Causes of the English Civil War

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Causes of the English Civil War

• The Personal Rule

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Recent essays

• How important was religion in the disputes
  between Charles I and his opponents in the period
  from 1640 to 1642?
• How true is the view that the breakdown of
  Charles Is personal rule in 1639-40 was both
  sudden and unexpected?
• Assess the reasons why Charles Is personal rule
  (1629-40) became widely unpopular in England.
• Assess the aims of the parliamentary opposition
  to Charles I from the meeting of the short
  parliament in 1640 to the outbreak of civil war
  in 1642.

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The Personal Rule, 1629-40
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Key issue

• Personal Rule or 11 Years Tyranny
• Long term causes making war possible!
• Content
• Situation in 1629
• Religious grievances Laud
• Thomas Wentworth
• Financial grievances

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Situation in 1629

• Charles clearly stated he was not ending the
  king-in-parliament tradition
• Charles would recall parliament when it would
  return to its ancient and reasonable way of
  conducting business
• Charles was acting within his powers long
  periods without parliament were not unique
• Barriers of politeness had been breached in
  1628-29

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Religious grievances

• Background
• King Supreme Head of the Church
• Fear of Catholicism Mary I and burning of
  Protestants (1653-8) Spanish Armada (1688)
  Gunpowder Plot (1605)
• Thirty Years War
• By 1629 England had experienced a partial
  reformation

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William Laud

• Archbishop of Canterbury 1633
• Fellow Laudians gained key bishoprics Wren
  (Norwich), Montague (Chichester), Neile (York)
• By mid-1630s was the kings chief policy adviser,
  dominating the Privy Council and the Court of
  Star Chamber
• High Church Arminian policies
• Arminians (anti-Calvinist) reformation had gone
  too far
• Attacked Calvinist predestination beliefs
  claiming salvation was available to all
• Opposition of Puritans desired further
  reformation (propaganda popish plot)

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Dangerous innovations

• Beauty of Holiness
• Emphasis on ceremony (visual) rather than
  preaching/sermons (words)
• Repairs stain-glassed windows vestments
• Altar moved from nave to east end of church and
  railed in (a plain device to usher in the mass
  Root and Branch Petition)
• Removal of family pews
• Laudian bishops prominent positions in
  government/ interfered in secular affairs
• Created martyrs through prerogative courts
• Was consistent William Pickering (Catholic)
  fined 5000 and had tongue pierced with an awl
  (1638) for describing Protestants as heretics
  and devils

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Why hated?

• Associated with Catholicism Catholic plot
• No effort to explain wisdom of changes
• Ensured conformity through royal prerogative
  courts
• Harsh treatment of Prynne, Burton and Bastwick
  fined 5000 each, imprisoned, had their ears
  cropped and their cheeks branded (SL Seditious
  Libeller). Created martyrs released in 1640
  and marched into London as heroes
• Threat to landowners vested interests
  possession of tithes in danger
• Evil Counsellor executed in 1645

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Henrietta Maria

• Marriage to Henrietta Maria
• Allowed to practice her religion freely
• Portrayed as evil papist, who seduced her husband
  away from Protestantism
• Sons (Charles and James) accompanied her to mass

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Thomas Wentworth

• 1629 member of Privy Council 1633 Lord Deputy of
  Ireland
• Policy of thorough
• 1634 Irish parliament obtained 3 subsidies
  refused to deal with grievances (esp. Graces)
• Effective administrator (piracy, law and order,
  improved agriculture and industry, boosted
  government revenue, created a small army)
• Alienated most interest groups in Ireland

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• 1639 recalled to England to help Charles deal
  with the Scots
• Advised recall of parliament (short parliament)
• Alarmed many in England who feared similar
  policies in England
• Reputation as Black Tom Tyrant
• Achievements wasted by Irish Rebellion
• Executed in 1643 impeached/ Bill of Attainder/
  released Charles from his promise (crowd of
  200,000)

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Financial grievances

• Inherited debt - 1 million
• Declining value of subsidies
• Previous sale of crown lands
• Expensive and unsuccessful wars with France
  (peace treaty 1629) and Spain (1630)
• Richard Weston limited success in reducing
  royal expenditure (investigated navy, ordinance,
  royal household)

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• Tonnage and poundage (1638, 170,000)
• Impositions (late 1630s, about 200,000)
• Recusancy fines
• Ship money (Oct 1634 coastal tax June 1635
  extended to inland counties) John Hampden case
  (5-7 moral victory) payment of 80 1638 1639
  20 sheriffs liable for any shortfall
• Knighthood fines anyone with land over 40 p/a
  who had not received a knighthood (170,000)
  unjust/inflation
• Forest fines boundaries of royal forests
  declared those of twelfth century
• Monopolies granted to industrial and commercial
  corporations (loophole in Monopoly Act only
  forbid grant to individuals) Popish soap
  monopoly
• Wardships (maximum of 83,000) administration
  of estates inherited by minors
• Coat and cloth money to fight Scots

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Political grievances

• Divine right theory that monarchs derived their
  power from God and were only accountable to Him.
  Institutions like parliament existed only at the
  kings pleasure and the king alone was the law
  maker
• Fear of absolutist monarchy

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Key dates of the Personal Rule

• Mar 1629 King dissolved parliament
• Jan 1631 Books of Orders issued by Privy Council
  after successive bad harvests
• Jan 1632 Wentworth appointed Lord Deputy of
  Ireland
• Nov 1632 Sir John Eliot died in the Tower

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• Aug 1633 William Laud appointed Archbishop of
  Canterbury
• Oct 1634 ship money writs issued to maritime
  counties
• June 1635 Ship money levied on the whole country
• Mar 1636 William Juxon, bishop of London,
  appointed lord treasurer
• June 1637 Prynne, Burton and Bastewick case