NOTES: Charles I - 1640-46

A: The Short And Long Parliaments, 1640-41

1. What were the aims of Charles and the opposition in 1640?

Charles 
Charles's aims were largely short term. He was advised by his privy council to call parliament in spring 1640. The scottish hab d demanded that he should say that episcopacy was unlawful, and when he prorogued their parliament they rebelled and continued to sit. Also, even more worrying for Charles, the Scots were gaining support in England and the army raised for the First Bishops war had shown too much sympathy with the Scots. At all costs, Charles needed to isolate the scots and defeat them quickly before support for them grew even more. 

Opposition 
The opposition's aim were much more long-term. They were not going to intention of of granting Charles subsidies without redress of grievances as they did not trust him to continue parliament once he had this money. Grievances had built up during the Personal Rule and growing tension meant that they needed to be addressed soon. Parliamentarians did not intend to go home empty handed this time and it was agreed that co-ordinated action would be needed in order to resist Charles's condemning rule. 

2. Why did the Short Parliament only last three weeks? 
During this parliament, Charles requested 12 subsidies, however he would not be receiving these until the grievances of the MPs were met. Also, due to Laudianism, many have sympathy with the Scots and therefore were not going to vote for a grant. Instead the discussed their own agenda and John Pym presented a list of 36 matters of complaint, including impositions and ship money. By this point Charles was becoming increasingly urgent of these funds and even authorised an offer to abandon ship money. However many MPs took joy in explaining to him that if it was a legal tax, as he had claimed, then the King could not give it up. Charles dissolved parliament on the 5th of May and instead sought income from the Irish parliament and his advisors, and paid military levies through the countries with 'coat and conduct' money. 

3. On what grounds did Parliament impeach the Earl of Strafford?
Strafford was the one of the strangest men in government and his ruthless rule in the north and Ireland was known by many and made many members of the house of common fear him. He was suspected of being prepared to use Irish troops to allow Charles to regain power in England, which would have given Charles control of an army independant of Parliament. The opposition also feared what Strafford might do in the future and he was therefore arrested and impeached on the charges of:

• attempting to overthrow ancient and fundamental laws and government of England and Ireland 
• a whimsical and dictatorial government in Ireland
• provoking war against the scots

However they found it difficult to prove Strafford guilty as he could show that he had royal support for what he had done and thus could not be guilty of treason. John Pym was especially frustrated and used notes made by Sir Henry Vane as evidence against Strafford. These notes claimed that Strafford had told Charles 'you have an army in Ireland you may employ here to reduce this Kingdom'. However others denied that he had said this and thought that 'this kingdom' reffered to Scotland. They then decided to use an Act of Attainder, under which it was merely necessary to declare Strafford guilty of treason. 

4. What were the major reforms of the Long Parliament in terms of:

a) Reducing the political power of the King

• In the first 6 months of the Parliament the Triennial Act was passed (February 1641), requiring the King to call Parliament every third year and allowing it to sit for at least 50 days. This was not a radical reform as it was far from ensuring that Parliament would become part of the machinery of government. 
• One of Charles's political enforcers, Laud, was arrested and sent to the Tower of London. 
• Charles's political rival, John Pym, became a dominant figure in Parliament. 
• The Star Chamber, the Council of the North and the Council for the Marches of Wales were all abolished. 
• The Court of High Commission was also abolished with the condition that no similar court should ever be set up again. 

b) Limiting the financial power of the King  

• Ship money was declared illegal 
• It was illegal to compel anyone to take upon himself the order of knighthood
• The boundaries of royal forests were to be fixed as they had been in 1623
• The Tonnage and Poundage Act legalised the collection of customs duties and impositions, after declaring that the previous exaction of these had been illegal. The act had to be renewed every 2 months to ensure that Charles did not raise independent income. 

5. How did the Root and Branch Bill cause divisions in Parliament? 

In June the Commons drew up the Ten Propositions, in which they asked the King to:

• postpone his departure to Scotland until both the English and Scottish armies were disbanded. 
• bar Catholics from court and from the presence of the Prince of Wales
• provide for the security of the Kingdom through the militia under the Lord Lieutenant
• replace royal ministers with those in whom both people and parliament could have confidence 
• take advice from a joint committee of both Houses on Policy 

Both of the Houses agreed to these propositions, however this unity dd not last. The King said that he had complete confidence in his present advisors and went to Scotland. Many MPs were worried about what Charles would do in Scotland and sent a joint committee to follow him and on their own authority disarmed recusants, secured the arsenal at Hull and forbade recruiting in England by foreign armies. 

In Scotland Charles was forced to come to terms. There was some urgency as the presence of the Scottish army in the North had loomed over discussion in Parliament and the Scots demanded an extra £500,000 to be paid to them. Charles was able to pay off the Scottish army but had to accept the Acts passed by the Scottish parliament which had continued to meet after he dissolved it, agree to the abolition of bishops and to government by men chosen by the Scottish parliament, not the King. 

B: The Crises Of 1641-46

7. What caused the Irish Rebellion of October 1641 to occur and what was its impact?
The rebellion resulted from fears of the Native Irish and the Old English in Ireland that the 'puritans of England, Scotland and Ireland intended the destruction of the Catholic religion'. The Catholics decided that attack was the best defence and targeted the Protestants in Northern Ireland (Ulster). 3000 Protestants were killed and and more fled to England. The tales of the rebellion seemed to confirm that there was in fact a 'popish plot'. Parliamentarians were able to use these stories as propaganda against Charles as they could claim that he had sent them a commission authorising them to take up arms. This may have been a forgery but it was possible that Charles was considering using Irish troops. It was generally believed that Charles had played a part in the start of the rebellion and therefore it would be unwise to trust the King with an army to put down the rebellion. 

8. Why did the Grand Remonstrance cause tension between the King and parliament and within parliament itself?John Pym decided to compose a detailed critique of Charles's government to show how he was unfit to control an army. The Grand Remonstrance repeated the grievances of the people from 1626 justifying what had already been done to reform the situation and explaining what further actions were needed, including the appointment of trustworthy councillors and the restoration of true religion. Charles had excepted his right to choose his advisors in Scotland being overridden but refused to do the same in England. He was also determined to defend the Church. 
Moderates in the Commons saw no point in bringing up past issues that had already been remedied.  They also did not like that the Remonstrance was addressed to the people as they tended to fear social revolution. A vote was taken in November 1641 in the Commons and the Remonstrance won by 159 vote to 148. The King rejected the proposals. 

9. What was the impact of the failed arrest of the Five Members?
Londoners were becoming more hostile towards the Crown. Horror stories from the Irish revolution were in circulation and the economic downturn left many of the unemployed angry and rebellious. By the end of December mobs were confronting the guards around Westminster. 
For Charles the biggest concern was a rumour the Henrietta Maria was about to be impeached as part of the 'popish plot'. Charles made a final effort to to diffuse the situation by offering Pym the the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer. He refused. Sir John Culpepper, Viscount Falkland and Edward Hyde now formed the core of his councillors.
Charles issued articles of high treason against Pym, Hampden, Holles, Sir Arthur Haselrig and William Strode, accusing them of trying to subvert the fundamental laws and government of England and encouraging the Scots to invade England. Charles lost any whatever advantage he had in this attempt to arrest the Five Members. The Common council refused to surrender the men leaving Charles to feel intimidated as he withdrew to Hampton court. The attempted arrest was the last straw for many as it showed how easily the King would resort to force or measures of dubious legality. 

10. Explain the significance of the Militia Ordinance of 1642
In the weeks immediately after the attempted arrest, parliament was bombarded with petitions inspired by the publication of the Grand Remonstrance in December 1641. Supporters blamed councillors, bishops and popish lords for the evils that the country was suffering and hinted at direct action if bishops were not excluded. Hence the Commons felt that they needed to take control and in March 1642 the Militia Ordinance was issued without the King's consent. This meant that the parliament was taking away the King's right to control his army. It was agreed that each country should be assessed. This new tax raised £400,000 and remained the chief source of revenue for parliament. These measures saw a rallying again to the King from those who feared the breakdown of law and order. 

11. What were the key demands of the Nineteen Propositions and how did Charles react to them?
These propositions were presented to Charles in June and demanded that:

• The two Houses should approve all Privy Councillors
• The laws against Jesuits and recusants be enforced
• The Five Members be pardoned 
• Reformation of the church as advised by Parliament 
• Parliament was to supervise the upbringings and marriage of the royal children

Charles's advisors argued that these propositions would involve total subversion of the laws and constitution and destroy the balance between Crown, Lords and Commons. This also seemed to bring more moderate Lords over to Charles. 

C: The First Civil War

12. What were the strengths of the Royalists in 1642? 

• Strong with regard to cavalry which could win battles by a ferocious charge - gave them an edge at the start of the war.
• Charles had support from the trained bands of Cornwall and he was also well recruited in Wales.
• His nephew, Prince Rupert, was the head of the cavalry - he was a competentant leader who trained and organised his men well.
• Charles had other strong, experienced leaders - Sir Ralph Hopton in the west and William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, in the north

13. What were the strengths of the Parliamentarians in 1642? 

• Their forces were strongly motivated - mainly by religion 
• They had possession of London which meant that they controlled the ports which provided customs duties, and organs of government which they could use to levy the new assessments. They could also borrow from the city and lines of communication across the country mostly stemmed from the capital. 
• They had the Iron foundries of Sussex and the armouries of the Tower could provide weaponry. 
• The Navy were on the side of Parliament, apart from 5 ships - the king was then deprived of his ship and was prevented from receiving any aid by sea

14. Why did the Royalists fail to exploit their opportunities in 1642-43? 

1. Edgehill, October 1642
Charles's aim was to recapture London, whilst the Earl of Essex was determined to prevent him. The forces on either side were roughly equal in numbers. Prince Rupert led a cavalry charge that blew the parliamentarians away. However it carried on too far and the royalists plundered Essex's baggage train, allowing the parliamentarians to recover and put the royalist guns out of action. Both sides claimed victory and London lay open. This was a missed opportunity for the royalists as Charles wasted time capturing Banbury, Oxford and Reading, and believing that parliament would soon ask for a truce. He reached London on the 13th of November but did not want risk a battle. He retreated to spend the winter in Oxford. 

2. Oxford Negotiation, January 1643
The Houses sent commissioners to Oxford to negotiate with Charles. They wanted him to disband his army, accept the Triennial Act, agree to the abolition of episcopacy, settle the government of the church, control the militia according to parliamentary advice and to pardon the 5 members. Charles replied that he would only disband his army if he was given back his revenue, his forts and his ships. He did not see much point in negotiating and still hoped for military success. 

3. London Attack
Charles planned for a three-pronged attack on London that was initially successful. He first captured Bristol in July, the second port in the country. This should have opened up the way to London but Charles over reached himself as he believed that Gloucester couuld be take with the same ease as Bristol. This turned out to be a very poor decision and led the royalists on a downward path. 

4. Ireland 
Charles thought that he would find hope in recruiting Irish troops. The 'Confederation Catholics of Ireland' now controlled most of Ireland, hence Charles thought it best to make peace and transfer troops to serve in England. This allowed for more roundhead propaganda proving of the King's tolerance towards Catholicism. 

15. Why did 1644 see the triumph of the Parliamentarians? 

a) The alliance with the Scots
Before his death, John Pym, in Autumn 1643 negotiated the Solemn League and Covenant with the Scottish Presbyterians. They agreed to bring troops across the border to help the parliamentarians in exchange for the Church becoming Presbyterian. The arrival of 21,000 men under Alexander Leslie allowed the parliamentarians to push back the royalists in the north. 

b) The Battle of Marston Moor
The combined forces of the Scots and Yorkshire volunteers under Sir Thomas Fairfax, trapped Newcastle up in York. Charles could not afford to lose York and sent Rupert to relieve the city. This is how the events unfolded:

• Rupert told Newcastle to be ready to fight the next day as Parliament's army was much bigger and therefore the element of surprise was important. 
• They argued about tactics
• The Parliamentarians, with Fairfax on the right and Cromwell on the left, saw the smoke from the royalist cooking fires and attacked. 
• Rupert's horse was killed and he his in a bean field. 
• Goring and Newcastle were initially more successful against Fairfax, but Cromwell rallied his troops and drove them back. 
• The battle left 4500 royalists dead and 1500 captured. 
• Newcastle went into exile as he could not face the humiliation of his defeated. 

c) Leadership 

At the beginning of the war it seemed that the royalists had the advantage here. However John Pym's and Hampden's deaths left Sir Henry Vane, St John and Cromwell in leading positions. although it took time to achieve, the parliamentarians were definitely better led going in to 1645. 

d) The New Model Army 

This was a union of three armies under one single force. It contained 10 cavalry regiments with 600 men in each  and 12 infantry regiments of 1200 men. The army under Manchester that had been included in this new force was made up of volunteer soldiers. The army was ideologically driven, it was also well paid and thus well disciplined as looting and pillaging was strongly discouraged. The army gained a fearsome reputation, although it appeared to avoid battle unless it held numerical superiority. 

e) The Battle of Naseby

Charles began 1645 with a two-pronged plan which may have been successful had he had a much less complex aim. He hoped to link up with the Earl of Montrose, who had been winning victories in Scotland and to defeat the New Model Army before it was fully established. He failed in both of these aims. At Naseby Cromwell defeated the royalists with devastating effect. The battle had two important results. 1. it opened the ay the west and the New Model Army went on to victory in Langport and then Bristol. 2. As the royal army fled Charles abandoned his baggage which revealed the extent of his contact with the Catholics in Ireland and Europe, allowing for more anti-royalist propaganda.

f) Resources  
From the outset, parliament controlled more wealthy parts of the country. Their possession of London meant that they could raise money a lot easier through taxation (although these were resented by many). Areas that belonged to the royalists were not very consistent in their loyalty, often containing towns which were in fact Parliamentarian. Charles sources of revenues were also finite and could not be repeated. 

g) Charles's Surrender 
In March 1646, Charles sent his son, the Prince of Wales, to Jersey for safety and in April he left Oxford to give himself up to the Scottish and in June Oxford surrendered. 

16. What was the impact of Neutralism?  
Many of the people who remained neutral were often trying to avoid the avoid the devastation that they had heard about from the Thirty Years War in Germany. Some individuals even supported both sides with men and money at the same time in an attempt to remain neutral. Many of the traditional ruling elites feared that social revolution would limit the power that they currently possessed. 
During 1642-43 there were many peace movements. Many peace petitions poured into parliament and neutrality pacts were common. 
The thrust of the war in 1643 favoured the King and this began concern that if there was an outright royalist victory, then the King would return to power and the constitutional gains of 1640-41 would be lost. Hence there was a polarisation of opinion for and against the King, making neutralism harder to maintain. But there were still MPs who feared social revolution so much that they were ready to agree to peace at almost any price. They formed a 'peace party' and their rivals formed a 'war' group.
Another example of neutrality emerged through clubmen. These were townsmen and village people who were fed up of the barbarities they suffered at the hands of occupying troops, usually royalists. The formed small armed forces and fought back on those who they believed to be threats.