England 1629-41

Religion: - pious, Protestant (later, Laudian), wanted to define grey areas in Church, believed in spiritual fulfilment through act of worship and in Prayer Book

Military Capability/Leadership: - determined, perserved, stubborn and unlikely to retreat, very capable (won 2 victories and drew in others), brave

Personal Qualities: - awkward, unpredictable, devoted husband/family man, patron of the arts, enjoyed masques, driven by strong sense of conscience, no compromise, prioritised honour, perceived as duplicitous

Political Skill: - non-negotiable ideas/policies, affirmed 'Divine Right of Kings', craved order, "I mean to be obeyed", unlikely to concede in disagreements

- King = government
- Royal Prerogative = (i) 'ordinary powers', e.g. right to appoint own advisers, to oversee law, to command armed forces, to call/dismiss Parl. (ii) 'absolute powers', e.g. when national security makes it necessary to override law, in times of emergency

Charles' court: - uniform, full of 'yes-men', reserved, favoured obedience/order/hierarchy, limited access to King, high moral standards, decorum, authority, virtue, formality

Court Culture: - masques (depicting triumph of order/virture over evil + reflect Charles' desired political hierarchy), ceremonies w/ ritualism, art

Cust's Ideas: - difficulty communicating at court, selective about advice, internalised, exclusive
Woolrych's Ideas: - favoured conformity, intolerant, shunned others, v. serious, Van Dyck paintings, Buckingham, opposition seen as disloyalty, habit of distrust, secretive, devious

Effects of Charles' Court: - narrow poltical view as full of 'yes-men', high regulation w/ limited freedom, few opportunities to approach King, did not want interference w/ his reign

'Touching for the King's evil': - Charles' refused this except at Easter/Michaelmas, an e.g. of his limiting/withdrawing points of contact w/ monarchy, also refused petitioners

1629 - Charles dismissed Parliament until 1640, known as the 'Personal Rule'

KING/CROWN: - limited jurisdiction outside of Parl., appointed judges/Lord Lieutenants/sheriffs, chose Privy Councillors (who represented King's direct authority in prerogative courts), court was for Charles a microcosm of state (dominated by Catholics/Arminians, favoured masques at court 

Parliaments: - HoL (inc. 26 bishops + appointed by Crown), HoC (c. 500 MPs elected by landowners), called/dismissed by King, can pass Statue Laws, can grant/deny taxes and petition King (w/o Parl. King could Crown could re-interpret laws), to advise/pass laws/approve emergency tax collection/useful for measuring opinions of wealthy/influential men

Prerogative courts: - (a) Court of the Star Chamber, Privy Councillors, no death sentencing, question defendants privately (b) Court of High Commission, highest ecclesiastical court, enforced uniformity (1635: Laud sat on both Courts in 1635, passing most extreme sentences)

Local Govt.: - (a) JPs, judged lesser criminals, unreliable, ambitious, dependent on... (b) constables, policed locally, tried to uphold common laws, unpaid, annual, loyal to community (c) sheriffs, chosen by King, administrators of justice, unpopular, collected taxes (d) Lord Lieutenants, organised local defence, e.g. mobilised militia, one per county

Church: - governed by Crown-picked episcopacy, Archbishop of Canterbury usually Privy Councillor

Regional Councils: - (a) Council of the North, York, enforced royal policy against powerful northern families (b) Council of the Welsh Marshes, Ludlow, less important than CotN

Problems between King/Parl: - prerogative rights (customary powers), King's innate trust of Buckingham (incompetent, assassinated 1628 by Puritan), religious tensions, Charles' personality, European wars of religion

1626 - Charles dismissed Parl, collected Forced Loans     1628 - Petition of Right (list of grievances)
1629 - opposition from Elliot, Charles isolated after shutting Parl. down

Book of Orders (1631): - 314 books of instructions, sent to key local govt. figures, JPs report monthly to Privy Council, instructions re: collection/use of poor rates, upkeep of roads/bridges, movement of goods/control of local markets, treatment of beggars, followed economic recession/poor harvests, provoked fears of breakdown in society and opposition, only 1/10 reports still remain

Charles' difficulties funding reign w/o Parl (no taxation), had expensive foreign policy

Monopolies: - an individual/group given control over certain product, e.g. 'Popish Soap', profitable via raising of prices (inflation), Charles granted to many Catholics (provocative)

(i) Rents from Crown lands: - income from rented land, for term c. 99 yrs --> inflation ate real value of fixed rate rents (lots sold since 1550s), brought in £650,000 between 1625-35
(ii) Purveyance: - Crown right to buy commodities at reduced cost, paid in kind (e.g. livestock/produce)/ w/ cash by counties --> widespread county resistance (£30k p.a. 1630-5) 
(iii) Wardship: - Crown right to administer estate until child heir comes of age --> accused of exploiting estates (£55k per annum)
(iv) Tonnage + Poundage: - customs duties on imports/exports, rose quickly after Spanish/French wars --> unapproved by Parl, issue since 1625

(v) Credit: - borrowing from CoL financiers, e.g. crown jewels pawned to Netherlands --> Lord Treasurer Sir Richard Weston/William Juxon (Bishop of London) aimed to reduce crippling interest(vi) Monopolies: - granted to corporations (although illegal since 1624) --> charges of corruption at court, Weston's monopoly of soap for friends ('Popish soap' 1632), £4 per tonne of soap sold

(vii) Distraint of Knighthood: - Charles fined men owning estates worth <£40 per year if didn't appear at court for coronation --> outdated system, unused since early Tudor period, e.g.Cromwell (£174,000 from 9,000 individuals)

(viii) Revival of Forest Laws: - Charles fined men w/ estates worth >£40 per year for not appearing at coronation --> not employed since early Tudors, an outdated law, e.g. Oliver Cromwell (£40k)
(ix) Fines for breaching building regulations: - ancient laws preventing chartered towns spilling beyond city walls rediscovered, used to fine property developers --> perceived as exploiting growth of London, since 1603 60,000 houses built outside walls of capital
(x) Enclosure fines: - fines imposed on land owners for fencing off open fields for conversion from arable to pasture land --> seen as penalty for landowners trying to improve estates
(xi) Ship Money: - ancient tax levied on coastal counties/ports to build ships protecting trade from piracy, traditionally levied on ad hoc basis, 1634 made a traditional levy by Crown, 1635 extended to inland counties on grounds that whole kingdom benefitted from stronger navy, further imposed levies from 1636 --> provoked hostility firstly as only precedent for raising from inland counties during Armada crisis 1588, secondly, no precedent for it becoming annual/permanent tax (£800k between 1634-40)
(xii) Recusancy Laws: -£27k per annum rather than £5k (1630)
ALSO - reduced military spending (to £66k in 1635 rather than '25 £500k), reduced court expenditure by 35%, cut annual crown defecit to £18k, total debt remained £1m, revenue more than £1m by 1637, Crown jewels redeemed by end of '30s

Charles exploited uncodifiied areas of laws/disturbed constitutional boundaries. Use of law to oppose Charles w/ many court cases, e.g. John Hampden (7/12 judges in Charles' favour) SM - no precedent, sheriffs to collect, 1636 - 96%, 1637 - 91%, 1638 - 80%, 1639 - 25%

Opposition - 1629 - Sir John Eliot imprisoned in ToL, Richard Chambers fined £2k, 1630 - Puritan Network (Providence Island Company/Saybrooke Venture (15k emigrated), Alexander Leighton's pamphlet against bishops, 1631 - Kent riots against Book of Orders, 1632 - William Palmer fined £1k, 1634 - altar controversies, Beckington excommunicated, David Fowlis in York against DoK (fined £5k), also rivals w/ Wentworth, 1637 - John Hampden/St John, Burton/Bastwick/Prynne's illegal pamphleteering, 1639 - civil disobedience, tax revolt, recusancy (which Charles financially benefitted from)

Sources of Opposition - country gentry, common people, merchants, lawyers, Puritans (reasons including inflation, county resistance, exploitation, unapproved taxation, crippling interest, court corruption, outdated/illegal policies, exploiting growth of London, penalties, refusals

Puritan Network - Earl of Bedford, Lord Brooke, Sir Arthur Haselrig, Lord Saye & Sele, John Pym, Earl of Warwick, Oliver St John, John Hampden, Sir Thomas Barrington, Oliver Cromwell, via marital/imperialist connections, financial/religious opposition, core of political opposition to Charles, colonial ventures a forum for political discussions, well organised

1539's Elizabethan Religious Settlement - pragmatic, realist, appealed to Catholics/Protestants alike, broad, satisfactory for the majority, Charles inherited this and de-stabilised relative religious harmony, illegal to miss Church (control through faith, esp. in absence of standing army/police), recusants fined/imprisoned

Puritanism - radical Protestantism, ministers, wanted further reform, no church hierarchy, authority of the Bible, no decoration, democratic congregation CoE - Prayer Book Protestants, clergy, based on Elizabethan settlement Arminian/Laudianism - ritual, decoration, priests, communion more vital than preaching, criticised Roman Catholics

Laudian Reforms - provision of order/decency in church services, imposition of religious uniformity, decoration of forms, renewal of stained glass, rehabilitation of organs, move altars N-S, stressed importance of Book of Common Prayer (BoCP), emphasis on prayer over preaching, reissued Book of Sports ('33), church hierarchy, removed pulpit from prominence, reverence for sacrament, bowing to altar, kneel for communion, visitations, archbishops report directly to King

Opposition -  resentment due to economic cost, social implications, challenge to religious orthodoxy, threat to political stability, offense taken at inspections, no outlet to voice concern

Laud's Aims - economic independence for church, reexamined leases of episcopal lands, from 1634 no lease of more than 21 years made, removal of est. gentry's pews for emphasis on altar, ordered opposite of Puritan Sabbatarianism in Book of Sports, popish connotations, Juxon's appointment to Lord Treasurer in '36 (first cleric to hold post since C15th), bishops encroaching upon responsibilities traditionally fulfilled by nobility/gentry, clerical influence in secular courts

Etcetera Oath - canons of 1640, after Short Parl, oath taken by clergy that would never alter "govt. of church by archbishops, bishops, deans, archdeacons, etc", ambiguous

Policies - restoring fabric/condition of church, clergy wearing surplice/vestments, destroying Puritanism, Duke of Buckingham appointed Chancellor of Cambridge Uni (forbade all teaching on predestination), Laudian Programme (order, uniformity), disciplined non-conforming clergy (suspended livings), prerogative courts persecuted outspoken Puritans (e.g. Alexander Leighton), censorship, encouraged clergy to preach hymns on Divine Right of Kings, ceremonialist

Response - infuriated Puritans/Prayer Book Protestants, upset taxpayers/collectors, country gentry, Catholic paranoia, altar controversies '34 (Beckington, Somerset excommunicated after episcopal pressyre to conform failed, appealed to Court of Arches, imprisoned by Laud)

Strafford - opposed Forced Loan, Lord President of the CotN (used as prerogative court), threatened balance between central/local govt, became Lord Deputy of Ireland '33

'Thorough' - Book of Orders '31, accountability, to examine/resolve inefficiency of local govt, under speculation of centralised authority, greater external intervention, beyond common law

IRELAND - Catholic/Old Irish (native, persecuted), Old English (traditional ruling class,Catholic/Protestant), New English/Scottish (Protestant/Puritan/Presbyterian settlers, plantations, late C16th) Strafford aimed to make Ireland profitable for Charles, enforced Laudianism, introduced 39 Articles, est. Irish Court of Commission, made John Bramhall Bishop of Londonderry, raised income from customs duties (Book of Rates), obtained six subsidies for King through manipulation of Irish Parl, promised graces (fell through), '35 settlement to est. Crown rights to disputed lands, used prerogative institutions to bypass common law, advisers inc. George Radcliffe, Christopher Wandesford, opponents inc. Earl of Cork, Irish population

Opposition - 'graces' promised in return for money, plantation (religious motivation to divide Catholics), refusal to implement graces, esp. land requests, untrustworthy, personal attacks on traditional landowners, no rebellion before '39 (whilst Wentworth present)

SCOTLAND - wanted to financially strengthen Church, absentee kingship, advisers inc. Menteith, Lennox, Hamilton, opponents inc. Scottish nobles, took Charles 8 yrs to visit '33, coronation appeared inappropriately Catholic, imposed new canons '35, overlooked Scottish viewpoint, Prayer Book Revolt '37, National Covenant '38, serious opposition

Stream of Events - July '37 issued PB, PB Revolt fom St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, letters/petitions demanding withdrawal of liturgy, Nov '37 Formation of the Tables, emergency Scottish govt, Feb '38 National Covenant at Greyfriar's Kirk, led by Earl of Argyll, Sept '38 Charles suspends PB/'35 canons, Nov '38 General Assembly of the Kirk, abolish episcopacy, ban PB, '39 Charles est. headquarters at York, Wentworth recalled from IRL, Scot General David Leslie takes Edinburgh Castle, raised 20k men, '39 First Bishop's War, Pacification of Berwick, Apr '40 Short Parl, Charles offered to give up SM in exchange for 12 subsidies, 5th May '40 Short Parl dissolved, Jun '40 Scottish Triennial Act, meeting of Scottish convocation, Aug '40 Second Bishop's War, military bases of 10k men, fleet from SM, Council of Peers summoned, Oct '40 Truce of Ripon, 3rd Nov Long Parl called

First Bishop's War - Earl of Arundel Captain General of English Army, supported by Earl of Essex, leading members of Puritan Network began secret negotiations w/ Scottish rebels, English lords to swear oath of allegiance (Lord Saye & Sele/Brooke openly defied), Scots refused to disband, gave no support to Charles (didn't consider English opposition)

Charles' Failures - needed money, Strafford believed could bribe MPs, refused to address Short Parl's grievances (Pym/Hampden determined to bring to account for PR), remained short of money, apparatus of PR remained, Charles now common enemy to Puritans/Presbyterians, canons '40

Loss of Bishop's War - opposition to Charles in law (Brooke/Saye & Sele), in religion from canons, in Parl (from 'godly' MPs wanted Parl's failure, attacked military prerogative, moderates wanted success but wars unpopular), alliance between Scots/English opposition (Pym, sympathy between English/Scots in propaganda, "your grievances are ours"), finance (loans totalling £360k from individs/corporations, insufficient), military leadership (Scottish tactics on hillside, failed seaborne English invasion by Duke of Hamilton, fundamental incapability, Earl of Northumberland ill, difficulty finding army commander), military tactics/resources (bulk of army in York, insubstantial, ill-disciplined, 1/3 unarmed, would take 3 yrs to find weapons for 30k men), Truce of Ripon meant Charles had to pay Scots £800 per day unless he conceded (Scottish attempt to bring about Parl)

Who Opposed Charles? Covenanters, PB Protestants, civilians against SM, in IRL the Old English/New English/Catholics, Calvinist Scots, Puritan Network (e.g. Saye & Sele/Brooke/Pym)

Forms of Opposition - private grumbling, letters, diaries, emigration, passive resistance to change (e.g. not moving altars, non-payment of SM), conspiring in private (e.g. Providence Island Company), legal challenges (e.g. SM trials), publication of illegal pamphlets, unified political opposition (e.g. Puritan Network), open rebellion

Evidence of opposition restricted to the literate minority (many of whom were landed gentry), problematic that is little evidence beyond local level, without parl was no natural outlet for grievances (that they were mentioned so immediately into Short Parl supports importance), note Kevin Sharpe's short term view of opposition

Rating disputes during PR related to how much SM someone should pay (taxation 'rating') rather than over whether or not they should pay it all. Freeholders = property owners (able to vote if worth over 40 shillings/£2 a year)

Usefulness of local studies for measuring spread/amount of opposition.

London mobs - political awareness of common people, role of printing press, accessibility of pamphlets, distribution of propaganda, blamed Laud/other 'evil counsellors'

Context - Convocation (Church's version of a Parl) met through Short/Long Parl (uncommon), John Pym believed a Catholic conspiracy in court/formed parliamentary opposition

Events - 'junto' (HoL/HoC) impeached Laud and Strafford, Earl of Warwick as opposition in HoL, Pym in HoC, Strafford accused w/ treason, Bill of Attainder passed 21st Apr '41 w/ 204 votes to 59 in favour

Timeline - Feb '41 Triennial Act, March trial of Strafford, Apr failure for Parl in Strafford's trial, first Army Plot, May Bishops' Exclusion Bill/Strafford executed/riots in London/Act preventing dissolution of Parl w/o its own consent, Jun Tonnage and Poundage Act/HoL rejects Bishops' Exclusion Bill, Jul Acts abolishing Court of Star Chamber/Court of High Commission, Aug Act abolishing SM/Limitation of Forest Act/Act prohibiting Distraint of Knighthood/Charles visits Scotland, Oct Irish Rebellion, Nov Grand Remonstrance, Dec Militia Bill/mobs control London/rumours Queen will be impeached

Bill of Attainder - declaration of guilt by Act of Parl, not constitutional, had been weapon of monarchy, Parl takes all belongings of convicted, Charles forced to sign Strafford's death warrant (family at risk in Lambeth Palace due to attackers), aftermath of execution used to attack prerogative rights, Charles fled to Scotland in summer '41 Army Plot - captains/officers in army unhappy w/ Parl and Strafford's impeachment, Charles supported army's actions/attempt to dissolve Parl and save Strafford, promoted untrustworthy image Charles in Scotland - Duke of Hamilton loyal to Charles, Marquess of Argyll consulted covenanter, Earl of Montrose less committed covenanter, Charles aimed to regain control of political initiative/persuade Scots' removal of army from England, made concessions to covenanters, e.g. promoted Montrose/Rothes, exploited divisions between clans, 'the Incident' to arrest Argyll/Hamilton confirmed untrustworthiness Parliament - growing rift between HoC/HoL, Pym wanted to gain office, was surpassed, sought to undermine royal prerogative, solution for Pym to create a bill excluding Bishops/Catholic peers from HoL (would remove 1/3 of HoL/allow HoC to gain control), BUT Charles showed ability to compromise Grand Remonstrance - reviewed Charles' reign, "evidence" for conspiracy in King's govt., deliberate bias against King, demanded radical constitutional change (i) Parl to control King's ministers (ii) bishops/Catholic peers excluded (iii) root + branch reform of Church, clauses voted on wholly or not at all, no success in HoL, published by HoC anyway (publicly), passed by 11 votes (159 to 148), nearly 200 MPs abstained/didn't attend, notable turning point for royalists in HoC Jan '42 - polarisation of politics, use of terms 'roundhead'/'cavalier', Charles' attempt to arrest 5 Members (Pym, Holles, Haselrig, Strode, Hampden), mob riots meant Charles left London (Londoners supported Parl) Charles' Mistakes - Colonel Lansford ppointed to ToL (convicted felon, appeared Charles planning coup), abandoned London's resources, tactical errors of leaving Parl in charge, moderate Royalists advised caution (e.g. Hyde), Lord Digby encouraged King's action

Autumn '41 - Pym's case lost steam, wanted more Calvinist reforms, Irish Rebellion a 'gift' for Pym

Timeline - spring '40 Wentworth leaves IRL, exiled Irish plan revolt, May '40-Feb '41 plans by Sir Phelim O'Neill/Maiguire/O'More (Old Irish landowners) to revolt, Apr '41 Irish Army disbanded, Aug '41 Charles fails to confirm 'Graces', Oct '41 Drogheda besieged, by 2300 troops, Nov '41 Portadown first massacre by Catholic Irish/govt. Protestant force defeated, Dec '41 Old English revolt on grounds of Protestant savagery, first massacre of English Protestants outside Ulster, Jan '42 Royal proclamation condemns rebellion, Feb '42 Ormond (new commander) ordered to kill all able to bear arms

Irish CW continued for 10 yrs, Protestant policy of forced migration gave them access to most fertile land, Catholics fearful so rebelled, 'anti-Catholic' hysteria across England, English response inc. Earl of Leicester read letters from Irish Council in Dublin to HoC, accounts of atrocities filled London, news arrived whilst Charles in Scotland (rebels claimed acting on his behalf), c. 100s died in rivers, Pym used rumours to push political/religious agenda

Effects - appeared to be 'popish plot' to many, fear of Catholic invasion

Parl - problems of Militia Ordinances, bordered on treason Charles - Commissions of Array sent to county sheriffs, Henrietta Maria went to France for money/force, confrontation w/ Hotham in Hull,

Propaganda - less censorship w/ Laud imprisoned, e.g. Nehemiah Wallington's news books, hostile pamphlets about Henrietta Maria, no press restrictions, exaggerations about IRL, first newspapers

Side-taking - fear, neutralism, forced side-taking, slow support for Charles (mainly in W/N), Cheshire's Treaty of Banbury, radicals on either side, religion

Edgehill -