Charles 1 Dbq

The English Civil War broke out in 1642. There were many causes. Charles 1 reined from 1625 to 1649. Over that time, many of Charles’ English subjects became alienated by his religious policies. Many English Protestants or “puritans” came to believe in the existence of a sinister royal plot, one which aimed at the restoration of the Catholic faith in England. He displayed an apparent determination to rule without parliament. The personal rule of Charles 1 lasted eleven years. A key cause was that many people were unhappy that “illegal” taxations took place and had little faith in their king’s ability to manage money effectively.

At the time of the rein of Charles’ 1 England, Scotland and Ireland were all under his rule. They had all their

own religious movements and disagreed with each other about the way worship should take place. England at the time was protestant. King Charles 1 favoured the elaborate and ritualistic High Anglican form of worship which made many Protestants and puritans dislike him because it closely resembled the Roman Catholic for of worship. He also went on to marry Henrietta Maria of France who was a Catholic. After William Laud had been appointed to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633 he and Charles 1 combined many beliefs to create “Laudianism”. This new set of beliefs married closely to catholic beliefs. A new “altar policy” drastically changed the way that people were to gain access to God. After King Charles 1 also tried to make a new prayer book (a book that all priests must read from when preaching) and when this happened there was outrage in Scotland. Source D states “The Bishop of Edinburgh (who was to preach) went into the pulpit…and presently a stool was thrown at his head” “That in the new Service-book...was the…very same words that are in the Roman Missal…the Doctrine of Transubstantiation.” This caused great doubt to fall on King Charles’ I true religious standings as he seemed to prefer many catholic-like beliefs but “Charles claims to defend: “The religion of the Protestants”” (Source F). He was suspected of a royal plot which aimed to restore the Catholic religion in England.
King Charles I ruled for 11 years from 1629 to 1640 without the recourse of parliament.

He did not want to consult parliament but would rather rule alone, only consulting a small group of people who became much hated. King Charles I passed the usual court system and used the infamous “court of the star chamber” to enforce his will. King Charles believed that he was above the parliament as he was a absolute king, “[The King] is above the law…absolute parliament…or else…he is not a absolute king” (Source A). King Charles I also cared nothing for the limits of his royal privilege, “with articles of impeachment against five commoners and one peer. He demanded that they be immediately imprisoned on a charge of high treason. The Lords…appointed a committee to consider its legality. In the meantime, Charles had sent a sergeant to the Commons to arrest the five members of the Lower House even before the Lords had agreed to it. The commons too, refused the order, returning the answer that an attempt to arrest any of its members was a breach or privilege” (Source

G)
Charles I had many financial difficulties.

King Charles I did not call parliament during his personal rule and because of this he was not able to ask parliament for money. Asking the parliament to consent for new or increased taxes had been the normal way Kings and Queens had raised money. Because King Charles was not able to collect Tonnage and Poundage due to unresolved financial difficulties (Source E) As King Charles I desperately needed money he needed other ways of obtaining it. Ship Money was a tax that was put on coastal areas to fund the navy as these areas are most likely to be needed to be defended from attackers. King Charles I decided to extend this levy to all of England in 1635. Concerted opposition started to gather momentum. Additionally many “monopolies” were put sold to various groups of people and these were sold for large sums of money. “Jesuits and Benedictines…dealing stocks rather than souls” (Source I). The first parliament that King Charles I called during his personal rule was in 1640. Charles desperately needed money in order to fight the Scottish war. The Scottish had crossed the border into England at the river tweed on 20th August 1640. They met little resistance and went on to occupy the Northern city of Newcastle. Charles had to pay the Scots 850 pounds a day for a treaty on the 21st October 1640. People were even being forced to “lend” money to the King and their refusal to do so could have them put into jail, “your people have been…required

to lend…money…and some of them, upon their refusal to do so…have been therefore imprisoned”. “Ship money did establish a new style of taxation…Ship money offered a long-term prospect of real financial independence for the monarchy…perhaps for that reason, it …created…deep-seated opposition” (Source C).
In conclusion were a number of causes to the English Civil War. There were the religious conflicts between different religions and the doubt of the true nature of the religion of the Monarch. The King was issuing taxes onto the people to raise more money to spend. The King was also selling monopolies to various groups including one for soap to a catholic church. Finally the personal rule of King Charles I caused much concern and opposition from the people and the parliament. All of these factors played a key role in the beginning of the English Civil War