1637 as the Highpoint of the Personal Rule of Charles I
Charles' personal rule started in 1629 after the second session of his
third Parliament ended in arguments and disagreements between King and
Parliament about the methods (tonnage and poundage) Charles used to
generate personal income. Charles adjourned Parliament during this
session and Parliament declared three resolutions that would force
Charles into personal rule and isolation from Parliament and its
wealth.
Charles had to contend with a lot of problems in his personal rule.
Most importantly was the issue of how to finance himself and the
country without the availability of Parliament. Charles had only two
ways to do this, first was to decrease the amount of expenditure,
secondly was to generate more income.
Charles set his sights on the current war with France and Spain and
signed a peace accord with them; this increased profit margins as war
with one nation was a heavy burden on finance let alone two.
Charles also exploited existing methods of generating income,
especially those available to him through royal prerogative; he
reinstated a law from 1278 that required all those with an income of
£40 or over every annum to present themselves at the King's coronation
and join the King's royal army as a night, although this in itself did
not generate any money, instead Charles imposed a fine on anyone who
didn't attend his coronation in 1626.
Charles was shrewd and intelligent and managed to identify a number of
different areas which could be exploited legally to generate more
income for him such as the introduction of ship money tax; this was a
peacetime tax whi...
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... of the English Prayer Book in Scotland which although supported by
Scottish Bishops, sparked off unrest, riot and violence in Scotland
which led to the need for recalling of Parliament and to the
beginnings of the English civil war.
One could truly say that 1637 was the zenith of Charles' personal
rule, even his rule as a whole. The necessity for Parliament after the
riots in Scotland to finance the First Bishop's war meant that
Parliament could pressure Charles into giving into their demands. On
top of that, the First Bishop war was contagious and uncontrolled rage
that shortly spread throughout the whole of the Kingdom and through
Ireland and also parts of England.
After 1637, Charles was now on a downhill struggle. The argument for
the view that Charles I was at his zenith in 1637 cannot be denied
easily.
One monarch who faced limited royal power due to his relationship with parliament was Henry IV. This uneasy relationship was mainly down to the fact that Henry was a usurper, and was exacerbated by his long periods of serious illness later in his reign. Parliament was thus able to exercise a large amount of control over royal power, which is evident in the Long Parliament of 1406, in which debates lasted from March until December. The length of these debates shows us that Henry IV’s unstable relationship had allowed parliament to severely limit his royal power, as he was unable to receive his requested taxation. A king with an amiable relationship with parliament, such as Henry V, and later Edward IV, would be much more secure in their power, as taxation was mostly granted, however their power was also supported more by other factors, such as popularity and finances. Like Henry IV, Henry VI also faced severely limited power due to his relationship with parliament.
Opposition to Charles’ personal rule between 1629 and 1640 was aimed at him from a number of different angles.
When Charles X came to power after the death of Louis XVIII, the leader of the ultraroyalist faction came to power. Charles X first began compensating aristocrats who had lost their land during the revolution ...
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
A Comparison of the Characteristics of the Absolutist Rule of Charles I of England and Louis XIV of France
The first time a Parliamentary imposed tax threatened the livelihood of the colonies was in 1733 with the Molasses Act, stemmed from the loss of profit for the British West Indies under the Navigation Act. However, this act was avoidable and rarely paid. Following the long and harrowing French and Indian War, Britain was deep in debt and George Grenville was appointed British Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was determined to pay off the debt by taxing the colonies. He not only reinforced the ignored Navigation Acts, but he placed the new Sugar Act which was similar to the Molasses Act which put a tax on rum and molasses imported from West Indies, but this Act would be enforced. Needless to say, the colonists were not used to this intrusion of Parliament and felt that it was wrong because there were no members in Parliament to represent the colonies. They felt it was a direct violation of their civil liberties and resentment was beginning to spawn. Next was the Currency Act which disregarded the colonies paper money, forcing the colonist to pay in only silver and sending their economy into chaos. A year later, Grenville imposed the Quartering Act which forced the colonists to house and accommodate the British military stationed in their area. It was a slap in the face to have to pay for those who stood for everything the colonists despised. Perhaps the most important and controversial acts were the Stamps Acts that placed a tax on legal documents, almanacs, newspaper, pamphlets, playing cards and dice.
In addition to this, the cost of running a government in general had gone up and the country needed more money. Because the king didn't have as much power to tax as he pleases, the government could make a firm and accurate taxation of the people. In France, the price of government had also gone up.
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.
In the play Henry V written by Shakespeare. Henry was presented as the ideal Christian king. His mercy, wisdom, and other characteristics demonstrated the behavior of a Christian king. Yet at the same time he is shown to be man like any other. The way he behaves in his past is just like an ordinary man. But in Henry’s own mind he describes himself as “the mirror of all Christian kings” and also a “true lover of the holly church.
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...
Much like Britain and their need for money, King Louis XVI needed money due to causing France to become bankrupt with his costly
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.
Customarily, whenever a new monarch came into power, the parliament would vote the amount of tonnage and poundage (the allowance of the king or queen) to give him or her for their entire lifetime. However, they only voted for a year's allowance for King Charles. Cust (2005, p. 45) suggests that the reason behind the parliament's action was because of their disagreement with King Charles concerning England's involvement in the Thirty Year War. As this was his main source of income, King Charles was e...
These types of decisions define why Louis XIII is an important example of the primacy of the king over all other sources of political and governmental power in the 17th century. Certainly, Louis XIII’s rise to power defines the lack of checks and balances that would typically be a part of a lesser monarchy in which the aristocracy could have an influence on governmental decisions. However, this was not the case with Louis XIII, since he had gained complete control over the government through military might and the wealth of the royal family. This historical example defines the primacy of the absolute monarch within the context of the king’s role in governing in 17th century
Louis XIV (the fourteenth) was an absolute monarch. He was often called "the Sun King," and ruled over France. He devoted himself to helping France achieve economic, political, and cultural prominence. Many historians believe the phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely" mirrors Louis' reign. Louis XIV revoked the Edict on Nantes, changing the economy of France in one motion. By creating the city of Versailles and being a major patron of the arts, Louis was very influential on French culture. He made France go almost bankrupt from his costly wars and failures. Louis was very corrupt in his power, and it shown in all he did to change France; he got what he wanted, when he wanted it.