New Political Elites: Monarchs vs. Gentry

Gentry

With companies, banks, and commercial agriculture, economies completely changed in Europe, even spawning a new class of people in England and the Netherlands: the gentry
The gentry, in England, was a group of self-made people who became rich or powerful from commercialization or trade
The problem was this new group of people, despite being the richest, had almost no political power in the government
Most governments were run by hereditary nobles and kings- Ones who had inherited and not necessarily earned their power
Over the course of the 17th 18th and 19th centuries, the gentry in England would fight, with voting and violence, for more political power

English Civil War

One of the best examples of this struggle between the new, self-made class and the king was the English Civil War in 1642
Now, in England in 1642, the monarch did not have as much authority as the kings of Spain or France, sharing some power with Parliament
While they had to be called in by the king and could be dismissed by the king, the Parliament played an important role in raising funds
While most monarchs tried not to call Parliament, and control the gov. alone, Charles I’s war vs. Scottland and personal spending forced him to call Parl for money
So in 1642, when Charles I was forced to call upon Parliament for funds (taxes), the House of Commons took the opportunity to pass laws that made them a permanent entity

English Civil War Cont.

When parliament and Charles I began to dispute over their role, Charles I, wanting to keep power to himself, attempted to disband Parliament and arrest an outspoken member
This was a critical error by Charles I, as most of the people he arrested were gentry, AND most of the gentry also happened to be Puritan Puritans= boring basic plain people
The Puritans took this as an attack not only on their political power as the gentry, but also as an attack on their religious beliefs
As a result. under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell, a civil war broke out between the gentry and the king
Unfortunately, the economic and military power of the new gentry class, led mostly by Puritans, was too much for Charles to handle, and he was defeated and executed

Impact of the Civil War

While Oliver Cromwell was successful in leading the gentry to victory, he was in fact a worse tyrant than any previous English king
Among his tyrannical actions: banned all nobles from Parliament, abolished the monarch, and used military force to rule and make new, unfair laws until his death in 1658
While Charles I’s so, Charles II, eventually took over again, many of the changes brought to Parliament remained
Parliament was now a permanent part of the government, and also was now required to approve all new taxes and funding for the king
Additionally, this was the first step in long political struggle between the gentry and the king

Englands struggle against absolutism

as opposed to the rest of Europe, England and the Dutch Republic furthered the power of representative assemblies (Parliament) instead of the kings
The gentry in England (self-made rich) had been a very powerful force in the government through parliament since the English Civil war
James II wanted, like those before him, to rule as or near to an absolute monarchy
He also happend to be Catholic, and was very clear in his actions that he intended

Glorious Revolution

When James II began dismissing judges and military officials and replacing them with Catholics: The largely Anglican and PUritan PArliament became concerned
Given James II’s ambitions, PArliament feared a Catholic Takeover was lining up
TO remedy the situation, and removed James II, Parliament invited the Dutch stadtholder William of Orange to invade England and take the throne
They promised to send their forces and supplies to aid of William ONLY if WIlliam agreed to their terms to limit his power and increase their
William agreed to these terms, and when he arrived with his army, a large portion of James’ army defected to William
Fearing for his head, James fled to France where his big cousin Louis XIV protected him and gave him a castle

Frederick II of Prussia