LECTURE 2 ENGLAND DURIING STUART TIMES. REPUBLIC IN BRITAIN
Plan:
1. England during the reign of James I and Charles I.
2. Republic in Britain.
3. Development of Britain after republic.
4. Revolution in thought.
England during the reign of James I and Charles I
The Stuart monarchs, from James I onwards, were less successful than the Tudors. They quarreled with Parliament and this resulted in civil war. The only king of England ever to be tried and executed was a Stuart. The republic that followed was even more unsuccessful, and by popular demand the dead king’s son was called back to the throne.
Important changes did not take place simply because the Stuarts were bad rulers. They resulted from a basic change in society. During the seventeenth century economic power moved even faster into the hands of the merchant and landowning farmer classes.
Like Elizabeth, James I tried to rule without Parliament as much as possible. He was afraid it would interfere, and he preferred to rule with a small council.
When Elizabeth died she left James with a huge debt, larger than the total yearly income of the Crown. James had to ask Parliament to raise a tax to pay the debt. Parliament agreed, but in return insisted on the right to discuss James’s home and foreign policy.
James was successful in ruling without Parliament between 1611 and 1621, but it was only possible because Britain remained at peace. James could not afford the cost of an army. In 1618, at the beginning of the Thirty Years War in Europe, Parliament wished to go to war against the Catholics. James would not agree. Until his death in 1625 James was always quarrelling with Parliament over money and over its desire to play a part in his foreign policy. Charles I found himself quarrelling even more bitterly with the Commons than his father had done, mainly over money. Charles dissolved Parliament.
Charles surprised everyone by being able to rule successfully without Parliament. He was able to balance his budgets and make administration efficient. Charles saw no reason to explain his policy or method of government to anyone. By 1637 he was at the height of his power. His authority seemed to be more completely accepted than the authority of an English king had been for centuries. It also seemed that Parliament might never meet again.
Charles shared his father’s dislike of Puritans. He had married a French Catholic, and the marriage was unpopular in Protestant Britain.
In spring 1638 Charles faced a rebel Scottish army. Without the help of Parliament he was only able to put together an inexperienced army. It was impossible for Charles to find this money except through Parliament. This gave it the chance to end eleven years of absolute rule by Charles, and to force him to rule under parliamentary control. In return for its help, Parliament made Charles accept a new law which stated that Parliament had to meet at least once every three years.
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Republic in Britain
Several MPs had commanded the Parliamentarian army. Of these, the strongest was gentleman farmer named Oliver Cromwell. He had created a new “model” of army, the first regular force from which the British army of today developed. The Parliamentarian army under leadership of Oliver Cromwell captured the king and in 1649 Charles I was executed.
The Council of State, consisted of 30 members, was created to govern the country. The House of Lords was abolished, the House of Commons expelled those who had opposed the king’s death. From 1649 till 1660 England was a republic. But the republic was not a success, as the government created by O.Cromwell was more severe than Charles’s had been. They had got rid of the monarchy, and they now got rid of the House of Lords and the Anglican Church. Cromwell’s government was unpopular for other reasons for example, people were forbidden to celebrate Christmas and Easter, or to play games on a Sunday.
The army was the most powerful force in the country and all the questions were decided with the help of the army. Disagreements between the army and the Parliament resulted in Parliament’s dissolution in 1653. Military dictatorship was established. O.Cromwell accepted the title of Lord Protector of a United Commonwealth of England, Scotland, Ireland and the colonies.
When Cromwell died in 1658, the Protectorate, as his republican administration was called, collapsed. Cromwell had hoped that his son, rather than Parliament, would take over when he died. But Richard Cromwell was not a good leader. The republic was over. When Charles II returned to England as the publicly accepted king, the laws and Acts of Cromwell’s government were automatically cancelled. The restoration of the Monarchy brought back the gaiety of life (theatres were reopened), Anglican Church and Cavalier gentry (noblemen) with their old privileges and intolerance. As the Commonwealth was dissolved England, Ireland and Scotland had their own Parliament.
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