Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to Western SIEV episode four hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty eight. Charles alone, with the Duke of Buckingham now
Speaker 1: firmly in the ground, the King took sole charge of
Speaker 1: the administration. It was reported by his secretaries that he
Speaker 1: dispatched more business in two weeks than Buckingham had managed
Speaker 1: in three months. He told his Privy Council that he
Speaker 1: would postpone the opening of Parliament until the following year.
Speaker 1: He retained the same minister as as before, but of
Speaker 1: course he didn't trust them as much as he had
Speaker 1: trusted Buckingham. There would be no more royal favorites for
Speaker 1: the remainder of his reign, except for maybe his Queen,
Speaker 1: Henrianta Maria, who, after the death of Buckingham, entered into
Speaker 1: a much more intimate relationship with her husband. Now, there
Speaker 1: were still a lot of problems that were besetting the kingdom.
Speaker 1: Law Rochelle still needed to be relieved, and so in
Speaker 1: the early autumn of the year, a third expedition was
Speaker 1: sent to the besieged town, but it was no more
Speaker 1: successful than any of its predecessors, and the Protestants there
Speaker 1: continued to languish, and so as a result, in October
Speaker 1: of sixteen twenty eight, the authorities of law Rochelle signed
Speaker 1: a treaty of surrendered to the French King. The walls
Speaker 1: of the city were demolished, the Protestants dispersed, and now
Speaker 1: Charles had no purpose to intervene. Now, in the absence
Speaker 1: of Buckingham, the King became more uncertain and prevaricated than ever.
Speaker 1: He couldn't decide who should he make a treaty with.
Speaker 1: Should he make a treaty with France against Spain or
Speaker 1: Spain against France. Now there was no question of waging
Speaker 1: outright war against either nation. Frankly, the king did not
Speaker 1: have the resources to do so, or any realistic prospect
Speaker 1: of raising money by other means. In any case, the
Speaker 1: zeal for war was rapidly ebbing in the country. There
Speaker 1: might have been some delay in signing all the relative treaties,
Speaker 1: but after the Duke of Buckingham, the reality was a
Speaker 1: period of peace had become inevitable. Parliament did finally open
Speaker 1: in January of sixteen twenty nine, and almost immediately became
Speaker 1: clear that its opening did not bode well for the country.
Speaker 1: The biggest issue remained that of religion. A royal declaration
Speaker 1: had been issued in the parliamentary recess that the quote
Speaker 1: Church has the right to decrease ceremonies and authority to
Speaker 1: decide controversies of religion end quote. But what did they
Speaker 1: mean by church? The English Episcopal Church had a series
Speaker 1: of bishops, but it didn't have hope. Technically, the king
Speaker 1: was in charge of the church. Does that mean that
Speaker 1: he would be issuing religious decrees? William Laude, now the
Speaker 1: Bishop of London, had helped to draw up the proclamation,
Speaker 1: and in the same period a number of his supporters
Speaker 1: had been promoted to vacant positions. These were the Armenians,
Speaker 1: or high churchmen, who clearly rejected the practices of Calvinism.
Speaker 1: For parliament, this was a direct challenge to the old
Speaker 1: creed of the church. Sir John Ellman MP told his
Speaker 1: parliamentary colleagues that the prelates with the King's authority might
Speaker 1: quote order it which way they please, and so for
Speaker 1: aught I know, to bring in popery and Armenianism, to
Speaker 1: which we are told we must submit. Quote. Another member
Speaker 1: named Christopher Sheerland said of the Armenians that they creep
Speaker 1: into the ears of the King Majesty and suggest that
Speaker 1: those that oppose them also oppose his majesty. It became
Speaker 1: a confrontation therefore, between the Calvinists of the old Church
Speaker 1: that have been much more successful over the previous administrations,
Speaker 1: and the Armenian bishops of the new. Now there's a
Speaker 1: lot of division here, and there was a lot of
Speaker 1: name saying and a lot of claiming that people did
Speaker 1: different things that maybe they didn't necessarily do or necessarily
Speaker 1: believe in. It was claimed, for example, that the Calvinists
Speaker 1: were ready to take up the cause of individual concepts
Speaker 1: against the precepts of established faith and prerogative of the sovereign.
Speaker 1: That is, you could choose for your own moral reasons
Speaker 1: to ignore the king. Clearly, that wasn't going to go
Speaker 1: well with Charles. The Armenian bishops were, on their own turn,
Speaker 1: accused by their opponents of preaching passive obedience and the
Speaker 1: divine right of kings, which is a little bit more
Speaker 1: close to accurate, but not exactly. Certainly, the Calvinists believed
Speaker 1: in predestination, grace, and the Gospel. The Armenians put their
Speaker 1: faith in free will, the sacraments, and deference the ceremonial order.
Speaker 1: It was not conceived by any contemporary that these were
Speaker 1: controversies that could stir a civil war. But this was
Speaker 1: the moment when members of Parliament and members of the
Speaker 1: Court first decided to take sides. Now the Commons, animated
Speaker 1: by various speeches, continued to affirm that it alone had
Speaker 1: the right to determine the will and the religion of
Speaker 1: the country, and as a consequence, Charles adjourned Parliament on
Speaker 1: the twenty fifth of February for a week as both
Speaker 1: sides continued this talk of war, so by early March
Speaker 1: things were headed towards a final confrontation. On March, the
Speaker 1: second Speaker, Sir John Finch, announced to the comments that
Speaker 1: it was the King's wish that they should adjourn for
Speaker 1: a further eight days. Such a request in the past
Speaker 1: had always just been summarily accepted, but now the members
Speaker 1: stood up and began to shout no, no, over and
Speaker 1: over again. Finch moved to rise from his chair, thus
Speaker 1: abruptly ending the session, but some members barred his way
Speaker 1: and thrust him back into his seat. Denzil Hall's, another MP,
Speaker 1: told him quote God's wounds, you shall sit till we
Speaker 1: please to rise end quote. Elliott then announced that the
Speaker 1: members would have the privilege of adjourning themselves after he
Speaker 1: had read out a declaration of their intentions. Of course,
Speaker 1: Finch didn't know what to do in this situation, then
Speaker 1: pointedly asked everyone, what would you do if you were
Speaker 1: in my place? Let not my desire to serve you
Speaker 1: faithfully lead to my ruin end quote. He of course,
Speaker 1: was now in an impossible situation with incompatible loyalties. Were
Speaker 1: going into an era and people didn't necessarily recognize it yet,
Speaker 1: but an era where you couldn't be loyal to Parliament
Speaker 1: and the king. It was, as I mentioned before, a
Speaker 1: time for choosing sides. Some members, realizing the gravity of
Speaker 1: the approaching confrontation, tried to get up to leave, but
Speaker 1: the sergeant at arms was ordered to close the doors.
Speaker 1: When he hesitated, another member locked the doors and put
Speaker 1: away the key. Elliott then spoke out in a ferocious
Speaker 1: attack upon the evil counselors that had surrounded the king.
Speaker 1: He also assaulted Armenianism as quite frankly, nothing more than
Speaker 1: an open door to Rome. Suddenly, as all this was
Speaker 1: going going on, knocks were heard at the door. The
Speaker 1: king had now taken an own step and ordered the
Speaker 1: Sergeant at Arms to bring away the royal mace, which
Speaker 1: technically deprived the proceedings of any royal authority. So ends
Speaker 1: this is going on. Member of Parliament that I mentioned
Speaker 1: earlier at denzil Halls swiftly proposed three resolutions. Number one,
Speaker 1: anyone who tried to introduce popery or Armeniumism into the
Speaker 1: Kingdom would be considered a capital enemy. Number two, anyone
Speaker 1: who should advise the King of levying customs duties without
Speaker 1: the authority of the Parliament would similarly be considered an enemy.
Speaker 1: And lastly, if any merchant should voluntarily agree to pay
Speaker 1: the duties of tonnage and poundage, he would be reputed
Speaker 1: to be a betrayer of the liberties of England and
Speaker 1: an enemy all the same. Again, you can see the
Speaker 1: lines being drawn. Thelllutions were quickly adopted. Having delivered his
Speaker 1: message to the nation he felt, Collins asked that the
Speaker 1: House now adjourn itself, to which there were immediate cries
Speaker 1: of I. The doors were thrown open, and the triumphant
Speaker 1: parliamentarians streamed out to announce the news to a happy nation.
Speaker 1: They would not meet again for another eleven years. Two
Speaker 1: days after the members of Parliament streamed triumphantly out the doors.
Speaker 1: The King announced the dissolution of Parliament. At the same
Speaker 1: time he ordered nine of its members arrested. John Elliot,
Speaker 1: of course, was the principal object of the King's wrath.
Speaker 1: Not only was he furious about some of the actions
Speaker 1: that he had taken within those closed doors, but Charles
Speaker 1: blamed Elliot for the death of Buckingham because of his
Speaker 1: angry Philippics against his favorite. The immediate aftermath of the
Speaker 1: disillusion was one of dismay and bewilderment throughout the country.
Speaker 1: The majority of merchants refused to pay the customs duties
Speaker 1: demanded of them on the grounds that a future parliament
Speaker 1: might condemn them as betrayers of the kingdom, and so
Speaker 1: they simply declined to trade. There were caalcil trans lasted
Speaker 1: for two months until the prospect of financial ruin ended
Speaker 1: their resolve. The Venetian ambassador wrote at the time that
Speaker 1: quote affairs grow more bitter every day, and by these disputes,
Speaker 1: the King has made his people see that he can
Speaker 1: do much more than they may have imagined. I guess
Speaker 1: in theory this had all been a victory for Charles,
Speaker 1: but it had gravely impaired his legitimacy, his authority, and
Speaker 1: his reputation. Charles had revealed himself to be arbitrary and
Speaker 1: perhaps even illegal in his measures. It was a moment
Speaker 1: I'm sure he would come to regret now. After the
Speaker 1: disillusion of Parliament in March of sixteen twenty nine, the
Speaker 1: King entered upon a period of personal government that was
Speaker 1: to last for eleven years. To all in pents and purposes,
Speaker 1: Charles had now become truly the first English experiment in
Speaker 1: absolute monarchy. The people of England were simply asked to
Speaker 1: trust in his benevolent intentions and to be fair. In
Speaker 1: many ways, he was a gentle monarch, and there weren't
Speaker 1: really any political purges or executions that took place. An
Speaker 1: unparliamentary government was not, in and of itself a fruitless endeavor.
Speaker 1: It was a time of a lot of improvements, and
Speaker 1: especially in transport. Roads were repaired, new canals were dug,
Speaker 1: The national post as service was improved. There were now
Speaker 1: regular posts on the principal roads taking place of the
Speaker 1: irregular system of carriers, and the absence of any national emergency,
Speaker 1: the administration of local government was strengthened and extended. Now.
Speaker 1: Of course, the only way that all this domestic tranquility worked, though,
Speaker 1: was if there were external peace treaties. The king could
Speaker 1: not afford war, and as long as he could raise
Speaker 1: money for his own government by fines and taxation, there
Speaker 1: was no need to call for a parliament. Therefore, the
Speaker 1: foreign policy of England now made itself. Peace was concluded
Speaker 1: with France in the spring of sixteen twenty nine, and
Speaker 1: nineteen months later a truce was arranged with Spain. By
Speaker 1: treaty with France, Charles was obliged to abandon his cause
Speaker 1: of the Protestant Huguenots on the understanding that the principles
Speaker 1: of his marriage treaty with Louis the thirteenth need not
Speaker 1: be strictly applied. This would dub vice versa. By the way,
Speaker 1: worked both ways. He didn't have to, for example, grant
Speaker 1: freedom of worship to Roman Catholics, because Louis the thirteenth,
Speaker 1: as we know, had no intention of granting the same
Speaker 1: rights to Protestants within his country. He also concluded a
Speaker 1: peace with Spain, which made now no mention of the
Speaker 1: restoration of the Palatinate to Charles's sister and brother in law.
Speaker 1: The fate of Germany was now up to itself. In
Speaker 1: another clause of the treaty, it was agreed that Spanish
Speaker 1: silver could be minted in England, being shipped to Antwerp,
Speaker 1: where the Spanish were still engaged in fighting the Dutch.
Speaker 1: Of course, it was an open question for these alliances
Speaker 1: with the Catholic powers of Europe, France and Spain would
Speaker 1: become a cause of discontent, But for the moment Charles
Speaker 1: didn't care about any of that. He needed peace to
Speaker 1: avoid calling parliament, and so he secured it. In fact,
Speaker 1: the public reaction to both peace treaties was rather subdued.
Speaker 1: Nobody really cared about the matter, and in fact, in
Speaker 1: foreign affairs on the continent, Charles was quickly usurped because
Speaker 1: in sixteen twenty nine, as we know, the King of Sweden,
Speaker 1: Gustavus Adolphus, marched into Germany and embarked upon a military conquest,
Speaker 1: as unexpected as it was at the time unprecedented. Now,
Speaker 1: how was the English king to treat with the man
Speaker 1: who had become known as the Lion of the North.
Speaker 1: Gustavus Adolphus demanded men in materials from the fellow Protestant monarch.
Speaker 1: But if Charles entered into an alliance with the Swedish King,
Speaker 1: his friendship with Spain would come to an end, and
Speaker 1: of course trade with Spain was very important, as was
Speaker 1: peace with it. If he refused an alliance with Gustavus Adolphus,
Speaker 1: he would lose honor and of course influence on the continent.
Speaker 1: If Adolphus emerged ultimately successful and victorious. So Charles, as
Speaker 1: he's wont to do, just prevaricated and couldn't decide, and
Speaker 1: he tried half measures to try to maintain friendship with
Speaker 1: both sides. He agreed that a private force of six
Speaker 1: thousand Scottish soldiers under the command of the Marquis of
Speaker 1: Hamilton could join the Swedish army, but like most expeditions
Speaker 1: in this era, it was a disaster, made worse by
Speaker 1: epidemic disease and chronic in subordination. The king then sent
Speaker 1: a delegation to the Swedish king quote to enter into
Speaker 1: a league upon emergent occasions end quote. This is one
Speaker 1: of those agreements that could mean a lot of things, or,
Speaker 1: as was the case here, it could mean absolutely nothing
Speaker 1: at all. In practice, it did mean nothing At one
Speaker 1: point Charles band news gazettes from reporting on Swedish victories
Speaker 1: because they cast such a sad light on his own
Speaker 1: woeful ineptitude. That being said, Charles, as we know, didn't
Speaker 1: have to deal with Gustavus Adolphus for long. The fortunes
Speaker 1: of the Swedish king came to a rather abrupt end
Speaker 1: in a battle outside Leipzig, where his bottle was eventually
Speaker 1: found among a heap of naked corpses. The King of
Speaker 1: England truly had done nothing to help the line of
Speaker 1: the North. English in action had created what was called,
Speaker 1: in one anonymous pamphleteer quote the practice of princes described
Speaker 1: as quote hispanolized, Frenchified, Romanized or neutralized policy end quote.
Speaker 1: That being said, if you were a lover of peace,
Speaker 1: there was nothing wrong with any of that. After all,
Speaker 1: remember how devastating the Thirty Years War was on Central Europe,
Speaker 1: how costly it was for both Spain and France. Maybe
Speaker 1: it was better for England to sit this one out,
Speaker 1: but funds still had to be raised in England by
Speaker 1: one means or another. The fines against the illegal enclosure
Speaker 1: of common Land were now more strenuously enacted. The King
Speaker 1: also raised a lot of money from a great scheme
Speaker 1: to drain the fens of eastern England. Many articles of
Speaker 1: ordinary consumption were granted for a fee to monopolists, who
Speaker 1: could then set their own prices. The articles included iron
Speaker 1: and salt, hans and playing cards, starch and tobacco, seaweed,
Speaker 1: hand spectacles, combs and gunpowder, hats and hops, literally pattens
Speaker 1: and monopolies could be purchased now for everything. In other words,
Speaker 1: it wasn't a particularly great time in England if you
Speaker 1: were a consumer. One of the most infamous cases of
Speaker 1: selling monopolies is the case of soap. The Company of
Speaker 1: Soap Makers was granted a monopoly in sixteen thirty one
Speaker 1: to manufacture soap out of domestically made ingredients like vegetable oil,
Speaker 1: rather than out of imported whale oil or fish oil.
Speaker 1: The company agreed in turn to pay the King an
Speaker 1: annual tax of twenty thousand pounds, but the previous soap
Speaker 1: makers kept trying to make soap, and they were prosecuted
Speaker 1: in the Star Chamber. It was actually agreed at the
Speaker 1: time and thought that the Company of Soap Makers was
Speaker 1: in fact controlled by the Catholic Friends of Queen Henrietta Maria.
Speaker 1: Some of the new monopolies were actually rumored to be
Speaker 1: financed by the Jesuits. In other words, that this was
Speaker 1: all had nothing to do with income and was entirely
Speaker 1: about religion. Many Protestant households therefore objected to buying the
Speaker 1: new soap, so much so that it became known as
Speaker 1: Popish soap. Other expedients were practiced, of course, Royal rights
Speaker 1: over forest lands were resurrected. Those who had encroached upon
Speaker 1: forest boundaries were now charged large sums, even if they
Speaker 1: had done so one hundred years prior, and those who
Speaker 1: had built in London upon new foundations without a permit
Speaker 1: were also fined. What, then, the question was, was the
Speaker 1: king's general attitude towards the personal property of his people.
Speaker 1: That was what was on the tongue of everyone. Could
Speaker 1: he simply take property and sell it to make up
Speaker 1: the difference if he had to? After all, if he
Speaker 1: could invent new taxes without recourse to parliament, what was
Speaker 1: to stop the king from simply seizing the money of
Speaker 1: good Englishmen and using it for his own purposes. Many
Speaker 1: suggested that the king could indeed tax without consent, that
Speaker 1: the public good took precedence over private rights. Now, others,
Speaker 1: of course, argued that the Englishman's right to property on
Speaker 1: his goods in the state was absolute and sacrisanct. It
Speaker 1: couldn't be removed by any court or sovereign. Now these
Speaker 1: questions were starting to unravel domestic peace, making matters worse.
Speaker 1: Of course, the harvest of sixteen thirty was absolutely disastrous.
Speaker 1: This pushed up the price of grain from four shillings
Speaker 1: to fourteen shillings a bushel. The prospect of starvation alarmed
Speaker 1: many communities. Food riots were rampant in Kent, Hampshire and elsewhere. Now,
Speaker 1: of course, all this was going on, the question of
Speaker 1: religion continued to be unanswered. At the end of sixteen
Speaker 1: twenty nine, William Laude had, with the assent of the King,
Speaker 1: composed a quote Declaration on the Articles of Religion. It
Speaker 1: was designed to impose order and uniformity upon the English
Speaker 1: Church by prescribing forms of worship, the words of prayers,
Speaker 1: and even the gestures of the clergy. It was ordained
Speaker 1: that all clerics must accept the letter of thirty nine
Speaker 1: articles attached to it, a demand which would in effect
Speaker 1: prohibit any discussion by Calvinists on such matters as predestination
Speaker 1: and any other issues which had been condemned by Laud
Speaker 1: and the other bishops. The declaration was conceived thoroughly in
Speaker 1: the spirit of the monarch, who believed in order above
Speaker 1: all things and uniformity. Now Laud in the Capitol was
Speaker 1: considered to be little more and a papist in other clothing,
Speaker 1: and in due time those chickens as well would come
Speaker 1: home to roost. The king, however, expressed appreciation of Laud
Speaker 1: and his efforts. He appointed him chancellor of Oxford University
Speaker 1: in the spring of sixteen thirty, and that wasn't the
Speaker 1: only celebration. In sixteen thirty, The glory of Charles the
Speaker 1: First himself was celebrated. Richard Weston, the Treasurer, commissioned a
Speaker 1: statue of the king on horseback. It is perhaps the
Speaker 1: most memorable image of his entire reign. The authority of
Speaker 1: the king's image was amplified by the evidence of his fertility.
Speaker 1: In the spring of sixteen thirty, Queen Henrietta Maria presented
Speaker 1: him with a son, an heir, also to be named Charles.
Speaker 1: In fact, the infant Charles was also the first in
Speaker 1: English history to be born as heir to all three kingdoms.
Speaker 1: Charles had been born before his father James ascended to
Speaker 1: the English throne. The birth of Suns seemed to indicate
Speaker 1: that the Stuart dynasty might continue forever, and in fact,
Speaker 1: if we go back and we look at other histories
Speaker 1: of the realm, Edward Hyde, the first Earl of Clarendon,
Speaker 1: claimed in his History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars
Speaker 1: in England that during the personal rule of Chiles, quote,
Speaker 1: the like peace and plenty and universal tranquility for ten
Speaker 1: years was never enjoyed by any nation end quote. Another historian,
Speaker 1: Sir Philip Warwick, in his Memoirs of the Reign of
Speaker 1: Charles the First wrote that quote from the year sixteen
Speaker 1: twenty eight onto the year sixteen thirty eight. I believe
Speaker 1: England was never master of a profounder peace, nor enjoyed
Speaker 1: more wealth, or had the power and form of Godliness
Speaker 1: more visible in it end quote. But even though some
Speaker 1: contemporary historians believed that this was a perfect period of peace,
Speaker 1: as we will find out in our next episode, there
Speaker 1: were many many people in England who did not agree.
Speaker 1: In fact, the Cracks and Fishers were already appearing across
Speaker 1: English society that would lead inexorably to Civil war