The giant ehap review outline
England in the 17th Century
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- Millenary Petition
- Gunpowder Plot
- The Petition of Right
- Short Parliament
- Levellers
- The Treaty of Dover
England in the 17th Century*Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603)* - Queen Elizabeth was a skillful queen who was very able to sense the mood of her people, and very good at using propaganda to promote her image. - She was a very successful queen, and the only issue she left unresolved was the question of succession. However, at the last minute, her Scottish cousin James I was chosen.
- James was a complete believer in divine right monarchy or the belief that that kings rule by divine right and should have absolute power. He believed Parliament was unnecessary. - Millenary Petition à petition given to James as soon as he reached the capital signed by 1,000 churchmen which asked James to move the Anglican Church further away from Catholicism (no popery, no bishops) and to simply and “purify” the services instead. James responded by saying simply, “No bishop, no King,” because he felt that the bishops, as traditional figures of authority should stay, since otherwise people could also begin questioning his authority. - Gunpowder Plot à plot by Catholics to assassinate king and Parliament whose discovery raised a lot of anti-Catholic sentiment in England. - Foreign Policy under James I à James wisely kept England out of the Thirty Years War (though this made some Englishmen unhappy since it was seen as a failure to support the Protestant cause) and he even tried to make peace with Spain by attempting to marry his son, Charles I, to a Spanish princess (which enraged the public). However, the Spanish turned Charles I down, which sparked a conflict. Instead, Charles was married to Henrietta Marie of France, another Catholic. But, just as the war against Spain began, James died and Charles took over. *Charles I (1625 – 1649)* - Though Charles was sure that the war would unite the country under his leadership, it actually provided Parliament with more opportunities to force him to make concessions, since he needed to tax to support the war and Parliament’s approval was needed for new taxation. - Several Parliaments were called and dissolved in rapid succession for the king was unwilling to concede on the issue of Buckingham. Finally, in 1628, Parliament had enough of the king’s behavior (he was illegally forcing loans from people in order to avoid relying on Parliament for $) and decided to draw up a petition stating their traditional rights. - The Petition of Right à passed in 1628 (Charles simply agreed to be able to get more $), it stated the rights of Parliament, such as:
- Though Charles accepted the Petition, in reality, like his father, he was an absolutist. - Next, Parliament moved to impeach Buckingham, which the king objected to, so he dissolved Parliament. The duke was then assassinated, and the king called the Parliament back into session expecting more cooperation. Parliament, however, was angry because, under his wife’s influence, Charles had begun to favor the High Church and not enforce the laws against popery. - So, in 1629, Parliament tried to enact laws against Catholics to reverse the drift towards the High Church. Charles was unable to stop them since he was in desperate need of $ to support the war against Spain, but he finally decided to dismiss Parliament, and sent word to the Speaker of the House of Commons, who was supposed to immediately give up his chair. Instead, the infuriated members of the House forced the speaker back into the chair and passed three quick anti-Catholic resolutions. - Charles was enraged and dissolved Parliament, swearing he would never call another one. - So, for 11 years Charles attempted to rule completely w/out Parliament. Since Parliament had no way to call itself back into session, the only weapon it had against Charles was public opinion. - Because of four events, public opinion gradually shifted towards Parliament. The events were:
- Since putting down the rebellion required $, Charles was forced to call Parliament. - Short Parliament à because the Parliament demanded concessions, it was quickly dissolved. - Long Parliament à again, Charles was forced to call a Parliament, and although most of his opponents from the Short Parliament were reelected, he was forced to pass the following to get $:
- Just as the Parliament was getting ready to impeach the queen, Charles had enough and entered the chamber with a section of the army to arrest the leaders, but they had already left. This began a civil war. Charles’ last chance for peace was to sign the 19 Propositions, which would state Parliament’s superiority, but he refused to sign, so civil war began! *Civil War* - The civil war consisted of two phases, which were as follows:
*England Under Cromwell* - Cromwell executed the king in 1649, saying he was not to be trusted, and then purged Parliament of all dissenters (600 à 60 people, called Romp Parliament) which got him firmly in control. - Cromwell soon became a military dictator, and he divided England into 12 military districts that were ruled by martial law. However, he was unable to make any lasting changes. - He was far ahead of his time in his religious toleration (which was limited, since it didn’t include Catholics and Anglicans, but was still remarkable for the time) but did not believe in democratic rule. - Levellers à faction that wanted all people to vote. - Diggers à faction that wanted all people to vote and wanted to share all the wealth equally. - Cromwell disagreed with both the levellers and the diggers. - After Cromwell died, his son Richard was unable to maintain power so Charles II was summoned back from France and the monarchy was restored. *Charles II (1660 – 1685)* - Nicknamed “The Merry Monarch” Charles II was very easygoing and had no problem with compromising with Parliament. After the interregnum both parties were eager to compromise. - The Treaty of Dover à in 1670, Charles II secretly signed the treaty with France. The treaty stated that, in exchange for military support (against the Dutch) and $, Charles would try to convert England back to Catholicism and to convert back to Catholicism himself. - The Declaration of Indulgence à in 1672, w/out consulting Parliament, Charles issued a Declaration of Indulgence, in which he promised not to enforce the laws against Catholics and the non-Conformists (they were simply included to mask Charles’ pro-Catholic sentiment). Parliament saw through the trick, however, and demanded that the king retract the declaration, which he did. - Test Act à in response, Parliament passed the Test Act in 1673, which prohibited anyone who had not had an Anglican communion from entering into the army or public service. The law was aimed at excluding Catholics. Charles allowed the law to be passed, but his used his powers of dispensation to sneak some Catholics into public service anyhow. *James II (1685 – 1688)* - Before James became king, a rebellion caused by the Popish Plot (a hoax that stated that there was going to be an assassination of Charles II to bring James II, a Catholic, to the throne, and that James was going to convert the country back) called the Monmouth Rebellion occurred, which was easily put down. Public opinion of James was still high, though James’ brutal handling of the rebels after they were caught somewhat angered and worried the public. - The first thing James II did was to immediately declare that he was a Catholic and that he was going to try to convert the country back to Catholicism (what a moron). He also, stupidly enough, revealed the details of the Treaty of Dover. - Next, he tried to romanize (convert back to Catholicism) Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the army. He romanized the army using his powers of dispensation, and he did so because he felt that the only real source of power was the army, and in order to control the army, he knew he needed to have Catholic, not Protestant, officers. - Finally, he passed a Declaration of Indulgence that was ignored, so he passed another law forcing every bishop to read it in church. Seven bishops, however, refused to obey, and they were put on trial, and found not guilty (to the king’s astonishment and anger). - Still, after all James’ stupidity, Parliament was still reluctant to revolt since they remembered what had happened last time and did not want to repeat the same mistake. Also, since James was getting old and his three daughters were Protestants, they figured that he would die soon and England would once again have a Protestant ruler. - However, James’ wife became pregnant, which was a miracle at her age, and actually gave birth to a healthy baby boy – something that totally changed the scene for Parliament (Oh No!). Parliament, knowing it had to act right away, asked William of Orange (married to Mary, daughter of James) to invade and take over, which he did. The king fled w/out a fight as his top general, John Churchill, deserted him the night before the battle and joined the other side. *The Glorious Revolution* - So, in 1688, William and Mary take over as comonarchs. William of Orange, the leader of the Dutch who is fighting the French, was so thankful to be able to take over England because of its military strength that he did not mind being a limited, not an absolute, monarch. - Then, Parliament passes the Bill of Rights a statement that, once and for all, establishes Parliament’s supremacy. Also, to please William, Parliament finally passes the Act of Toleration.
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