© Richard Randall

Caribbean

Sundries

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paid tonnage or poundage not authorised by Parliament would "be reputed a betrayer of the liberties of England, and an enemy to the same". Though the resolution was not formally passed, many members declared their approval. Afterwards, when the Commons passed further measures obnoxious to the King, Charles commanded the dissolution of Parliament.

Charles resolved not to be forced to rely on Parliament for further monetary aid. Immediately, he made peace with France and Spain. The following eleven years, during which Charles ruled without a Parliament, have been known as the Eleven Years Tyranny. Historians who do not wish to take sides simply refer to this period as the Personal Rule. Charles' attempt to rule without Parliament was not unlawful under the precedents at that time: it constituted a valid exercise of the royal prerogative, although it must be noted that what had been considered lawful in previous times may well be seen as tyrannical in contemporary eyes. Such was the case of Charles' supposed Tyranny: though in former ages his rule would indeed be considered just and right by most Englishmen, towards the middle of the 17th century it was held by most of his subjects an exercise of absolute power. Indeed, the American colonialists would repeat the same charges of tyranny (lodging and quartering of troops in civilian properties; taxation without representation; deprivation of the common law right to jury trial; denial of judicial life-tenure; and the use of various tortures, etc.) against the British Crown a century later in the American Revolution.

In the meantime Charles still had to acquire funds in order to maintain his treasury. Relying on an all but forgotten feudal statute passed in 1278, requiring anyone who earned £40 or more each year to present himself at the King's coronation so that he may join the royal army as a knight, Charles fined all individuals who failed to attend his coronation in 1626. He reintroduced the obsolete feudal tax known as ship money which was even more unpopular. A writ issued in 1634 ordered the collection of ship money in peacetime, notwithstanding statutes of Edward I and Edward III that had prohibited the levying of such a tax except during wars. This first writ of 1634, however, did not encourage much opposition on legal grounds, but a second writ of 1635 did. Charles' third writ demanding ship money, issued in 1636, made it clear that the ancient prohibition on collecting ship money during peacetime had been swept away. Many attempted to resist payment, but Charles' judges, whose tenure depended on his "good pleasure," declared that the tax was within the King's prerogative. This action of demanding ship money to be raised in peacetime aggravated rebellion thus forcing him to call parliament into session by 1640.

Religious conflicts

Charles believed in a sacramental version of the Church of England called High Anglicanism, with a theology based upon Arminianism, a belief shared by his main political advisor, Archbishop William Laud. Laud was appointed by Charles as the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633 and started a series of reforms in the Church to make it more ceremonial, starting with the replacement of the wooden communion tables with stone altars. Laud attempted to ensure religious uniformity by dismissing non-conformist clergymen and closing Puritan organisations. This was actively hostile to the Reformist tendencies of many of his English and Scottish subjects. His policy was obnoxious to Calvinist theology, and insisted that the Church of England's liturgy be celebrated with all of the ceremony and vestments called for by the Book of Common Prayer.

In order to punish those who refused to conform to the religious norms established by the Church of England he used the two most feared and most arbitrary courts in the land, the Court of High Commission and the Court of Star Chamber. The former could compel individuals to provide self-incriminating testimony, whilst the latter could inflict any punishment whatsoever (including torture), with the sole exception of death.

The lawlessness of the Court of Star Chamber under Charles I far exceeded that under any of his predecessors. Under Charles' reign, defendants were regularly hauled before the Court without indictment, due process of the law, right to confront witnesses, and their testimonies were routinely extracted by the King and his courtiers through extensive torture.

The first years of the Eleven Year Tyranny were marked by peace (guaranteed by what was essentially a police state) in England. Several individuals opposed Charles' taxes and Laud's policies, but remained under control. When, however, Charles attempted to impose his religious policies in Scotland he faced numerous difficulties. The King ordered the use of a new Prayer Book modeled on the English Book of Common Prayer, which, although supported by the Scottish Bishops, was resisted by many Presbyterian Scots, who saw the new Prayer Book as a vehicle for introducing Anglicanism to Scotland. When the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland abolished Episcopalian government (that is, governance of the Church by Bishops) in 1638, replacing it with Presbyterian government (that is, governance by Elders and Deacons), Charles sought to put down what he saw as a rebellion against his authority.

In 1639, when the First Bishops' War broke out, he sought to collect taxes from his subjects, who refused to yield any further. Charles's war ended in a humiliating truce in June of the same year. In the Pacification of Berwick, Charles agreed to grant his Scottish subjects civil and ecclesiastical freedoms.

Short and Long Parliaments

Disputes regarding the interpretation of the peace treaty between Charles and the Church of Scotland led to further conflict. To subdue the Scots, Charles needed more money; therefore, he took the fateful step of recalling Parliament in April 1640. Although Charles offered to repeal ship money, the House of Commons proved obdurate. It demanded the discussion of various abuses of power during the Personal Rule. As Parliament stood fast, it was dissolved in May 1640, less than a month after it assembled; thus, the Parliament became known as the "Short Parliament".

In the meantime, Charles attempted to defeat the Scots, but failed miserably. The humiliating Treaty of Ripon, signed after the end of the Second Bishops' War in October 1640, required the King to pay the expenses of the Scottish army he had just fought. Charles took the unusual step of summoning the magnum concilium, the ancient council of all the Peers of the Realm, who were considered the King's hereditary counsellors. The magnum concilium had not been summoned in centuries, and it has not been summoned since Charles's reign. On the advice of the peers, Charles summoned another Parliament, which, in contrast with its predecessor, became known as the Long Parliament.

The Long Parliament assembled in November 1640 under the leadership of John Pym, and proved just as difficult to negotiate with as the Short Parliament. It undertook measures which both threatened Charles' political position and caused him some personal grief. The members of the House of Commons thought of themselves as conservatives defending the King, the Church and parliamentary government against innovations in religion and the tyranny of Charles's cronies, but their actions made Charles view many of them as dangerous rebels trying to undermine traditional government. For example, Charles was unable to resist demands for the execution of his advisor Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford.

To prevent the King from dissolving it at will, Parliament passed the Triennial Act, to which the Royal Assent was granted in February 1641. The Act required that Parliament was to be summoned at least once every three years, and that when the King failed to issue proper summons, the members could assemble on their own. In May, he assented to an even more far-reaching Act, which provided that Parliament could not be dissolved without its own consent. Charles was forced into one concession after another. He agreed to bills of attainder authorising the executions of Thomas Wentworth and William Laud. Ship money, fines in destraint of knighthood and forced loans were declared unlawful, and the hated Courts of Star Chamber and High Commission were abolished. Although he made several important concessions, Charles improved his own military position by securing the favour of the Scots. He finally agreed to the official establishment of Presbyterianism; in return, he was able to enlist considerable anti-parliamentary support.

In November 1641, the House of Commons passed the Grand Remonstrance, denouncing all the abuses of power Charles had committed since the beginning of his reign.

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