Elizabeth was followed to the throne by James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England. James believed in the absolute power of the monarchy, and he had a rocky relationship with an

TEXT 23

The Stuarts

Elizabeth was followed to the throne by James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England. James believed in the absolute power of the monarchy, and he had a rocky relationship with an increasingly demanding Parliament which was a forum for the interests of the nobility and the merchant classes.

During James' reign radical Protestant groups called Puritans began to gain a sizeable following. Puritans wanted to "purify" the church by paring down church ritual, educating the clergy, and limiting the powers of bishops. King James resisted this last. The powers of the church and king were too closely linked. The Puritans also favored thrift, education and individual initiative; therefore they found great support among the new middle class of merchants, the powers in the Commons.

Charles I (1625-49) continued his father's hostile relationship with Parliament, squabbling over the right to levy taxes. Parliament made increasing demands, which the king refused to meet. Neither side was willing to budge. Finally in 1642 fighting broke out.

The English Civil War (1642-1646) polarized society largely along class lines.

The split between Charles and Parliament was such that neither side was willing to back down over the principles that they held and war was inevitable as a way in which all problems could be solved. The country split into those who supported the king and those who supported Parliament. Parliament drew most of its support from the middle classes, while the king was supported by the nobility, the clergy, and the peasantry. The poor were bound by tradition and they supported the king, as they always had. Charles encouraged poor relief, unemployment measures, price controls, and protection for small farmers. For most people, life during the Civil War went on as before. Few were involved or even knew about the fighting.

The war began as a series of indecisive skirmishes notable for not much beyond the emergence of a Parliamentary general from East Anglia. Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell whipped his irregular volunteer troops into the disciplined New Model Army.

As with most wars during the 17-th century, the English Civil War was not a long continuous war. Armies lacked mobility and the time taken to collect the most basic of equipment meant that there were long periods of time when no fighting was taking place despite England being at war at the time. There were only three major battles in the English Civil War. In June 1645, Cromwell’s Army inflicted a fatal blow to the king’s army at the Battle of Naseby. Charles did not recover from this defeat and his cause was lost.

In 1646 the Royalist forces were disbanded. In 1647 Charles I negotiated with a Scottish group for assistance, starting the second phase of the wars, a series of Royalist rebellions, and a Scottish invasion. All were defeated, and Charles I was executed in 1649. The fighting continued, and Royalist forces under Charles II invaded England in 1651. Parliamentary forces defeated the Royalists and Charles II fled abroad, effectively ending the civil wars.

The wars' political consequence was the establishment of the Commonwealth and Protectorate. Seemingly Parliament was in control, but the real power lay with Cromwell and the army. Cromwell lacked real desire for reform; he dissolved Parliament by the crude expediency of armed force. He tried to work with religious leaders to “design a blueprint for a godly commonwealth", but once again his efforts were done in by the inability of the various parties to work together.

Finally, and probably with a sense of exasperation, Cromwell himself took up the reigns as Lord Protector, head of an executive council. Several efforts were made to have him named king, but this Cromwell resisted firmly. His rule was a time of rigid social and religious laws on radical Protestant lines. Cromwell had a bodyguard of 160 men during the Protectorate. In the end he was just as dictatorial and autocratic as Charles and James had been. He called Parliament when he needed money and dismissed it when it argued. On Cromwell's death his son, Richard, tried to carry on as Lord Protector (1658-59), but he was not the forceful character that his father had been. The results of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate confirmed in the English a hatred of military rule and the severe Puritanism associated with it.

The Restoration. In 1660 Parliament offered to restore the monarchy if Charles would agree to concessions for religious toleration and a general amnesty. Charles was not as hard-headed as his father, and he agreed to the proposals. He returned to London on a wave of popular support to be crowned Charles II (1660-85). The Restoration was notable for a relaxation of the strict Puritan morality of the previous decades. Theatre, sports, and dancing were revived. Charles' court was notable for its revelry and licentiousness.
Charles II was succeeded by his brother James II (1685-88). James was a Catholic, and he made several awkward attempts to re-establish the rights of Catholics, which succeeded only in allying the Whigs and Tories against him. Parliament didn't want his son taking over, so they gave the crown to William and Mary (1689-1702) who ruled England jointly. Parliament ensured that they would never again have to deal with the like of James, by passing the 1689 Bill of Rights, which prohibited Catholics from ruling. This was known as the Glorious Revolution. (Revolution because they overthrew the last Catholic monarch, Glorious because no one died.) Parliament put more restrictions on the monarch. The king couldn't make or suspend laws, have an army during peacetime, and the king couldn't interfere with freedom of speech in Parliament.

In 1707, under Queen Anne, the Act of Union brought together Scotland and England to form Great Britain. The Union Jack was adopted as the new national flag, incorporating the crosses of St.George (England) and St.Andrew (Scotland). Anne had seventeen children, all of whom predeceased her, so on her death the throne went to the Bavarian, George of Hanover.

Conclusion

King James I of England who began the period was also King James VI of Scotland, thus combining the two thrones for the first time.

The Stuart dynasty reigned in England and Scotland from 1603 to 1714, a period which saw a flourishing Court culture but also much upheaval and instability, of plague, fire and war.

It was an age of intense religious debate and radical politics. Both contributed to a bloody civil war in the mid-seventeenth century between Crown and Parliament, resulting in a parliamentary victory for Oliver Cromwell and the dramatic execution of King Charles I.

There was a short-lived republic, the first time that the country had experienced such an event.

The Restoration of the Crown was soon followed by another Glorious Revolution. William and Mary of Orange ascended the throne as joint monarchs and defenders of Protestantism, followed by Queen Anne, the second of James II's daughters.

The Stuarts were the first kings of the United Kingdom.

The end of the Stuart line with the death of Queen Anne led to the drawing up of the Act of Settlement in 1701, which provided that only Protestants could hold the throne.

The next in line according to the provisions of this act was George of Hanover, yet Stuart princes remained in the wings. The Stuart legacy was to linger on in the form of claimants to the Crown for another century.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04