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The StuartsJames IJames I (reigned 1603-25), son of Mary, Queen of Scots (and descended from Henry VII's daughter Margaret), had been king of Scotland for 36 years, when he became king of England. Although he was king of both countries, James's attempt to create a full governmental union proved premature. An able theologian, he ordered a new translation of the Bible which became known as the Authorised King James' Version of the Bible. James himself was fairly tolerant in terms of religious faith, but the Gunpowder Plot (an attempt by Guy Fawkes and other Roman Catholic conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament) in 1605 resulted in the reimposition of strict penalties on Roman Catholics. As an arts patron, James employed the architect Inigo Jones to build the present Banqueting House in Whitehall, and the post of Poet Laureate dates from his reign.Although he believed that kings took their authority from God, James accepted that his actions were subject to the law. Unable, like many of his predecessors, to put royal finances on a sound footing, James was often in dispute with his Parliaments. A proposed 'Great Contract' (1610), under which Parliament would provide a regular income to the Crown to meet government costs and maintain the navy and army, in exchange for modifying the monarch's fundraising, came to nothing. The Addled Parliament of 1614 lasted eight weeks. The outbreak of the Thirty Years War (1618-48) in Europe spread, and financial pressures forced James in 1621 to summon Parliament, but when the House of Commons tried to debate wider aspects of foreign policy and asserted their right to discuss any subject, James dissolved it. A further Parliament, summoned in 1624, failed to resolve foreign policy questions. On James's death in 1625, the kingdom was on the edge of war with Spain. |
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Charles ICharles I (reigned 1625-49) was a shy, aloof man who lacked the qualities necessary to make him a successful ruler. Parliament refused to grant him taxes for his wars against France and Spain and he raised money by other means such as forced loans. His third Parliament criticised his management of the wars and condemned his illegal taxation, whereupon he dissolved Parliament and for the next 11 years governed without it.In 1640 Charles was forced to call Parliament to pay for his war against the Scots on whom he was trying to impose an Anglican prayer book. Parliament overturned many of Charles's policies but had no wish to overthrow the King. However, Charles's attempt to arrest five leading members of the House of Commons, and a Roman Catholic rebellion in Ireland (which sharpened the debate over the command of the army) helped to push the King and Parliament apart. In 1642 civil war broke out. By 1647 the King's army had been defeated. Attempts were made to reach a settlement but after Charles's escape and a renewal of the war, the leaders of the Parliamentary army determined that the King should be put on trial. In January 1649 he was tried for waging war on his people, condemned to death and executed at Whitehall in London. InterregnumCromwell's convincing military successes at Drogheda in Ireland (1649), Dunbar in Scotland (1650) and Worcester in England (1651) forced Charles I's son, Charles, into foreign exile despite being accepted as king in Scotland.From 1649 to 1660, England was therefore a republic during a period known as the Interregnum ('between reigns'). A series of political experiments followed, as the country's rulers tried to redefine and establish a workable constitution without a monarchy. Throughout the Interregnum, Cromwell's relationship with Parliament was a troubled one, with tensions over the nature of the constitution and the issue of supremacy, control of the armed forces and debate over religious toleration. In 1653 Parliament was dissolved, and under the Instrument of Government, Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector, later refusing the offer of the throne. Further disputes with the House of Commons followed; at one stage Cromwell resorted to regional rule by a number of the army's major generals. After Cromwell's death in 1658, and the failure of his son Richard's short-lived Protectorate, the army under General Monk invited Charles I's son, Charles, to become King. |
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Charles IIAlthough those who had signed Charles I's death warrant (the regicides) were punished, Charles (reigned 1660-85) pursued a policy of political tolerance and power-sharing. Religious toleration was more difficult to achieve. The Act of Uniformity of 1662 restored the Anglican Church and imposed the use of the Book of Common Prayer, and oaths of allegiance on clergy. Those who would not conform were excluded from clerical and other positions (e.g. universities). James, Charles's brother and heir, was a Roman Catholic and there were attempts to exclude him from the throne. Anti-Catholicism was widespread and the Test Act excluded Roman Catholics from both Houses of Parliament.Charles sponsored the founding of the Royal Society in 1660 (still in existence today), to promote scientific research. Charles also encouraged the building of the Greenwich Observatory, and he was a patron of Sir Christopher Wren in the design and building of St Paul's Cathedral, Chelsea Hospital and other London buildings. Charles died in 1685, becoming a Roman Catholic on his deathbed. James IIDespite his Catholicism, James II (reigned 1685-88) succeeded to the throne peacefully. A rebellion led by Charles's illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, was easily crushed after the battle of Sedgemoor in 1685. However, James's attempts to give civic equality to Roman Catholic and Protestant Dissenters led to conflict with Parliament, as it was seen as James showing favouritism towards Roman Catholics. Fear of Catholicism was widespread and the possibility of a standing army led by Roman Catholic officers produced protest in Parliament. As a result, James prorogued Parliament in 1685 and ruled without it. In 1687 he issued the Declaration of Indulgence aiming at religious toleration. When his second (Roman Catholic) wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a son (later known as James Stuart, father of Charles Edward Stuart, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'), it seemed as if a Roman Catholic dynasty would be established. William of Orange, Protestant husband of James's elder daughter, Mary (by James's first and Protestant wife, Anne Hyde), was therefore welcomed when he invaded in 1688. The army and navy deserted to William, and James fled to France. |
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William and MaryIn 1689 Parliament declared that James had abdicated by deserting his kingdom. William (reigned 1689-1702) and Mary (reigned 1689-94) were offered the throne as joint monarchs. They accepted a Declaration of Rights (later a Bill), drawn up by a Convention of Parliament, which limited the sovereign's power, reaffirmed Parliament's claim to control taxation and legislation, and provided guarantees against the abuses of power which James II and the other Stuart kings had committed. The exclusion of James II and his heirs was extended to exclude all Roman Catholics from the throne, and the sovereign was required in his coronation oath to swear to maintain the Protestant religion.The Bill was designed to ensure Parliament could function free of royal interference. The sovereign was forbidden from suspending or dispensing with laws passed by Parliament, or imposing taxes without Parliamentary consent. The sovereign was not allowed to interfere with elections or freedom of speech, and proceedings in Parliament were not to be questioned in the courts or in any body outside Parliament itself. (This was the basis of modern Parliamentary privilege.) The sovereign was required to summon Parliament frequently (the Triennial Act of 1694 reinforced this by requiring the regular summoning of Parliaments). Parliament tightened control over the king's expenditure; the financial settlement reached with William and Mary made them dependent upon Parliament, which meant annual sessions of Parliament. Finally, the king was forbidden to maintain a standing army in time of peace without Parliament's consent. The Bill of Rights added further defences of individual rights. The king was forbidden to establish his own courts or to act as a judge himself, and the courts were forbidden to impose excessive bail, fines or cruel and unusual punishments. However, the sovereign could still summon and dissolve Parliament, appoint and dismiss ministers, veto legislation and declare war. The Toleration Act gave all non-conformists (except Roman Catholics) freedom of worship. In 1697, Parliament decided to give an annual grant of £700,000 to the king for life, as a contribution to the expenses of civil government which included judges' and ambassadors' salaries, as well as the expenses of the Royal Household. The Bill of Rights had established the succession with the heirs of Mary II, Anne and William III, in that order, but by 1700 Mary had died childless, the last of Anne's 17 children had died and William was dying. The succession had to be decided. The Act of Settlement of 1701 was designed to secure the Protestant succession to the throne, and to strengthen the guarantees for ensuring a parliamentary system of government. According to the Act, succession to the throne went to Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover and James I's granddaughter, and her Protestant heirs. The Act also laid down the conditions under which alone the crown could be held. No Roman Catholic, nor anyone married to a Roman Catholic, could hold the English crown. The sovereign now had to swear to maintain the Church of England (and, after 1707, the Church of Scotland). Under the Act, parliamentary consent had to be given for the sovereign to engage in war or leave the country; and judges were to hold office on good conduct and not at royal pleasure - thus establishing judicial independence. The Act of Settlement reinforced the Bill of Rights, in that it strengthened the principle that government was undertaken by the sovereign and his or her constitutional advisers (i.e. his or her ministers), not by the sovereign and any personal advisers whom he or she happened to choose. AnneOn William's death in 1702, his sister-in-law Anne (Protestant younger daughter of James II and his first wife) succeeded him. Within months, another war in Europe had started (the War of the Spanish Succession), which was to overshadow most of Anne's reign (1702-14). A series of military victories by John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, strengthened England's negotiating position at the end of the war; under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, France recognised Anne's title (and exiled James II's Roman Catholic son, James Stuart, from France) - the treaty also confirmed England's possession of Gibraltar.Party politics became more significant throughout Anne's reign, with Whigs (who supported limited monarchy, and whose support tended to come from religious dissenters) and Tories (who favoured strong monarchy and the religious status quo embodied in the Church of England) competing for power. In her first message to Parliament, Anne repeated William's invitation to consider the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland. After much negotiation, in 1707 the Act of Union brought England and Scotland together. Both English and Scottish Parliaments were dissolved and a new united Parliament was established; there was to be a common flag and common coinage; but many Scottish legal and religious institutions were preserved. Until their dismissal in 1710, the political scene was dominated by Marlborough (whose wife enjoyed the influence of a 20-year friendship with the queen) and the Lord Treasurer Godolphin, who headed a financial team mostly independent of the party factions. However, in 1711, as a result of a Tory ministry's disagreement with the Whig majority in the House of Lords over the future peace settlement to war in Europe, Anne was persuaded to create peers for party purposes. This represented an important weakening of the royal prerogative. |
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