King Charles I
1600 Born at Dunfermline Palace in Fife on 19th November. His father was James VI of Scotland (James I of England). His mother was Anne of Denmark. He was a weak and sickly child.

Charles was deeply religious, favouring the highly ritual format of Anglican worship. He was a good linguist and was very keen on the Arts...on which he spent a lot of money.
1612 His elder brother Henry died and Charles became heir to the throne. 
1623 Charles went with Buckingham to Madrid to claim Maria, the daughter of the Spanish King as his bride. Negotiations broke down however and he returned to England.
1625 His father James I died on March 27th and Charles became King. Charles was reserved, had a slight stammer and had an unwavering belief in the divine right of Kings.

On May 1st he married Henrietta Maria. This worried the Protestants as much as the prospects of a Spanish marriage had - especially as ...

  • his consort Buckingham had a number of Catholic relatives.
  • Charles had lent ships to the Catholic French King Louis XIII for a campaign against the Huguenots.(French Protestants)

Charles' conflict with Parliament started early. His first (June -  August 1625) failed to grant him tonnage and poundage for life...only for one year. 
1626 His second Parliament drafted a Bill to impeach Buckingham for treason after his disastrous attempts to attack the Spanish port of Cadiz. To prevent this, Charles dissolved Parliament in June.
1627 England was now at war with both France and Spain and in order to fund this, Charles tried to impose a forced loan. The judges declared this illegal and the King sacked the Chief Justice and ordered the arrest of more than 70 Knights and gentlemen who refused to pay it.
1628 Charles' third Parliament met on March 17th...and came up with the Petition of Right. 
1629 The new session of Parliament met on Jan 20th and immediately started airing its grievances against the King. On Feb 25th Charles ordered an adjournment. They reassembled on March 2nd only to be given a message from the King that there was a further adjournment until March 10th. After much protest they dismissed themselves...there was to be no more Parliament for 11 years...the King was in sole command of the country...

It was called the 'Eleven Years Tyranny' - (1629-1640)

 Addressing the Lords, Charles referred to the Commons..

'I know there are many there as dutiful subjects as any in the world; it being but some few vipers amongst them that did cast this mist of undutifulness over most of their eyes..'
1633 Charles went with William Laud to Scotland for his coronation.
1634 Charles raised money by various unparliamentary and exceedingly unpopular means, including ship money.
1637 Charles had the Scottish Bishops and Archbishop Laud draw up a Book of Common Prayer for Scotland. It was immediately denounced by the Scottish people and led to a riot in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh on 23rd July...and then to general unrest.

 

 
1638 The Scottish Assembly rejected Charles' religious reforms.
1639 Charles was furious that his proposals had been rejected so he led an army into Scotland. (The first Bishops' War). He was low on funds and did not fully trust his troops. The incursion ground to a halt.
1640 Charles called on Parliament to help him fund a campaign against the Scots, and the Short Parliament met on April 13th. Charles got no help and dissolved it on May 5th.

He went ahead without Parliament's support and was beaten by the Scots in the second Bishops' War who managed to advance south as far as Newcastle. The King's troops were routed at Newburn.

In desperation, Charles summoned the Long Parliament in November...and they proved just as troublesome to him as previous ones!
1641 Charles agreed to the Triennial Act. He failed in his attempt to prevent the impeachment and execution of Strafford. He also reluctantly agreed that.. 
  • parliament could not be dissolved without its own consent,
  • ship money and other unparliamentary money-raising schemes were illegal.

..but rather sneakily, he visited Scotland in August to see if he could enlist some anti-parliamentary support. The Scots however wanted to push their boundaries south and to introduce their church system in England.

News of the Ulster rebellion (October) reached Westminster. An army was needed to crush this...and debate raged about who was to have control over them...King or parliament.

Charles returned to London on Nov 25th.

Charles received the Grand Remonstrance at Hampton Court on Dec 1st. He vigorously rejected it on Dec 23rd. Pym responded by pressing on with a militia bill which would give parliament control of the army.
1642 Rumour spread of Pym's intention to impeach the Queen. Charles responded by an attempt to impeach Pym, four other members of the Commons and one peer. On Jan 4th he went to the Commons with his guards to arrest them...but they had already left.


Charles goes to the Commons to arrest 5 MPs...but...the birds had flown..

‘Articles of High Treason: against the Lord Kimbolton, Mr Denzil Holles, Sir Arthur Haselrig, Mr John Pym, Mr John Hampden and Mr William Strode.

… that they have traitorously endeavoured to subvert the fundamental laws and government of the kingdom of England, to deprive His Majesty of his regal power…’

[plus six other charges].

 
Jan 10th Charles took his family to Hampton Court..the next day, Pym and his friends appeared back in the Commons.

Charles agreed to the Bishops' Exclusion Bill in an attempt to reconcile himself with parliament.
Parliament approved a Militia Ordinance allowing troops to be raised only under officers approved by Parliament.
March 3rd - Charles left London for York -'friendly' territory.

April 23rd - Charles was refused entry to Hull (an arms depot) by parliamentary commanders.[Detail]

Charles responded to the Nineteen Propositions...rejection!
August 22nd. The King raised the royal standard at Nottingham to gain support.

October 23rd. Charles led his troops from Shrewsbury towards London. They were met by Essex at the Battle of Edgehill.
'..lacked the essential political qualities of realism and compromise..'