Causes of the Civil War
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- Created by: Kate H
- Created on: 25-04-15 16:54
What happened during the Short Parliament?
- April-May 1640
- Distrust of Charles evident from beginning
- Complaints about Catholicism at court
- Commons demanded that grievances be dealt with before subsidies were voted.
- Laud inflamed situation with Canons
- Charles dissolves Parliament and attitudes harden
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Second Bishops' War
- Charles takes £30,000 from City which worsens relationship
- Outbreak of new fighting with the Scots
- 850/day to sit on Newcastle
- Treaty of Ripon October 1640
- Calls Parliament
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Long Parliament: Aims of Gentry
- Reverse Laudian changes
- Punish or neutralise the king's evil advisors; Windibank, Finch and Laud and Strafford
- Restore the old consitutional balance
- Eliminate financial innovations of the Personal Rule
- Get rid of the hated Court of Wards, which doubled its income during the Personal Rule.
- Get rid of the prerogative courts- Star Chamber and Court of High Commission
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Long Parliament: Attitudes of many MPs
- King was in a weak position but they did not feel they were strong
- Feeling that this was the last chance to reverse the trends of the 1630s before the Catholics gained control
- Apprehension, especially over ruthless Strafford
- Wanted to restore the old constitution ; conservative
- At least 60 pro-court MPs
- Fear of popery and absolutism holding them together
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Getting rid of evil advisors
- Finch and Windibank fled abroad
- Laud arrested and sent to the tower, executed in 1645
- Earl of Strafford impeached in Novemeber 1640 because:
- Reduced Ireland to obedience
- Irish Parliament reduced to rubber stamp
- Irish Protestant church remodelled
- Individuals knew their place: took £40,000 from Cork
- Main charge he wished to bring his army and use it as a force to continue personal rule
- Advice he had given to Charles used against him
- Act of Attainder- diffcult to find evidence for treason- Charles passes it under pressure and he is executed on the 12th May 1641
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How did the Long Parliament destroy the machinery
- Star Chamber and High Commission abolished
- Got rid of:
- Ship money
- Boundaries of royal forests restored to those of James (not radical)
- Distraint of knighthood illegal
- Court of Wards abolished
- Triennial Act 1641. Followed by act that Parliament could only be dissolved on its own> Charles agress due to london mob, seen as temporary concessions
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Pym's Control of the House of Commons
- Assosciates: Henry Vane and Oliver St. John)
- Presented measures as necessary to safeguard the freedoms of the House of Commons
- Played on fears of popery and London mob
- Fully supported idea that there was a Catholic conspirary that needed to be dealt with
- A vague 'army plot' in spring 1641involving officers around the court possibly planning a coup d'etat supported Pym's thesis
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Death of Bedford
- Bridging scheme- planning to make Pym Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Moderate, hoped to organise government which had confience of house of commons and king
- Restrained Pym
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Ten Propositions
- 1641
- Parliament should choose king's ministers
- Why passed by the Commons?
- Pym presented ideas as defensive- would be protected if they had control over who had access to the king
- No one understood the significance of his position at this point
- Problem glossed over when King went north; six week recess of parliament
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Root and Branch Petition
- Feb 1641.
- Called for the abolition of bishops
- Too radical for many MPs- didn't want a presbyterian system
- Pym deflected the issue and gave it to an Assembly of Divines
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Attitudes of MPs at end of First Session
- Satisfied
- Lurking fear of Catholism
- A few doubts about Pym's use of mobs to pressurise
- Reasonably united- down to Pym
- Important questions remained eg future of church
- AIms of anti-court consensus had been met by summer 1641 so where would parliament go now?
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The Incident
- Summer of 1641 after end of first session
- Charles leaves for Scotland to ratify a treaty between the two countries- fear he hoped to woo the scots into providing him with an army- parliament actually sent commissioners with him
- October 1641, Scottish royalists led by Marquess of Montrose tried to capture the conventer leader
- Resulted in no hope of Charles coming to an agreement
- Charles' integrity damaged.
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2nd Session: Henrietta Maria
- Pym saw her and her associates as dangerous influences over Charles
- Never understood the ideas behind the English Consititution- subjects should obey the king
- Her ignorance was to be of critical importance
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2nd Session: Some begin to support Charles
- Constitutional Royalists including Edward Hyde and Viscount Falkland
- Supported the king as long as his power was limited
- Opposed royal policies of the 1630s as undermining royal constitution
- Disliked Laudian changes and agreed to execution of Strafford
- They thought the reforms of 1641 had restored the balance between king and parliament
- CoE back to its proper position with the fall of Laudian bishops
- Concern that Pym's policies would lead to anarchy
- King must be trusted
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2nd Session: Charles' early mistakes
- Fails to keep a consistent attitude. If he had consistently followed the moderate constitutional path advised by Hyde and Falkland, he would have presented himself as the symbol of order and stability and a trustworthy monarch.
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2nd Session Grand Remonstrance
- Lengthy, one sided account of Charles' reign
- November 1641
- Rock on which the anti-court consensus finally broke up
- Reassert the existence of a Catholic conspiracy
- Justify revolutionary demands e.g control of militia
- Clear invasion of prerogative
- Passes 159 votes to 148
- Making of King's party to defend old constitution
- Many MPs disturbed by the use of the mob
- Printed- MPs horrified the people were being involved in politics
- Pym seen as undermining the social and political order
- MPs disturbed at the signs of public disorder- people outside the House of Commons demanding the exclusion of bishops from the lords
- 27 December fighting between militia and people
- Charles could hope for no support from the City because it had elected a new common council which encouraged the mob in support of Pym
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2nd Session: Irish Rebellion
- 22 October 1641
- Oppressive rule of Strafford removed leads to Catholic natives rising against Ulster Presbyterians
- 12,000 Protestants died
- Number hugely exaggerated
- Rebels falsely claimed to be acting under Charles
- Army needed to put down rebellion but many doubted Charles could be trusted with it: 19 Propositions demanding control of militia
- Strengthened belief in a Catholic conspiracy; fears about Irish Catholics crossing the sea and killing English Protestants
- Pym uses it to pass the Grand Remonstrance
- Focuses attention on Charles' military authority
- Ensures parliament would have to remain sitting in order to raise funds for the military expedition
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2nd Session: 5 Members Coup
- 4th January 1642
- On the advice of Henrietta and Digby Charles made a fatal error
- Believed there was an impeachment plot against the Queen by Pym
- Ordered the Lords to impeach Mandeville of the Lords, Pym, Hampton, Strode, Haselridge and Hoiles of the Commons
- They refused so Charles decided on a military coup- entered with 300 troops but they had been tipped off and escaped
- Commons outraged- breach of privilege
- Surrounded by an angry mob and five members returned in triumph.
- Charles leaved London on 10 January fearing for Henrietta's safety
- Swung many MPs back to Pym, as this is what he had predicted
- King's departure created a situation of two sides negotiating at a distance
- This meant London and its immense resources belonged to Parliament
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2nd Session: Charles' further mistakes
- Gave impression he was hoping to gain the position he held in the 1630s
- Inconsistent in following policy, turned to Catholic court for advice
- Appointment of Thomas Lunsford, a convicted felon, as the Governer of the Tower of London. He could intimidate the city and seemed a confirmation of his desire to regain freedom of action through a military coup
- He cancelled this appointment but the damage was done and he appeared weak as he had been forced to back down
- Didn't appoint the Earl of Essex as commander of the troops for re-conquest of Ireland. This would have resassured the Commons- he was associated with the reforms of the past year.
- In the end Charles failed to nominate a commander.
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2nd Session: Charles behaviour after leaving Londo
- Attempted to gain control of arsenals at Portsmouth, Kingston and Hull- failed
- Queen left for France to gain support for Charles, and he appears to have listened to Hyde
- Hyde started to produce moderate royalists progaganda which was convincing
- Yet Charles' inconsistent behaviour was the same: drifted between compromise and concession, and making war preparations
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2nd Session: Drift into Civil War
- 1. Unrest. Widespread social disorder, including rioting. Poor harvest and trade depression- considerable distress among the lower orders . Gentry feared this threat to social disorder- growth in radical preaching and pamphleteeting also risk
- 2. Gentry arms itself. Fear of anarchy. 2 rival authorities- King and Parliament- power vacuum. Collapse of CoE authority made future seem bleaker as the social order crumbled.
- 3. Propaganda war- each side trying to persuade moderates of the justice of their case, and the other side of their strength.
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2nd Session: Militia Ordinance and Commission of A
- Militia Ordinance March 1642.
- Passed by 2 Houses by not the King, it gave authority to lords lieutenants and deputies in the counties to raise local militia to serve within the county .
- Normally it was only the king who was supposed to do this- dubious legality.
- Commission of Array was Charles' reply. Militia should prepare for war to fight for him.
- Medieval device- dubious legality.
- Not very successful- Parliament's position stronger
- Majority of gentry either stayed neutral or supported Militia Ordinance 'for defence of king and parliament'
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2nd Session: 19 Propositions
- June 1642
- Pym confident and presented them
- Thought they would diffuse the situation and take power
- King give up prerogative powers such as military control
- Parliament choose king's ministers
- Parliament control church matters
- Parliament appoint guardians for King's children
- Little room for compromise
- Nearly 200 MPs abstained from voting
- Charles had no choice since he believed in DROK. Rejects within three weeks
- Parliament appoints commitee of public safety and Earl of Essex in charge of 24,000 soldiers
- Charles formally raised standard at Nottingham on 22nd August and declared war
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Pym's mistake
- Pym probably thought it was an empty gesture- king only had 800 supporters with him
- Badly miscalculated- was to last four years and kill 50,000 Englishmen
- 6th September a parliamentary declaration stated that those who did not actively support parliament would be declared deliquents and pay for the cost of war.
- This drove the neutral members of the gentry onto the king's side. Within weeks the king had a large army.
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