Personal Rule (1629-1640)

Government
1. Charles' Style
  1. private, shy, family man, not fan of publicity
  2. hunting, travelling between palaces
  3. 1630 = Charles born
  4. interest in drama - often took part (themes of order over chaos)
2. Enforcing Royal Authority
  1. use of prerogative courts - Star Chamber, High Commission, Council of North
  2. Book of Orders - Justices of Peace JPs write reports to PC centralisation of power = unpopular
3. Style of Government
  1. not intellectual, disliked argument
  2. surrounded by men with same views
  3. attended PC occasionally - left day-to-day to ministers
  4. decisions made privately with advisors
  5. Weston/Cottingham, Laud/Wentworth, Henrietta Maria groups
Government Finance
1. crown debts = £1,000,000
2. royal income not match expenditure
  1. crown lands, law courts, customs duties, feudal dues
3. first steps = peace with France (1629) and Spain (1630)
4. Reducing Government Expenditure
  1. royal household = 1,800 - 2,600 people (cost = £260,000 pa)
  2. Weston stopped costs rising but not spending
5. Customs Revenue
  1. continued collecting T & P
  2. revenue increased during peace (Europe @ war so weapons trade open)
6. Monopolies
  1. Act of 1624 = illegal for individuals to have them but not companies
  2. 1630s = Weston's soap company
  3. £29,000 pa by 1635
7. Richard Weston
  1. 1628: Lord Treasurer
  2. 1633: Earl of Portland
  3. 1635: Died
  4. suspected Catholic supporter
8. Francis Cottingham
  1. Chancellor of the Exchequer
  2. had Catholic sympathies
9. Royal Prerogative (fiscal feudalism)
  1. Distraint of Knighthood (fines)
    1. landowners with £40 of land pa had to be knights @ coronation (if refused - fined)
    2. not used since 1550, affected many but raised £170,000
  2. Forest Fines
    1. landowners fined for encroaching on medieval forests (hit many)
  3. Wardships
    1. enforced more harshly
    2. income increase: £35,000pa (1617-22) to £83,000pa (late 1630s)
10. Ship Money
  1. tax on property - paid on coast in emergency (pay for navy)
  2. 1634: collected 1635: collected inland as well by sheriffs (over £200,000 = 98%)
  3. 1636: collected again (£190,000) = "most profitable tax ever collected in peace time"
  4. 1637: £180,000 collected - John Hampden refused to pay (illegal tax)
  5. 1637: Hampden case - 12 judges @ Court of Exchequer
  6. 1638: Hampden verdict = guilty by 7:5
  7. 1638: 80% collected but rate collapsed in 1639
11. Situation in 1637
  1. crown solvent - income = expenditure
  2. still faced large debts
Laud and the Church
1. Background
  1. growing Arminiansim as well as fears of popery
  2. 1633: laud - Archbishop Canterbury (changed = Laudiansim)
  3. important political & religious figure with seat on PC
  4. 1st politically powerful churchman since Wolsey
2. Laud and 'Thorough'
  1. wanted to impose uniformity, order & obedience
  2. used bishops - enforce obedience
  3. Puritans disciplined through warnings/suspensions/expulsions in Court of High Commission
3. Suppression of Preaching
  1. 1633: Feoffees for Imprepriations abolished (financed Puritan preachers)
  2. 1639: Puritan lectures banned - sermons replaced with 'Catechisms' - official doctrine had to be obeyed
4. Church Services
  1. strict follow - Book of Common Prayer, 'priest', stained-glass windows, embroidered cloth etc
  2. measures = 'beauty is holiness'
  3. 1633: Book of Sports reissued
  4. fears of popery increased - narrowed C of E's support
5. Recovery of Tithes
  1. tithe = traditional tax on income (10%) - pay for ministers & church
  2. Church finances = poor situation
  3. church buildings in bad repair, poor quality clergy, disorderly & disrespectful congregations
  4. Laud = plans to recover 'impropriated' tithes - protests from landowners
6. Puritan Opposition
  1. no mass protests etc
  2. emigration grew - esp. to America
  3. pamphlets - bishops = bloodsuckers
  4. Prynne, Bastwick & Burton Case, 1637
    1. Court of Star Chamber
    2. found guilty - involved in pamphlets: ears cropped, fined & imprisoned
    3. treatment unpopular = inv. humiliation & punishment of gentlemen
  5. 1637: Bishop of Lincoln tried in Star Chamber (suspended & imprisoned - didn't fully support Laud)
  6. John Lilburne, Puritan, wrote pamphlet criticising Queens love of drama = fined and imprisoned after whipped
7. Charles, Laud and Catholics
  1. recusancy fines imposed
  2. Catholic worship allowed @ court
  3. people @ Court, inc. Laud, suspected of being Catholic
  4. rumours that Pope offered Laud, Cardinalship
  5. Charles' neutrality during Thirty Years' War interpreted as favouritism towards Catholics
8. Situation in 1637
  1. fears of popery grown among Protestants (as well as Puritans)
  2. difficult to measure strength/ extent of opposition
Strafford
1. Background
  1. Wentworth = Yorkshire gentry & MP in early P's (critic of government)
  2. 1628: accepted President of Council of North after Buckingham's death
2. Character
  1. able, arrogant, determined, ruthless
  2. made easy enemies & believed 'end justified means'
  3. order, authority & obedience to crown = important - prevent breakdown of law, order & society
  4. ever @ centre of power - moved lots & never really trusted by Charles
3. President of the Council of North (1628-32)
  1. job = strengthen royal authority - traditionally hard to do
  2. enforced laws thoroughly - Poor Law, laws against enclosures = unpopular
  3. removed corrupt government officials
  4. made fortune through this = led to accusations
4. Lord Deputy of Ireland (1633-40)
  1. ruthlessly brought country under stronger royal control then ever before
  2. controlled Irish Parliament - interfered with elections = P cooperatively approved taxes
  3. placed corrupt officials (had been undermining Royal authority)
  4. improved finances = turned annual deficit of £20,000 into profit
  5. exploited divisions between Irish Catholics & Protestants to avoid attacks on him
  6. encouraged industry inc. glass, linen & horses = more jobs - fewer poor = more taxes collected
  7. reduced smuggling = increased payment of customs duties
  8. roads built, bridges repaired = more jobs and easier travel for merchants/army
  9. introduced Poor Law measures
  10. regained church & crown lands, improving finances of church & state
  11. Arminian reforms pursued in Protestant Church of Ireland, inc. Court of High Commission (reforms affected Irish Protestants and Presbyterians)
  12. Catholics largely left alone by religious policies
  13. plantations continued - spread to Western Ireland, dispossessing Catholics
  14. improved navy & built full-time army of 9,000 men = many Catholics (English army = occasional and unprofessional)
5. Conclusion
  1. some thought reforms of Ireland = blueprint for England
  2. Irish Catholic Army = widespread fears
  3. army used against Protestant rebellions in England
Scottish Crisis
1. Riots against Prayer Book
  1. 23rd July: riots in St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh when Prayer Book used
  2. bishops houses attacked, protests nationwide led by nobles, landowners and clergy
  3. nationwide support - united by hatred of Catholicism, foreigners and bishops
  4. Charles I = needed to supress revolt to prevent growth in pressure from opponents in England & Ireland
2. Background
  1. James I = 1st monarch to rule entire British Isles
  2. Scot = Presbyterian church
  3. der C = Act of Revocation enforced (church lands recovered) - faced strong opposition
  4. 1633: C travelled to Scot for 1st time as king - stayed for 2 weeks, attended Pres church = appalled & determined to reform Scot Church
  5. relied on advice from Scot bishops& PC - not Scottish P
  6. planned to introduce new canons & Prayer Book - drawn up by Scot bishops
  7. 1634: Court of High Commission set up
  8. 1635: new canons published based on those in C of E, inc. C as Head of Church
  9. May 1637: new Prayer Book published
3. National Covenant, Feb 1638
  1. Scot national leaders drew up National Covenant = response to Charles declaration all rebels = traitors
  2. contained demands & oaths
    1. defend "true reformed religion" with lives
    2. abolish Scot bishops
    3. demand calling of Scot P & meeting of General Assembly of Church @ same time
    4. declared loyalty to C as king (opposed bishops & advisors)
  3. hundreds of thousands of Scots signed it
4. Glasgow Assembly, Nov-Dec 1638
  1. joint meeting of Scot P & General Assembly
  2. C agreed = playing for time but Scots = stronger position& voted to abolish Prayer Book, canons, Court of High Commission & bishops
  3. no agreement reached - both sides prepared for war
5. First Bishops' War, June 1639
  1. Scots
    1. commander = Leslie (experienced soldier)
    2. army = 22,000 well-trained men , paid, determined & united
    3. support = popular, taxes, many volunteered
  2. English
    1. commander = Charles, Howard (no experience)
    2. army = 21,000 untrained men, unenthusiastic, unpaid
    3. support = unpopular, refused taxes, £17,000 of £70,000 of SM paid
6. Treaty of Berwick, June 1639
  1. C= agreed to hold peace talks - signed treaty
    1. both sides = disband army
    2. C = meet with Scot P & General Assembly to reach settlement
  2. neither side disbanded armies - leaders not willing to compromise ( C = playing for time to raise army)
  3. Scot P & General Assembly met - abolished bishops & Prayer Book
7. Recall of Wentworth, Sept 1639
  1. Thomas Wentworth recalled from Ireland: appointed to PC = earl of Strafford
  2. advised Charles to: defeat Scots & recall P as patriotic MPs would approve taxes
  3. C opposed @ 1st - on 5th Dec recalled P to meet April 1640
Situation in 1638
1. 1638: looked like Charles could rule without P for foreseeable future
2. many Parliamentary critics of C = dead
3. no sense of impending crisis - country calm & no protests
4. concerns growing under surface: Arminianism in church taxation (landowners) centralisation of power

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Personal Rule (1629-1640)

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