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- Born November 19, 1600, Dunfermline Palace, Fife, Scotland
Died January 30, 1649, London
Charles I, king of Great Britain and Ireland
(1625–49), whose authoritarian rule and quarrels with Parliament provoked a civil war that led to his execution.
Charles was the second surviving son of James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark. He was a sickly child, and, when his father became king of England in March 1603, he was temporarily left behind in Scotland because of the risks of the journey. Devoted to his elder brother, Henry, and to his sister, Elizabeth, he became lonely when Henry died (1612) and his sister left England in 1613 to marry Frederick V, elector of the Rhine Palatinate (see James I).
All his life Charles had a Scots accent and a slight stammer. Small in stature, he was less dignified than his portraits by the Flemish painter Sir Anthony Van Dyck suggest. He was always shy and struck observers as being silent and reserved. His excellent temper, courteous manners, and lack of vices impressed all those who met him, but he lacked the common touch, travelled about little, and never mixed with ordinary people. A patron of the arts (notably of painting and tapestry; he brought both Van Dyck and another famous Flemish painter, Peter Paul Rubens, to England), he was, like all the Stuarts, also a lover of horses and hunting. He was sincerely religious, and the character of the court became less coarse as soon as he became king. From his father he acquired a stubborn belief that kings are intended by God to rule, and his earliest surviving letters reveal a distrust of the unruly House of Commons with which he proved incapable of coming to terms. Lacking flexibility or imagination, he was unable to understand that those political deceits that he always practiced in increasingly vain attempts to uphold his authority eventually impugned his honour and damaged his credit.
In 1623, before succeeding to the throne, Charles, accompanied by the Duke of Buckingham, King James I's favourite, made an incognito visit to Spain in order to conclude a marriage treaty with the daughter of King Philip III. When the mission failed, largely because of Buckingham's arrogance and the Spanish court's insistence that Charles become a Roman Catholic, he joined Buckingham in pressing his father for war against Spain. In the meantime a marriage treaty was arranged on his behalf with Henrietta Maria, sister of the French king, Louis XIII.
Conflict with Parliament
In March 1625, Charles I became king and married Henrietta Maria soon afterward. When his first Parliament met in June, trouble immediately arose because of the general distrust of Buckingham, who had retained his ascendancy over the new king. The Spanish war was proving a failure and Charles offered Parliament no explanations of his foreign policy or its costs. Moreover, the Puritans, who advocated extemporaneous prayer and preaching in the Church of England, predominated in the House of Commons, whereas the sympathies of the King were with what came to be known as the High Church Party, which stressed the value of the prayer book and the maintenance of ritual. Thus antagonism soon arose between the new king and the Commons, and Parliament refused to vote him the right to levy tonnage and poundage (customs duties) except on conditions that increased its powers, though this right had been granted to previous monarchs for life.
The second Parliament of the reign, meeting in February 1626, proved even more critical of the King's government, though some of the former leaders of the Commons were kept away because Charles had ingeniously appointed them sheriffs in their counties. The failure of a naval expedition against the Spanish port of Cádiz in the previous autumn was blamed on Buckingham and the Commons tried to impeach him for treason. To prevent this, Charles dissolved Parliament in June. Largely through the incompetence of Buckingham, the country now became involved in a war with France as well as with Spain and, in desperate need of funds, the King imposed a forced loan, which his judges declared illegal. He dismissed the chief justice and ordered the arrest of more than 70 knights and gentlemen who refused to contribute. His high-handed actions added to the sense of grievance that was widely discussed in the next Parliament.
By the time Charles's third Parliament met (March 1628), Buckingham's expedition to aid the French Protestants at La Rochelle had been decisively repelled and the King's government was throughly discredited. The House of Commons at once passed resolutions condemning arbitrary taxation and arbitrary imprisonment and then set out its complaints in the Petition of Right, which sought recognition of four principles—no taxes without consent of Parliament; no imprisonment without cause; no quartering of soldiers on subjects; no martial law in peacetime. The King, despite his efforts to avoid approving this petition, was compelled to give his formal consent. By the time the fourth Parliament met in January 1629, Buckingham had been assassinated. The House of Commons now objected both to what it called the revival of “popish practices” in the churches and to the levying of tonnage and poundage by the King's officers without its consent. The King ordered the adjournment of Parliament on March 2, 1629, but before that the speaker was held down in his chair and three resolutions were passed condemning the King's conduct. Charles realized that such behaviour was revolutionary. For the next 11 years he ruled his kingdom without calling a Parliament.
In order that he might no longer be dependent upon parliamentary grants, he now made peace with both France and Spain, for, although the royal debt amounted to more than £1,000,000, the proceeds of the customs duties at a time of expanding trade and the exaction of traditional crown dues combined to produce a revenue that was just adequate in time of peace. The King also tried to economize in the expenditure of his household. To pay for the Royal Navy, so-called ship money was levied, first in 1634 on ports and later on inland towns as well. The demands for ship money aroused obstinate and widespread resistance by 1638, even though a majority of the judges of the court of Exchequer found in a test case that the levy was legal.
These in fact were the happiest years of Charles's life. At first he and Henrietta Maria had not been happy, and in July 1626 he peremptorily ordered all of her French entourage to quit Whitehall. After the death of Buckingham, however, he fell in love with his wife and came to value her counsel. Though the King regarded himself as responsible for his actions—not to his people or Parliament but to God alone according to the doctrine of the divine right of kings—he recognized his duty to his subjects as “an indulgent nursing father.” If he was often indolent, he exhibited spasmodic bursts of energy, principally in ordering administrative reforms, although little impression was made upon the elaborate network of private interests in the armed services and at court. On the whole, the kingdom seems to have enjoyed some degree of prosperity until 1639, when Charles became involved in a war against the Scots.
The early Stuarts neglected Scotland. At the beginning of his reign Charles alienated the Scottish nobility by an act of revocation whereby lands claimed by the crown or the church were subject to forfeiture. His decision in 1637 to impose upon his northern kingdom a new liturgy, based on the English Book of Common Prayer, although approved by the Scottish bishops, met with concerted resistance. When many Scots signed a national covenant to defend their Presbyterian religion, the King decided to enforce his ecclesiastical policy with the sword. He was outmanoeuvred by a well-organized Scottish covenanting army, and by the time he reached York in March 1639 the first of the so-called Bishops' Wars was already lost. A truce was signed at Berwick-upon-Tweed on June 18.
On the advice of the two men who had replaced Buckingham as the closest advisers of the King—William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, and the Earl of Strafford, his able lord deputy in Ireland—Charles summoned a Parliament that met in April 1640—later known as the Short Parliament—in order to raise money for the war against Scotland. The House insisted first on discussing grievances against the government and showed itself opposed to a renewal of the war; so, on May 5, the King dissolved Parliament again. The collection of ship money was continued and so was the war. A Scottish army crossed the border in August and the King's troops panicked before a cannonade at Newburn. Charles, deeply perturbed at his second defeat, convened a council of peers on whose advice he summoned another Parliament, the Long Parliament, which met at Westminster in November 1640.
The new House of Commons, proving to be just as uncooperative as the last, condemned Charles's recent actions and made preparations to impeach Strafford and other ministers for treason. The King adopted a conciliatory attitude—he agreed to the Triennial Act that ensured the meeting of Parliament once every three years—but expressed his resolve to save Strafford, to whom he promised protection. He was unsuccessful even in this, however. Strafford was beheaded on May 12, 1641.
Charles was forced to agree to a measure whereby the existing Parliament could not be dissolved without its own consent. He also accepted bills declaring ship money and other arbitrary fiscal measures illegal, and in general condemning his methods of government during the previous 11 years. But while making these concessions, he visited Scotland in August to try to enlist anti-parliamentary support there. He agreed to the full establishment of Presbyterianism in his northern kingdom and allowed the Scottish estates to nominate royal officials.
Meanwhile, Parliament reassembled in London after a recess, and, on Nov. 22, 1641, the Commons passed by 159 to 148 votes the Grand Remonstrance to the King, setting out all that had gone wrong since his accession. At the same time news of a rebellion in Ireland had reached Westminster. Leaders of the Commons, fearing that if any army were raised to repress the Irish rebellion it might be used against them, planned to gain control of the army by forcing the King to agree to a militia bill. When asked to surrender his command of the army, Charles exclaimed “By God, not for an hour.” Now fearing an impeachment of his Catholic queen, he prepared to take desperate action. He ordered the arrest of one member of the House of Lords and five of the Commons for treason and went with about 400 men to enforce the order himself. The accused members escaped, however, and hid in the City. After this rebuff the King left London on January 10, this time for the north of England. The Queen went to Holland in February to raise funds for her husband by pawning the crown jewels.
A lull followed, during which both Royalists and Parliamentarians enlisted troops and collected arms, although Charles had not completely given up hopes of peace. After a vain attempt to secure the arsenal at Hull, in April the King settled in York, where he ordered the courts of justice to assemble and where royalist members of both houses gradually joined him. In June the majority of the members remaining in London sent the King the Nineteen Propositions, which included demands that no ministers should be appointed without parliamentary approval, that the army should be put under parliamentary control, and that Parliament should decide about the future of the church. Charles realized that these proposals were an ultimatum; yet he returned a careful answer in which he gave recognition to the idea that his was a “mixed government” and not an autocracy. But in July both sides were urgently making ready for war. The King formally raised the royal standard at Nottingham on August 22 and sporadic fighting soon broke out all over the kingdom.
(Source - Encyclopedia Britannica)
THE CIVIL WARS 1642-51
The tension between Charles and Parliament was still great, since none of the issues raised by the Short Parliament had been resolved. This tension was brought to a head on January 4th, 1642 when Charles attempted to arrest five members of parliament. This attempt failed, since they were spirited away before the king's troops arrived. Charles left London and both he and parliament began to stockpile military resources and recruit troops.
Charles officially began the war by raising his standard at Nottingham in August, 1642. Robert Devereux (3rd Earl of Essex) was made parliamentary commander.
At this stage of the wars, parliament had no wish to kill the king. It was hoped that Charles could be reinstated as ruler, but with a more constructive attitude to parliament.
The majority of the country was neutral in the civil wars, and both sides only had about 13,000 men in 1642.
The areas of Royalist support tended to be the North, West and Wales. Parliament were supported by the richer South and East, including London. Parliament also held most of the ports, since the merchants that ran them saw more profit in a parliament-lead country.
Parliament definitely had access to more resources than the king, and could collect taxes. Charles had to depend on donations from his supporters to fund his armies.
The first war stretched from 1642 to 1646, beginning with the king's raising of the standard.
Charles marched on London, hoping for a quick victory that would negate the benefits of parliament's resources. He was met at Edgehill (Oct 23 1642) by Essex and a battle was fought. This battle proved inconclusive, but failed to stop Charles' advance. He was met by another force at Turnham Green, however, and was forced to turn away from London.
Charles withdrew to Oxford, where his headquarters was based for the rest of the war.
In 1643, many battles were fought all over the country.
The royalist forces won at Adwalton Moor (Jun 30), taking control of Yorkshire. They also won at Lansdown and Roundway Down (Jul) in the South-West, allowing Prince Rupert to take Bristol.
The forces of parliament won at Winceby (Oct 11), taking Lincoln, but on the whole had the worst part of military actions for the year.
At Newbury (Sep), a large battle took place that was inconclusive. After this testing of the major armies, both sides sought allies elsewhere.
Parliament drew up the "Solemn League & Covenant", which promised the Scots religious reforms in return for their help.
Charles negotiated a cease-fire in Ireland that freed English troops for action on the mainland.
In 1644, military actions were more balanced. Parliament won at Marston Moor (Jul 2), allowing them to take York with the Scots' help. They lost at Lostwithiel in the South-West, and withdrew from Newbury after a second inconclusive battle.
In 1645, the New Model Army was formed by Fairfax. This army won two important victories, at Naseby (Jun 14) and at Langport (Jul 10), effectively destroying all of Charles' armies.
In 1646, Charles had little choice but to disband his remaining forces. Oxford surrendered, and Charles fled North seeking refuge with the Scots, bringing the first war to a close.
Charles was ransomed by parliament, and held at Holmby House whilst parliament drew up proposals. In the mean time, parliament began to disband its army.
However, the army was unhappy about issues such as arrears of pay and living conditions, and resisted the disbandment. Eventually the army kidnapped Charles in an attempt to win a bargaining piece. However, Charles escaped to the Isle of Wight.
Increasingly concerned, the army marched to London (Aug 1647) and debated proposals of their own at Putney.
Charles took advantage of this shift of emphasis away from him to negotiate a new agreement with the Scots, again promising church reform (Dec 28 1647). This agreement lead to the second war.
A series of royalist rebellions and a Scottish invasion (Jul 1648) took place. However, all were defeated by the now powerful standing army. This new betrayal by Charles caused parliament to debate whether Charles should be returned to power at all. Those who still supported Charles' place on the throne tried once more to negotiate with him.
The army, angry that parliament were still considering Charles as a ruler, marched on parliament and conducted "Pride's Purge" (named such since the commanding officer of the operation was Sir Thomas Pride). 45 MP's were arrested, 146 were kept out of parliament, and only 75 were allowed in, and then only to do the army's bidding.
This rump parliament was ordered to set up a high court of justice in order to try Charles I for treason in the name of the people of England.
The trial of the king (Jan 1649) found Charles guilty as charged, and he was beheaded on January 30th.
Oliver Cromwell then lead the army in quelling revolts in Ireland and Scotland (1649-50) to finally restore an uneasy peace.
Charles II was then crowned in Scotland, claiming that the throne was rightfully his. He marched with the Scots on England. Cromwell beat the Scottish forces at Dunbar (Sep 3 1650), but could not prevent Charles II marching deep into England.
Cromwell finally engaged the new king at Worcester (Sep 3 1651) and beat him. Charles II fled abroad, ending the civil wars.
The Commonwealth was then established, with Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector of England.
(Source - Aberysturyte - Educational Internet Series)
America’s Revolution: The PrequelBy ADRIAN TINNISWOOD
Published: July 2, 2010
PICTURE the scene: Out of the dawn mist, a fleet of longboats glides across the water, packed full of musket-wielding patriots and weather-beaten Massachusetts militiamen. Standing in the prow of the lead boat, like Washington crossing the Delaware, is a man with long flowing hair and a blood-red banner emblazoned with two words: Vincat veritas. Truth Conquers.
But it’s not Washington, and it’s not the American Revolution. In fact, it’s not even America. This daring amphibious assault by Col. Thomas Rainborowe and his regiment of New Englanders took place 3,000 miles away, in old England, and in 1644, more than 130 years before those famous shots were fired at Lexington to herald what we Brits insist on calling the War of American Independence.
It is a fact rarely discussed on either side of the Atlantic that American colonists played a crucial role in the English Civil War, the bitter struggle between King Charles I and Parliament that tore England apart in the 1640s. The English Revolution — and that is just what it was — can be interpreted in all kinds of ways: as a religious fight between pathologically earnest Puritans and the Catholic-leaning bishops of the Church of England; as an uprising by a nascent merchant class determined to throw off the shackles of medieval feudalism; as right-but-repulsive Roundheads bashing the wrong-but-romantic Cavaliers.
It was all those things. But it was also a battle against the arbitrary tyranny of the crown that prefigured America’s own struggle for independence. And hundreds of American colonists cared enough about that struggle to sail back across the vast Atlantic, to build a city upon a hill — not in the frightening, alien landscape of Massachusetts but in the familiar fields and townships of England.
Most of these men were linked by friendship, business or marriage to the Rainborowes, a charismatic clan of English merchant-mariners, pioneers and visionaries who moved back and forth between the Old World and the New in the 1630s and 1640s.
Stephen Winthrop — the son of Gov. John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and a revolutionary who was once described as “a great man for soul liberty” — married Judith Rainborowe, the daughter of Thomas’s brother William. (Winthrop’s father later married Judith’s sister — which, by my reckoning, made the governor both grandfather and uncle to Stephen’s children.) The younger Winthrop decided he couldn’t stand on the sidelines in the colonies when there was a righteous fight in England; he enlisted as a captain in the Parliamentary Army and never returned to America.
Nehemiah Bourne, a Boston shipbuilder, had once been the Rainborowes’ neighbor in London; he too sailed back to fight the crown. Israel Stoughton, who captained the Dorchester militia in the Pequot wars of the 1630s, was a friend of William’s. William himself sold his farmstead in Charlestown to return to England, and Bourne and Stoughton served as officers in the Parliamentary Army under Thomas, whose regiment was packed with colonists. They were with him when he launched the daring amphibious assault on a Royalist garrison in the east of England in 1644 that made these “New-England men” famous all over the country.
The interesting thing about these colonists was their radicalism, their revolutionary fervor. They were Puritans — but they were more than that. They were merchant-venturers, looking for new markets and business opportunities. They were more than that, too. They were idealists, who went to extraordinary lengths and traveled extraordinary distances to fight for the chance to build a fairer society.
These were the men who, when the Parliamentarians had all but won the war and Charles I was imprisoned, pressed Oliver Cromwell and the other Roundhead grandees to sweep away the old order. To change the world. William Rainborowe asserted that there could be no compromise when it came to “the rights and freedoms of the people.” Thomas, who was greatly influenced by the radical colonists in his regiment, hoped the new regime would at least extend the limited male suffrage that was being adopted throughout the New England colonies. But he also pushed hard for the grandees to take it further and grant the vote to all men — something that wouldn’t be achieved in Britain for another 270 years.
Thomas declared, “I think that the poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he; and therefore truly, sir, I think it’s clear that every man that is to live under a government ought first by his own consent to put himself under that government.”
His words still have power, even after all this time; they could have been spoken by Jefferson. And as the skies light up this Fourth of July, consider this great paradox of history: while the English Revolution owed so much to America, the first shots in the American War of Independence were fired in England.
Adrian Tinniswood, the author of “The Verneys: A True Story of Love, War and Madness in 17th-Century England,” is working on a book about the Rainborowe family.
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, d. 27 Mar 1625, Theobalds, Herefordshire, England