Constitutional Crisis and Settlement in Stuart England

James I (1603-1625)

• James I – Son of Mary Queen of Scots– Was an outsider– Inherited large debt and divided church– Advocated absolutism

• True Law of Free Monarchy – Didn’t want to consult parl whose chief business was revenue/taxes. Only met when called.

– Religious Problems: Puritans – Wanted James to eliminate elaborate rituals of RCC and church hierarchy.

– James supported Anglican hierarchy– “No bishop, no king”. Church was a buttress for the monarchy.

James I• James commissions new translation of Bible (King James Version)• James allows for sports on Sundays• Puritan separatists go to Plymouth Colony.

• Corruption in court: Duke of Buckingham sold titles of nobility to highest bidder, cheapening them

• Foreign Policy: made peace with Spain, subjects viewed this as sign of pro-Catholic sentiment.

Charles I (r. 1603-1625)

• War with Spain, – Parl. couldn’t adequately finance because of distrust of Buckingham – Charles I couldn’t gain funds for war,

• resorted to new tariffs and duties, subjected English to forced loan (tax theoretically to be repaid), quartering of troops, a challenge to local lords

• Petition of Right 1628 – No quartering troops– No loans/taxes without consent of Parl.– No imprisonment of freemen w/o cause

Charles I

Years of Personal Rule– Parliament declared that religious innovations leading to “popery”

and levying of taxes without parliamentary consent were acts of treason

– “Popery”- Charles’s high-church policies • powerful bishops, elaborate liturgy, centralized power in Church, clashed with

Puritan’s

– Dissolved Parliament in 1629• Saved money by making peace• Raised money through every means possible (Ship money)

– Continued policies of corruption of father, inflation of titles and honors

Charles I

• Religious policies– wanted religious conformity within England and Scotland, – William Laud- Charles’s religious adviser/archbishop of Canterbury,

• held high-church view of Anglicanism • Laud denied right of Puritans to publish and preach,• tried to impose on Scotland the English Episcopal system and Book of Common Prayer

• Scot Rebellion– Charles called parliament,

• Parl refused funds unless king agreed to redress list of grievances, led by John Pym

– King dissolves parliament, – Scots invade England, defeat English; Charles reconvenes Parl.

Charles I

• The Long Parliament• Landowners, merchants, Puritans acted in against

Charles• Impeached Archbishop Laud• Abolished Court of Star Chamber and Court of High

Commission-royal instruments of political and religious thorough

• Levying of new taxes and inland extension of ship money became illegal

• Triennial Act

Charles I

• Division in Parliament• Puritan extremists and Presbyterians wanted abolition of Episcopal

system and the Book of Common Prayer• Puritan Extremists: wanted fully decentralized church• Presbyterians: wanted England to be Calvinist,• Conservatives: wanted to preserve English church• Divisions intensified when rebellion erupted in Ireland, Parliament

was asked to raise funds for army to suppress it• Pym argued Charles couldn’t be trusted, parliament should become

commander-in-chief of army. Conservatives were upset• Charles sees division as chance to reassert power

Charles I

• Eruption of Civil War (1642-1649)• Charles invades Parliament, begins to raise an army• Parliament raises an army; Civil war engulfs England• War fought over two main issues: Absolute monarchy vs.• Parliamentary government, and Anglican conformity vs.• decentralized Presbyterian• Cavaliers vs. Round Heads Chief factor distinguishing them

was religion

Charles I

• Oliver Cromwell– Puritans win war; Charles I executed.– Cromwell leads the Puritan republic• Disbands Parl and becomes Lord Protector• Ruled under provision of the Instrument of Gov’t.• Rules England w/ New Model Army• England divided into military districts• Military dictatorship fails

The Interregnum

• Cromwell’s reign– Religious Policies• Intolerance of Anglicans• Puritanical prohibitions

– Economic Policies• Mercantilism

– Navigation Acts» All trade had to be done on English ships, whether in the

colonies or in Europe.

Charles IIThe Restoration

• Charles II– Returned Eng to status quo of 1642

• Prayer book• Bishops• No requirement to call Parl

– Catholic tendencies– Called for religious freedom for non-Anglicans– Parl responds w/ Clarendon Code– Treaty of Dover – Secret treaty w/ FR against Netherlands– Declaration of Indulgence – Suspends laws against Catholics– Parl responds w/ Test Act

James II

James II (r. 1685-1689)– Catholic brother of Charles II– Same problems w/ Parl over religion.

• Removed candidates for Parl who disagreed w/ Declaration of Indulgence– Direct royal attack on local power and legal privileges of corporate

bodies• Attacked English liberty and • Challenged social hierarchy• Under guise of enlightened toleration, James wanted absolutism and even

loyalist Tories didn’t agree, fearing James wanted to imitate Louis XIV• Wife had a male who James would raise in RCC

Glorious Revolution• William of Orange arrives w/ army and was received w/o

opposition by the English• James flees to FR (L. XIV will protect him)• Parl declares William and Mary the new monarchs,

completing the successful bloodless Glorious Revolution• Bill of Rights:

– recognized by William and Mary – limiting the powers of the monarchy – guaranteed the civil liberties of the English privileged classes

• England’s monarchs would rule by consent of Parl,– called into session every 3 yrs.– prohibited Catholics from occupying the throne

Glorious Revolution

• established a framework of gov’t by and for the people• Basis of John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government

– describes the relationship of a king and his people as a bilateral contract, – if the king breaks it the people (privileged and powerful) had the right to

depose him

• Established in a permanent check on monarchy by the classes represented in Parliament

• King/Parl created the cabinet system where members of Parl would become liaisons between the two bodies. The 1st minister = The Prime Minister

Key Terms, Ideas, and PeoplePetition of RightShip moneyLong ParliamentRoundheadsCavaliersRump ParliamentImpact of Cromwell’s reignClarendon CodeTreaty of DoverTest Act (1672)Glorious RevolutionJohn LockeInterregnumThe Restoration