History 2403E Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Ship Money, Puritans, Long Parliament
2 May 2018
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April 3, 2018
English Civil War
English civil war and glorious revolution of 1688
Civil war: end of rule of James I and his son of Charles I
- James I (R. 1603-1625)
o Took over from Elizabeth but struggled to find place within England
o Roots of civil war: reality is the English monarchy was popular at the end of the
16thC. (1603)
▪ Elizabeth the last of Tudor monarch and was loved by its people
▪ Created by tensions and a range of factors that lead to war
▪ A web on tensions, not mono causal
• Historiography views fits into a large narrative that explains
English narrative
• Arguing England is different was there parliamentary system and
struggle
o A key to success later on in the 19thC.
o Politics – the tradition view of English greatness focus
▪ Nobody in England during the beginning of 17thC. (1610/1620) that wants
to get rid of king and monarchy
▪ What they did want at the time was a King governing within clearly
defined boundaries and limits
• Will not overreach: don’t ask for too much money or attempt to
chip away at the traditional powers of the elites
• Reality: James and Charles I did not have a good relationship in
this respect
o James saw himself as a divine ruler, marginalizes great
nobles, raises outsiders – a regular clash with parliament
o International politics – last years of James rule overlapped with the beginning of
the Thirty Years War
▪ Was a religious conflict between protestants and Catholics, a lot of
protestants wanted to go to war
• James doesn’t – determined to keep England at peace and out of
warfare
• Problem: parliament strength comes from hardliners protestants
(puritans)
o Religious tensions in England during beginning of 17thC.
▪ Religious tensions on the rise (same as with the HRE)
• Everywhere else has stability
- Charles I (R. 1625-1649)
o Father’s sense of entitlement – demanded money from parliament
▪ Clashed more frequently with parliament than his dad did
o Executed in 1649 by English parliament
- Anglicans vs. Puritans – tensions in protestant religion itself
o An English context, on the rise
o Elizabeth created 39 articles, deliberately vague, a spectrum of belief
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
▪ Backfired for James – disappointed everyone
▪ Religious moderation does not work for him
o Puritans – want to see greater reformation
▪ Removal of catholic rituals from churches (high Anglicans, resemble
Catholics)
▪ Strength focused on the lesser ranks of aristocracy, urbanites (city of
London) and in universities
▪ Parliament the strength of puritans
o James inclined toward Calvinism
▪ Compared Scot Presbyterians to English puritans
▪ Either conform to 39 articles or be removed from country
o Charles valued the liturgy and flow of high church of Anglican church
▪ No intention of bringing further reform
- Archbishop William of Laud
o A hard-headed church leader
o Undermined puritans wherever possible
o Archbishop of Canterbury
o James unites Scotland, England and Ireland for the first time
▪ One crown for 3 countries – Great Britain
o Charles had little interest in other countries
▪ Scotland needs to heal – Charles wants to bring Scottish church aligned
with Anglican church
▪ Imposes a system onto the Scottish church
• Resisted this – Scottish national covenant
o A petition asking for full respect of Scottish church and
traditions
o Conflict that emerges in 1640 come together to form a civil war
▪ Politics, IR, religion
o Money, specifically taxes1629-40 – refused to call parliament into existence
o Parliament as the right to levy taxes
o Charles I ruled without parliament
▪ Cannot apply new taxation but can modify
- Ship Money
o English monarchs had a special privilege
o A tax on any port city in order to raise money to build a fleet to defend action
o Expands Ship Money – an annual tax
o Applies to any cities on an inland waterway
▪ Would be almost every major city
o One set of circumstances would be civil war
- Bishop’s War (1640)
o English invaded by Scots in 1640
▪ Upset at Laud to anglicize their church
o Charles forced to call parliament into session
o One of the things that causes trouble in England is that Charles levies a tax on
people who have a political voice
▪ Predominantly taxing those in cities
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find more resources at oneclass.com
▪ Aristocracy has cities homes
▪ Has a way to fight back
▪ French cCown attack the peasants – have no outlet to express their
concern
• A key difference: who gets taxed and what are the differences
- Long Parliament (1640-1653)
o As soon as parliament in session and sidetracks Charles
o Hijacks Parliament and wants to deal with 11 years of grievances and frustration
o A single continuous session of Parliament
▪ Had recess and breaks, but remains sitting and in session
Angered and take steps to address problems
o Ensuring parliament had some control in calling a session
▪ Monarch had to call parliament once every three years
▪ Once sitting, only parliament could dissolve themselves
o All of Charles extralegal taxes are null and void
▪ Ship Money is unacceptable
o Created a committee to look at conduct of royal advisors
▪ First person they deal with is Archbishop of Laud
• Fired and executed in 1645
▪ Purpose: making a point to someone who is powerful
• Unable to execute Charles so they execute his friends
o Breaking down the old government – have control and marginalize Charles
▪ Want to bring real and meaningful reform
▪ United with dissatisfaction with Charles
▪ But with pragmatic question on how to govern the country in the future,
start to see a breakdown – little agreement!
• Say to Charles that they choose who sits on Royal Council
o But how do you choose?
• What degree with King have on the army? What about
parliaments?
• What will the church look like?
o Puritans begin to harden into a revolutionary group
▪ Have a slim majority of congress
▪ The longer parliament sits, the more they come together
▪ Thinking about radical restructuring – first signs of theoretically getting
rid of monarchy
• Parliament the only government authority
o As a reaction to the puritans, a group of people move to the other side – the status
quo
▪ Have conservative values
▪ Begin to congregate and ally themselves with Charles
- In 1642, Charles attempts to regain power by storming parliament
o 400 conservative supports (armed and ready)
o Goal to kill puritan’s leaders and take control
o Puritan leaders knew and were not at the parliamentary hall
o Symbolically – has declared war against England
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
English civil war and glorious revolution of 1688. Civil war: end of rule of james i and his son of charles i. James i (r. 1603-1625: took over from elizabeth but struggled to find place within england, roots of civil war: reality is the english monarchy was popular at the end of the. Charles i (r. 1625-1649: father"s sense of entitlement demanded money from parliament, clashed more frequently with parliament than his dad did, executed in 1649 by english parliament. Catholics: strength focused on the lesser ranks of aristocracy, urbanites (city of. No one knew what to do after they won and what to do with charles: charles refused to negotiate with traitors and rebels. Rump parliament: cromwell strips parliament from all dissenting voices, 1/3 of original size, puts king on trial, in 1649, puritan parliament under cromwell"s control, parliament executes.
