Dissolution of Parliament and the English Civil War - Essay Example

Dissolution of Parliament and the English Civil War According to historians and academicians, the English Civil War was a mélange of issues relating to religion, social forces and constitutional differences. They also claimed that it developed gradually over a period of many years. The Magna Charta of 1215 stated that the people must be free of governmental interference. It also claimed that Parliament had great power over the individuals, since the Tudor period. In the context of religion, the hostility and antagonism of the Puritans increased to a great extend against the bishops. Long standing inflation and widespread conflicts between the King and the people were some of the sociological aspects, involved. Moreover, England proceeded towards democracy and adopted it as its government’s policy. The process of democratisation naturally conflicted with the King and his power over the nation. Furthermore, the adoption of democracy and freedom rendered Parliament more powerful, and this in turn challenged the royal rule. These are the most frequently stated reasons for the outbreak of the Civil War (Civil War, English, 2008). Nevertheless, the revisionist historians contended that the Civil War transpired due to the events of November 1641. By that time, Charles had prepared to fulfil the aspirations of his subjects and he had revoked the ship money taxes in 1640. He had also promised to reinstate Parliament in 1641. Moreover, Charles agreed to abstain from levying further taxes without the approval of Parliament, and to dissolve the Star Chamber. At that juncture, William Laud was incarcerated in December 1640 and Charles’s close deputy Strafford was executed on the 12th of May 1641. Meanwhile in October 1641, the Catholic Great Rebellion took place in Ireland. It challenged the supremacy of the King and opposed royal rule in Ireland. In order to suppress that movement, the King required an army and other resources. However, the leaders in Parliament refused to ratify his request, as they feared that the King would use these resources against Parliament. This was tantamount to a direct and abrupt attack on Royal power, and in retaliation, Charles imprisoned five MP’s, who were the prime instigators in the Parliament behind that strategy against the Crown (Civil War, English, 2008). Charles was the second surviving son of King James and the duchess of Denmark, Anne. He impressed many people and was bestowed with good manners, patience, good temperament, and courteous behaviour. These qualities made him much closer to those who met him. Although, his deeds were never immoral, he lacked the ability to get on with the ordinary people. Charles was orthodox and followed religion wholeheartedly. Subsequent to his becoming the king the character of the court changed considerably, and changed into a sophisticated assembly. He followed in the footsteps of his father and strongly believed that the will of God constituted the basis of the power of kings to rule. His attitude with the House of Commons was demonstrated in his letters and he opposed the unruly attitude of the House. As such, he never compromised in any manner, with the House of Commons (Charles I, 2008). In 1604, King James had convened the Hampton Court Conference. In this meeting, he authorised translation of the Bible. This version of the Bible came to be known as the King James Version. He fought against the Roman Catholics and imposed a number of severe measures against them. It was his overriding objective to mitigate and control their religious power. His severity created tension with the Roman Catholics, which led to the Gunpowder Plot in the year 1605. However, this plot proved to be abortive. King James strived hard to establish religious peace in Europe, but his efforts were in vain. He gave his daughter Elizabeth in marriage to Frederick V, who was the elector of the Palatinate, a territory of the German Empire. Frederick V was also the leader of the German Protestants, and King James even attempted to perform the marriage of his son with the infanta of Spain. He thought that this would end the prevailing conflicts and restore peace, as the infanta of Spain was the chief Catholic power in those days. However, King James’ offer was rejected and this infuriated him. Consequently, he formed an alliance with France and launched a war against Spain. This war further heightened the conflicts, which he had wanted to eliminate. On the 27th of March, 1625, James left his mortal coil the Theobalds in Hertfordshire. His son Charles I ascended the throne as the new king (James I (of England), 2007). Charles’ regime attracted widespread criticism, and was replete with controversies and disputes. Temperamentally, Charles was reticent and not given to rhetoric or talkativeness. He was self righteous and subscribed to strong beliefs. He truly believed that a king’s authority derived from the will of God. Charles was proficient in several languages and depicted great fluency in them. Furthermore, he was a sensitive man and a connoisseur of the arts. His love for the arts was extraordinary and he spent vast amounts for their development. In order to further the arts, he invited famous artists like Van Dyck and Rubens to England, and collected several paintings of Raphael and Titian. King Charles created the post of Master of the King’s Music and spent extravagant amounts on the collection of paintings. This expenditure increased the Crown’s debts. In addition, Charles was a staunch follower of religion, and he preferred to follow the Anglican type of worship. Accordingly, he followed many rituals in his worship, while his subjects followed the plainer forms of worship. Consequently, there was a difference of opinion on issues pertaining to religion and finance, between Charles and the prominent leaders of society (CHARLES I (r. 1625-49)). Charles’ engagement with the infanta of Spain was broken and he subsequently married Maria a Roman Catholic woman of France. This marriage increased his troubles and a significant number of people refused to attend the services of the Church of England. Charles wanted to deprive these people of the normal benefits provided to them by the government; and he thought that marriage to a Roman Catholic woman would make him achieve that goal. In the year 1624, he made a promise in Parliament to that effect. However, France insisted that there should not be any oppressive measures against Roman Catholic subjects in England, and demanded the annulment of all discriminatory measures. The French had clandestinely added this condition in the matrimonial agreement. Charles was ignorant of the presence of this condition in the marriage agreement (CHARLES I (r. 1625-49)). There were disagreements between his father and Parliament, and these differences continued in his regime. He was defeated in the fateful wars with France and Spain, and was greeted with failure in almost all of his endeavours. Eventually, these drawbacks and failures led to the great crisis of the years 1628 to 1629. His two expeditions to France ended in failure. George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham led one of these expeditions. An expedition against France had been the desire of James and Charles. Subsequently, the Duke of Buckingham gained control over politics and became very powerful. In 1628, Charles was impeached by the Parliament, and he was assassinated by a religious fanatic just before the launch of his second expedition against France. Considerable political controversy surrounded the Duke of Buckingham and this controversy was instrumental in reducing the monarch’s powers in respect of the royal prerogative. The monarch has the right to appoint ministers under his powers of the royal prerogative, but the Parliament did not recognize the ministers appointed by the monarch. One of the chief adversaries of the monarch in Parliament was Sir John Eliot, who was incarcerated in the Tower of London in 1629, till his death in 1632 (CHARLES I (r. 1625-49)). In its second session, in February 1626, Parliament challenged the government established by Charles. By that time, Charles had already appointed some of the members of the House of Commons as the sheriffs in several counties. The Spanish expedition had been a failure and this failure had been attributed to his favourite the Duke of Buckingham. The House of Commons demanded the impeachment of the King on charges of treason. To circumvent further unpleasantness and strife, Charles dissolved the Parliament. The Duke of Buckingham was held to be incompetent and it was also contended that this incompetence had dragged the nation into war with France and Spain. The nation desperately required economic resources to fund the war and Charles imposed a forced loan to fulfil these needs. However, the judges in the courts of the King declared this move as unlawful. The irate Charles issued orders to dismiss the chief judge and to incarcerate more than seventy knights. He also effected the arrests of those who were opposed to his activities. The king’s deeds were condemned by one and all (Charles I, 2008). Buckingham wielded considerable influence with Charles, and Parliament had misgivings about the former, on this account. Although, Charles was defeated in the Spanish war, he refused to submit any explanation to Parliament for his failure; moreover, he refused to explain his foreign policy and the cost involved (Charles I, 2008). The Puritans supported impromptu prayer in the Church of England and they dominated the House of Commons. The King favoured the High Church Party, which recommended that prayer must be conducted in accordance with the instructions provided in the prayer book. It also supported and upheld the following of widespread rituals during prayer. This resulted in frequent confrontation and conflict between the King and the House of Commons. In addition, Parliament refused to empower Charles to impose certain customs duties, even though the previous monarchs had enjoyed this right during their rule (Charles I, 2008). In March 1628, Parliament met for the third time, and at that time the Duke of Buckingham made an attempt to support French Protestants at La Rochelle. His expedition was defeated, and he was killed by John Felton, a manic depressive English naval officer (Plant, 2003). The House of Commons passed several resolutions, condemning the actions of Charles, including the arbitrary levy of taxes and unreasonable incarceration of the authorities. The House of Commons lodged its complaints against Charles’ government in the Petition of Right. This Petition of Right sought to establish four principles. First, there should be no taxes without the permission of the Parliament. Secondly, no person should be arrested without a valid and reasonable cause. Thirdly, no quartering of soldiers and lastly, martial law was not to be imposed during the peacetime. The Petition of Right was sent to Charles for Royal Assent, and the king tried his best to avoid granting his assent. However, he was finally compelled to grant royal assent. Subsequently, in January 1629, Parliament met for the fourth time; and by that time the Duke of Buckingham had been assassinated. The House of Commons had been opposed to the popish practices in the churches. It also objected to the imposition of tonnage and poundage by the King and his officers, and contended that its consent was mandatory for such imposition (Charles I, 2008). In order to finance his wars in which he was engaged, King Charles, called Parliament into session, in 1628; but the latter interposed the proviso that unless he ratified the petition of right, they would not permit him to impose additional taxes (Wilson, 1856. P. 289). On 2 March 1629, the King adjourned the Parliament sine die, and the House of Commons passed three resolutions that denounced the conduct of the King. Charles was much annoyed at this behaviour of the House of Commons; subsequently, he successfully ruled over the nation for the next eleven years, without the intervention or involvement of Parliament. He was free from Parliamentary interference in taking decisions and succeeded in restoring peace with France and Spain. By that time, the royal debt had crossed the £1 million mark, and this period or rapid industrial expansion was characterized by the imposition of customs duties. These levies had become the main source of revenue to meet debts, during the peacetime. The King had undertaken several economic measures to reduce royal expenditure and the expenditure incurred by his government. The Royal Navy was maintained by levying the so called ship money, which was initially collected from the ports in 1634, and which was subsequently extended to towns and cities (Charles I, 2008). The levy of ship money from 1635 to 1638 generated considerable resentment amongst the public. However, such antipathy towards this levy was latent and did not find public expression (Wheeler, 2002. P.7). Oliver Cromwell was a Puritan, and a Member of Parliament from 1628 to 1629. He was born in 1599 at Huntingdon in eastern England. He was famous and was given the sobriquet of Lord Protector of England (Patterson, 2004. P. 28 – 30). He was often referred to as the fiery and uncouth Puritan. His philosophy was radical and he strongly believed that every Christian has to perform prayer to establish contact with God. He also argued that the clergy was under a duty to motivate the lay people by preaching them to perform prayer and to enlighten them. Cromwell also combined forces with his fellow Members of Parliament in launching attacks against the taxes, the high handed actions of the King and other restrictions on the people. As such, he strongly believed in religion and fought against the King’s government (Cromwell, Oliver, 2008). King Charles encountered a major difficulty from the Roundheads, who were strongly behind Parliament. All the same, he had his own allies who were known as the Royalists or Cavaliers. The differences between these two groups reached the point of no return, and this resulted in conflict. The Roundheads emerged as his implacable foes, and their reason for doing so was the King’s arbitrary and high-handed behaviour and decisions, which the latter considered to be unconstitutional. Subsequently, the conflict transformed into a struggle to appropriate the powers of the Crown and the Parliament. The Cavaliers underwent a succession of defeats at the hands of the Roundheads led by the redoubtable Oliver Cromwell, such as the 1644 fiasco at Marston Moor and the 1645 debacle at Naseby. These events resulted in the capture of Charles in the year 1647. He was executed in 1649, and the civil war continued unabated, until 1651 when the Royalist forces were finally defeated at Worcester. In 1653, Oliver Cromwell became the new Protector of the nation and his rule lasted until his death in 1658 (Civil War, English, 2008). King Charles was involved in several conflicts with Parliament; consequently, in 1629 he dissolved the Parliament and became the absolute power in England. This absolute rule lasted for eleven years and was known as the Eleven Years’ Tyranny. By the year 1639, the entire nation was against him. There were several reasons for the aversion that the people had against Charles. The chief amongst these was his belief in the divine right of kings to rule by the will of god. His extravagant patronage of the arts and his unbridled spending on his court and his favourites were some of the other reasons. Moreover, he distanced his subjects by adopting measures, such as creating monopolies as a form of patronage, levying of ship money, suppression of the Puritans and by compelling judges to decide in his favour (Civil War, English, 2008). The dislike of the people also extended to the officials of Charles’ government. One such person was Strafford, who had been appointed the lord deputy in Ireland. He used military force to implement Royal rule in Ireland and behaved in an extremely brutal and ruthless manner. Another such official was the Archbishop William Laud, who introduced Armenianism, a form of theology, in the Church of England. This measure threatened the very existence of the Puritans, and the functions of the church were subjected to several reforms. Henrietta Maria, the Catholic wife of Charles, was disliked by the people and other eminent leaders; and it was alleged that Maria had motivated Charles to favour and provide widespread support to Catholics. It was her desire to become an absolute ruler. In 1639, the first war in the series of Bishops’ Wars was declared against Scotland, in order to quell the resistance to the attempts by Charles to bring the Scottish church under Royal ruling. In 1640, Charles requested a Short Parliament to enforce levies and realize revenues. He also wanted to impose new taxes to raise funds for wars. However, Parliament did not ratify his request for the imposition of new taxes, and a much disgruntled Charles dissolved the Parliament. In the same year, he was defeated in the second of the Bishops’ War in Scotland. In the wake of this defeat, Charles called for the Long Parliament in 1640. The members of Parliament became united and acted against the atrocities of Charles. In a rapid move, the Long Parliament incarcerated Archbishop William Laud and declared the taxes levied by Charles as illegal and invalid. It also passed the resolution that Charles could not dissolve the Parliament, and that its assent was essential for dissolution (Civil War, English, 2008). The Parliament presented the Grand Remonstrance in November 1641 with a list of complaints against the rule of Charles. In retaliation, Charles sent forces to arrest the five leaders in Parliament, on charges of treason. However, this effort proved to be abortive, and the frustrated King moved to Nottingham in northern England, and launched a war against Parliament in 1642 (Civil War, English, 2008). In 1642, Charles declared war on Parliament; however in 1646 he was captured and put to death in 1649. Charles had never been on good terms with Parliament, which was opposed to his taxes and generally high handed behaviour. Parliament also opposed his support for Armenianism in the church (Charles I (1600-1649), 2008). Charles ruled the kingdom without Parliament for eleven years and employed the Star Chamber to victimize Puritans. In 1637, Charles attempted to make the prayer book based on the English model mandatory in Scotland. This move alienated the people of Scotland, whose forces entered England and placed their terms before Charles. The Long Parliament disbanded the prerogative courts that had acted independently of Parliament and imprisoned the advisers of Charles (Charles I (1600-1649), 2008). Oliver Cromwell led the forces of Parliament against the King and defeated the latter. Eventually, Charles was beheaded in January 1649. The principal cause for the civil war was the disapproval of Parliament for the actions of the King. Parliament wanted to impose its power over Charles, who was unwilling to accede to any such control over his deeds. He believed in the divine right of kings to rule, and was of the opinion that God had empowered him to rule England. Accordingly, he did not recognize Parliament’s right to grant him the authority for ruling over the nation. His perception caused several disagreements with Parliament. On the other hand, the MP’s believed that they had inherited the right to protect the interests of the country and its people. Money also played an important role in the civil war, and Charles was desirous of raising large amounts of money by imposing massive taxes to wage war against France (Causes of the English Civil War, 1642, 2008). A much disillusioned Charles dissolved the Parliament and imposed outdated levies such as ship money. Subsequently, he ruled the nation for eleven years without a Parliament from 1629 to 1640 (Causes of the English Civil War, 1642, 2008). The religious factor involved was that the Radical Protestants argued that the Puritans wielded power in Parliament, since the seventeenth century. In order to satisfy them, Charles married a Catholic lady, and she invited several priests from Rome to serve in the chapel. This angered the Puritans, who were strongly opposed to the power of the bishops. In retaliation, Charles provided his support to Archbishop William Laud. The latter performed religious ceremonies at the Scottish Protestant Church (Causes of the English Civil War, 1642, 2008). In the second Bishops’ War, in August 1640, the Scots invaded England after defeating it. The Long Parliament pressurised Charles to arrive at a compromise with the Scots. Thereupon, Parliament executed the Earl of Strafford, imprisoned Archbishop Laud and resolved that it could be dissolved only by its own consent. Charles opposed these developments and this led to the outbreak of the Civil War in England (Causes of the English Civil War, 1642, 2008). In October 1642, the Battle of Edgehill took place and this marked the beginning of the Civil War. Thus, the English Civil War can be attributed to issues relating to money, religion and power, which constituted the principal factors for the tensions between Parliament and Charles (Causes of the English Civil War, 1642, 2008). The fundamental reason for the civil war was the disapproval of Parliament towards the actions of the King. Moreover, Parliament had wanted to impose its powers over the king, whereas the King refused to accept the control of Parliament over his actions. Charles believed in the divine right of the kings to rule and he also believed that he was empowered to rule England by that divine right. According to his belief, Parliament was in no way concerned with granting him authority to rule. His led to frequent disagreements with Parliament. On the other hand, the MPs believed that they had the right to protect the interests of the country and its people. Money also played a key role in this civil war. Charles wanted to raise money by imposing huge taxes to wage wars. For this purpose, he called Parliament in 1628. Parliament put forward the petition of right before Charles and assured him that if he accepted that petition it would allow him to impose taxes. The petition of right sought to vest Parliament with the authority for permitting the King to impose taxes (Causes of the English Civil War, 1642, 2008). The religious issue at stake was the Radical Protestants’ contention that the Puritans had wielded considerable power in the Parliament, since the seventeenth century. In order to appease them, Charles married a French Catholic bride, who subsequently, invited several priests from Rome to serve in the chapel. This act of hers infuriated the Puritans, who were opposed to the power of bishops. As a retaliatory measure, Charles provided his support to Archbishop William Laud, who conducted several religious ceremonies in the Scottish Protestant Church. Subsequently, Charles compelled the Scottish churches to adopt the prayer book that was based on the English model. This move resulted in the Bishops’ Wars, due to the refusal of the Scots to accept the new prayer book. In 1639, in the Bishops’ War, Charles was defeated; and to compound his misery, the Short Parliament refused money supplies to Charles for his war with Scotland. Charles was badly in need of money to continue the war and accordingly, in 1640, he called Parliament into session to ratify the taxes proposed by him to raise money. The latter opposed his religious war in Scotland and rejected his plea for money. Thereupon, the desperate Charles dissolved the Short Parliament immediately (Causes of the English Civil War, 1642, 2008). In the second Bishops’ War that commenced in August 1640, the Scots invaded England and defeated it. Consequently, the Long Parliament prevailed upon Charles to arrive at a compromise with the Scots. Accordingly, Charles called a new Long Parliament into session, to permit him to impose new taxes. This time, the new Parliament impeached and executed the Earl of Strafford and arrested Archbishop Laud. It passed a resolution, in which it declared that Parliament could not be dissolved without its own consent. Charles ordered the arrest of the five leaders in the House of Commons who had constantly opposed his plans. This led to the outbreak of the Civil War in England (Causes of the English Civil War, 1642, 2008). Charles realised that Parliament had become his implacable foe. Accordingly, he attempted to arrest the leaders in the Parliament, but his initiatives were unsuccessful. He launched a war against Parliament, in which he was defeated at Naseby in June 1645. In May 1646 he was captured at Newark, Nottinghamshire by the Scot forces and handed over to Parliament in January 1647. In June of that year he was moved to Hampton Court palace near London. From there, Charles clandestinely planned invasions against Scotland. He escaped, in November, but was recaptured at Carisbrooke Castle. In 1648, he attempted to invade Scotland, but was prevented from doing so by Oliver Cromwell. The House of Lords established a high court of justice to prosecute Charles in 1649, which tried him and ordered his decapitation. This execution was carried out in front of the Banqueting House in Whitehall, London on the 30th of January (Charles I (1600-1649), 2008). He constituted an army there for the sole purpose of attacking the Parliament. Simultaneously, the Parliament raised an army in London to control Charles’ forces. In October 1642, the Battle of Edgehill transpired, and this marked the beginning of the Civil War. Thus, the English Civil War can be attributed to factors like money, religion and power. These were the chief factors for the tensions between the Parliament and King Charles. The religious policy of Charles dragged Scotland into war with England; and to repulse them, Charles needed money. The Parliament rejected his plans to raise money by imposing new taxes and his abortive attempt at arresting the five Parliamentary leaders sowed the seeds for the inevitable Civil War (Causes of the English Civil War, 1642, 2008). The Divine Right of Kings is a political, as well as religious theory of political absolutism, which was also a contributing factor to the civil war.This doctrine states that the king derives his right to rule from the will of God. It asserts that any attempt to depose the king or his powers will be against the will of God. This canon originated in Europe and it paralleled the grant of religious power to the church. However, by the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there were new monarchs who assumed authority over both the church and the state. King James I of England was a great proponent of the divine right of kings (Divine Right of Kings, 2008). The foregoing discussion reveals that the irreconcilable differences between Charles I and the Parliament, which led to the latter’s summary dissolution, on several occasions, resulted in the English Civil War. List of References Causes of the English Civil War, 1642. (2008). Retrieved July 29, 2008, from In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide: http://www.credoreference.com/entry/8002284 Charles I (1600-1649). (2008). Retrieved July 26, 2008, from In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide: http://www.credoreference.com/entry/7935683 CHARLES I (r. 1625-49). (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2008, from Kings and Queens of the United Kingdom: http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page76.asp Charles I. (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite . Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica. Charles I. (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica . Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica. Civil War, English. (2008). Retrieved July 26, 2008, from In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide: http://www.credoreference.com/entry/7936842 Cromwell, Oliver. (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite . Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica. Divine Right of Kings. (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite . Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica. James I (of England). (2007). Microsoft® Student 2008 [DVD] . Redmond: Microsoft Corporation. Patterson, J. (2004. P. 28 – 30). The Bill of Rights: Politics, Religion and the Quest for Justice. iUniverse. ISBN: 0595313981. Plant, D. (2003, March 6). George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, 1592-1628. Retrieved July 31, 2008, from British Civil Wars and Commonwealth : http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/buckingham1.htm Wheeler, J. S. (2002. P.7). The Irish and British Wars, 1637 – 1634: Triumph, Tradegy and Failure. Routledge. ISBN: 0415221323. Wilson, M. (1856. P. 289). American History: Comprising Historical Sketches of the Inidan Tribes. Ivison & Phinney. Read More