Charles I

1

• Charles I
• After James I died, Charles I inherited throne
  (1625)
• Physically weak didnt walk until 7 and
  severe speech impediment
• Overcame weaknesses with hard work sports and
  elocution
• Like his father, believed in the Divine Right
  Of Kings
• Married Henrietta Maria who shared beliefs and
  hated Puritans
• Puritans wished to purify the Anglican
  Church from any remaining traces of Roman
  Catholic ritual.
• Also believed in Predestination God
  determined who would be saved, the elect, and
  who would not from the beginning of time.

2

• Charles I cont
• Puritan movement strong in South England ran
  opposite the landed aristocracy in the north,
  who were largely Catholic.
• Parliament 1625 Charles wanted money to fund
  his expenses and ongoing war with Spain. He
  got less than he wanted, and Parliament passed
  measures to restrict his right to collect
  import and export duties and to meet annually to
  review government expenses.
• Charless response forcing loans to the
  government and collecting unapproved taxes.
• 1628 Parliament Charles demands his requests
  for money met.
• Parliaments response The Petition of Right
  King must have Parliamentary consent to levy
  taxes.

3

• Charles I cont
• Charles orders Parliament to adjourn after it
  begins to enforce strictly Calvinist views and
  to punish Catholics. Only adjourns after the
  kings troops threaten.
• Several leading Parliamentarians imprisoned.
• Absolute King the next 11 years. No
  Parliament. New taxes without consent of the
  people.
• Puritans angered Puritan leaders imprisoned,
  tortured, and executed. Puritans begin
  emigrating to America.
• Scottish Revolt didnt stand for the new
  rules imposed by Calvinism in favor of
  Scottish Presbyterianism

4

• Revolution and Civil War
• The Long Parliament The Grand Remonstrance
  - required that the kings appointees be
  approved by Parliament. Charles attempted to
  arrest the members of Parliament, but they
  werent there. They retreated to Guildhall and
  were protected by a citizen army. Charles fled
  to York. His wife fled to France.
• Roundheads Parliaments army Cavaliers
  Royalist Troops
• Oliver Cromwell the leader of the Puritans.
  Defeated the Royalist forces .
• 1649 Rump Parliament tried Charles I for
  treason (making war on Parliament), and was
  executed on January 30th.

5

• Commonwealth and Protectorate
• Protestant Interregnum 1649 1660 Era of
  Puritan rule in England.
• Commonwealth 1649-1653 Cromwell and radical
  Puritan Parliament closed newspapers, outlawed
  frivolous activities such as going to the
  theater and dancing.
• Faced riots in Scotland and Ireland, and war
  with Holland and Spain.
• Country deeply divided over the right to
  execute a rightful heir to the throne.
• Parliament dissolved in 1653, and Cromwell
  declared Lord Protector for Life, essentially
  a dictator and absolute monarch.

6

• Commonwealth and Protectorate
• Special Session of Parliament called after
  Cromwells death, and Charles II, in exile in
  France, called back to be king. Monarchy
  restored, revolution ended.
• In Summary, War broke out in 1642, and it
  officially ended in 1649 with the execution of
  Charles I. The period which follows is known as
  the Interregnum (from Latin), implying a "time
  between" kings, because there was no king during
  this time. For most of it, England was ruled by
  Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector. The monarchy
  was restored in 1660, less than two years after
  Cromwell's death his son and followers simply
  couldn't muster the iron will or the military
  power to keep the nation unified after his death.

7

• Literature of the period
• The Metaphysical Poets John Donne
• The Cavalier Poets Robert Herrick, Andrew
  Marvell
• Puritan Writers John Milton and John Bunyan
• The war and its aftermath, had tremendous effects
  on the literature of the day. Most of the writers
  were considered by themselves, as well as by
  later scholars "Cavaliers," (supporters of the
  Monarchy), or Metaphysical Poets, or Puritans.

8

• Metaphysical Poetry
• The term was first coined by Samuel Johnson and
  was used in a negative light. He and another
  poet named John Dryden were critical of the
  group of poets as too proud of their wit.
• The Metaphysicals were out of critical favor
  for the 18th and 19th centuries (the Romantics
  wouldnt like this heavily intellectualized
  poetry).
• Metaphysical Poetry joins together a number of
  17th century poets, most notable among them
  John Donne and Andrew Marvell

9

• Metaphysical Poetry cont
• Metaphysical means dealing with the
  relationship between spirit to matter or the
  ultimate nature of reality.
• The Metaphysical poets are obviously not the
  only poets to deal with this subject matter, so
  there are a number of other qualities involved
  as well 
• Use of ordinary speech mixed with puns,
  paradoxes and conceits (a paradoxical metaphor
  causing a shock to the reader by the
  strangeness of the objects compared some
  examples lovers and a compass, the soul and
  timber, the body and mind)

10

• Metaphysical Poetry cont
• The exaltation of wit, which in the 17th
  century meant a nimbleness of thought a sense
  of fancy (imagination of a fantastic or
  whimsical nature) and originality in figures of
  speech.
• Abstruse terminology often drawn from science
  or law Often poems are presented in the form
  of an argument In love poetry, the
  metaphysical poets often draw on ideas from
  Renaissance Neo-Platonism to show the
  relationship between the soul and body and the
  union of lovers' souls
• They also try to show a psychological realism
  when describing the tensions of love.
•  

11

• The Cavalier Poets
• An early seventeenth-century movement, centered
  on Robert Herrick, for example, and most were
  admirers of Ben Jonson.
• They get their name from the supporters of King
  Charles I in the seventeenth century the
  Cavaliers were Royalists during the Civil Wars.
  (The supporters of Parliament were nicknamed
  Roundheads.)
• It's traditional to contrast the Cavalier poets
  to the Metaphysical Poets.
• Whereas the Metaphysical poets were fond of
  abstruse imagery and complicated metaphors, the
  Cavaliers preferred more straightforward
  expression.

12

• The Cavalier Poets
• They valued elegance and were part of a
  refined, courtly culture, but their poetry is
  often frankly erotic.
• Their strength was the short lyric poem, and a
  favorite theme was carpe diem, "seize the
  day.
• "Cavalier" implies more than just "Royalist"  -
  it implies a particular class of man Courtly,
  well-educated, genteel.
• The Cavaliers are as likely to be talented with
  the rapier (sword) as with rapier wit, and
  seemingly honored skill with each.
• Cavalier Poetry is distinguished by a certain
  airiness, a lightness of tone and often of
  subject.

13

• The Cavalier Poets
• Certain themes and techniques - Many are love
  poems.
• Different attitude toward love - more carefree,
  even flippant, and often more sexual than
  Renaissance Poetry.
• Also a Dark Side - The history of this period
  is shadowed by the darkness of war and
  persecution, so the poetry often has a dark
  side.
• Darkness and Death are less obvious, or less
  seriously dealt with, than in Donne and other
  Metaphysical Poetry. Underlying sense of
  impending decay or death. Part of Carpe Diem.
  
• Robert Herrick - To The Virgins, To Make Much of
  Time.

14

• Restoration and 18th Century
• Charles II becomes king in 1660. Parliament
  restored.
• James II forced to abdicate the throne out of
  fear of another staunch Catholic ruler.
  William and Mary become joint monarchs in 1688.
  
• William and Mary give Parliament the right to
  levy taxes and moved government toward
  Constitutional Monarchy.
• Queen Anne creates nation of Great Britain in
  1707 by uniting Scotland and England.
• George I created the cabinet system of
  ministers chosen from Parliament to aid the
  monarch.

15

• Science, Philosophy, and Reason
• Sir Isaac Newton laws of gravity and motion
• Idea of natural order - a clockwork universe
  regulated by rational principles influenced
  idea that human intellect could solve social,
  political, and economic problems by discovering
  natural laws.
• Leads to the name Age of Reason or
  Enlightenment
• The Divine Right of Kings under dispute, and
  the idea that we all have natural rights comes
  to surface.
• Neoclassical literature in search for
  rationality and order, the classics are
  rediscovered. Used classical forms and
  allusions and promoted ideals of harmony,
  tradition, and reason. Emphasis on social
  interactions.

16

• Neoclassical Literature
• Age of Pope - Alexander Pope - The Rape
  of the Lock mock epic satirizes the battle
  of the sexes. - Jonathan Swift A Modest
  Proposal Essay, and Gullivers Travels
• Age of Dryden - Mock Heroic or Mock Epic
  Poetry grand scope, lofty language, but mocks
  the heroes. - Oroonoko first English novel
  written
• Age of Johnson move away from neoclassicism
  toward the free, more emotional, and more
  natural style of the Romantics.

17

• The End of The Enlightenment
• Progress achieved through scientific and
  technological advances of Industrial Revolution
  began to appear less positive. - Overworked in
  factories and mills - Deteriorating social
  conditions
• Is it worth it?
• Turn from rational and orderly ideals of
  Neoclassicism to intense, emotional ideals that
  would become ROMANTICISM.