Charles’ Mistakes or Not!

Simply Put

Charles I was the son of James I. Like his father he believed in the ‘Divine Right of Kings’. Charles’ determination to take full control of the country and to make his own decisions made him very unpopular with people, especially members of parliament.



 

Marriage

 

In 1625, just after he had come to the throne, Charles married Henrietta Maria of France. Henrietta Maria was a Catholic. People were worried that Charles might bring back Catholicism and also that any children of the marriage would be brought up as Catholics.

Ship Money

 

was a tax paid by people living on the coast when England was at war. The money was used to pay for ships to protect coastal areas.

Taxes

It had been agreed in 1620 that only parliament could agree to new taxes being imposed.

In 1634, Charles decided that he needed more money. He decided to make everyone living on the coast pay Ship Money all the time. In 1635, Charles decided to make everyone in the country pay Ship Money. Some people refused to pay and ended up in Jail.

In 1639 Charles needed an army to go to war against the Scots. A new tax was introduced to pay for the army. People were very angry.

The Church

 

In 1633 William Laud was made Archbishop of Canterbury. He and Charles decided that churches should be decorated again. A new English prayer book was introduced in 1637. The Puritans thought that Charles was trying to make the church Catholic again.

Scotland

 

The majority of people in Scotland were Puritans and hated the Catholics more than the English did. In 1638 Charles insisted that the English prayer book be used in Scottish churches. There were riots in Scotland. Charles had to take an army to Scotland to stop the rioting. However, his army lost and Charles ended up having to pay £850 a day to Scotland.

Trigger 1

In 1641 Parliament gave Charles a list of demands called the Grand Remonstrance. Two of the things they wanted were –

1. That Parliament should choose the Kings ministers. This would give them power over the country.

2. That the numbers of bishops be reduced. This would make the church more Protestant.

159 MPs supported the Grand Remonstrance, but 148 did not. Charles took this as a sign that he had some supporters in Parliament. Charles did nothing and many MPs thought that Charles was going to get rid of Parliament altogether.

Trigger 2

In January 1642 Charles made a big mistake. He burst into the House of Commons with an army of 400 and demanded the arrest of the 5 leading MPs. Charles was left looking foolish when he learned that the MPs were not in the House of Commons. They had been warned and had fled out of a back door.

Trigger 3

March 1642 and MPs were very worried about what Charles would do next. The King had always controlled the army and MPs were worried that Charles would use the army against them. To stop him from being able to do this, parliament took control of the army. Charles was not pleased. He was cross that parliament was taking away his power.

Trigger 4

In June 1642 Parliament decided to try to force Charles to give them even more power. They gave Charles a list of things they wanted. It was called the Nineteen Propositions. Some of the propositions were: 

1. That the King should make no major decision about the country, religion or money without parliament’s agreement.

2. That the King’s cannot appoint his own ministers without parliament’s agreement.

3. That parliament should control the education of the King’s children

4. That laws against Catholics should be upheld

5. That Parliament should dictate church reform.

Charles had had enough. He gathered his supporters and formed an army. On 22nd August he raised his standard at Nottingham. England was in a state of Civil War.

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