Ghita-Mehedintu Alexandru

THE STUARTS Cls. a X-a B

Elizabeth hated the idea of getting old.

“Must! Is must a word to addressed to princes? Little man, little man! Thy father, if he had
been alive, durst not have used that word." addressed to Robert Cecil when he advised her to
rest.

On her death bed, Elizabeth announced that James VI of Scotland should succeed her.
Elizabeth died on 24th March, 1603.
On the death of Elizabeth, England and Scotland were finally joined, a feat that had
eluded all English monarchs up to thus point.
 THE END OF ‘GLORIANA’
45 year reign, nearly seventy.
No children, so a peaceful succession was not certain.
Internal tensions became more prevalent in Elizabethan society.
Although Elizabeth had constructed the Anglican Church, defeated the Armada and ‘pacified’ Ireland,
Tudor stability was still prone to decay.
Her constancy which had been one of her strengths, in old age deteriorated into indecisiveness, inertia
and neglect.
Corruption and falling revenue laid the seeds for the civil war that would engulf England some 4o years
later.
To the relief of all, the succession was peaceful and James VI of Scotland became James I of England.
CROWN OR COMMONS
It was the events of the 17th Century that really made Britain different
from the rest of continental Europe.
At the beginning of the century the monarch was all-powerful, by the
end 2 kings had been toppled and the monarchy itself had been
overturned and a republic installed (albeit only for a short period of
time.)
England was going to be a parliamentary democracy, very different
from all other European states of the time.
 JAMES VI AND JAMES I
The English had conquered Ireland and Wales in the Middle
Ages but never Scotland.
Under James VI both islands were under the same ruler for
the first time ever.
James even named himself ‘King of Great Britain’.
Anglicized his name ‘Stewart’ to ‘Stuart’.
James believed the English Parliament would behave much
like the Scottish parliament.
He was much mistaken.
Much of the conflict between James and parliament can be
attributed to James’ belief in the Divine Right of Kings.
 THE PURITANS AND THE CATHOLICS
Both the puritans and the Roman Catholics had high hopes for James’ reign.
Both were sorely disappointed.
THE PURITANS
 James hated the Puritans, believed them the same as the Scottish Presbyterians whom he had
persecuted.
 Hampton Court 1604, meeting between Puritans and James. He dismissed their calls for the
Church of England to have no bishops by shouting ‘No bishop, no King!’
 Archbishop of Canterbury then instructed to seek out puritans and force them from the church.
 This persecution was the catalyst that led to the sailing of the Mayflower and the founding of a
colony at Cape Cod.

THE CATHOLICS
 Catholics believed James would be sympathetic towards them – he made peace with Spain and
tried to have his son married to a Spanish princess.
 Yet he re-imposed fines on Roman Catholics and continued to banish their priests.
 Inspired the Gunpowder plot.
 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT
Had the gunpowder plot been successful all hell would have broken loose.
There may well have been a foreign invasion, civil war and most certainly sectarian slaughter.
However, it wasn’t successful.
The plot involved filling the cellars under the Houses of Parliament with gunpowder and then setting
it off – very simple.
However, one of the conspirators sent a warning letter to one of Lords (Lord Monteagle) due to be
at the House on the fateful day. He notified the authorities who raided the cellar and arrested Guy
Fawkes, the man chosen to look after the explosives.
Guy Fawkes was tortured, gave up the names of the other conspirators (Robert Catesby) etc. and
they were all executed.
The story of the gunpowder plot is now part of British folklore and celebrated on November 5th
every year – as James I didn’t want anybody to forget.
JAMES VS. PARLIAMENT
The English soon came to despise James:
 He relied on favourites
 Didn’t like his peace with Spain
 Couldn’t stomach ‘The Divine Right of Kings’. Sir Edward Cole, the Lord Chief Justice
said this was going against English Common Law.

As a result, Parliament refused to give him money, so James raised money in different
ways:
 He borrowed it
 Forced people to lend it to him
 Sold trading monopolies
 Created a new hereditary title ‘Baronet’ which he sold to people.

Yet, James still did not have enough money and on his death he left England is a sorry
state of affairs.
 THE KING JAMES BIBLE
James supported the Anglican Church and sponsored a translation of the Bible that is now known as
the King James or Authorized Version.
In 1604, King James authorized a committee of about 50 scholars to prepare a revision of earlier
English translations of the Bible. These men were the best Biblical scholars and linguists of the day.
The King James Version of the Bible appeared in 1611. No important English translations of the
Bible appeared for more than 200 years after the publication of the King James Version. It was
the most widely used translation in the English-speaking world.
The King James Version was a landmark in the development of English prose. Its elegant yet natural
style had enormous influence on English-speaking writers.
It ranks with the complete works of Shakespeare and the Oxford English Dictionary as one of the
cornerstones of the English language.
This version is so important in terms of its linguistic impact. Many of the phrases included are still
commonplace.
 CHARLES I
Came to the throne in 1625
Engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England.
The struggle centered around his need for money and parliament’s wish to
limit his power.
Charles, like his father believed in the ‘Divine Right of Kings’
Many Englishmen were unhappy at Charles’ interference in the English
church.
Levied taxes without parliament's consent.
Religious conflicts aplenty during his reign:
 Didn’t successfully help protestant forces during The Thirty Years War
 Married a Roman Catholic princess
 Appointed controversial William Laud to the post of Archbishop of Canterbury
 Many believed he moved the Church of England too close to the R-C one (High
Anglican Church)

He also continued to persecute the Puritans (as his father had done before)
THE PURITANS
Calvinism/Puritanism
More democratic form of Protestantism
Luther was socially conservative, Calvin, on the other
hand sought to reform society.
Calvin preached to businessmen and tradesmen
Concept of ‘The Elect’ – unelected condemned to
eternal damnation.
If you did well in business – a sign of divine grace
No intermediary required between God and His
people – no need for bishops/priests. A church
structure like that of the R-C church unnecessary.
Puritans were Calvinists who had returned to England
from Geneva to purify the Anglican church.
 PURITANS: CHARACTERISTICS
No ornamentation in church
Do not make sign of cross
No organ/hymns etc.
Do not kneel at the mention of Christ’s name.
Do not stand when the Gospel read.
Easily recognisable – black suit with plain white shirt/blouse/apron
Laughter, dancing, singing etc. seen as sinful.
Thriftiness and diligence were traits to be cultivated.
Object of life was to earn money thus showing yourself to be one of the elect.
GEORGE VILLIERS, DUKE OF
BUCKINGHAM
 SHORT AND LONG PARLIAMENTS
The ‘Short Parliament’ lasted just three weeks.
Parliament and the King could not agree on anything.
Charles dissolved Parliament and pressaged an army to foght the Scots.
The English soldiers mutinied leaving the Scots to take much of Northern England.
Scots then presented a bill to Charles detailing their expenses (840 pounds a day)
stating that they would leave England if this was paid.
Once again Charles needed money, so recalled Parliament. The so-called Long
Parliament (1640-1652)
Parliament (under John Pym) held all the cards and told Charles to:
 Arrest Laud
 Arrest Strafford (Chief of the army)
 Abolish Ship Money
 Abolish the Courts of High Commission.
 THE FIRST CIVIL WAR (1642-1646)
So England drifted into civil war.
The Cavaliers – the Royalists. Supported by the west and north of the country, by Roman Catholics and
Anglicans.
Parliamentarians – supported from London and the south-east.
2 factions in the tarliamentarian forces
 Independents – more radical, Puritans
 Roundheads – open to compromise with Charles, Presbyterian.

Oliver Cromwell was an independent.

Battle of Marston Moor 1644. Ironsides defeated royal army. The roundheads lost. Ironsides in the
ascendancy.
This meant the defeat of Presbyterian policy and their leaders were removed.
Oliver Cromwell moved to fill the void joined the two forces together
 THE SECOND CIVIL WAR (1648)
The radical Puritans still not happy – they wanted a more radical transformation of the government
and no compromise with the King
This resulted in a second civil war.
In secret, Charles had been preparing to launch a new war against the New Model Army. Allied
with the Presbyterians, Puritans and Scottish.
However, by the end of August 1648, the Royalists had been routed and Charles was imprisoned.
‘Pride’s purge’
‘The Rump Parliament’
This new parliament declared on 4th January, 1649:

“..that the people are under God, the origin of all just power; that the Commons of England, in parliament
assembled, being chosen by and representing the people, have the supreme power in the nation; and that whosoever
is enacted or declared for law by the Commons in Parliament assembled, hath the force of law, and all the people
of this nation are concluded thereby, although the consent of the king or the House of Peers be not had thereunto.”
EXECUTION OF CHARLES 1649
On 9th, January 1649, Charles I was found guilty of treason, he was ”..a public enemy
to the good of the people of this nation.”
The next day he was executed, an execution that proved a propaganda defeat for his
enemies.
First, and last, English monarch to be ‘legally executed’
 CHANGES IN COMMUNITY
From the Tudors onwards the Court had been the centre of national authority, influence, power,
reward and intellectual inspiration
There was a belief in hierarchical order, obedience to an established church and the monarch and
deference to one’s social superiors.
After 1660 these values changed – the court was no longer the unchallenged centre of intellectual
and cultural influence.
The City of London and Parliament were rival sources of power and influence
The established church became one of many religious communities. It was the largest and most
socially accepted but that was all.
Separation gave rise to religious competition, one could freely move from sect to sect
Non-conformist- alternative approaches to God.
In short, although Anglicanism was the established church it no longer had the power/authority of
before.
One universal truth emerged from the civil wars, that was that no one universal truth was to be had
or was needed.
A single truth was unnecessary. It had turned out that no one was right and no one was wrong.
The English community had changed from one founded on the concepts of hierarchy,
uniformity and personal loyalty to one founded on the concepts of difference and mutual
toleration.
 RESTORATION
Law, custom and Parliament were interwoven with the Kingly office.
Thus the restoration of law and Parliament needed a restoration of the King.
Monarchy restored unconditionally
As were the House of Lords and the Anglican Church.
Charles II, though, did not have the power of his father. No independent executive authority and no
longer had the power to tax independent of Parliament
Charles tried to rule from as broad a base as possible.
Granted no special favours.
All found positions of power – royalists, parliamentarians, old Cromwellians
 THE WHIGS AND THE TORIES
The so-called Exclusion Movement saw the emergence of 2 major political parties.
James, Charles’ brother, was an open convert to the R-C church.
Because of this, a faction wanted to exclude him from the succession while another wished to
include him.
Those who supported James were the Tories
The opposing faction were the Whigs
The Clarendon Codes (1662 and 1664) and the Test Act of 1673
 JAMES II
Determined to advance the cause of Roman Catholicism in England
1687 saw the Declaration of Indulgence and the suspension of the Test Act.
James filled the army and government institutions with R-C supporters.
This infuriated Parliament, but worse was to come - in 1688 a son and heir was born to James, a
succession of Catholics was now guaranteed
This caused much anxiety and negotiations were begun with William of Orange and Mary
(James’ Protestant daughter).
William landed in 1688 on the south coast and James fled to France on December 11th 1688.
For the next 50 years the possibility of a restoration of James, his son and then grandson caused
great anxiety in England.
 GLORIOUS REVOLUTION AND THE END OF
THE STUARTS
1689 Bill of Rights
Toleration Act
1701 Act of Settlement
King Billy of the Boyne
William died in 1702 (after Mary) and his younger
sister Anne became queen
England grew stronger Scottish jealousy led to
disaster in Panama (1698)
1707 Act of Union with Scotland
War of Spanish Succession. Whigs supported it,
Tories didn’t. Ultimately, Anne sided with the Tories.
Treaty of Utrecht.
Anne died in 1715 and the Act of Succession
meant that the Crown passed to a little-known
relative of James’s from Hanover, George (I)
1715 and 1745 Scottish rebellions. The Jacobites
The ‘Old’ Pretender and the ‘New’ Pretender (Bonnie
Prince Charlie)