill which would mean that James could not become King (Catholic)

• The bill was passed through the Commons but Charles then dissolved Parliament

• In the New Parliament a second Exclusion Bill was passed in the Commons but was defeated in the Lords

• Charles again dissolved Parliament ordered the 1681 Parliament to meet at Oxford

• Passed another Exclusion Bill

• Thanks to deals with Louis XIV Charles no longer needed Parliament and dissolved them for the rest of his reign

Consequences of Exclusion Crisis

• Firsts Exclusion Bill passed in the Commons but Parliament dissolved it before it could be approved by the Lords

• Parliament presented a bill fightihng heavy pressure from the King in the Lords by powers of delay

• Charles not reliant on Parliament

• Hereditary succession kept intact

• Shows Charles to be a Catholic sympathiser

• Declaration of Monmouth’s illegitimacy

• Goes into a period of Personal Rule 1681-death in 1685

• Shaftesbury faced new charges after being acquitted and went into exile in 1682

Causes of Rye House Plot

• A group of old Cromwellian soldiers who come up with this plot - linked to Dissenters and Whigs

• Whig conspiracy to assassinate Charles II

Rye House Plot

• 1683

• This was an alleged Whig conspiracy to assassinate Charles II of England because of his pro-Roman Catholic policies.

• Plot drew its name from Rye House at Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, near which ran a narrow road where Charles was supposed to be killed as he travelled from a horse meet at Newmarket

• Plan is to replace Charles with Monmouth

Consequences of Rye House Plot

• `Conspirators arrested and Whigs sidelined

• Royalists backlashed

• Parliament not called again

• Recall and revise borough charters that controlled elections of corporations and a selection of Parliament canddidates

• Ensure elections of more compliant Parliament

• During his personal rule, Charles aligned himself with High Anglican tories and there is an increase of action taken against Dissenters

Similarities between Exclusion Crisis and Crisis of 1640/41

• Fear of Catholicism and links to Absolute Monarchy

• Personal Rule

• James I and Henrietta Maria (publicly practising Catholics)

• Kings’ advisors blamed

  • Danby + Buckingham - attempted impeachings

  • Strafford → Act of Attainder and execution

  • Danby accused of bribery and corruption

• Foreign policy failures

  • CII - Anglo + French Vs Dutch War

  • CI - France + Spain

Differences between Exclusion Crisis and Crisis of 1640/41

• Levels of success

  • CI - Pym limits his prerogative powers

  • CII - Shaftesbury accused of treason and goes into exile

  • Charles I was executed

  • Charles II caused less general issues

• Charles I vs Charles II political ability

  • CI - Stubborn and belief central - weak

  • CII - Diplomatic and pragmatic

• Finances

  • CII - French subsidies

  • Ship money

  • Charles I - financially weak and dependent on Parliament

  • CII - financially independent of Parliament

• 3 Kingdoms

  • CI - Wars of the three Kingdoms

  • CII - Ireland and Scotland firmly under English rule

Personal Disepnsations

• 1686

• Allow Catholics to become Army Officers

• Issue of Power

Godden v Hales

• 1686

• Pressured judges in case of Godden vs Hales

• Declared that he could issue such dispensations from the Test + Corporations Act as and when he thought was necessary

• Issue of Power

Declaration of Indulgence (1687)

• 1687

• Freedom to worship to both Catholic and Prtoesstant dissenters

• Issue of Religion

Borough Charters Remodelled

• Catholics appointed as Magistrates

• Issue of Religion

Ecclesiastical charters remodelled

• Ecclesiastical Commissions set up to act as a Court for Church affairs

  • Powers to make and unmake appointments and property settlements

• Issue of Power

Declaration of Indulgence (1688)

• Renewed by James - ordered that it be used from the pulpit in every parish

• Bishops refused to preach Declaration of Indulgence were put on trial and acquitted

• Issue of Religion

Birth of James II’s son

• 1688

• Prospect of a Catholic heir - would take precedence over his sisters

• Prospects for Parliament + Protestantism were bleak

• Issue of Religion