WEBVTT

1
00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:24.280
<v Speaker 1>Hello and Welcome to Western SIEV episode four hundred and

2
00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:30.519
<v Speaker 1>fifty eight. Charles alone, with the Duke of Buckingham now

3
00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:33.759
<v Speaker 1>firmly in the ground, the King took sole charge of

4
00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:38.200
<v Speaker 1>the administration. It was reported by his secretaries that he

5
00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:42.399
<v Speaker 1>dispatched more business in two weeks than Buckingham had managed

6
00:00:42.679 --> 00:00:45.960
<v Speaker 1>in three months. He told his Privy Council that he

7
00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:48.920
<v Speaker 1>would postpone the opening of Parliament until the following year.

8
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.359
<v Speaker 1>He retained the same minister as as before, but of

9
00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:55.119
<v Speaker 1>course he didn't trust them as much as he had

10
00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:59.799
<v Speaker 1>trusted Buckingham. There would be no more royal favorites for

11
00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:03.320
<v Speaker 1>the remainder of his reign, except for maybe his Queen,

12
00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:07.599
<v Speaker 1>Henrianta Maria, who, after the death of Buckingham, entered into

13
00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:11.599
<v Speaker 1>a much more intimate relationship with her husband. Now, there

14
00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:14.719
<v Speaker 1>were still a lot of problems that were besetting the kingdom.

15
00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:19.280
<v Speaker 1>Law Rochelle still needed to be relieved, and so in

16
00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:22.319
<v Speaker 1>the early autumn of the year, a third expedition was

17
00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:25.200
<v Speaker 1>sent to the besieged town, but it was no more

18
00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:28.640
<v Speaker 1>successful than any of its predecessors, and the Protestants there

19
00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:33.760
<v Speaker 1>continued to languish, and so as a result, in October

20
00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:37.280
<v Speaker 1>of sixteen twenty eight, the authorities of law Rochelle signed

21
00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:40.200
<v Speaker 1>a treaty of surrendered to the French King. The walls

22
00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:44.000
<v Speaker 1>of the city were demolished, the Protestants dispersed, and now

23
00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:48.560
<v Speaker 1>Charles had no purpose to intervene. Now, in the absence

24
00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:54.239
<v Speaker 1>of Buckingham, the King became more uncertain and prevaricated than ever.

25
00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:57.519
<v Speaker 1>He couldn't decide who should he make a treaty with.

26
00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:00.359
<v Speaker 1>Should he make a treaty with France against Spain or

27
00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:05.400
<v Speaker 1>Spain against France. Now there was no question of waging

28
00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:09.400
<v Speaker 1>outright war against either nation. Frankly, the king did not

29
00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:13.319
<v Speaker 1>have the resources to do so, or any realistic prospect

30
00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:17.199
<v Speaker 1>of raising money by other means. In any case, the

31
00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:21.479
<v Speaker 1>zeal for war was rapidly ebbing in the country. There

32
00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:25.560
<v Speaker 1>might have been some delay in signing all the relative treaties,

33
00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:29.800
<v Speaker 1>but after the Duke of Buckingham, the reality was a

34
00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:34.759
<v Speaker 1>period of peace had become inevitable. Parliament did finally open

35
00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:38.840
<v Speaker 1>in January of sixteen twenty nine, and almost immediately became

36
00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:42.599
<v Speaker 1>clear that its opening did not bode well for the country.

37
00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:48.639
<v Speaker 1>The biggest issue remained that of religion. A royal declaration

38
00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:52.120
<v Speaker 1>had been issued in the parliamentary recess that the quote

39
00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:56.000
<v Speaker 1>Church has the right to decrease ceremonies and authority to

40
00:02:56.039 --> 00:03:01.319
<v Speaker 1>decide controversies of religion end quote. But what did they

41
00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:07.280
<v Speaker 1>mean by church? The English Episcopal Church had a series

42
00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:12.159
<v Speaker 1>of bishops, but it didn't have hope. Technically, the king

43
00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:15.199
<v Speaker 1>was in charge of the church. Does that mean that

44
00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:20.439
<v Speaker 1>he would be issuing religious decrees? William Laude, now the

45
00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:23.560
<v Speaker 1>Bishop of London, had helped to draw up the proclamation,

46
00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:26.520
<v Speaker 1>and in the same period a number of his supporters

47
00:03:26.759 --> 00:03:32.159
<v Speaker 1>had been promoted to vacant positions. These were the Armenians,

48
00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:37.639
<v Speaker 1>or high churchmen, who clearly rejected the practices of Calvinism.

49
00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:41.960
<v Speaker 1>For parliament, this was a direct challenge to the old

50
00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:46.680
<v Speaker 1>creed of the church. Sir John Ellman MP told his

51
00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:51.000
<v Speaker 1>parliamentary colleagues that the prelates with the King's authority might

52
00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:54.719
<v Speaker 1>quote order it which way they please, and so for

53
00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:58.639
<v Speaker 1>aught I know, to bring in popery and Armenianism, to

54
00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:04.719
<v Speaker 1>which we are told we must submit. Quote. Another member

55
00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:08.800
<v Speaker 1>named Christopher Sheerland said of the Armenians that they creep

56
00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:11.759
<v Speaker 1>into the ears of the King Majesty and suggest that

57
00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:17.800
<v Speaker 1>those that oppose them also oppose his majesty. It became

58
00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:22.240
<v Speaker 1>a confrontation therefore, between the Calvinists of the old Church

59
00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:26.000
<v Speaker 1>that have been much more successful over the previous administrations,

60
00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:31.040
<v Speaker 1>and the Armenian bishops of the new. Now there's a

61
00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.240
<v Speaker 1>lot of division here, and there was a lot of

62
00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:36.279
<v Speaker 1>name saying and a lot of claiming that people did

63
00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:40.279
<v Speaker 1>different things that maybe they didn't necessarily do or necessarily

64
00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:44.120
<v Speaker 1>believe in. It was claimed, for example, that the Calvinists

65
00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:47.079
<v Speaker 1>were ready to take up the cause of individual concepts

66
00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:51.079
<v Speaker 1>against the precepts of established faith and prerogative of the sovereign.

67
00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:54.040
<v Speaker 1>That is, you could choose for your own moral reasons

68
00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:56.519
<v Speaker 1>to ignore the king. Clearly, that wasn't going to go

69
00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:01.399
<v Speaker 1>well with Charles. The Armenian bishops were, on their own turn,

70
00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:06.160
<v Speaker 1>accused by their opponents of preaching passive obedience and the

71
00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:08.759
<v Speaker 1>divine right of kings, which is a little bit more

72
00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:13.680
<v Speaker 1>close to accurate, but not exactly. Certainly, the Calvinists believed

73
00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:17.920
<v Speaker 1>in predestination, grace, and the Gospel. The Armenians put their

74
00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:22.439
<v Speaker 1>faith in free will, the sacraments, and deference the ceremonial order.

75
00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:26.480
<v Speaker 1>It was not conceived by any contemporary that these were

76
00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:30.560
<v Speaker 1>controversies that could stir a civil war. But this was

77
00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:33.399
<v Speaker 1>the moment when members of Parliament and members of the

78
00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:40.319
<v Speaker 1>Court first decided to take sides. Now the Commons, animated

79
00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:44.160
<v Speaker 1>by various speeches, continued to affirm that it alone had

80
00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:47.199
<v Speaker 1>the right to determine the will and the religion of

81
00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:53.120
<v Speaker 1>the country, and as a consequence, Charles adjourned Parliament on

82
00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:56.279
<v Speaker 1>the twenty fifth of February for a week as both

83
00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:01.600
<v Speaker 1>sides continued this talk of war, so by early March

84
00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:05.839
<v Speaker 1>things were headed towards a final confrontation. On March, the

85
00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:09.399
<v Speaker 1>second Speaker, Sir John Finch, announced to the comments that

86
00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:12.160
<v Speaker 1>it was the King's wish that they should adjourn for

87
00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:16.120
<v Speaker 1>a further eight days. Such a request in the past

88
00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:21.199
<v Speaker 1>had always just been summarily accepted, but now the members

89
00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:25.160
<v Speaker 1>stood up and began to shout no, no, over and

90
00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:29.560
<v Speaker 1>over again. Finch moved to rise from his chair, thus

91
00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:33.920
<v Speaker 1>abruptly ending the session, but some members barred his way

92
00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:39.959
<v Speaker 1>and thrust him back into his seat. Denzil Hall's, another MP,

93
00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:44.399
<v Speaker 1>told him quote God's wounds, you shall sit till we

94
00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:49.759
<v Speaker 1>please to rise end quote. Elliott then announced that the

95
00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:53.360
<v Speaker 1>members would have the privilege of adjourning themselves after he

96
00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:58.000
<v Speaker 1>had read out a declaration of their intentions. Of course,

97
00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:00.839
<v Speaker 1>Finch didn't know what to do in this situation, then

98
00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:04.240
<v Speaker 1>pointedly asked everyone, what would you do if you were

99
00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:06.879
<v Speaker 1>in my place? Let not my desire to serve you

100
00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:11.160
<v Speaker 1>faithfully lead to my ruin end quote. He of course,

101
00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:16.319
<v Speaker 1>was now in an impossible situation with incompatible loyalties. Were

102
00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:20.240
<v Speaker 1>going into an era and people didn't necessarily recognize it yet,

103
00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:23.879
<v Speaker 1>but an era where you couldn't be loyal to Parliament

104
00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:27.759
<v Speaker 1>and the king. It was, as I mentioned before, a

105
00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:33.480
<v Speaker 1>time for choosing sides. Some members, realizing the gravity of

106
00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:37.040
<v Speaker 1>the approaching confrontation, tried to get up to leave, but

107
00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:39.519
<v Speaker 1>the sergeant at arms was ordered to close the doors.

108
00:07:40.199 --> 00:07:44.079
<v Speaker 1>When he hesitated, another member locked the doors and put

109
00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:47.839
<v Speaker 1>away the key. Elliott then spoke out in a ferocious

110
00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:51.160
<v Speaker 1>attack upon the evil counselors that had surrounded the king.

111
00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:56.079
<v Speaker 1>He also assaulted Armenianism as quite frankly, nothing more than

112
00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:59.759
<v Speaker 1>an open door to Rome. Suddenly, as all this was

113
00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:02.639
<v Speaker 1>going going on, knocks were heard at the door. The

114
00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:05.639
<v Speaker 1>king had now taken an own step and ordered the

115
00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:08.639
<v Speaker 1>Sergeant at Arms to bring away the royal mace, which

116
00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:15.399
<v Speaker 1>technically deprived the proceedings of any royal authority. So ends

117
00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:18.519
<v Speaker 1>this is going on. Member of Parliament that I mentioned

118
00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:23.600
<v Speaker 1>earlier at denzil Halls swiftly proposed three resolutions. Number one,

119
00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:27.199
<v Speaker 1>anyone who tried to introduce popery or Armeniumism into the

120
00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:32.440
<v Speaker 1>Kingdom would be considered a capital enemy. Number two, anyone

121
00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:36.360
<v Speaker 1>who should advise the King of levying customs duties without

122
00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:41.200
<v Speaker 1>the authority of the Parliament would similarly be considered an enemy.

123
00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:46.519
<v Speaker 1>And lastly, if any merchant should voluntarily agree to pay

124
00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:50.360
<v Speaker 1>the duties of tonnage and poundage, he would be reputed

125
00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:52.840
<v Speaker 1>to be a betrayer of the liberties of England and

126
00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:56.799
<v Speaker 1>an enemy all the same. Again, you can see the

127
00:08:56.840 --> 00:09:03.679
<v Speaker 1>lines being drawn. Thelllutions were quickly adopted. Having delivered his

128
00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:06.799
<v Speaker 1>message to the nation he felt, Collins asked that the

129
00:09:06.840 --> 00:09:10.559
<v Speaker 1>House now adjourn itself, to which there were immediate cries

130
00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:15.720
<v Speaker 1>of I. The doors were thrown open, and the triumphant

131
00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:20.000
<v Speaker 1>parliamentarians streamed out to announce the news to a happy nation.

132
00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:47.279
<v Speaker 1>They would not meet again for another eleven years. Two

133
00:09:47.399 --> 00:09:51.320
<v Speaker 1>days after the members of Parliament streamed triumphantly out the doors.

134
00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:55.919
<v Speaker 1>The King announced the dissolution of Parliament. At the same

135
00:09:55.960 --> 00:10:01.200
<v Speaker 1>time he ordered nine of its members arrested. John Elliot,

136
00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:04.679
<v Speaker 1>of course, was the principal object of the King's wrath.

137
00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:08.519
<v Speaker 1>Not only was he furious about some of the actions

138
00:10:08.519 --> 00:10:11.759
<v Speaker 1>that he had taken within those closed doors, but Charles

139
00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:15.279
<v Speaker 1>blamed Elliot for the death of Buckingham because of his

140
00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:20.240
<v Speaker 1>angry Philippics against his favorite. The immediate aftermath of the

141
00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:25.120
<v Speaker 1>disillusion was one of dismay and bewilderment throughout the country.

142
00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:29.840
<v Speaker 1>The majority of merchants refused to pay the customs duties

143
00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:33.320
<v Speaker 1>demanded of them on the grounds that a future parliament

144
00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:37.000
<v Speaker 1>might condemn them as betrayers of the kingdom, and so

145
00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:41.399
<v Speaker 1>they simply declined to trade. There were caalcil trans lasted

146
00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:46.279
<v Speaker 1>for two months until the prospect of financial ruin ended

147
00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:50.759
<v Speaker 1>their resolve. The Venetian ambassador wrote at the time that

148
00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:55.919
<v Speaker 1>quote affairs grow more bitter every day, and by these disputes,

149
00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:58.799
<v Speaker 1>the King has made his people see that he can

150
00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:04.320
<v Speaker 1>do much more than they may have imagined. I guess

151
00:11:04.360 --> 00:11:07.919
<v Speaker 1>in theory this had all been a victory for Charles,

152
00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:13.519
<v Speaker 1>but it had gravely impaired his legitimacy, his authority, and

153
00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:19.919
<v Speaker 1>his reputation. Charles had revealed himself to be arbitrary and

154
00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.559
<v Speaker 1>perhaps even illegal in his measures. It was a moment

155
00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:30.120
<v Speaker 1>I'm sure he would come to regret now. After the

156
00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:34.840
<v Speaker 1>disillusion of Parliament in March of sixteen twenty nine, the

157
00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:38.399
<v Speaker 1>King entered upon a period of personal government that was

158
00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:42.759
<v Speaker 1>to last for eleven years. To all in pents and purposes,

159
00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:47.399
<v Speaker 1>Charles had now become truly the first English experiment in

160
00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:52.440
<v Speaker 1>absolute monarchy. The people of England were simply asked to

161
00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:57.799
<v Speaker 1>trust in his benevolent intentions and to be fair. In

162
00:11:57.879 --> 00:12:01.039
<v Speaker 1>many ways, he was a gentle monarch, and there weren't

163
00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:06.159
<v Speaker 1>really any political purges or executions that took place. An

164
00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:10.799
<v Speaker 1>unparliamentary government was not, in and of itself a fruitless endeavor.

165
00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:13.720
<v Speaker 1>It was a time of a lot of improvements, and

166
00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:18.080
<v Speaker 1>especially in transport. Roads were repaired, new canals were dug,

167
00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:22.159
<v Speaker 1>The national post as service was improved. There were now

168
00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:25.320
<v Speaker 1>regular posts on the principal roads taking place of the

169
00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:29.960
<v Speaker 1>irregular system of carriers, and the absence of any national emergency,

170
00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:35.600
<v Speaker 1>the administration of local government was strengthened and extended. Now.

171
00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:40.440
<v Speaker 1>Of course, the only way that all this domestic tranquility worked, though,

172
00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:46.679
<v Speaker 1>was if there were external peace treaties. The king could

173
00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:51.600
<v Speaker 1>not afford war, and as long as he could raise

174
00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:54.960
<v Speaker 1>money for his own government by fines and taxation, there

175
00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:59.440
<v Speaker 1>was no need to call for a parliament. Therefore, the

176
00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:05.960
<v Speaker 1>foreign policy of England now made itself. Peace was concluded

177
00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:09.600
<v Speaker 1>with France in the spring of sixteen twenty nine, and

178
00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:14.679
<v Speaker 1>nineteen months later a truce was arranged with Spain. By

179
00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:18.039
<v Speaker 1>treaty with France, Charles was obliged to abandon his cause

180
00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.360
<v Speaker 1>of the Protestant Huguenots on the understanding that the principles

181
00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:24.279
<v Speaker 1>of his marriage treaty with Louis the thirteenth need not

182
00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.919
<v Speaker 1>be strictly applied. This would dub vice versa. By the way,

183
00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:31.600
<v Speaker 1>worked both ways. He didn't have to, for example, grant

184
00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:34.840
<v Speaker 1>freedom of worship to Roman Catholics, because Louis the thirteenth,

185
00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:37.720
<v Speaker 1>as we know, had no intention of granting the same

186
00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:42.759
<v Speaker 1>rights to Protestants within his country. He also concluded a

187
00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:46.039
<v Speaker 1>peace with Spain, which made now no mention of the

188
00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:49.919
<v Speaker 1>restoration of the Palatinate to Charles's sister and brother in law.

189
00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:55.279
<v Speaker 1>The fate of Germany was now up to itself. In

190
00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:57.960
<v Speaker 1>another clause of the treaty, it was agreed that Spanish

191
00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:01.879
<v Speaker 1>silver could be minted in England, being shipped to Antwerp,

192
00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:05.159
<v Speaker 1>where the Spanish were still engaged in fighting the Dutch.

193
00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:09.279
<v Speaker 1>Of course, it was an open question for these alliances

194
00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:13.399
<v Speaker 1>with the Catholic powers of Europe, France and Spain would

195
00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:17.440
<v Speaker 1>become a cause of discontent, But for the moment Charles

196
00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:20.879
<v Speaker 1>didn't care about any of that. He needed peace to

197
00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:25.919
<v Speaker 1>avoid calling parliament, and so he secured it. In fact,

198
00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:30.000
<v Speaker 1>the public reaction to both peace treaties was rather subdued.

199
00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:34.879
<v Speaker 1>Nobody really cared about the matter, and in fact, in

200
00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:39.519
<v Speaker 1>foreign affairs on the continent, Charles was quickly usurped because

201
00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:42.799
<v Speaker 1>in sixteen twenty nine, as we know, the King of Sweden,

202
00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:48.240
<v Speaker 1>Gustavus Adolphus, marched into Germany and embarked upon a military conquest,

203
00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:53.559
<v Speaker 1>as unexpected as it was at the time unprecedented. Now,

204
00:14:53.559 --> 00:14:56.600
<v Speaker 1>how was the English king to treat with the man

205
00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:59.159
<v Speaker 1>who had become known as the Lion of the North.

206
00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:05.399
<v Speaker 1>Gustavus Adolphus demanded men in materials from the fellow Protestant monarch.

207
00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:09.679
<v Speaker 1>But if Charles entered into an alliance with the Swedish King,

208
00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:13.440
<v Speaker 1>his friendship with Spain would come to an end, and

209
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:17.519
<v Speaker 1>of course trade with Spain was very important, as was

210
00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:22.360
<v Speaker 1>peace with it. If he refused an alliance with Gustavus Adolphus,

211
00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:26.519
<v Speaker 1>he would lose honor and of course influence on the continent.

212
00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:33.480
<v Speaker 1>If Adolphus emerged ultimately successful and victorious. So Charles, as

213
00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:38.360
<v Speaker 1>he's wont to do, just prevaricated and couldn't decide, and

214
00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:41.840
<v Speaker 1>he tried half measures to try to maintain friendship with

215
00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:45.399
<v Speaker 1>both sides. He agreed that a private force of six

216
00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:49.120
<v Speaker 1>thousand Scottish soldiers under the command of the Marquis of

217
00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:54.480
<v Speaker 1>Hamilton could join the Swedish army, but like most expeditions

218
00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:57.759
<v Speaker 1>in this era, it was a disaster, made worse by

219
00:15:57.799 --> 00:16:02.960
<v Speaker 1>epidemic disease and chronic in subordination. The king then sent

220
00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.360
<v Speaker 1>a delegation to the Swedish king quote to enter into

221
00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:11.519
<v Speaker 1>a league upon emergent occasions end quote. This is one

222
00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:14.120
<v Speaker 1>of those agreements that could mean a lot of things, or,

223
00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:18.200
<v Speaker 1>as was the case here, it could mean absolutely nothing

224
00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:22.559
<v Speaker 1>at all. In practice, it did mean nothing At one

225
00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:26.360
<v Speaker 1>point Charles band news gazettes from reporting on Swedish victories

226
00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:29.879
<v Speaker 1>because they cast such a sad light on his own

227
00:16:29.960 --> 00:16:35.519
<v Speaker 1>woeful ineptitude. That being said, Charles, as we know, didn't

228
00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:40.000
<v Speaker 1>have to deal with Gustavus Adolphus for long. The fortunes

229
00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:42.480
<v Speaker 1>of the Swedish king came to a rather abrupt end

230
00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:46.320
<v Speaker 1>in a battle outside Leipzig, where his bottle was eventually

231
00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:50.519
<v Speaker 1>found among a heap of naked corpses. The King of

232
00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:54.200
<v Speaker 1>England truly had done nothing to help the line of

233
00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:59.159
<v Speaker 1>the North. English in action had created what was called,

234
00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:04.079
<v Speaker 1>in one anonymous pamphleteer quote the practice of princes described

235
00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:13.759
<v Speaker 1>as quote hispanolized, Frenchified, Romanized or neutralized policy end quote.

236
00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:16.400
<v Speaker 1>That being said, if you were a lover of peace,

237
00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:20.480
<v Speaker 1>there was nothing wrong with any of that. After all,

238
00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:26.720
<v Speaker 1>remember how devastating the Thirty Years War was on Central Europe,

239
00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:32.279
<v Speaker 1>how costly it was for both Spain and France. Maybe

240
00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:35.799
<v Speaker 1>it was better for England to sit this one out,

241
00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:41.079
<v Speaker 1>but funds still had to be raised in England by

242
00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:46.200
<v Speaker 1>one means or another. The fines against the illegal enclosure

243
00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:51.119
<v Speaker 1>of common Land were now more strenuously enacted. The King

244
00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:54.279
<v Speaker 1>also raised a lot of money from a great scheme

245
00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:58.599
<v Speaker 1>to drain the fens of eastern England. Many articles of

246
00:17:58.839 --> 00:18:03.359
<v Speaker 1>ordinary consumption were granted for a fee to monopolists, who

247
00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:07.599
<v Speaker 1>could then set their own prices. The articles included iron

248
00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:13.720
<v Speaker 1>and salt, hans and playing cards, starch and tobacco, seaweed,

249
00:18:13.799 --> 00:18:21.559
<v Speaker 1>hand spectacles, combs and gunpowder, hats and hops, literally pattens

250
00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:26.519
<v Speaker 1>and monopolies could be purchased now for everything. In other words,

251
00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:31.279
<v Speaker 1>it wasn't a particularly great time in England if you

252
00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:35.799
<v Speaker 1>were a consumer. One of the most infamous cases of

253
00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:39.480
<v Speaker 1>selling monopolies is the case of soap. The Company of

254
00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:42.640
<v Speaker 1>Soap Makers was granted a monopoly in sixteen thirty one

255
00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:47.240
<v Speaker 1>to manufacture soap out of domestically made ingredients like vegetable oil,

256
00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:50.519
<v Speaker 1>rather than out of imported whale oil or fish oil.

257
00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:53.319
<v Speaker 1>The company agreed in turn to pay the King an

258
00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:57.920
<v Speaker 1>annual tax of twenty thousand pounds, but the previous soap

259
00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:01.240
<v Speaker 1>makers kept trying to make soap, and they were prosecuted

260
00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:04.839
<v Speaker 1>in the Star Chamber. It was actually agreed at the

261
00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:07.799
<v Speaker 1>time and thought that the Company of Soap Makers was

262
00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.880
<v Speaker 1>in fact controlled by the Catholic Friends of Queen Henrietta Maria.

263
00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:15.640
<v Speaker 1>Some of the new monopolies were actually rumored to be

264
00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:17.799
<v Speaker 1>financed by the Jesuits. In other words, that this was

265
00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:21.559
<v Speaker 1>all had nothing to do with income and was entirely

266
00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:27.200
<v Speaker 1>about religion. Many Protestant households therefore objected to buying the

267
00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:30.200
<v Speaker 1>new soap, so much so that it became known as

268
00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:35.960
<v Speaker 1>Popish soap. Other expedients were practiced, of course, Royal rights

269
00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:39.359
<v Speaker 1>over forest lands were resurrected. Those who had encroached upon

270
00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:42.559
<v Speaker 1>forest boundaries were now charged large sums, even if they

271
00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:46.000
<v Speaker 1>had done so one hundred years prior, and those who

272
00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:49.559
<v Speaker 1>had built in London upon new foundations without a permit

273
00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:54.400
<v Speaker 1>were also fined. What, then, the question was, was the

274
00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:59.880
<v Speaker 1>king's general attitude towards the personal property of his people.

275
00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:02.839
<v Speaker 1>That was what was on the tongue of everyone. Could

276
00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:05.960
<v Speaker 1>he simply take property and sell it to make up

277
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.039
<v Speaker 1>the difference if he had to? After all, if he

278
00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:12.279
<v Speaker 1>could invent new taxes without recourse to parliament, what was

279
00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:15.480
<v Speaker 1>to stop the king from simply seizing the money of

280
00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:19.480
<v Speaker 1>good Englishmen and using it for his own purposes. Many

281
00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:22.559
<v Speaker 1>suggested that the king could indeed tax without consent, that

282
00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:27.000
<v Speaker 1>the public good took precedence over private rights. Now, others,

283
00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:29.640
<v Speaker 1>of course, argued that the Englishman's right to property on

284
00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:33.359
<v Speaker 1>his goods in the state was absolute and sacrisanct. It

285
00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:38.440
<v Speaker 1>couldn't be removed by any court or sovereign. Now these

286
00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:42.759
<v Speaker 1>questions were starting to unravel domestic peace, making matters worse.

287
00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:47.599
<v Speaker 1>Of course, the harvest of sixteen thirty was absolutely disastrous.

288
00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:51.079
<v Speaker 1>This pushed up the price of grain from four shillings

289
00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:55.920
<v Speaker 1>to fourteen shillings a bushel. The prospect of starvation alarmed

290
00:20:55.960 --> 00:21:02.680
<v Speaker 1>many communities. Food riots were rampant in Kent, Hampshire and elsewhere. Now,

291
00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:05.279
<v Speaker 1>of course, all this was going on, the question of

292
00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:08.799
<v Speaker 1>religion continued to be unanswered. At the end of sixteen

293
00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:11.920
<v Speaker 1>twenty nine, William Laude had, with the assent of the King,

294
00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:16.920
<v Speaker 1>composed a quote Declaration on the Articles of Religion. It

295
00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.039
<v Speaker 1>was designed to impose order and uniformity upon the English

296
00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:23.599
<v Speaker 1>Church by prescribing forms of worship, the words of prayers,

297
00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:27.680
<v Speaker 1>and even the gestures of the clergy. It was ordained

298
00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:31.240
<v Speaker 1>that all clerics must accept the letter of thirty nine

299
00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:34.440
<v Speaker 1>articles attached to it, a demand which would in effect

300
00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:40.119
<v Speaker 1>prohibit any discussion by Calvinists on such matters as predestination

301
00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:43.519
<v Speaker 1>and any other issues which had been condemned by Laud

302
00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:47.960
<v Speaker 1>and the other bishops. The declaration was conceived thoroughly in

303
00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:52.079
<v Speaker 1>the spirit of the monarch, who believed in order above

304
00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:58.000
<v Speaker 1>all things and uniformity. Now Laud in the Capitol was

305
00:21:58.039 --> 00:22:01.880
<v Speaker 1>considered to be little more and a papist in other clothing,

306
00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:05.799
<v Speaker 1>and in due time those chickens as well would come

307
00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:10.440
<v Speaker 1>home to roost. The king, however, expressed appreciation of Laud

308
00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:14.079
<v Speaker 1>and his efforts. He appointed him chancellor of Oxford University

309
00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:18.039
<v Speaker 1>in the spring of sixteen thirty, and that wasn't the

310
00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:21.960
<v Speaker 1>only celebration. In sixteen thirty, The glory of Charles the

311
00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:26.960
<v Speaker 1>First himself was celebrated. Richard Weston, the Treasurer, commissioned a

312
00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:29.880
<v Speaker 1>statue of the king on horseback. It is perhaps the

313
00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:34.960
<v Speaker 1>most memorable image of his entire reign. The authority of

314
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:38.480
<v Speaker 1>the king's image was amplified by the evidence of his fertility.

315
00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:43.319
<v Speaker 1>In the spring of sixteen thirty, Queen Henrietta Maria presented

316
00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:47.000
<v Speaker 1>him with a son, an heir, also to be named Charles.

317
00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:51.559
<v Speaker 1>In fact, the infant Charles was also the first in

318
00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:56.559
<v Speaker 1>English history to be born as heir to all three kingdoms.

319
00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:00.839
<v Speaker 1>Charles had been born before his father James ascended to

320
00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:04.440
<v Speaker 1>the English throne. The birth of Suns seemed to indicate

321
00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:09.039
<v Speaker 1>that the Stuart dynasty might continue forever, and in fact,

322
00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:11.039
<v Speaker 1>if we go back and we look at other histories

323
00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:14.079
<v Speaker 1>of the realm, Edward Hyde, the first Earl of Clarendon,

324
00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:17.640
<v Speaker 1>claimed in his History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars

325
00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:21.599
<v Speaker 1>in England that during the personal rule of Chiles, quote,

326
00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:25.519
<v Speaker 1>the like peace and plenty and universal tranquility for ten

327
00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:31.599
<v Speaker 1>years was never enjoyed by any nation end quote. Another historian,

328
00:23:31.799 --> 00:23:34.480
<v Speaker 1>Sir Philip Warwick, in his Memoirs of the Reign of

329
00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:38.599
<v Speaker 1>Charles the First wrote that quote from the year sixteen

330
00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:42.640
<v Speaker 1>twenty eight onto the year sixteen thirty eight. I believe

331
00:23:42.839 --> 00:23:47.880
<v Speaker 1>England was never master of a profounder peace, nor enjoyed

332
00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.279
<v Speaker 1>more wealth, or had the power and form of Godliness

333
00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:56.519
<v Speaker 1>more visible in it end quote. But even though some

334
00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:59.960
<v Speaker 1>contemporary historians believed that this was a perfect period of peace,

335
00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:03.920
<v Speaker 1>as we will find out in our next episode, there

336
00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:07.279
<v Speaker 1>were many many people in England who did not agree.

337
00:24:08.039 --> 00:24:11.640
<v Speaker 1>In fact, the Cracks and Fishers were already appearing across

338
00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:16.359
<v Speaker 1>English society that would lead inexorably to Civil war