THE POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS WINDS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY FROM CHARLES I TO OLIVER CROMWELL
The Restoration, a period of constantly changing ideals, shows how the change in government from Charles I to Oliver Cromwell affected the people of that time, shows the Child of Hope, shows the shift in winds of religion, compares and contrasts Absolutism and Constitutionalism, shows how the influence of the English people on the world, and shows a new era being heralded in without which we would not exist. The seventeenth century, started with the Ascension of Charles I to the throne of his father James II. It was a relatively stable period under Charles I, yet it soon became engrossed in a civil war, of which. Oliver Cromwell and Dissenters led. They formed an improvised republic, which later collapsed. This led to restoration of Charles II, whose new models of government helped to change ideals in religion not only in Europe, but also in the world.
James I handed the reigns of the commonwealth to his only male heir Charles, who at the age of 25 still had no wife, and therefore was not bringing any legitimate heirs to the throne with him (Chapman 17). Charles I was a firm believer in divine right. During his reign he rarely asked for help, believing his decisions as those ordained by god (Kagan 451). As stated by Howard Tomlinson: “The most high and sacred order of kings is of divine right, being the ordinance of God himself, founded in the prime laws of nature, and clearly established by expressed texts both of old and new testaments” (4). During the reign of Charles I problems with parliament escalated to a point at which confusion erupted (Wright 187). Problems with money had plagued this monarchy for several centuries, though later it would see wealth coming from its colonies (Buchan 9). The Tudors (before the Stuarts) were better able to confront parliament, and had much more success in doing so (Wright 186).
After the Scottish rebellion the crown needed money again, and since money could not be raised without the consent of parliament, parliament began to stay in session more (Wright 187). The foreign policy Charles was able to implement helped the royal family get out of a financial bind (Kishlansky 61). The family was known to be protestant yet nearing the end of his reign there is evidence to prove Charles I was at heart Roman Catholic (Chapman 283...
... middle of paper ...
... A. Instrument Of Government and Rump Parliament
B. Death of Oliver Cromwell
IV. Child of Hope (Charles II)
A. Predestination
B. Support
V. Religious Unity
A. Variable Unity
B. God’s Work
VI. Constitutionalism Versus Absolutism
A. Constitutionalism
B. Absolutism
VII. Revolution
A. Popish Plot and Martyrdom
B. Revolution
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THE POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS WINDS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY FROM CHARLES I TO OLIVER CROMWELL
By
Brad Evans
Presented to
Ms. Parsons
English IV
March 1, 2000
Due to the unstable political environment of the period 1399-1509, royal power varied from monarch to monarch, as parliament’s ability to limit this power fluctuated. There are several factors in limiting royal power, including the king’s relationship with parliament, royal finances and a king’s popularity, often due to military success. The most significant of these factors, however is the king's finances, as one of parliament's primary roles was to consider the king’s requests for taxation, and thus denying these requests would have been one of the few ways to effectively limit royal power.
Another source of opposition to Charles’ personal rule was that of the parliament and Charles’ financial expenditure. Charles’ personal rule lasted 11 long years in which he didn’t call parliament for any money or subsidies. To finance his problems, he used his position of power as king to call upon favours and rules that enabled him to gain money without calling parliament. One of these was selling titles. Distraint of Knighthood. This was where men who owned estates worth £40 per annum were in theory supposed to present them to be knighted at a new King’s coronation. Charles thus fined people for not doing so even though the practice had...
Religious reformations. In (2009). N. Key & R. Bucholz (Eds.), Sources and Debates in English History (2 ed., ch. 3). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
The Elizabethan Deliverance - Arthur Bryant Reformation and Revolution 1558-1660 - Robert Ashton Elizabeth and her Parliaments - J.E. Neales Elizabeth and her Reign - Richard Salter Elizabeth I and religion 1558-1603 - Susan Doran Tudor England - John Guy Elizabeth I - David Starkey
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.
During the Stuarts, the only people who had the liquid cash to pay for the needs of the modern government were primarily the middle-class and gentry, which were represented by the parliament. The “awkward, hand-to-mouth expedients” (38) of the Stuarts agitated by the differences in expectations of governance, brought them into conflict with their primary tax base. The impatience of the eventual rebels was exacerbated by their Stuart’s disregard for the traditional balance between the crown and the parliament, as they were Scottish royals who had only dealt with a very weak
The primary issues that fueled the Civil War in 1642-1649, the Commonwealth in 1649-1660, the Stuart Restoration 1660-1688 ...
The Rise in Political Power of 17th Century England and France In the seventeenth century, the political power of the Parliament in England, and the Monarchy in France increased greatly. These conditions were inspired by three major changes: the aftermath of the reformation, the need for an increased governmental financing, and the reorganizing of central governments. These three points were each resolved in a different way in both England and in France. The first major point which eventually increased political power was
In conclusion, though I have shown support for the religion theory most of all in this paper, I do believe that it was not one aspect that set this craze off. Many different theories overlapped to form this tragic and lengthy period of England’s history. Obviously, from the notes we’ve taken in this class, we realize that religion did and always will play a major role in England, or any other country for that matter. Perhaps from this spectacle of unnecessary death, we can learn that any institution, given too much power can, even unwillingly, prove dangerous.
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.
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.
In 1642, King Charles raised his royal standard in Nottingham, marking the beginning of the English Civil War. The next ten years saw the Cavaliers (supporters of the King) and the Roundheads (supporters of the parliament) engaged in a vicious battle for their respective leaders with the Roundheads ultimately victorious. This essay will attempt to explain why civil war broke out in England while summarizing the story behind the antagonism of the two parties.
They both wanted more power than the other. If Charles had not held such a great belief in ‘the divine right of kings’, he might have been able to avoid a lot of the tensions which built up to and resulted in the civil war. Charles’ personality played a part and showed his opponents that he was arrogant and had little understanding or sympathy for the fears and aspirations of his people. Ultimately, Charles lacked many of the personal qualities needed to be a successful monarch. Finally, he was not good at developing good relationships with and support amongst the politicians and noblemen he needed to rule the country
Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I may have been the English Reformation’s greatest benefactors, all because of self interest. Henry VIII was not originally Protestant, but after the pope denied him of his divorce, Henry VIII took things into his own hands. Due to the power kings had in the Middle Ages, Henry VIII was able to control Parliament and force it to do whatever he wanted. So in 1534, Henry VIII forced Parliament to pass a law he made known as the Act of Supremacy. The Act of Supremacy stated that the king ought to be the head of the Church of England. This law gave the king complete power over the Church of England, instead of the pope. However, the type of church and state relationship did not change. Rather all the Act of Supremacy did was take power from the pope and give it to the king. Surprisingly, the Catholics did not retaliate against this strong change. The pope had always been the head of the church, but now the king had taken his position. This serves as an example of nationalism. The Catholics did not think about how removing the pope could harm their religion in any way. However, instead the people blindly followed Henry VIII because he was the leader of the nation and they assumed he was right. Also, by imposing other laws that punished Protestants, Henry VIII did not give the people much of a choice. Fortunately, for Henry VII, nationalis...
Pettegree, Andrew. "The English Reformation." BBC History. BBC, 17 Feb 2011. Web. 1 Oct 2013.