Do you agree with the view that Charles I brought about his own downfall? There has been a considerable debate on whether King Charles I brought about his own downfall. Many people have argued that Charles wasn’t to blame, but rather religion or that it was the growth of parliament, however some people believe that there were a number of problems before he began his reign over England, all of which led to the Civil War and Charles’s execution on the 30th January 1649. There is a significant amount of evidence to support the fact that religion is to blame for the cause of the civil war and Charles’s misfortune. One of the reasons could be that many of the Catholics that lived in England during this time, hoped that, after the death of Elizabeth I, who was Protestant, they would have a better religious future under the reign of James I. However, soon people became extremely dissatisfied with his religious policies to the extant that a Catholic, called Robert Catesby, tried to blow up parliament – this scheme is known as the Gunpowder plot. Another reason is that Charles married Pr...
The first of these is Religion. Charles came under attack from, in simple terms, the Protestants and the Catholics. He had this attack on him for many different reasons. He was resented by the Catholics, because he was a protestant. To be more precise, he was an Arminian, which was a sector from the protestant side of Christianity. On the other side of the spectrum, he is resented by the puritans, as they see him as too close in his religious views to Catholicism. Furthermore, he is disliked by the puritans as he put restrictions on their preaching and themselves. The puritans were a well organised opposition to Personal rule. The top puritans, linked through family and friends, organised a network of potential opposition to the king and his personal rule. This ‘Godly party’ as they became known, was made up of gentry, traders, lawyers and even lords. This group of powerful and extremely influential people was the most well organised opposition to Charles’ personal rule.
Oliver Cromwell was a well known military dictator. He helped the Parliamentarians win the First Civil War and was named Lord Protector. He died in 1658 but many people still remember him as one of the best leaders in history although others believe he was a harsh tyrant and always wanted too much power for himself. Throughout the years, numerous historians have changed their views on whether he was a good leader or not. This work will look at three interpretations from different people on who Cromwell was and what he was like and compare them.
The First English Civil War started in 1642 until 1651 and it caused division among the country as to whose side they were on. The war was a battle between the Parliament and King Charles 1, who was the leader of the Royalists. Conflict between the two had always been there as Charles had never gotten on with the Parliament ever since the start of his reign. The disagreement between the two started in 1621 when James chose to discuss his son, Charles getting mar...
There was a short time where all was calm right after the civil war. king charles the second and his father were both dead so Charles brother took over. this is king James the secondf and he was a Catholic sao he appointed many high positions in the government. Most of his sibjects were protestant and did not like the idea of Catholicism being the religion theyd have to abide by. like his father and brother king james the second ignored the peoples wishes and ruled without Parliament and relied on royal power. an English Protestant leader wanted to take the power away from james and give it to his daughter Mary and Her husband William from the Netherlands. William saled out to the south of england with his troops but sent them away soon after they landed
in 1629. It was symbolic of a time when the King felt that any joint
Through the analysis of the document, ‘King Charls His Speech’, a number of questions and answers result. However, the question of why was Charles I executed is only briefly answered by Charles I’s speech itself, when Charles I states, ‘for all the world knows that I never did begin a War with the two Houses of Parliament.’ Despite this question only being briefly answered by King Charles himself, through his speech immediately before his death, a number of historians have given detailed reasons as to why Charles I was executed.
Tyranny can be defined as ‘cruelty and injustice in the exercise of authority over others’, yet now in the modern day the period of ruling by King Charles I without calling parliament for eleven years is often called ‘The Eleven Years Tyranny’ by historians. This essay will cover why this might be, by looking at the various factors contributing to the unpopularity of the Personal Rule, the most important of which will become clear to be religion. Other factors that will be covered in this essay include Charles’ methods of raising funds, the policy of ‘thorough’ in Ireland, the fact that Parliament had no way of passing grievances in the
King Charles I left us with some of the most intriguing questions of his period. In January 1649 Charles I was put on trial and found guilty of being a tyrant, a traitor, a murderer and a public enemy of England. He was sentenced to death and was executed on the 9th of February 1649. It has subsequently been debated whether or not this harsh sentence was justifiable. This sentence was most likely an unfair decision as there was no rule that could be found in all of English history that dealt with the trial of a monarch. Only those loyal to Olivier Cromwell (The leader opposing Charles I) were allowed to participate in the trial of the king, and even then only 26 of the 46 men voted in favour of the execution. Charles was schooled from birth, in divine right of kings, believing he was chosen by God to be king, and handing power to the parliament would be betraying God. Debatably the most unjust part of his trial was the fact that he was never found guilty of any particular crimes, instead he was found guilty of the damage cause by the two civil wars.
To begin with, there was a great loss of human lives. Beginning in 1643 England, the closest absolute king Charles I attempted to storm and arrest parliament. His actions resulted in a civil war between those who supported the monarchy, Royalists, and those who supported the parliament, Roundheads, which did not end until 1649. Estimates for this war put the number of casualties at 200,000 for England and Wales while Ireland lost approximate...
Throughout Charles I’s Personal Rule, otherwise known as the ‘Eleven Year Tyranny’, he suffered many problems which all contributed to the failure of his Personal Rule. There are different approaches about the failure of Personal Rule and when it actually ended, especially because by April 1640 Short Parliament was in session. However, because it only lasted 3 weeks, historians tend to use November 1640 as the correct end of the Personal Rule when Long Parliament was called. There was much debate about whether the Personal Rule could have continued as it was, instead people generally believed that it would crumble when the King lost his supporters.
One of the key factors that led to the civil war was the contrasting beliefs of King Charles and the parliament. The monarchy believed in the divine rights of kings, explained by Fisher (1994, p335) as a biblically-based belief that the king or queen's authority comes directly from God and that he is not subjected to the demands of the people. On the other hand, the parliament had a strong democratic stance and though they respected and recognized the king's authority, they were constantly desiring and fighting for more rights to power. Although climaxing at the reign of King Charles, their antagonism stretched for centuries long before his birth and much of the power that once belonged to the monarchy had shifted over to the parliament by the time he came into power.
The English Civil War was a complicated, intellectual war between the two most powerful forces in England: Parliament and the King. Conflicts between the two powers began when King Charles I dissolved Parliament in 1625 because they would not give him the money he demanded to fund his war against Spain. Parliament, who was lead by John Pym, felt that the King was showing favouritism towards the Roman Catholics, especially since Charles had recently married the Roman Catholic French Princess. Although Charles recalled Parliament in 1626, he proceeded to dissolve the second Parliament mainly because it attempted to impeach him. John Pym, who had been prevented from being elected to the second Parliament, was re-elected into the third Parliament and was looking for revenge on King Charles. He refused to give Charles supplies for his war until certain issues such as forced loans, compulsory billeting and arbitrary imprisonment had been addressed. The King attempted to bargain with Parliament, agreeing that Parliament could no longer be dissolved and that it had to be called regularly. When the Irish rebellion broke out, Pym took the opportunity to blame Charles and his administration for the rebellion. Pym stated that the parties at fault should be dismissed and replaced with people approved by Parliament. Charles attempted to impeach Pym and others, but word of his plans leaked out and the individuals got away. This was the beginning of conflicts between Parliament and the King and although discussions between the two groups went on until March of 1641, war was inevitable. When the war began, it was clear that the King held the upper hand. However, after four years of fighting (1642 - 1646), Parliament em...
Few leaders of rebellions are seen as demonic and monstrous, but because of Oliver Cromwell’s antics against higher authority, he is depicted as analogous to Satan from Paradise Lost. Oliver Cromwell led the prominent rebellion against King Charles I, which John Milton uses to correspond to Satan’s rebellion against God. Both figures want to rebel against higher authority so that they can establish what they consider to be a better society. Cromwell and Satan trust the idea that the masses should have equality with a supreme ruler. So when the Parliament rebelled against Charles I because he wanted to reign over England without a Parliament, the English Civil War was sparked. Oliver Cromwell became the leader of the Parliamentary Army, and eventually won the Civil War. Once the war ended, King Charles was killed and only four years later the Protectorate was founded. Many scholars distinguish Oliver Cromwell as “one of England’s great historical figures: a brave bad man...From the moment Cromwell’s body was exhumed and mutilated in 1661, debate has raged about his motives and his character”(Poyntz 1). Oliver Cromwell can
Charles II ruled England from 1660 to 1685. The Restoration saw the revival of the king, the Parliament...
During the reign of Charles I, the people of England were divided into two groups due to their opinions on how the country should be run: The Royalists, and the Parliamentarians. The Royalists were those people who supported Charles I and his successor, while the Parliamentarians were those who supported the idea that Parliament should have a larger role in government affairs. Milton was a Parliamentarian and was an outspoken enemy of Charles I, having written numerous essays and pamphlets regarding his ideas as to how the government should be run, and “In one very famous pamphlet, he actually defended Parliament's right to behead the king should the king be found inadequate.” Charles I was seen as a corrupt and incompetent ruler, and “the Parliamentarians were fed up with their king and wanted Parliament to play a more important role in English politics and government.” This belief was held because of the unethical and tyrannical behavior of ruler Charles I. During his reign, he violated the liberties of his people and acted with hypocrisy and a general disregard for his subjects. Examples of his abuse of power in...