How far were the events in Scotland responsible for the failure of Charles I’s Personal Rule?
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.
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Apart from the events in Scotland, other factors such as religion, finance and the King’s advisors. Firstly, the events in Scotland contributed incredibly to the failure of the Personal Rule, this was because ‘the king decided to bring the Scottish Church into conformity and ordered that canons and a new prayer book be created. These new impositions created resentment throughout Scotland which eventually led to the First Bishops’ War. Charles lost the Bishops’ War because of the absence of Parliament and the unpopularity of the war among leading English nobles such as Lord Saye and Sele and Lord Brooke. Charles was desperate for finances during the war, to prevent the invaders he needed money immediately, he therefore called Parliament hoping it would bring him some public support and ‘vote subsidies for the war’. To an extent, this was the end of Charles’s Personal Rule, however, as mentioned before the Personal Rule ended in November 1640. When the Scots brushed aside the English at the Battle of Newburn, later capturing Newcastle, they understood that their position was very powerful. In desperation, Charles was almost forced to sign the Treaty of Ripon on 21 October 1640, one of the agreements was that the English Parliament would be recalled. This was the end for Charles as it meant he would be called into account by Parliament after excluding them for eleven years. The first and second Bishops’ wars were essential in the failure of Personal Rule, this was because he was made by the Scottish to call Parliament and consult their advice. This point is clearly very important, but it might not be the most important factor for the failure of Charles I’s Personal Rule. Another important reason for the failure of Charles’s Personal Rule were the failure of the King’s advisors. Throughout the preparation of the First Bishops’ War the advisors played a monumental role in the attack, but their failure has been regarded as a major reason for the failure of the Personal Rule and the War in Scotland. According to G. E. Seel, the takeover of Scotland was ‘over ambitious and ill-constructed’, also the King’s advisors fundamentally failed in Scotland which may have been responsible for the fail in Personal Rule. In addition, during the First Bishops’ War, Charles’s advisors were unsuccessful in their attempt to takeover the country, these can be seen by the failure of a sea-born invasion commanded by the Duke of Hamilton and the Earl of Strafford not being able to command an army at Dumbarton and also had gout for most of the war and was therefore incapacitated. Furthermore, in 1640 it was under the advice of his advisors that Charles called Parliament and therefore ended his Personal Rule. When Charles called for the lords of the realm to assist him on what to do about the Scots occupying Newcastle, they all agreed to recall Parliament. This suggests that because of advisors Charles lost the First Bishops’ War and was also forced to accept Englands defeat. Moreover, if it wasn't for the failure of the advisors Charles may have beaten the Scottish. Overall, this factor was important because it highlighted the bad planning and the poor preparation of the War and illustrated how the advisors may have caused the Personal Rule to end by telling the king to recall Parliament. A third factor which may have been the reason for the failure of Charles’s Personal Rule was the impact of religion.
This was first brought to his attention in 1633 when he visited Scotland to have his coronation in Edinburgh, he noticed the ‘lack of ceremony and unscripted prayers’ and therefore introduced the New Prayer Book in 1637. Furthermore, the Puritan Network was a core group of opposition to Charles even though Parliament was absent, influential members of the network include Lord Saye and Sele, John Pym and Oliver Cromwell. In addition, the trial of Prynne, Bastwick and Burton caused further resentment towards Charles and his Personal Rule as they were accused for attacking the bishops. Moreover, the religious problems continued in Scotland with the First Bishops’ War because Alexander Leslie was the commander of the Scots and a ‘veteran of the Thirty Years’ War in Germany’. Also, most of the Scottish fighters were also experience with fighting as they served in the Swedish army fighting the cause of Protestantism in Sweden. Religion was the basis for the start of the First Bishops’ War and it was a headache for Charles after he tried to impose religious reforms to Scotland. Religion was an important reason for the failure of Personal Rule because the Puritan Network had important members and they were the main source of opposition against …show more content…
Charles. Lastly, finance was a problem for Charles for his eleven years as a ‘tyrant’, he fundamentally struggled raising money for various expenditures and during his Personal Rule he exploited old laws, Tonnage and Poundage and Monopolies.
However, the most important aspect of incoming finance was Ship Money, this was a tax levied without the consent of Parliament. In the first year, 1635, Ship Money raised £213, 964 and was collected very quickly, whereas by 1639 only £53,000 which was calculated at 25% of the tax imposed. Also, the John Hampden trial of 1637 encouraged opposition against Charles and the government and it received large public interest. Furthermore, important Lords such as Lord Saye and Sele encouraged John Hampden with the trial, even though the Crown won the trial, five votes out of the twelve judges were in favour of Hampden. In addition, because of the effect of the trial ‘dozens of petitions against Ship Money were presented to the Privy Council’, eventually the trial caused a taxpayers’ strike in 1639. Overall, finances played an important part in Scotland, but were also responsible for problems in England. Seeing as the Scottish were controlling Newcastle, the Treaty of Ripon was a way of ending the financial problem. Also, Charles suffered from finances throughout his Personal Rule hence he desperately got his advisors to exploit old laws and expand Ship
Money. In conclusion, the factors mentioned all interlink in how they affected Charles’s Personal Rule. For example, if the religion was the same in Scotland and England then Personal Rule could have continued. Although Personal Rule was incredibly unpopular it did not stop Charles from carrying it out. Also, the same goes with finances if Charles had enough finances he did not need to recall Parliament in 1640 even if it only lasted three weeks. The most important factor for the failure of Personal Rule was because of the events in Scotland which caused Charles to recall Parliament to grant subsidies and also forced Charles to recall Parliament as one of the terms of the Treaty of Ripon. Although, all four factors are intertwined the most accurate reason for the failure of Personal Rule was because of the events in Scotland which affected religion, finance and the ability of the King’s advisors.
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