Tudors to Stuarts

• Elizabeth had established Church of England

• Protestant in religion but Catholic in ceremony
• Protestants themselves divided – High Church
to ‘Puritan’ stripped-down version
• Elizabeth’s Heir – James VI of Scotland
• Son of Mary Queen of Scots – but brought up
Protestant
• His mother had fled Scotland when he was 1
year old
 Tudors to Stuarts
• In Scotland – King not head of church – General
assembly of church – hard-line Presbyterian
(Calvinist) protestants
• James himself believed kings appointed by God
• Claimed to be absolute in state & church
• 1603 – Elizabeth’s health worsening
• Her ministers had already approached James
about his succession
 Elizabeth had …
• Restored Protestantism
• Maintained Royal Supremacy
• Protected her realm against foreign invasion
• Defeated Spanish Armada 1588 – The
Protestant Wind
• Kept her crown – died in bed
• Been very popular – ‘Good Queen Bess’
• Ruled over a ‘golden age’ of English heritage,
literature, art & learning
 James I & VI
• James proclaimed King of England 6 hours after
Elizabeth’s death
• ‘United’ Kingdoms of England, Scotland & Wales
• April 1603 – James arrived in London
• His aims to be ‘Rex Pacificus’
• To reconcile Catholics & Protestant
• To end Britain’s debilitating conflict with Spain
• To unite England with Scotland – Great Britain
 James I & VI
• James had a clear plan – three ‘peacemaking’
conferences
• Somerset House treaty – established peace with
Spain after 22 years war
• More Radical Protestants in opposition –
England no longer champion of Protestant
struggle abroad
• English Catholics also in opposition – Spain
hadn’t got religious toleration from treaty
• Some English Catholics decided to take action
 The Gunpowder Plot 1605
• November 1605 – James received tip-off
• Warning that political establishment would
receive ‘a terrible blow’ at opening of
Parliament
• Decided to take action at last minute
• 11pm November 4th – King’s men entered
Parliament vaults
• Guy Fawkes found with 35 barrels of
gunpowder
 The Gunpowder Plot 1605
• If explosion had gone off – would have killed
Royal Family & Political Establishment
• Leaders rounded up, tried and executed
• Established custom of Bonfire Night – Nov 5th
• James wise enough not to call a general
persecution of Catholics
• But Plot inflamed radical Protestants or
‘Puritans’
 Royal Supremacy
• Puritans demanding elimination of all ‘Popish’
elements of English church & status lik e Kirk in
Scotland
• Hampton Court conference –
• James re-established Supremacy
• Authorised ‘King James Bible’ - written by a
committee – still standard today
• Final part of plan – Union between England &
Scotland
 The Union
• Wanted to end historical division
• Same language & religion
• English Parliament opposed to union – would
become a provincial assembly
• James declared himself king of Great Britain
• Introduced Union Jack flag
• Surrounded himself with Scottish favourites
• James spending ridiculous amounts of money
on court and favourites – Crown nearly
bankrupt
 The King & Parliament
• Called various Parliaments to raise more tax
• Parliament opposed to funding James’ traffic of
favourites
• Partly xenophobic - partly political principle
• Parliament never supported union during his
reign
• Start of conflict between Crown and Parliament
• James died 1625 – Union still not a reality
• James had withdrawn into private court
 Charles I
• Charles crowned Feb 1626
• 5-hour High Church ceremony
• Similar vision to James of absolute monarchy
• Soon became frustrated with Parliament
unwilling to grant him more taxation
• Charles married French Catholic princess
Henrietta-Maria
• Unpopular marriage with parliament
• Charles decided to try to rule without
Parliament
 Charles I & Ship Money
• Monarch in England lacked legal right to tax
without Parliaments consent
• So he milked his own Royal Prerogatives
• Ship Money – levy on coastal towns to raise
money for Navy in times of war – i.e. their own
protection
• Charles extended Ship Money to all towns & in
peace time – large scale permanent income
without parliamentary consent
• ‘No taxation without representation’
 Charles I & The Puritans
• Various landowners had opposed Ship Money
• Most had lost their cases but resistance growing
among them
• For Puritans – reformation was a war that still
had not been won – a war against Papism
• Charles married to a catholic – unpopular
• Many puritans among gentry, nobility, merchant
class & artisans
• Did business with each other & inter-married
 Charles I & The Puritans
• Charles & his Archbishop William Laud were
seen as enemies to ‘true’ Protestantism
• Puritans had obsession with reading, preaching
& fatalism
• Laud absolutist in his politics - various famous
victims had their ears cut off for opposing him
• So fomenting religious division even among
Protestant community
 The Prayer Book Riots
• Church of England still very Catholic in
ceremony
• Charles decided to extend model to Scotland
• Tried to impose ‘Book of Common Prayer’ on
Scotland without consultation
• Scottish Kirk hard-line Presbyterian (Calvinist)
• 1637 – Verbal and physical protest as soon as
tried to use C of E ceremonies in Scottish Kirk
• Covenanters – organised Scottish religious
resistance – The Prayer Book Riots
 Charles I & Religion
• Covenanters protest in Scotland soon
turned into open rebellion against Charles
• Covenant was an enormous petition
• Scots had a strong & experienced army
• 1640 Britain in crisis – Charles’ opponents
drew strength from resistance in Scotland
• After 11 years – Charles had to recall
Parliament
 The Short Parliament
• Needed taxation to fight war against
Covenanters
• But by now newspapers widespread –
large reading public – more informed
than 11 years ago
• Parliament resumed old grievances
• Parliament contained large group of
opponents to Charles’ absolutism –
leader John Pym
 John Pym & Parliament
• Pym believed Charles’ policies in church & state
were result of Catholic conspiracy
• Pym had spent 11 years preparing case for
opposition – list of grievances
• Charles lost patience with Parliament and
dissolved it after a month – The Short
Parliament
• Decided to fight Covenanters without
Parliamentary funding – catastrophic decision
 John Pym & Parliament
• Charles decided to use Irish Catholic troops with his
own to fight Presbyterian Scots
• Big mistake – various mutinies by English troops
• August 1640 Scottish army entered North of England –
took Newcastle
• Charles forced to call Parliament again
• Pym organised virtually all Parliament in opposition to
Charles – focussed on constitutional and financial
grievances against Charles
 The Grand Remonstrance
• London very pro-Parliament
• Crowds had virtually laid siege to Westminster
• Charles had to give in to some of their grievances
• Abolished Ship Money
• No taxation without Parliament’s approval
• Parliament had to be called every 3 years
• Parliament couldn’t be dissolved by King
• Parliament brought down Earl of Strafford
 Ireland Erupts
• Strafford had been king’s trustee – governor of
Ireland – power vacuum when he was executed
• Ulster now Anglo-Scot Protestant plantation
• Irish Catholics rose up against Protestant
settlers
• Graphic details of atrocities committed shocked
Protestant Britain
• Rumoured that Irish Catholics acting on behalf
of Charles
 The long Parliament
• Events now spiralling out of King’s control
• Pym made move to strip King of all
responsibilities
• Pym mobilised supporters behind ‘The grand
remonstrance’ – organ of constitutional change
• This time divided Parliament – long bitter
debates – Pym now leader of more Puritan anti-
Charles element
 The Grand Remonstrance
• Charles accused opponents of being traitors
working in collusion with Scots
• Jan 1642 – Charles entered Parliament with
guards to arrest 5 MPs including Pym
• Tipped-off - 5 members had escaped by boat
• Had deliberately left it till last minute
• “I see my birds have flown”