He is a notorious spendthrift, particularly bestowing a lot of money on his male “favorites,” most notable among whom is George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham. There was even an epigram: “Rex erat Elisabeth; nunc est regina Iacobus.” ("Elizabeth was a king; now James is a queen.")
At first, he is generally tolerant of all religions, but he shows a strong preference for High Anglicanism. In one of his early speeches, he encourages Catholics to just think harder, and they will see the error of their ways.
James VI of Scotland is offered the throne of England. He accepts, hoping for a little more monarchical power than has been the reality in Scotland. Thus, he effects the Union of the two crowns. England (and Wales and Ireland) are united with Scotland in the personal union of the monarch, although both retain separate parliaments.
Radical Catholics, led by Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes, try to blow up Parliament by igniting 36 barrels of gunpowder in a cellar beneath the House of Lords on November 5th (“Remember, remember the fifth of November”), a day when both Houses and the royal family would be present. The plot is uncovered due to the discovery of a letter to Monteagle (a Catholic member of the House of Lords), telling him not to go to Parliament that day. Guy Fawkes was discovered around midnight of Nov. 4th. He was tortured and revealed the other members of the plot. The conspirators were hanged, drawn and quartered, and anti-Catholic legislation was again enacted in Britain: fines, compulsory attendance and reception of sacraments at Anglican church services, Catholics being barred from legal and medical professions as well as public and military office. Catholics have to practice their faith in private.
Since there were so many bad/biased editions of the English Bible (e.g., the Geneva Bible [too Puritan], the Bishops' Bible [too Anglican], the Douay-Rheims Bible [too Catholic], the Wicked Bible [too significantly containing a typo]), James decides to produce an Authorized Version. After meeting with the Puritans at Hampton Court, James commissions scholars to produce the bible named after him, a text that has become classical and formative of the English language.
1621 A.D.—In Britain, the English Parliament makes clear that it will give no funds to James I unless he breaks off his plans to marry his son, Charles, to the Spanish Infanta (princess), Maria Anna. James tells Parliament to stop meddling in royal affairs. As it turns out, Maria Anna never wanted to marry the Protestant Charles, and when the two meet, the whole plan falls through. Charles eventually marries Henrietta Marie, sister of King Louis XIII of France.
1624 A.D.—In Britain, a far cooler Parliament (appeased by the failure of the plan to marry Charles to the kingdom of Spain) allows James I some funds to participate in the Thirty Years’ War, though Parliament sets up several stipulations on how the money is to be spent.
In general, King James I realizes that absolute monarchy is not the reality he hoped for in England. Parliament, which has the Power of the Purse disagrees with him often, especially because of a very vocal contingent of Puritans in the House of Commons. James begins to favor the Anglican religion, especially the power it gives to the monarch to name bishops, who are automatically part of the House of Lords. As he put it, “No bishops, no king.”
Charles can probably be characterized as a bit insecure. He seems to alternate between fits of people-pleasing and shows of authority.
Charles favors High Church Anglicanism. Like his father, he believes "No bishops, no king," and thus he works with Archbishop William Laud of Canterbury to "make England Anglican again". This of course does not endear him to Puritans. Also a problem: his wife, Henrietta Marie, is a Catholic. Finally, Charles also tolerates Arminianism (freewill Calvinism), which Puritans commonly see as a heresy.
1628 A.D.: Due to the English participation in the siege of La Rochelle (led by George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham), King Charles I asks Parliament for money. But Parliament is very angry with the King: he had allowed the billeting of soldiers and even imposed martial law in Southern England during the preparations for the transport of soldiers to France. Thus Parliament only grants the requested funds on condition that the king consents to the Petition of Right, which would deny the king the right to tax without Parliament’s consent, to arrest persons without due cause, to billet soldiers, and to impose martial law in peacetime. The king has no choice. He accepts.
1629 -1640 A.D.: Parliament is very angry with the king for continuing to collect taxes on imports and exports (which it had denied him) and for his work with William Laud to seemingly “catholicize” the Anglican rites. In particular, an impassioned speech is given by Sir John Eliot of Cornwall. The king has had enough: he disbands Parliament, and, after some resistance, arrests the leaders and imprisons them in the Tower of London. For the next eleven years, there will be no Parliament: a period known as the Personal Rule . King Charles I must find other ways to raise money, which he does with the help of Thomas Wentworth. They force loans, impose a new tax on coastal cities (“ship money”), and impose a fine on landed gentry that have not been knighted, citing an old law that wealthy landowners must be knights. Along with Archbishop Laud, the king also repeals laws that favored Puritanism (passed during the time of his father—laws mostly regarding the banning of amusements on Sunday).
1637 A.D.—In Britain, urged by Archbishop William Laud, King Charles I tries to impose the Book of Common Prayer (Anglican liturgical usage) on Scotland, thus outlawing Presbyterian services. The Scots do not take this well, and they organize a strong rebellion.
1640 A.D.—Due to the Scottish rebellion, King Charles I asks Parliament for money. Once again, they refuse unless the king answer their grievances. He refuses, disbands Parliament (the Short Parliament) and tries to fight the Scots with local militias.
The king's militias are no match for angry Scots, and the Scots soon invade and occupy Northern England. Desperate, the King calls Parliament again, the beginning of the Long Parliament which will remain in session for the next 20 years. Parliament agrees to grant the king money if he (a) cedes the right to disband Parliament, so that only Parliament may disband Parliament; (b) abolish the new taxes he made up during his Personal Rule; and (c) agree to call Parliament every three years. The king has no choice: he accepts, raises an army, and pays off the Scots.
Parliament imprisons Archbishop Laud in the Tower, and condemns Thomas Wentworth to death. The king at refuses to sign off on the execution, but after Wentworth himself begs him to do so, for Charles' own sake, Charles agrees.
1641 A.D.: Parliament votes on a measure to abolish bishops “root and branch” (hence, it is known as the Root and Branches Petition). It does not pass, but it indicates the divisions within Parliament. The King will try to capitalize on these divisions later.
The Plantations of Ulster were part of a larger move, begun by Henry VIII, to change Ireland by colonizing it Scots and English (mostly Protestants). The Plantations of Ulster specifically mostly took place during the reign of James I.
Dispossessed Irish Catholics massacre 4-5 thousand Scottish Protestants who had settled on their land during the reign of James I.
King Charles I needs money to raise an army to quell these Irish rebellions. Parliament can hardly refuse, but they are afraid of what the king might do afterwards with such an army. Thus, they demand from the king the right to have army officers appointed by Parliament. The king refuses, and Parliament then issues the Grand Remonstrance, a list of bad deeds blamed on the monarchy and good deeds credited to Parliament. It advocates the requirement that all of the king’s appointments have the approval of Parliament, and that a synod be established for the religious reform of English Protestantism. The Remonstrance barely passes: 159-148.
1642 A.D.—In Britain, King Charles I (urged on by his wife) takes action: he walks into Parliament (never before done), sits on the speaker’s chair, and demands that five members whom he intended to arrest be produced (they had departed before his arrival, hearing of the impending arrest from one of the queen’s servants). Parliament responds that they serve Parliament before the king. The London city militia, called the Trained Bands, quickly arrives to protect Parliament, followed closely with support from the Royal Navy (disgusted with the king due to low pay). The king quickly realizes he has no support in London. Beginning of the English Civil War.
CAVALIERS (Royalists) vs. ROUNDHEADS (Parliamentarians)
The King flees, eventually to Oxford, which
becomes the base of the Royalist, or Cavalier side. Both sides have their advantages and disadvantages, and the beginning of the war
is mostly a stalemate. The king has an excellent cavalry, but unfortunately they are undisciplined, given to pillage after attacking rather
than returning to protect the infantry. The Royal side also boasts a hearty Welsh infantry. The Parliamentarian, or Roundhead side
has religious zeal and Scottish fighters on its side.
Both sides need money, and at first, they have it: Henrietta Marie pawns the crown jewels to the Dutch, and other
lords on King Charles’ side can raise funds. But as the war drags on, the Parliamentarians have the advantage: they can get loans from
banks; they impose the most efficient property taxes England had ever raised; and they levy new import taxes.
Eventually, the Roundhead also revamp their cavalry and their infantry under the leadership of an MP from
Cambridge, "Old Ironsides," Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell teaches the cavalry the Swedish tactics that Gustavus Adolphus had used
in the Thirty Years’ War, and then he convinces Parliament to eliminate the feudal method of personally raised armies, and moves toward a
state army, raised by conscription where necessary, and thoroughly trained. Cromwell also favors the Independents, zealous, non-noble
religious adherents to nonconformist sects. Their zeal is a much better thing, in Cromwell’s mind, then noble privilege.
1645 A.D.: In the English Civil War, the Roundheads, led by Cromwell, definitively defeat the Cavaliers at the Battle of Naseby. (In their zeal, the Roundheads quickly execute godly vengeance by summarily executing or scarring the prostitutes in the Royalist camp).
1646 A.D.—In Britain, King Charles I surrenders himself to the Scottish. At first, they offer to restore him to the throne if he agrees to impose Presbyterianism on England. The king refuses, so the Scots hand him over to the English.
Meanwhile, the Long Parliament begins passing measures persecuting Independents: execution of Unitarians, imprisonment for Anabaptists, etc. Cromwell and his army disagree with these measures, and they capture the king themselves. They offer to restore him to the throne if he grants religious tolerance and Parliamentary supremacy in appointing royal ministers. The king again refuses. A debate begins in Parliament as to whether cooperation with the king should be sought at all or not.
Meanwhile, the king escapes once again to Scotland, where he raises an army on the promise that, if victorious, he will try Presbyterianism for three years and allow Parliament to name his ministers for ten years. Civil War begins again.But in 1648 A.D.,Cromwell’s forces once again defeat the Royalist forces and arrest the king.
This time, several voices rise up and accuse the king of treason and duplicity, claiming that he purposefully
intended to renew the civil war. The Independents in Parliament in particular think that no religious compromise should be reached with the
king: he must be tried for treason. But they are not the majority.
Then there is Pride’s Purge: Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly prevents royalists and Presbyterians from
entering Parliament, and eventually arrests many of them. The remaining 53 members (all of whom support trying the king for treason) form
what’s known as the Rump Parliament.
The Rump Parliament tries King Charles I for treason and finds him guilty.
January 30th: Wearing two shirts (so as not to seem to be shivering with fear), King Charles I is executed at
Whitehall by beheading.
His son, Charles II, eventually has to flee, disguising himself as a woodcutter, a maid, and once even
hiding in an oak tree. Eventually, he manages to get a boat to France, and later hides out in the Dutch Republic.
The Rump Parliament proclaims Britain a “Commonwealth”, and it abolishes the House of Lords, as well as bishops in general (Cromwell took James I’s words seriously: “no bishops, no king”). The Irish (who tend to be Royalist) and the Scots (who had hoped for a royal imposition of Presbyterianism) soon rebel. Cromwell is sent to crush the rebellions, which he does with ruthless efficiency and, somew would say, excess.
Cromwell then turns to crushing a rebellion of Levellers, politicians who advocate such rights as freedom of
speech, a right to vote for all Englishmen (as opposed to just property-holders), and an annual Parliament.
It soon becomes evident that Cromwell and his New Model Army of Independents does not see eye-to-eye with the Rump
Parliament either. Cromwell sees the Rump Parliament as too full of lawyers, not religiously-minded enough, and he does not agree with
their entry into war with the Dutch (the First Anglo-Dutch war, a successful war that gave dominance of the English Channel to the English
and put England’s navy forward as able to hold its own against that of the Dutch Republic, although the Dutch would go on to win the next
two Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century).
the Rump Parliament is forcibly dissolved by Cromwell, who marches into it with his soldiers. A new Parliament is convoked, called the “Assembly of Saints”, tailor-made to Cromwell’s projects.
The Assembly passes the Instrument of Government (England’s only written constitution), a document that puts legislative power in the hands of Parliament, and executive power in the hands of a Lord Protector (hence, this period of British history is known as the Protectorate). The first Lord Protector is, of course, Oliver Cromwell.
Impatient that they are failing to ratify any of the 84 bills that he proposed, Oliver Cromwell dissolves Parliament again.
Cromwell begins a new, militaristic government for the Protectorate: the whole territory is divided into districts, each ruled by a military general known as a “godly governor.” They occupy themselves mostly with closing alehouses and antagonizing royalists. To pay their salaries, Cromwell imposes a 10% tax on royalist sympathizers.Theater, sports, dancing, and Christmas are also all banned.
Cromwell clearly has messianic tendencies, becoming known as “God’s Englishman.” Nevertheless, it is true that he was generally tolerant of religion, relegating it to the private sphere. He even allows the Jews to remain in England (though technically they have been illegal since 1295). The only rule he really has is: NO CATHOLIC MASS!
1658 A.D.—In Britain, Oliver Cromwell dies. The role of Lord Protector passes to his son, Richard. But young Richard does not have the same influence on the army as his father had. The generals of the army begin fighting amongst themselves. In the process, Parliament is reorganized several times (e.g., the Rump Parliament returns, then the full membership of the Long Parliament, etc.).
In the chaos, George Monck, general of the Scottish armies, sends a letter to Charles II in the Dutch Republic, saying that the time is right for him to return to Britain.
In the Dutch Republic, Charles Stuart, son of the beheaded King Charles I of Britain, issues the Declaration of Breda, in which he makes clear that if he were king, he would grant general amnesty to all the Parliamentarian and Protectorate supporters; that he would grant religious tolerance in Britain; and that he would give the army its back-pay.
Parliament, at the instigation of George Monck invites him back to Britain, passing a measure that ultimately “pretended that the last nineteen years never happened.” The Restoration of the Stuart Monarchy.
King Charles II is known for his party lifestyle and his many adulterous affairs, both habits that he picked up while he was living in the Dutch Republic. He has several mistresses and many illegitimate children (at least 17). The king's behavior eventually devolves down to the English people in general: the Restoration period is characterized by its lax morals (e.g., Samuel Pepys' recording of his extramarital affairs in his Diaries of Samuel Pepys
One problem is that Charles II seems to favor Catholicism: outwardly, he is an Anglican, but some think that he is a crypto-Catholic. But Charles II is not nearly as ominous as his devout Catholic brother, James, who converted while the family was hiding in France. And unfortunately, Charles II is not producing any legitimate children…
English political sentiments divide into two: the Tories , who think that even if James were to succeed his brother, the weight of tradition should favor monarchical succession (think “conservatives”); and the Whigs, who advocate that, in the event that a Catholic might take the throne of Britain, action should be taken to change the line of succession (think “progressives”).
In London, the Plague Year: a resurgence of the Bubonic Plague kills 80,000-100,000 people in the capital.
Beginning in a bakery by the Thames, the fire ravaged through 400 acres, leaving 200,000 people homeless, destroying 87 churches, including the St. Paul’s cathedral. Sir Christopher Wren will design the new St. Paul's Cathedral (consecrated 1711) which is still there to this day.
Parliament passes the Test Acts, which stipulate that any candidate for public or military office must receive Anglican Communion before getting the job.
A man named Titus Oates publishes a book that claims that there is a Catholic conspiracy, led by Jesuits, that plans to harbor ships in Ireland and attack the mainland (the details of the conspiracy were simply physically impossible: the number of ships that Titus claimed were being prepared could not even fit in one bay of the island of Ireland). The plot is widely believed at first, and at least 35 innocent people were tried and executed, including the bishop of Armagh (Ireland), St. Oliver Plunkett. (Plunkett had to make clear in his last speech that he was using "no mental reservation," a fact indicative of the distrust of Catholics in Stuart Britain.) The Plot later was proved to be a perjury, and Titus Oates himself was imprisoned for life (only to be released by William and Mary), but the damage had been done: anti-Catholic sentiment is on the rise (in particular, a strong, European-wide animosity toward Jesuits), and the Whig party is beginning to gain even more traction for the cause of intervention in the monarchical succession.
Both devoutly religious and an adulterer like his brother. Perhaps could also be characterized as not particularly brave.
He's Catholic! The last Catholic monarch of Britain. Nevertheless, Tory sentiment wins the day and no one stops him from becoming king. His two daughters (by his first marriage to the Protestant Anne Hyde) are Protestant. James is remarried to a Catholic, Mary of Modena(wed 1673), but no one expects an heir to come from that union.
James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, bastard son of Charles II, leads a great rebellion with the intention of seizing the throne for himself. The rebellion is defeated, Monmouth is beheaded, and his followers are banished.
James issues a declaration of full religious tolerance (first time, really). The only problem is that this essentially nullifies the Test Acts passed by Parliament. The Whigs are unhappy and gain more support in Parliament.
Mary of Modena gives birth to James, a healthy baby boy. The Whigs panic. England has precedent for a third-child boy baby preceding his two older sisters in the line of succession!
Eventually, Whigs win, and Parliament offers the crown to James II’s Protestant daughter, Mary. Mary agrees on the condition that she rule jointly with her husband, William III of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. William lands on English shores. King James II flees to France, which Parliament decides to define as an abdication. This is known as the Glorious Revolution since the English people basically accepted it and there was little to no blood shed.
As part of their deal to take the British throne, William and Mary agree to the Bill of Rights, which enshrines the principles of Parliamentary sovereignty and stipulates that: only an Anglican shall ever sit on the throne of Britain; the monarch cannot suspend laws or raise taxes by royal prerogative; there shall be no standing armies in time of peace without Parliament’s consent; Parliament shall meet frequently; there shall be free elections; and there shall be freedom of speech in Parliament.
1690 A.D.—James II makes his way to Ireland and tries to rally support to take back the throne. King William III leads his forces to victory over the forces of James, who retreats back to France, abandoning his forces (the Irish referred to him as Seamus the Shit To this day, William III is a big hero to Protestants in Northern Ireland (e.g., Belfast street art).
1692 A.D.—In Scotland, as part of the fallout from the Jacobite rebellion of 1688-1690, the Campbell Clan, acting on orders of King William III, massacres 38 men of the Jacobite MacDonald clan. The wives and children of these men flee, but are caught in a Highlands blizzard and all die. MacDonalds will never forget.
Ler by James II's son, James "The Old Pretender." For more details, see below, under Anne, Death and Aftermath
Bonnie Prince Charlie, “the Young Pretender”, the Stuart grandson of James II invades England. But he is defeated at the Battle of Culloden in Scotland, thus ending the Jacobite hopes. Parliament issues the Heritable Jurisdictions Act and the Act of Proscription, banning Highland dress and the clan system of military levies.
Due to the death of Queen Mary II seven years before with no heirs, Parliament passes the Act of Settlement, which settles that upon the death of William III, the British throne shall pass to his Protestant sister-in-law, Anne (James II’s daughter by Anne Hyde). If Anne then should fail to produce an heir, the throne shall pass to the line of Sophia, granddaughter of James I of Britain, daughter of Frederick V of the Rhine Palatinate, and wife of Ernest Augustus, the Elector of Hanover (Hanover was made the H.R.E.'s ninth electorate in 1692, as a reward for helping the emperor out in the Nine Years' War). The Catholic descendants of James II are explicitly excluded from the line of succession.
King Charles II (Habsburg) of Spain dies, with no heirs (he was unable to produce children… the epitome of Habsburg inbreeding). The Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I had wanted his own son to inherit Spain afterwards (the Habsburg claim), but Charles’ will stipulated that the kingdom of Spain would go to Philip, Duke of Anjou (the Bourbon claim), grandson of Louis XIV (by his wife, Maria Teresa of Spain, who was Charles II’s sister). Philip takes the throne as Philip V of Spain. This means that the kingdoms of both France and Spain are in the possessions of the Bourbon House. This is too much for the European powers to bear.
France and Spain (Bourbon possessions) are joined by Catholic and anti-Austrian Bavaria. These three are challenged by another Grand Alliance (2.0) of England, the Dutch Republic, the Austrian Habsburgs, the newly formed Kingdom of Prussia, and several other German principalities, as well as the Spanish province of Catalonia (i.e., Barcelona’s province, which has a history of rebelling against the rest of Spain). This war is also a world war: much fighting also takes place in North America (Queen Anne’s War).
England clearly has the largest navy, more than the Dutch (a trend that began under Cromwell). Also, after the war, Britain gets Gibraltar (from Spain); Nova Scotia, the Hudson’s Bay Company territories, and Newfoundland from France. Britain also gets the Asiento, i.e., the right to sell slaves to the Spanish colonies.
The Battle of Blenheim: Duke Churchill of Marlborough deals a heavy blow to the armed forces of Louis XIV on their way to attempt to seize Vienna.He is a direct ancestor of Winston Churchill.
See next unit (Absolutism)
The Parliament of England, Scotland, and Wales are united into one Parliament, thus forming the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1714 A.D—Queen Anne dies. All of her seventeen children by her husband, Prince George of Denmark, predeceased her. Thus, per the Act of Settlement, the throne passed to the line of Sophia, now incarnated in Anne’s second cousin, George, Elector of Hanover. He becomes King George I of Great Britain. Beginning of the House of Hanover.
George has no apparent interest in being involved with British politics. Parliament is sovereign anyway. George never even learns English. In the vacuum, Sir Robert Walpole, leader of the dominant Whig party, performs much of the administration of the country and its colonial enterprises. He is considered the first Prime Minister.
Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, known later as “The Old Pretender” (to distinguish him from his son, Charles, “the Young Pretender”), with the spontaneous support of many Highland clans of Scotland and several sympathetic Englishmen, attempts to take back the throne of England, Scotland, and Ireland in the Fifteen Rising. The Jacobite forces are beaten at the Battle of Preston, and James “the Third” tries to return to France. Unfortunately, his patron, King Louis XIV has died in the meantime, and the Jacobite cause has no more support in France: James is not welcome. Eventually, he appeals to the Pope (Clement XI) and he is given refuge in Rome, in the Palazzo Muti. Back in Scotland, King George I grants amnesty to the Scottish clans, except for Clan Gregor (Rob Roy’s clan), explicitly excluded.
Many English Jacobites leave Britain and seek their fortune on the high seas. Many turn to piracy in the Caribbean, plundering British ships as a way to get back at the British in a less defensible environment. This, along with ex-privateers now idle after the War of the Spanish Succession, contributes to the “Golden Age of Piracy” in the Caribbean (ca. 1715-1725). This the time of the famous pirates: Charles Vane, Sam Bellamy, Black Bart, Calico Jack, Edward Teach "BlackBeard" (with the Jacobite-sounding ship, "Queen Anne's Revenge"). Pirates even form a Republic at Nassau in the Bahamas. The Golden Age mainly comes to an end when Woodes Rogers, working for the British, takes over Nassau.
| Hobbes | Locke | |
|---|---|---|
| Nature |
|
|
| Corollaries | Conflict:
|
General peace:
|
| The Social Contract | The citizens make a pact with each other:
|
The citizens set up an impartial, common arbitrator) of their disputes.
|