Power & the People

• Henry VIII


  Ruled from 1509 to 1547
• Divorce from first wife (Katherine of Aragon)


  Pope wouldn't allow it, so Henry was excommunicated
• Henry left and made his own church

  The Church of England
• Robert Aske


  Leader of the Pilgrimage of Grace
• Pilgrimage of Grace


  Not a pilgrimage, but a full-blown revolt in the north of England against what was perceived as the misrule of Henry VIII
• Causes of the Pilgrimage of Grace

  • Social - Anne Boleyn accused of witchcraft, undermining the kings' authority & The North felt neglected
  • Economic - Rumors off taxes on births, deaths and marriages, Poor harvests of 1535 and 1536 led to high food prices, Increased taxes
  • Religious - Demand for return to 'old ways' of religion, People in the North were unhappy with the pace of change
  • Political - North felt isolated and neglected from London, Wanted removal of Cromwell who and his advisors, they had been leading the king astray
• Main events of the Pilgrimage of Grace

  1. Protests in Lincolnshire

  2. They take over many key towns and cities, including Pontefract (a royal stronghold)

  3. Henry VIII sends an army

  4. People get scared and disperse

  5. They spread this negative message of Henry all across the North of England
• King's Army of the North - 5,000
• Revolters - 50,000
• Henry agrees to give into some demands
• Henry promised a pardon to all
• Henry promised a Parliament in York
• Henry promised no more monasteries would be closed before Parliament met
• Once the pardon is read out, the revolters disband and go home. Aske is invited to spend time with the King
• When Aske traveled home, another revolt broke out and Henry used this as an excuse to tear up his pardon and subjugate the North
• Many were executed and Aske was hanged in chains in York
• Henry proceeded with quick religious reforms and the remaining monasteries were dissolved. Henry's position as absolute monarch was reinforced by the failure of the Pilgrimage of Grace
• Impacts of the Pilgrimage of Grace


  Allowed Henry to emerge stronger and more firmly in control. No one dared oppose him
• All monasteries were closed and religious reforms continued and even sped up
• Elizabeth I


  Ruled from 1603
• James I


  Ruled from 1603 to 1625
• Charles I


  Ruled from 1625 to 1649
• Roman Catholics


  The Pope was head of the church based in Rome, Catholics were persecuted in England and there was general distrust of Catholic worship or anything that resembled it, Liked structure in the church
• Protestants


  Protestantism had been the official religion of England since the time of Elizabeth I, The Church of England is the official church, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its head, Members of the Church of England are called 'Anglicans'
• Calvinism


  A form of Protestantism in Scotland, James I had been brought up as a Calvinist
• Puritans


  Extremist protestants, They detested anything resembling Catholicism, They became increasingly influential during the 1600s in politics and in the Church, They did not like the strict hierarchy of the Church
• High church


  Lots of hierarchy
• James I said "no bishop, no king" which meant that if the structure and hierarchy of the church was disassembled then the King's position would be at risk. Puritans wanted to disassemble the Church so tension emerged between James I and the Puritans.
• Hampton Court Conference


  King James wanted peace between the Anglicans and Puritans. He agreed to some of the Puritans demands but got angry when they asked for bishops to be removed and replaced by clergymen. This ended with Puritans dissatisfied and James and his bishops angry. Divisions emerged.
• Archbishop Laud (who was supported by Charles) made very Catholic changes to the Church. This alarmed the Puritans. Laud hated the Puritans as he thought their extreme ways would never allow them to connect with God. The Puritans and Protestants hated him back and when Parliament met in 1640, it began attacking Laud's policies and these quarrels later erupted into a bloody civil war
• In 1611, the King James Bible was published. This was written in English and not Latin and so people could interpret it how they wanted to and not how the church leaders said to interpret it. The number of Dissenters (people who criticise the church) in the country grew.
• Causes of the English Civil War

  • Religion - James I faced many Catholic plots (e.g. Guy Fawkes) and after Henry VIII's split with Rome, there was a very strong anti-Catholic mood in the country, Charles' Catholic tendencies caused tension with the people. For example, he was married to a Catholic. Many thought he was Catholic or favoured Catholics over Anglicans, Emergence of different sects (Puritan, Baptist) had lots of influence that Charles didn't like
  • War - When Charles tried to introduce the new prayer book to Scotland he was faced with furious opposition. Charles subsequent attempts to crush the Scots by force went horribly wrong forcing him to summon an English parliament in 1640 to help raise money and make a peace treaty (humiliating fro Charles)
  • Personalities - People like John Hampden and John Pym had lots of popularity and influence and were courageous enough to speak out about the king. John Hampden famously resisted paying ship tax
  • Politics - Charles I believed in the Divine Right of Kings, so he could rule unaided, or unfettered by Parliament, Strong Kings could use this to their advantage but weak ones, like Charles, could not, Because he avoided Parliament so much, the gentry got angry and ridiculed Charles as much as possible and they tried to assert the right of Parliament, When Charles became King in 1625, the Parliament he inherited previously had disputes with his father and the there was bound to be conflict as they both had completely different theories of government (DRoK), Charles dissolved Parliament and ruled without them for 11 years (1629-40), He used ship tax (it didn't need the approval of parliament to be levied) to raise finance and those who couldn't pay were sent to prison. More tension
• What happened in the English Civil War

  1. Charles declared war on Parliament in 1642 because they kept making demands and they didn't want him to take so much money from them. There was primarily a Royalist north and west ranged against a primarily Parliamentarian south and east. The Welsh and Cornish supplied him many of his foot soldiers whereas the Parliamentarians derived much of their advantage from their possession of London. In mid-1643 Charles looked set to defeat his opponents but the Parliamentarians concluded a military alliance with the Scots. Following the intervention of a powerful Scottish army, Charles lost control of the north of Britain. The New Model Army was set up around 1645 and was led by Oliver Cromwell (a Puritan) and they defeated Charles at Naseby and the Royalist cause was lost. Charles didn't compromise with his enemies and stirred up a new out of violence that evolved into the Second Civil War lasting from 1648-1649 and was ended when Cromwell defeated Charles

  2. The Levellers and the Diggers emerged around this time and wanted reforms to society to make it more equal/level (hence the name). Another one of their main concerns was what to do with the captured King

  3. John Lilburn was a key Leveller and wanted 3 things: freedom of religion, voting rights and freedom of press. He was always in trouble with the King & parliament and was exiled by Cromwell in 1651 but returned illegally and was eventually executed in 1657

  4. Up until 1648 no one knew what to do with the King

  5. Eventually, Parliament found Charles I guilty of high treason and acting in his own personal interests

  6. He was executed on the 30th January 1649

  7. Parliament abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords

  8. In may 1649, England was declared as a commonwealth (an independent state or community, especially a democratic republic, without a king)
• The Restoration


  In 1660 Parliament offered to restore the monarchy if Charles II would agree to concessions for religious toleration and a general amnesty. Charles agreed. The Restoration was notable for its relaxation of the strict Puritan morality of the previous decades. Theatre, sports, and dancing were revived.
• The Glorious Revolution


  1688, Overthrow of James II of England by a union of English parliamentarians with William of Orange (Dutch) to marry James' daughter Mary to rule together, Glorious because it was bloodless
• Impacts of the English Civil War: Short - End of absolute monarchy in England and Wales. However, Cromwell established his own personal rule as Lord Protector in the period after. Long - Very significant as it began the origins of parliamentary democracy in Britain and the Glorious Revolution in 1688
• George III


  King at the time of the American Revolutionary War, Ruled from 1760 to 1801
• Who were the colonists?

  • Over half were indentured servants, Imported African slaves farmed tobacco and rice, 50,000 migrants were convicts, transported to the colonies, often for life, Others were in search of political and religious freedom, such as the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620
• The Seven Years War

  Involved all the main European powers of the time. Much of north America was under French control, apart from British colonies on the east coast. Conflict had arisen between Britain and France over these colonies as part of the Seven Years War, and Britain's government raised taxes from the colonists in order to pay for troops to protect them from the French
• Causes of the American Revolution

  • Taxes + War - The Seven Years War led the British to ask the colonists to pay more taxes to support the British soldiers that would help protect the colonists. The colonists said they already pay enough taxes, however, a series of Acts (such as the Stamp Act of 1763) imposed taxes and duties on the colonists
  • Powerful idea + strong individuals - Loyalists wanted to remain in the Empire. They thought that a colony could not stand alone, Radicals wanted independence, Thomas Paine argued for American independence. His book Common Sense sold over 500,000 copies in 2 months