English History

• Arminians rejected the Calvinist idea of predestination - most members of the Church of England believed
• Charles I was attracted to the ideas of the Arminians
• Arminians did not think the Catholic Church was the work of the devil, but thought of it as another Christian Church which was not evil but simply misguided. Most members of the Church of England and all Puritans were very suspicious of Arminianism and though it was not much better than Catholicism – many Puritans suspected that Arminians were in fact secretly Catholic and were trying to undermine the Church of England
• Arminians believed that services should be elaborate and churches should be beautiful - offended Puritans
• Reasons why Arminians were unpopular with most English Protestants, especially the Puritans

  • Arminians rejected the Calvinist idea of predestination
  • Arminians saw bishops as essential support for monarchy and thought history and traditions of the church were important – beauty of holiness needed to promote awe and mystery. Ritual and ceremonial underpin society’s hierarchy. In contrast many Puritans were Presbyterians who thought there should be no bishops.
  • Arminians believed that services should be elaborate and churches should be beautiful
  • Arminians did not think preaching was particularly important
  • Arminians did not think the Catholic Church was the work of the devil, but thought of it as another Christian Church which was not evil but simply misguided.
  • Both Arminians and Puritans hated diversity and wanted their version of uniformity to be imposed
• Arminians saw bishops as essential support for monarchy and thought history and traditions of the church were important – beauty of holiness needed to promote awe and mystery. Ritual and ceremonial underpin society’s hierarchy. Contrast with many Puritans were Presbyterians who thought there should be no bishops
• Arminians did not think preaching was particularly important. Puritans thought it was vital
• The doctrine of the Church of England was set out in the 39 Articles. In 1628 Charles I published a preface to the articles insisting they must be adhered to completely.
• 1625 Laud preaches sermon at opening of Charles’ first parliament

  1625 Laud promoted to Bishop of Bath and Wells and Dean of Chapel Royal

  1626 Laud and Richard Neile appointed to Privy Council

  1627 Charles pardons Robert Sibthorpe and Roger Mainwaring for preaching sermons that support royal prerogative and Divine Right after parliament threatens to discipline them. 

  1628 Richard Montagu promoted Bishop of Chichester

  1629 Laud Bishop of London                                                     

  1633 Laud Archbishop of Canterbury
• Statute law


  Law made by the king in partnership with parliament
• James I and Charles I were both fond of Divine Right

  Their power came from God and thus could not be challenged - not invented by Charles or James but was widely accepted

  Could have provoked and frightened parliament and added to the breakdown of trust between the two sides
• Presbyterian


  Church organised without bishops
• Episcopal


  A church structure that included bishops
• Heresy


  Crime of going against God and religion
• Eucharist


  Communion, Lord’s supper, the bread and wine thing
• Celibate


  Couldn’t marry nor have sexual relations
• Laity


  Non-clergymen
• Veneration


  Respect strongly
• Pilgrimages


  Holy journey
• Vernacular


  Your own language (such as mine being English, Luther’s being German)
• Caste


  Exclusive group/class

  Associated with religion
• Luther


  Denied that the Pope had any special authority

  More emphasis on the ability of the individual Christian to achieve salvation in their own efforts

  Having faith in God was enough - Justification by faith

  Made the church less important and took away a lot of its power and influence

  Every Christian should be able to read and interpret scripture for themselves - Bible should be translated into the vernacular and Church services should be vernacular
• Context - power


  M was the senior power. M didn’t have to call parl at all. M could prorogue or dissolve parl whenever they wished. Parl acquired certain powers over the years and become more dominant:

  • If the M wanted more taxes to be collected, the HoC had to agree. It was traditional that HoC would express any grievances they had before granting tax. M did not have to do anything about them - foolish to ignore the grievances entirely

  • Statute law was the most powerful

  • Parl had certain rights or privileges - when MPs were in Parl - freedom of speech and freedom from arrest
• Context - Money


  In the 16th and early 17th century, it was becoming more and more usual for M to have to ask for extra money - affects the balance of power - parl has more power, they can say no to King’s requests.

  This was partly because the costs of gov’t and especially the costs of war were rising and also because inflation

  Caused tension when parl felt that M was collecting money in ways that were unfair or lacked parl approval

  Charles and James also spent money extravagantly, such as buildings, giving it away to favourites

  But Parl also underestimated the costs of governing
• Context - Religion


  Mainly Protestant and very sus of catholics. C had to pay recusancy fines if they didn’t attend church of England services (P church service). James faced pressure of the P - wanted greater persecution of C, removal of all aspects of the CoE which they considered not P enough. Puritans objected things like clergymen wearing elaborate robes, any remaining decorations in churches, making the sign of the cross in baptism and the use of the ring in marriage. Many P = Presbyterians - James keeps the bishops - they were appointed by him
• 1625 - Tonnage and Poundage - granted it for a year. Reasons why: to protest about Buckingham’s incompetence - B = Lord Admiral + in charge of navy, protection of English shipping. Pirates attacking west coast English ships. T&P to be spent on protection of seas, 1 year drew attention to B failures. MPs wanted review of customs system, including T&P and impositions. Wanted more control over impositions - increased under James I. P did grant some taxes (2 subsides - around £140,000) - not enough to fight war with Spain.
• 1626 - Forced loan. Needed to carry on collecting T&P, even though P had given permission for a year. Had to sell £350,000 worth of CL to the City of Land merchants by the end 1627. Lacked security for future loans. Introduced a forced loan and non-payers were imprisoned. Used an unusual amount of pressure to pay, but the use of a forced loan wasn’t new. Financial terms - success - £240,000 out of the £300,000 demanded was raised within a year. People would have paid the loan if weren’t forced.
• 1627 - gained another loan from the city, but gave up last major body of crown land (worth £350,000). Ended crown land income and made city unwilling to lend in future - M lacked major collateral for loans.
• 1628 - Petition of Right. For 5 subsidies (an unusually generous amount), sign the Petition of Right. No more forced loans, no imprison without trial, not impose billeting or martial law. HoL cooperate with HoC in producing petition. M had to sign - desperate for money.
• Henrietta Maria


  Charles married a Catholic French Princess which angered Parliament because they were Protestant, and she was allowed to worship freely.
• 1625 - Laud preached a sermon at the opening of the first parliament. He said that “a royal command must be God’s glory, and obedience to it a subject’s honour.” Implied that they should do what the King says without question.
• 1626 - Buckingham took the side of Arminians and this increased hostility towards him. This is because Charles was Arminian, and he wanted to remain in Charles’ favour.
• 1628 - Charles had aroused suspicion with his support for Arminians. Charles appointed their leader, William Laud, as Bishop of London
• 1629 - Main issue of the Second Session of Third Parliament was religious issue of Arminianism. MPs unanimously agreed that religion should take precedent over anything else. Francis Rous linked Arminianism with Catholicism and Spanish tyranny.
• 1625 - first parliament. Charles asked for supply first and then grievances - reverse order of normal - seen as Charles not being interested in what Parliament says and thinks he can do whatever he wants.
• 1625 - Parliament had been enthusiastic about fighting the war with Spain, but was angry that Charles and Buckingham seemed to be fighting a different sort of war from the one that was agreed on. Buckingham was largely blamed for that. Arguments with Parliament led to money not being granted to fund the wars, therefore Charles had to use methods of raising money which were seen as illegal - added to the distrust of the king.
• 1625 - Parliament granted Charles tonnage and poundage for a year only. Seen as a sign of aggression and impertinence by parliament. Parliament did grant some taxes - 2 subsidies (about £140,000), but this was not nearly enough to fight the war with Spain and the King was angry that Parliament would not pay for the war that they wanted.
• 1626 - Second Parliament. Buckingham took the sides of the Arminians and this increased hostility towards him. To prevent criticism, Charles excluded some of the leading critics of royal from this parliament.
• 1626 - Forced loan. Charles still needed money after dissolving parliament. He had hardly any crown land left and therefore lacked security for future loans, so he was forced to start up a forced loan. Was a success financially, within a year £240,000 out of £300,000 demanded was raised. 5 Knights Case - 5 gentlemen challenged it, and Charles put pressure on the judges to find in his favour. They were told that they were arrested “by special command of our lord the King” and not given a legal reason.
• 1628 - Buckingham was the most hated man in England, but Charles continued to support him. Buckingham was hated because he was blamed for the military disasters against Spain and France, he completely dominated court patronage - he used his influence to remove rivals such as Lord Keeper Williams who lost his post and the Earl of Arundel who was arrested, he was known to favour Arminianism.