C.9

• The short parliament

  Without money to fight Scottish Covenanters Wentworth advised King to recall parliament:

  - Session began 13 April 1640 aim of the king is to get subsides from Parliament

  - Despite urgency of Kings need and prospect of foreign armies on British soil ( as a letter intercepted from the Covenanters to King of France seeking help) Parliament dissolved on 5th May
• Why was the Short Parliament dissolved?

  - Charles had expectation that he might get money from Spanish King or Pope

  - In recent privy council meeting, Stratford suggested using Irish Army to help

  - Stratford was ill and couldn't help long with political management

  - Some in Parliament sympathised with Covenanters
• The Long Parliament

  - events in Scotland which provided reason to recall Parliament in Nov 1640

  - Treaty of Ripon meant king had to recall parliament and couldn't dissolve until it had voted the subsides that would enable Scottish army be paid off

  - Charles was weak financially and militarily

  - wasn't dissolved until 1660
• Sources of King Charles strength pt 1

  Support in House of Lords: 1640 weight of power lay within Lords not Commons, natural allegiance to King

  
  

  Supremacy in legal system: Charles sat at pinnacle of justice system and was able to use it for his own ends e.g after short Parli king arrested three lords he regarded as lead critics; Warwick, Brooke and Saye and Sele

  
  

  Command of the army : King could call the militia and Stratford revitalised Irish army and put it at kings disposal

  
  

  Censorship of press:

  In 1640 he retained command over what could be published and was able to exert pressure to those who challenged him
• Sources of King Charles strength pt 2

  Authority over foreign policy:

  No restraints was at liberty to approach foreign powers

  
  

  Determined and effective minsters:

  Laud and Wentworth committed servants

  
  

  Resources from 3 kingdoms:

  Had Ireland Scotland and England so had resources
• Charles fatal weakness

  - mainly came from his words and actions

  - closeness w Laud and Stafford alienated others

  - unable to handle debate w/o seeing it as brutal offence
• What was the Petition of 12 peers?

  - presented to king at York 12 Sept 1640

  - asserted they would not cooperate unless Charles called a new Parliament

  ".. your whole kingdom has become full of fear and discontented people.. which is why.. we beseech your majesty to summon Parliament" - Copy of Petition added to Robert Harley (grandmother = Lady Brilliana Harley who took role of resisting royalist forces during Civil war)
• Sources of strength for Parliament pt1

  - commons united in thought to remedy abuses of personal rule and to revive relations between king and country.. actions to remedy personal rule:

  • Star Chamber abolished by Habeus corpus act 1640 and confirmed 1641

  • High commission abolished feb 1641

  • Ship money repealed by ship money act 1641

  • Stanford impeached Nov 1640, Laud Dec 1640

  • Root and Branch petition (which advocated for abolition of episcopacy) presented to commons Dec 1640
• Sources of strength for Parliament pt2

  - interconnections between Mp's due to Providence Island company, Hampden case or family confections

  - the men who opposed king were educated in politics

  - 15,000 signatures appended to Root and Branch petition shied support of Londoners
• Initiative from the House of Lords: Bridge Appointments

  - Earl of Bedford was moderate and did not share strong Puritan theology; proposed Bridge appointments scheme which would provide Charles e s workable financial settlement whilst Charles in return hold regular parliaments and abolish the most hated tools of his PR

  - to ensure good co operation Laud and Stratford would be replaced so Parliament would be closely involved w kings finances
• Bridge Appointments aftermath

  The plan collapsed when the Covenanters ( As Bedford was collabing w Covenanters) demanded the abolition of episcopacy and the execution of Strafford, which Bedford feared would make the king reject the proposal. Bedford's death from smallpox in May 1641 ended the scheme.
• 10 propositions


  - June 1641 set of suggestions presented by Pym to Parliament, aiming to limit King Charles I's power, included:

  •Disbanding the northern army

  •Giving Parliament input on Privy Council appointments

  •Oversight of the queen's household (especially regarding Catholics)

  •Parliamentary control over the education of royal children

  
  

  Events moved too quickly for them to be fully implemented.
• The Root and Branch debates

  Sparked by the Root and Branch Petition, these debates focused on the future of the Church of England. Parliament regained influence over church governance, and in May 1641, Oliver St John, Henry Vane Jr., and Oliver Cromwell introduced a bill to abolish the existing episcopal system.
• Content, context and arguments over the Root and Branch bill

  - Long Parliament moved quickly to reform the Church, particularly targeting 'Laudian' policies. In November 1641, Pym introduced measures such as removing Catholics from London and influencing church appointments

  - The Root and Branch Bill aimed to abolish episcopacy dismantling the Church's structure and reducing the king's power, as bishops were his political allies in the House of Lords.

  - Bill revealed divisions due to moderate and extreme parliamentarians