CHARLES I 1625-1649

• Married French Catholic Henrietta Maria on the 1st of May 1625, who established her own council of Catholic advisors.
• Charles depended on loans from London money smiths totalling $60,000 at the start of his reign as he succeeded an empty treasury.
• Charles demanded a loan from all tax payers to fund his foreign affairs, 5 knights who refused to pay the loan were unfairly imprisoned without a fair trial and refused habeas corpus under the Kings claim to a right to an emergency arrest.
• Lord Chief Justice Crew refused to endorse the legality of the loan and were dismissed in 1627.
• George Villiers (BUCKINGHAM):


  1st Duke of Buckingham and had essentially ruled from the end of the reign of James I and the beginning of the reign of Charles I.

  He was in charge of the Army and Naval forces.

  The Kings repeated dependence on Buckingham led to him being wrongfully blamed for unpopular policies e.g. 'Spanish Mat'.

  He sent out expeditions against Cadiz in 1625 and in support of La Rochelle in 1627, both ending in humiliating defeat.

  Parliament attempted to impeach him in 1626 and 2 years later denounced him as the cause of England's evils.
• Buckingham was assassinated by John Felton in August of 1628 in Portsmouth.
• The attempted raid on the port of Cadiz in 1625 led by Buckingham ultimately failed due to the failed leadership of Viscount Wimbledon, Charles then dissolved parliament during the impeachment proceedings of Wimbledon.
• Charles began conscription of troops into the army during the planned war on Spain, in order to prepare for this he forced the billeting of troops into peoples houses).
• Parliament refused to grant Charles the right to collect an excise tax: Tonnage (enforced since the 12th century that was a fixed subsidy on each ton of wine imported) and Poundage (a proportional tax on all imported goods).
• Charles dissolved Parliament as and when he saw fit, including his 11 year tyranny from 1629-1640, this wasn't uncommon as Elisabeth I tended to only call Parliament once every 3 years.
• A confessional state is one where a single type of religious practice is enforced.
• Between 1625 and 1629, Charles called 3 parliaments before closing his final session on the 2nd of March 1629.
• 'The Commons hath of late years endeavoured to extend their privileges by setting up general committees... over-swaying power to themselves, which belongs to us only and not to them'
• During his period of personal rule, Charles expanded his privy council of colourful personal advisors e.g. Richard Montague (Charles's personal Chaplin), William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury and Arminian Thomas Wentworth (Earl of Stafford).
• The Treaty of Madrid was signed in 1630, ending hostilities with Spain alongside the Treaty of Suza, ending hostilities with France.
• The annual spending on war was reduced from £500,000 from 1625-1629 to £70,000 in the 1630's.
• Charles began focussing on the Crown's finances by reorganising the management of crown lands, adding new impositions to the collection of Tonnage and Poundage and reviving feudal payments e.g. fines for building or encroaching on royal forests and lands.
• Charles issued a monopoly patent for soap in 1634, claiming it would improve the supply and quality of the item however, opponents in a public debate in 1641 claimed that many people had been driven out of business and prices to the public had considerably been increased.
• Ship money was demanded for payment of a set amount by the government and collected by the county sheriffs normally from counties that lined the coast e.g. Cornwall. By 1636, ship money had become an annual tax rather than being levied for a greater income every couple of years.
• Distraint in Knighthood was a medieval custom whereby all those with land worth £40 per annum were expected to be knighted by the Monarch, if they failed to present at Charles's coronation they were fined.
• Over 9,000 individuals were charged under the distraint of Knighthood, a brief campaign against the tax began in Yorkshire in 1634.
• Exchequer judges (in charge of raising revenue through taxation or borrowing and controlling public spending) supported Charles' right to collect the Knighthood distraint.
• William Noy, the Attorney General throughout the 1630's was entrusted with the task of searching through ancient texts to uncover past laws and practices which could be used to raise money for the Crown.
• THOMAS WENTWORTH:

  Entered the service of Charles I in 1628 after being a member of Parliament from 1614.

  He was a firm believer in the government using force to establish their power.

  From 1632 to 1640, Wentworth was Lord Deputy of Ireland and established a strong authoritarian rule there.

  He was executed in May of 1641 after a brief trial.

  As he became the absolute master of Ireland he threatened to bring Irish forces over to England to defend the King from opposition.
• JOHN PYM:

  The main architect for reforming the legislation in 1641, using the Act of Attainder (1641) signed by Charles that agreed to the execution of Wentworth and Laud.

  Responsible for printing the Grand Remonstrance (a list of grievances presented to Charles on December 1st 1641).

  Charles attempted to arrest Pym along with 4 other members of Parliament in 1642.
• WILLIAM LAUD:

  Archbishop of Canterbury (clerical head of the Church of England) in 1633.

  Proposed religious reforms (Laudian reforms)in 1625 e.g. belief in episcopacy, emphasising liturgical clergy, clerical hierarchy and enforcing uniformity in Churches across England.

  Another Bill of Attainder was passed in 1645, Laud was executed on the 10th of January.
• John Hampden set an example to other revolutionaries by refusing to pay ship money in 1636.
• Judges in the court of the King's bench found in the kings favour 7 to 5 when they reached a verdict in 1638, a surprisingly slim majority.
• In 1637, Prynne, Burton and Bastwick where held before the Star Chamber for criticising the government in their literature and sentenced to have their ears cut and be branded.
• The yield of ship money (the amount collected) fell to 20% of expected revenue in 1639 because Privy Council and County Sheriffs were distracted and overburdened by the need to raise an army to fight Scotland.
• Charles was not crowned in Scotland until 1633 even though his father was a prolific Scottish King and his grandmother was Mary Queen of Scots who ruled from 1542 -1567.
• LONG PARLIAMENT: 1640 - 1660


  In the early months, Pym's junto removed the King's 'evil counsellors' who were blamed for the policies enacted during personal rule e.g. Wentworth and Laud.

  1641, Triennial Act which laid down an obligation for Charles to call a Parliament at least once every 3 years.

  1641, Act of Attainder bypassed Strafford being released from trial if he appeared before the House of Lords (definite execution).

  Pym unearthed the 'first army plot' enacted by Catholics that sought to free Strafford in 1641.
• LONG PARLIAMENT 1640 -1660:


  Pym secured another 'Act Against the Dissolution of Parliament without its own Consent'.

  1641 June, Pym pushes for more constitutional changes e.g. the abolition of the prerogative courts and ship money.

  Divisions became apparent e.g. a middle group led by Sir Edward Hye that favoured a settlement involving the King.
• The Militia Bill 1642, challenged the right for the monarch to head the English Army in response to the Irish Rebellion.
• From 1593 - 1603, Irish rebels attempted to counteract English rule of Ireland in response to ongoing Tudor conquest of the country.
• On January 4th 1642, Charles attempts to arrest 5 members of parliament (covenanters) e.g. John Pym. The attempt was unsuccessful and on the 10th of January King and Queen fled to Hampton court to escape penalisation for their actions.
• Charles raised his standard at Nottingham on August 22nd 1642, proceeding was the first battle of the 1st Civil War at Edgehill in October, neither parties emerged victorious.
• Charles failed to reclaim London at the beginning of the Civil War so, established a base in Oxford with naval support from his nephews Rupert and Maurice.
• John Pym convinced the Scottish Kirk to become involved with the Civil War on the side of the Parliamentarians by agreeing to trial a Presbyterian church in England (1643).
• From 1642 - 1643 the King benefitted from the support of the Gentry and Nobility, he also controlled the existing officer courts supported by his nephews, Prince Rupert of the Rhine and Maurice of Nassau, both who had experience in the 30 years war.