WEBVTT 1 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:23.600 Hello, and welcome to Western SIV, episode four hundred and 2 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:28.679 fifty nine. Personal Rule. Now, while he was ruling on 3 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:31.640 his own, Charles was determined that the local gentry and 4 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:34.240 nobility should play an active part in the government of 5 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:38.159 their own neighborhoods, and so a proclamation was issued fairly 6 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:41.880 early on, ordering any of the nobility still living in 7 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:45.200 London to go back to the countryside where they belong 8 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:48.840 and take up an active role in his government. And 9 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:51.759 all throughout the realm it seems like the servants of 10 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:55.520 the Crown were doing their duties. At the beginning of March, 11 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:59.079 William Laud preached at Paul's Cross in celebration of the 12 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:03.799 sixth anniversary of the King's ascension. He remarked that quote 13 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:06.920 some are so woppishly set to sting that nothing can 14 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:10.840 please their ears until it sharpened their edge against authority. 15 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:13.959 I hope I shall offend none by praying for the 16 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:17.879 King end quote. But there are other counsilors going on. 17 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:21.120 Sir Thomas Wentworth a name that we'll have to know. 18 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:24.719 He had been dispatched to York as the Lord President 19 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:27.719 of the North to curb disorder. But at the beginning 20 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:30.719 of sixteen thirty two, he was further promoted to now 21 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:34.640 the Lord Deputy of Ireland. The Lord Deputy of Ireland 22 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:38.879 was a critical position. Ireland was, for all practical purposes, 23 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:42.799 a colony of Great Britain at this point, and as 24 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.319 a consequence he was there to rule over the rebellious, 25 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:50.000 not only Irish, but what we'll call the old English, 26 00:01:50.239 --> 00:01:54.120 who will get to in short enough term here now Wentworth, 27 00:01:54.519 --> 00:01:58.480 like lawd believed that only royal sovereignty could bring order 28 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:03.280 out of disorder and plan out of anarchy. As Lord 29 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:07.159 Deputy of Ireland, therefore, he was inclined to drive himself 30 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:10.280 over any opposition to consolidate the authority of the King 31 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:14.080 to lead the people, and in particular the recent English settlers, 32 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:18.919 the new English, into the pastors of obedience and docility. 33 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:23.960 He believed fully in the powers of the King, and 34 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:28.199 he believed them like scripture. Interestingly enough, it was Lawed 35 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:31.960 the preacher that was more practical than Wentworth. All the 36 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:35.159 facets of royal power, by virtue of the fact that 37 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:39.000 Parliament wasn't going to be called for eleven years, had 38 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:42.319 to grow in stature. During this period. Proclamations of the 39 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:47.199 Privy Council were now given legislative authority. There wasn't another choice, 40 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:50.919 and Privy councilors could make laws on those matters which 41 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:56.199 actual courts neglected or simply avoided. The Star Chamber, that 42 00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:00.120 old institution that was developed under Henry the eighth, also 43 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:03.479 enjoyed new authority with its enforcement of proclamations from the 44 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:09.960 Council and his pursuit of any transgressors of royal prerogative. Now, 45 00:03:10.039 --> 00:03:12.919 of all the people who began to follow the law, 46 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:16.360 there were, of course many who did not, and one 47 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:20.840 of the most prominent public offenders was William Prine. He 48 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:25.719 had already aroused controversy throughout this period of independent rule 49 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:30.240 with his strongly Puritan opinions. He was also a writer, 50 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:34.560 and in the late autumn of sixteen thirty two Prinn's 51 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:39.240 History Max a Scourge of stage players, launched a general 52 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:42.400 assault upon the plays and players of London, with a 53 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:46.599 particular attack upon the practice of boys playing female roles, 54 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:50.360 of any women at all appearing on stage. This was 55 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:54.439 one of those sort of common targets of Puritans. He 56 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:59.039 wrote that actresses were quote unquote notorious whores and asked 57 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:03.319 quote if any Christian woman be so more than horrishly 58 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:07.560 imputed to act to speak publicly on stage in presence 59 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:11.919 of sundry men and women end quote. Now this was 60 00:04:11.960 --> 00:04:17.040 a very unfortunate sentence for Prine to write, because the Queen, 61 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:21.639 Henrietta Maria, had only just taken part in a theatrical 62 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:26.680 production entitled The Shepherd's Paradise, and did it just a 63 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:31.800 few weeks after this tract came out. The play itself 64 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:37.439 was totally mild. It was recorded that it's audience that quote, 65 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:40.639 my Lord Chamberlain saith that no chamber maids shall enter 66 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:43.480 unless she sit cross legged on top of a bulk 67 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:49.120 end quote. Nevertheless, Prine's attack upon female characters was reinterpreted 68 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:52.639 in royal circles as an attack upon the Queen herself. 69 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:57.639 He also denounced dancing as the cause of shame and wickedness. 70 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:00.720 It was also well known that the Queen was quite 71 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:04.560 fond of dancing. Prine was ultimately sent to the Tower, 72 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:08.959 where he faced prosecution by the Star Chamber and by 73 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:12.879 the High Commission on Religious Affairs. He was sentenced to 74 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:17.800 imprisonment for life, find five thousand pounds and expelled from 75 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:21.639 London's Inn, where he had practiced law. The severity of 76 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:25.120 this judgment was enhanced by the brutal order that both 77 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.199 of his ears should be cut off, and the sentence 78 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:31.560 was duly carried out. One of his ears was sent 79 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:36.000 to Westminster, the other Cheapside. In the spring of sixteen 80 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:39.959 thirty three, the king returned to his homeland, Scotland. He 81 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:43.279 made a leisurely journey northward and reached Edinburgh by the 82 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:46.720 middle of June. His relations with Scotland in the past 83 00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:50.519 had not been entirely happy, but on this occasion he 84 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:53.000 was crowned the King of Scotland in due order on 85 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:57.120 the eighteenth of June. The coronation itself marked by ritual 86 00:05:57.160 --> 00:06:01.319 and formal ceremony, and nobody was interested in this. Most 87 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:04.519 of the Scots, brought up in the Presbyterian faith thought 88 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:07.600 this looked a little bit too much like Roman popery. 89 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:11.279 One of the complaints advanced by the Scots concerned the 90 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:15.920 introduction of English ritual into their service. Yet the chief 91 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:18.920 proponent of that ritual was about to be raised to 92 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:23.319 the highest papal see in England when Bishop Laud came 93 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:25.680 into the King's presence for the first time. After the 94 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:29.279 journey to Scotland. He was greeted with unfamiliar words quote, 95 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:33.480 my Lord's Grace of Canterbury, you are most welcome quote. 96 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:37.360 Charles had just heard of the death of George Abbott, 97 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:42.839 the previous Archbishop of Canterbury. As Bishop of London, lud 98 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:46.120 had been the King's principal religious adviser, but his authority 99 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:50.879 had been ill defined. Now as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, 100 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:55.000 Laud became the source and spring of all English religion, 101 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:58.319 with an energy and purpose that the King himself lacked. 102 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:02.279 Lord was an interesting man, prone to bouts of anxiety 103 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:07.439 and small in stature. His harshness and rigor quickly made 104 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:12.959 him enemies, particularly among the Puritans, whom he hated. To them, 105 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:17.680 he was known as quote unquote the Shrimp. But soon enough, 106 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:21.959 despite his size, his influence would be felt. In October 107 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:25.160 of sixteen thirty three, he and the King caused to 108 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:29.399 be republished King james Declaration of Sports, which had granted 109 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:33.519 a degree of entertainment and recreation on the sabbath. This 110 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.680 indicated that the King's people should not be discouraged from 111 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:39.519 dancing or archery, while the sports of leaping and vaulting 112 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:43.639 would also be permitted for Calvinists and the stricter Sorts 113 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:48.040 of Protestants. The declaration of Sorts was an anathema, and 114 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:52.160 it was set to destroy the true religion. Lines were 115 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:58.160 already being drawn. There were further provocations for the Puritans. 116 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:01.959 In the same period. The church authorities determined that the 117 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:04.279 plain communion table should be moved from the middle of 118 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:07.439 the church to the eastern end, where it was to 119 00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:12.079 be railed off. It then more closely resembled the altars 120 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:17.160 of the old Roman Catholic faith. In addition, the priests 121 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:21.079 now bowed towards it, and some of them employed the 122 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:25.040 sign of the Cross to bless it, angering strict Calvinists 123 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:30.759 even further. The Archbishop Lowed was concerned to augment the 124 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:33.639 beauty and the holiness of the rites of the church, 125 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:39.799 inducing respect, if not awe. Laudianism as it has been 126 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:44.919 known by historians, though wasn't Roman Catholicism. The archbishop in 127 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:50.000 fact had a distaste for the Roman religion, and that 128 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:54.720 distaste was genuine. Indeed, what lawd wanted more than anything 129 00:08:54.759 --> 00:09:00.919 else was to create a truly national church, void of 130 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:05.519 zelotry and intolerance of the Puritans, as well as all 131 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:11.279 the superstitions of the Papists. He honestly didn't care a 132 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:17.279 lot for theological argument, And on that everlasting debate that 133 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:21.559 had plagued the Church since Martin Luther between free will 134 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:27.559 and predestination, he said only that quote something about these 135 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:35.919 controversies is unmasterable in this life end quote that being said, 136 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:41.159 Laude clearly was choosing a side in this fight. He 137 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:46.759 appointed only bishops who were firmly anti Calvinist. Now it 138 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:51.480 was believed also that he needed more. I guess you'd 139 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:57.080 call them bureaucratic bishops, Bishops much more in the mold 140 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:02.639 of a late medieval cleric, someone who could be a 141 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:05.759 justice of the peace as well as being a bishop, 142 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:10.000 a way to augment clerical power, to increase the strength 143 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:15.200 of corporations of cathedral towns, a way to get those 144 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:19.360 who were invested in the church back in the lifeblood 145 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:21.840 of the government of England in a way that they 146 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:26.879 truly had not been since Henry the Eighth and the 147 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:32.360 break with Rome. In addition, Laud decided to bring back 148 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:35.879 the old processions and festivals of the late medieval period. 149 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:40.600 With the republication of the Declaration of Sports, came a 150 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:45.039 general relaxing of social custom. The ritual of quote unquote 151 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:49.279 beating the bounds was soon followed by the parishes of London. 152 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:54.039 Holy days like all Saints were celebrated for the first 153 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:57.879 time since Henry the Eighth Day. The custom of the 154 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:04.000 Lord of misrule returned, and with the attendant atmosphere of party, games, dancing, 155 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:08.480 and drinking of spiced ale. These feasts had never totally 156 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:12.639 died away, but in this new atmosphere that was decidedly 157 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:18.639 anti Puritan, they flourished, and as they flourished, they incensed 158 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:23.559 the Puritans ever more. Now the king was to further 159 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:27.159 test the loyalty of his nation in other ways, and 160 00:11:27.240 --> 00:11:31.279 the autumn of sixteen thirty four, writs of ship money 161 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:34.639 were issued yet again for the first time ever, though 162 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:38.919 in a period of peace. The proximate cause for the 163 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:43.840 reintroduction of this tax was the prospect of new alliances 164 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:47.039 in Europe. The French and the Dutch had entered into 165 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:51.080 an unlikely alliance to dominate the continent, and a secret 166 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:55.960 treaty between England and Spain was deemed necessary by many 167 00:11:56.039 --> 00:12:01.080 at court to counterbalance it. There was no hope, however, 168 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:04.480 that the members of the king's own council would countenance 169 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:06.840 the fact of an English force taking the part of 170 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:12.159 Spain against the Dutch. How many asked, could the King 171 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:16.840 of England the pre eminent Protestant power in Europe, or 172 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:19.360 at least that's the way England liked to think of itself, 173 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:24.960 ally with the pre eminent Catholic power, and attack a 174 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:31.639 Protestant republic, It's just anathema. Once again, Charles relied upon 175 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:35.159 intrigue with any or every party that seemed likely to 176 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:38.759 favor him. He had to conceal his alliance with Spain 177 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:41.960 and pretend that the ships were being prepared as a 178 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:46.320 defense against a potential attack from all directions. It was 179 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:50.000 said that we needed to protect English trade not from Spain, 180 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:54.039 but from Tunis and Turkey Is maybe as much as France. 181 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:57.919 So the King claimed the right of sovereignty in all 182 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:01.120 of his sees, including the English Channel and of course 183 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:04.840 the North Sea. The first writs of ship money were 184 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:07.399 dispatched only to the ports into the towns along the coast. 185 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:10.519 They were ordered to provide a sum sufficient to fit 186 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:13.039 out a certain number of ships, as well as to 187 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.320 maintain them and their crews for six months. The money 188 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:19.159 was to be given to a collector appointed by the crown. 189 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:25.200 London alone attempted to oppose this tax, having been required 190 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:28.240 to raise one fifth of the total, but the town 191 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:32.120 council and mayor were quickly subdued with threats and talks 192 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:38.000 of treason. That's not going to work forever. Again, the 193 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:41.960 question kept coming up, though, what was the purpose of 194 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:46.360 this fleet that was being prepared. In the spring of 195 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:49.960 sixteen thirty five, the first fleet raised by ship money 196 00:13:50.039 --> 00:13:53.919 finally took sale. The forty two vessels, nineteen of them 197 00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:58.039 over fifty tons, set forth with orders to curb piracy, 198 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:03.639 protect English traders, prevent the Dutch from fishing in English waters, and, 199 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:08.480 according to one news writer Edward Rossingham, quote, to preserve 200 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:11.200 the sovereignty of the narrow seas from the French king, 201 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:14.600 who had the design, longed to take it from us, 202 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:19.080 and therefore he hath provided a very great navy unquote. 203 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.000 In other words, what were these ships intended to do? 204 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:27.720 The answer might come everything. The answer might also come nothing. 205 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:31.840 So the ship money had been raised in the end, 206 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:35.720 perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of loyalty, and the 207 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:39.879 success of the tax ensured survival in the following year, 208 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:44.519 ship money was again required, this time not by just 209 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:47.360 the towns and ports on the water, by the whole country. 210 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:52.559 It was argued that since counties and urban corporations were 211 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:56.039 interested in the honor, profit and safety of the English seas, 212 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:00.879 that was appropriate that everybody should chip in. The appeal worked, 213 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:04.000 and the tax of sixteen thirty five became the model 214 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:07.159 for the next five years, in which eighty percent of 215 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:13.240 the money that was demanded by the king was paid. This, however, 216 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:17.240 as we're about to see, would be one of the 217 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:23.039 few long term success stories of Charles's finance during his 218 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:47.000 period a personal rule. In the summer of sixteen thirty six, 219 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:51.039 Charles and Henrietta Maria paid a visit to Oxford. It 220 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:53.440 was now, in essence, you could just rename it to 221 00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:57.440 Lawd University. The archbishop had that much power over what 222 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:02.320 went on there. Yet only the academic officials paid homage 223 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:05.240 to the royal couple as they rode through the streets. 224 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:08.399 There were no calls of God save the King. The 225 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:12.919 scholars and the citizens alike stood silent, and this didn't 226 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:17.559 bode well, And it was a little reminder that personal 227 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:25.200 rule was building up steadily grievances amongst Charles's people. The 228 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:31.000 fines for encroaching on royal forests had quote brought more 229 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:34.639 prejudice upon the court and more discontent upon the King 230 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:37.840 from the considerable parts of the nobility and gentry in 231 00:16:37.879 --> 00:16:41.240 England than any one action that it had its rise 232 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:46.440 from the King's will and pleasure. Charles had alienated his 233 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:50.000 subjects in a lot of different ways, many of them religious. 234 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:55.279 He had unilaterally published a book of canons, which he 235 00:16:55.399 --> 00:17:00.559 required to be adopted by the Scottish Church. Now could 236 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:05.359 receive the sacrament except on his or her knees. No 237 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:09.160 man was allowed to cover his head during the divine service. 238 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:15.440 No person was allowed to engage in spontaneous prayer. The 239 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:19.640 clergy was not allowed to hold private meetings to explain 240 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:25.039 and expound upon the scriptures. This was detested by many 241 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:29.759 in England, and certainly by the Presbyterians in Scotland, and 242 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:36.680 soon enough that bill would become due. In the spring 243 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:40.359 of sixteen thirty seven, a new service book for Scotland 244 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:43.119 was published by the King. It applied much of the 245 00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:46.240 English Book of Common Prayer and abolished most of John 246 00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:50.759 Knoxus's Book of Common Order. It was in effect another 247 00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:54.400 English imposition, bearing all the marks of the intervention of 248 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:58.640 Archbishop Laud. It was first read in public at Saint Giles, 249 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:03.119 recently become the Cathedral Church of Edinburgh. The dean ascended 250 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:05.880 the pulpit, but when he began to recite the words 251 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:09.000 of the new book, shouts of abuse came from the 252 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:13.200 women of the congregation. The shouts sounded the mass is 253 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:17.160 entered upon us, but all is in the church. The 254 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:19.880 Bishop of Edinburgh then stepped forward to try to calm 255 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:22.799 the angry women and begged them to desist from profaning 256 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:26.079 holy ground. This was not a phrase to be used 257 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:29.119 in front of a Puritan assembly, and further abuse was 258 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:32.759 screamed against him. He was denounced as a fox, as 259 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:36.400 a wolf, as a belly god. One of the women 260 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:40.599 hurled her stool at him. It missed him barely and 261 00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:44.200 almost managed to hit the dean of the college behind him. 262 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.440 The magistrates were then called to clear the church, but 263 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:51.480 the women, once ejected, surrounded the building. Its great doors 264 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:54.200 were pummeled and stones were flung in its windows. As 265 00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:58.240 the unhappy ceremony proceeded to its end, cries could be 266 00:18:58.279 --> 00:19:03.960 heard outside of quote a pape, a pape antichrist stone him, 267 00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:07.759 pull him down. Quote. When the bishop came out, the 268 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:13.640 women shouted to kill the man. Now what's fascinating about 269 00:19:13.640 --> 00:19:17.599 this whole episode is that it is not a spontaneous action. 270 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:21.319 It's not this random confluence of events that takes place 271 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:24.960 to bring this into being. Really, what this was was 272 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:28.319 an organized assault on the new service Book that the 273 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:34.160 Presbyterians already knew was coming. Certain nonconformist gentry and clergy 274 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:38.240 had been planning this event for about three months, and 275 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:41.279 even though the scale of the riot was not perhaps 276 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:46.599 and has anticipated regardless, the incident quickly became known both 277 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:50.960 in Scotland and down in England as Stony Sunday. Now, 278 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:53.400 on hearing the news of the riots in Edinburgh, the 279 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:57.599 King ordered the immediate suppression of the malcontents in a 280 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:00.240 city where the majority of the populace was on their side. 281 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:05.680 This frankly wasn't possible. Laud asked the Scottish bishops if 282 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:08.599 they were ready to quote cast down the milk they 283 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:12.200 had given because a few milkmaids had scolded them. I 284 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:17.240 hope they will be better advised end quote. Yet it 285 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:21.240 was Archbishop Laud here who was in need of advice. 286 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:25.400 The Edinburgh magistrates stated that no member of the clergy 287 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:28.079 would be able to read the new service. Most of 288 00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:31.599 the ministers adherd its contents, and all of them feared 289 00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:37.039 further riot. Petitions were now arriving from all parts of Scotland, 290 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:42.279 deploring these new papist intentions, this new prayer book that 291 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:46.559 was so far from the old form of worship of Scotland. 292 00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:51.400 The Scottish Council wrote to the King that the interventions 293 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:58.119 were simply unprecedented and not acceptable. Their remonstrances became all 294 00:20:58.119 --> 00:21:02.279 the more urgent when a second riot broke out in Edinburgh. 295 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:05.000 The news had spread that the Lord Provest had tried 296 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:07.640 to prevent a petition against the service book from ever 297 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:12.279 reaching London. The petitioners, as they became known, were now 298 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:19.720 the largest contingent in this very rebellious city. Charles back 299 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:22.400 in London, he didn't know what to do. He had 300 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:26.680 not anticipated such an unwelcome act of defiance. It's referred 301 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:30.519 that his very first words were quote, I mean to 302 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:34.200 be obeyed end quote. But how is he going to 303 00:21:34.279 --> 00:21:38.480 enforce his will? He didn't have an army and only 304 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:42.480 unwilling support from his representatives in Scotland. A solution to 305 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:45.480 the immediate impasse was then suggested by members of the 306 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:49.640 Scottish Privy Council. The petitioners would leave Edinburgh and return 307 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:52.720 to their homes, leaving a group of commissioners to speak 308 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:57.200 and act in their names. It was clear that these commissioners, 309 00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:59.039 as they will be called, and as I'm going to 310 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:02.720 refer to them, are going to essentially become the government 311 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:06.720 of Scotland from this point forward in our story, and 312 00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:10.200 as possible to see all of these incidents in Edinburgh 313 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:13.920 as a prelude to the more fatal incidents that are 314 00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:16.839 going to lead to a civil war in England. I mean, 315 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:20.960 but that is ex post facto, like there's no way 316 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:22.759 that anybody at the time could have looked at this 317 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:26.680 and seen that coming. I mean, let's be honest. This 318 00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:30.759 was a minor uprising in Scotland. To put it mildly, 319 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:33.799 it was religious in nature, but nobody had refused to 320 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:37.200 pay any taxes. Yet there wasn't a complete abrogation of 321 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:41.160 royal authority. This was a group of individuals that was 322 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:46.119 upset about the imposition of religious change. Again in the 323 00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:50.519 sixteenth seventeenth centuries. There's nothing new here. This is you know, 324 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:53.839 rinse and repeat. Charles should have been able to deal 325 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:56.680 with this. The only problem is he was not the 326 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:00.599 man for the hour, folks, as we're going to see. Instead, 327 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:04.599 Scotland had set an example of defiance that was regarded 328 00:23:04.680 --> 00:23:09.440 by admiration in England, at least by some Now another 329 00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:12.960 great controversy concerning the king's authority now emerged in London. 330 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:16.359 In the summer of sixteen thirty seven, the King decided 331 00:23:16.359 --> 00:23:19.039 to call John Hampton before the Court of Exchequer for 332 00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:22.440 refusing to pay his portion of ship money. Hampden having 333 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:25.559 been imprisoned for ten years earlier for declining the King's 334 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:28.440 forced loan. You know, but he didn't seem to have 335 00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:33.119 cared that experience didn't curb his independence, and so at 336 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:36.400 the beginning of the year twelve senior judges declared that, 337 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:38.559 in the face of danger to the nation, the King 338 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:41.880 had a perfectly fine right to order his subjects to 339 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:46.119 finance the preparation of a fleet. In addition, they declared 340 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:48.799 that in the event of the refusal, the King was 341 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:54.799 entitled to use compulsion. One contemporary historian wrote, quote the 342 00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:57.440 judges could not have delivered a more important decision. It 343 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:01.440 is one of the great events of English history. Quote. 344 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:05.400 The royal prerogative of ship money had become essentially the 345 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:11.680 foundation and cornerstone of Charles's entire government. Another would write that, 346 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:14.720 if indeed it could be exacted lawfully, quote, the King, 347 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:19.240 upon like pretense, might gather the same sum ten twelve 348 00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:23.119 or one hundred times redoubled, and so to infinite proportions 349 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:26.240 to anyone shire, when and as often as he pleased, 350 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:30.519 And so no man was in conclusion worthy of anything 351 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:35.160 end quote. It was a powerful argument and one that 352 00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:38.160 was going to be tested in the trial of John Hampton. 353 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:44.559 The court case lasted from November of sixteen thirty seven 354 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:48.680 all the way through the following summer of sixteen thirty eight. 355 00:24:49.640 --> 00:24:52.799 It was watched with extreme interest by the political nation. 356 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:58.160 This was really a test of power between sovereign and subject. 357 00:24:58.839 --> 00:25:01.440 Was considered to be one of the the most significant 358 00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:07.160 cases ever put to judgment. The prosecution essentially rested upon 359 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:11.559 two points. The Crown contended that all precedents from the 360 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:14.160 time of the Anglo Saxons were going back to the 361 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:18.119 Anglo Saxons. Guys allowed the King to gather money for 362 00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:24.599 his navy. Okay, that's relatively undisputed. Hampton in turn argued 363 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:28.160 back that previous methods of taxation had in no way 364 00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:31.079 resembled the recent rips for ship money that had been 365 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:35.559 sent to inland counties. Now the Crown turned back and 366 00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:38.799 defended the reasonableness of its claim for financial assistance in 367 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:42.640 face of foreign danger. By the time, I mean, after all, 368 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:45.319 it took so long for Parliament to be assembled. By 369 00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:47.279 the time it got there to debate the member that 370 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:52.160 the country could be an attacked. Heck, England itself could 371 00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:56.079 be invaded. There wasn't time to put these questions to Parliament. 372 00:25:56.599 --> 00:25:58.240 This is why you had an executive. The King had 373 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:02.559 to act. Now turned around and argued that, well, you 374 00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:04.640 know what, but the rits had been sent out six 375 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.640 months before any ships were fitted, and honestly, guys, there 376 00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:13.480 was ample time for an assembly at Westminster. Besides, the 377 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:16.839 writs were, in any case contrary to statutes forbidding any 378 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:20.359 tax without the consent of Parliament. So what's the big 379 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:26.400 deal here? Now? As this all went back and forth, 380 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:31.440 the court was packed with spectators. A squire from Norfolk 381 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:34.079 had come to London simply to attend the trial. But 382 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:37.240 when he arrived the crowd was already so great that 383 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:40.200 he could only get two three yards from the door, 384 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:44.200 and this was at dawn. Those who did obtain entrance 385 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:48.640 seemed largely to have been on Hamden's side. When one 386 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:52.799 of his councils, Oliver Sinjin, opened the defense, he was, 387 00:26:52.839 --> 00:26:56.720 according to a Puritan observer quote, much applauded and hummed 388 00:26:56.759 --> 00:27:00.400 by the bystanders, though my Lord Finch, the Chief Justice, 389 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:04.680 signified his displeasure for it end quote. At the close 390 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:10.440 of sin John's argument, everyone applauded again. The argument continued 391 00:27:10.440 --> 00:27:13.279 beyond the walls of the court. Debates between the opposing 392 00:27:13.319 --> 00:27:15.440 sides were fierce. They were spilling out. They were in 393 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:17.160 the streets, they were in the markets, they were in 394 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:21.640 the taverns. Everybody was talking about Hampton in his defense. 395 00:27:22.599 --> 00:27:26.079 This had become, I guess, the oj trial, except there 396 00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:29.319 wasn't a murder. People used to argue about ship money. 397 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:34.000 Isn't that quaint? The judges deliberated and eventually gave a 398 00:27:34.039 --> 00:27:39.519 decision in favor of the court seven to five. It 399 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:44.440 was the smallest of all possible majorities for the King Nevertheless, 400 00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:47.640 the words of the Chief Justice and his support were 401 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:52.039