Charles I

relations with parliament: Foreign policy and the problem of Buckingham

• War with Spain - Cadiz 1625 soldiers drank wine as there was no water and returned drunk and humiliated

• lack of resources and money so war was unsuccessful - £500,000 wasted preparing the Navy for war

• La Rochelle expedition - 1625 - led to the petition of right and was a huge failure

• Buckingham went to rhe 1627 - ladders too short and only returned with casualties - Buckingham blamed, although he did not receive necessary supplies etc

• Mansfield expedition - soldiers not allowed to go through France

Buckingham: Parliament believed he was too inexperienced to conduct war- Charles also sent Eliot and Digges to the tower for trying to impeach Buckingham

effects on parliament: his foreign policy worsened relations with parliament as they were reluctant to vote him money since it was usually wasted - less money meant defeat was more likely

1628 - Buckingham assassinated by Felton - it was believed that without Buckingham, Charles and parliament would get on better

Relations with parliament 1625: finance and Henrietta Maria

• Parliament refused to vote him Tonnage and Poundage but he took it without their consent as he believed it was part of his parliamentary privilege + needed money for war- all monarchs before him were granted it for life and parliament were only debating giving it to him for a year

• during the 1625 parliament, Charles asked for money fr war with Spain - P gave 2 subsidies of 140,000 but refused to give more-until Buckingham was impeached

• Henrietta Maria - led to Charles having to support France fight against the Huguenots

• worry as she was a Catholic

• saw parliaments attack on Buckingham as an attack on his authority and dissolved the 1625 parliament

relations with parliament

• forced loan - 1625 forced loan of 5 subsidies on all payers

• seen as parliamentary taxation that hadn’t been agreed to by parliament - raised £260,000 but worsened relations with parliament

• five knights case - 76 people imprisoned for refusing to pay the loan. -5 of those challenged for habeas corpus (right where if no reason for imprisonment is given they are freed after 24hrs) - Charles used his power as king to imprison at his pleasure

• believed due to divine right of kings that he could do whatever he wanted + that he could raise money however he wanted to for the war

dissolution of parliament 1629 and personal rule

• petition of right 1628 - asked for an end to martial law, imprisonment without cause, non parliamentary taxation etc - king promised 5 subsidies if he accepted it - caused by forced loan

• Charles reluctantly accepted but blamed parliament for his actions as they refused him money

• parliament of 1929 - issue of Arminianism - they were steadily increasing and Laud had been made Bishop of London

• MPs held down the speaker when he tried to end the session and Eliot called out 3 resolutions - condemned arminianism, non-consensual collection of t&p and those who voluntarily paid duties

• led to Charles dissolving parliament, embarking on personal rule and imprisoning Eliot and Valentine

financial policies during personal rule

• fiscal feudalism (raising money using prerogative rights that were no longer used)

• fined people living in royal forests from Henry II’s time

• distraint of knighthood - old practice of rich men being knighted - Charles fined those who hadn’t turned up to be knighted

• raised 170,000 but very unpopular

• wardship/purveyance/T&P etc

  SHIP MONEY

• originally levied on costal areas to build up defences - but in 1635 was spread over the whole country - collected every year

• initially successful as it made £190,000 a year - but unpopular with the sheriffs that had to collect it

• John Hampden’s case 1637 - brought to trial for refusing to pay and 5/12 judges refused to support the King

• King defended ship money by saying that ship money was needed in case there was a war

• 1639 tax revolt - only 25% of the ship money was collected

Laud and religion during personal rule

• laud wanted the altar at the East end and railed off - catholic idea as it separated priest and people

• reissue of the book of sports which made many things lawful on the sabbath - offended the Puritans

• Laudian opposition - Prynne, Burton and Bastwick published leaflets against the church and had their ears cut off and imprisoned - 1637

• opposition mainly due to Laudianism seen as leading to popery

• thorough - Laud trying to make sure reforms were carried out - e.g appointing only arminian bishops

Scotland and Ireland

Ireland

• Ireland was problematic due to Catholic opposition and land being given to protestants - Charles promised to give ‘graces’ (confirmed Catholics claims to land)

• 1632 Wentworth (Strafford) went to Ireland - manipulated the divisions in society to earn more money for the crown - promised to implement graces in return for more subsides but never implemented them - recieved 6 subsidies from parliament

• initially successful - ended the £20,00 deficit, claimed huge areas of land and fined those who opposed, imposed arminian reforms

• carried out ‘thorough’ in Ireland through extending protestant settlements - imposed the 39 articles on the church of Ireland

Scotland

• very neglected during Charles’ ruleb

• bishops created a book of common prayer + tried to impose Laudian reforms (e.g altar in the east) on the presbyteryian Scots

• prayer book introduced by royal decree + made protesting against it an act of treason

• 1638 national covenant - signed by many Scots opposing the proposed religious reforms to the Scottish church by Charles

end of personal rule

• Bishop’s war 1639 - lost due to absence of parliament - Charles couldn’t fund the war, old fashioned and poorly equipped army, and unpopularity of the war/laudianism

• 2nd bishops war 1640 - army didn’t want to fight the war and threatened to mutiny

• Scots invaded northumberland and were paid a subsidy of 850 a day - Charles needed to call parliament for money but also couldn’t dissolve it with Scots in England

• led to the unavoidable end to personal rule

arguably all aspects of personal rule had short term success but created long term opposition - Puritan network which opposed every aspect of the personal rule