Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to Western SIEV Episode four hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty two Brave New World. Well, the trial of Stafford continued,
Speaker 1: the comments seemed uncertain about the direction of other public policy.
Speaker 1: On one occasion, after the prayers had been said, the
Speaker 1: members of the House of Commons lapsed into silence and
Speaker 1: simply looked at one another. They didn't know where to begin.
Speaker 1: But the death of the Earl seemed to finally kick
Speaker 1: things back into gear. The King himself had now become
Speaker 1: almost in irrelevance in the business of renovating this kingdom.
Speaker 1: The familiar grant of tonnage and poundage was made to him,
Speaker 1: but only on the understanding that all his previous extractions
Speaker 1: had been illegal. The old centers of royal authority were
Speaker 1: simply swept away the Star Chamber, that old tutor innovation
Speaker 1: was abolished, ship money was condemned as contrary to the law.
Speaker 1: The limits of royal forests were declared to be those
Speaker 1: that have been obtained in the twentieth year of King
Speaker 1: James the First. Now, all the while there was still
Speaker 1: the war of propaganda going on. The leading members of
Speaker 1: the Commons published their speeches, which, according to the Puritan
Speaker 1: Richard Baxter in his autobiography, were quote greedily bought up
Speaker 1: throughout the land, which greatly increased the people's apprehension of
Speaker 1: their danger end quote. Of course, by their danger, they
Speaker 1: meant danger from the king. The sermons of the principal
Speaker 1: preachers were also printed and distributed. Yet the pamphlets were
Speaker 1: not simply directed against one or the other of the
Speaker 1: factions then gaining ground. They were part of a vigorous
Speaker 1: debate that was first forming about the ideals of public
Speaker 1: and English religious life. Questions for the first time were
Speaker 1: being posed. What were the grounds of a just monarchy?
Speaker 1: Was there, in truth an ancient English constitution? Were the King,
Speaker 1: Parliament and people uniquely joined in some way now to
Speaker 1: all of these questions. The royalists were not silent and
Speaker 1: fought back with pamphlets of their own. It was a
Speaker 1: world of change. As the King would say to Parliament
Speaker 1: earlier in the year, quote you have taken the government
Speaker 1: all in pieces. In the weeks after Stafford's death, the
Speaker 1: King seems to have become resigned to his loss of power.
Speaker 1: He signed the bill for the abolishment of tonnage and poundage,
Speaker 1: telling both houses of Parliament that quote. I had never
Speaker 1: had other design but to win the affections of my
Speaker 1: people end quote. He made a leading Puritan, the Earl
Speaker 1: of Essex, his Lord Chamberlain. Now all of this seemed
Speaker 1: to suggest that Charles had simply become resigned to the
Speaker 1: new state of being, that he was going to be
Speaker 1: fine with being a figurehead, and that the world would
Speaker 1: simply move on without the English monarchy. Now that's how
Speaker 1: it looked on the surface, but none of that was true.
Speaker 1: In fact, beneath the surface, Charles was just playing for
Speaker 1: time and waiting for his opportunity to strike. They were
Speaker 1: already the makings of a king's party. From those outraged
Speaker 1: at the pretensions of parliament in assuming executive powers. Others
Speaker 1: weren't happy about the idea of a Puritan state church
Speaker 1: controlled by parliamentary lay commissioners in place of episcopal bishops.
Speaker 1: Those who were moderate or orthodox in religion and government
Speaker 1: policy were starting steadily but surely to take the side
Speaker 1: of the king, And of course it was also possible
Speaker 1: that Charles might be able to divide the lords from
Speaker 1: the commons. In June of sixteen forty one, the lords
Speaker 1: threw out a bill excluding bishops from their numbers. They
Speaker 1: said they weren't prepared to consider further reformation. At the
Speaker 1: same time, Member of Parliament John Pim, who was very
Speaker 1: much in control of the parliamentary faction at this point,
Speaker 1: put forth a series of measures called the Ten Propositions.
Speaker 1: These were all designed to increase parliamentary control of the
Speaker 1: King's Court and Council. The first characteristic of these was
Speaker 1: aimed at Catholics. All Jesuits and Catholic priests were to
Speaker 1: be banned from court from here on out. And I
Speaker 1: want to be clear, they were never allowed to hold
Speaker 1: an official position. This is simply banning them from the
Speaker 1: court altogether. There was more to the Ten Propositions. The
Speaker 1: armies of Scotland and England were to be disbanded as
Speaker 1: quickly as possible. But what was most notable about them
Speaker 1: was the complete and total absence of even a reference
Speaker 1: to the King. He didn't talk about the need to
Speaker 1: eliminate royal authority, he just didn't talk about that authority
Speaker 1: at all. Now, the Ten Propositions had been in part
Speaker 1: prompted by the King's recent and carefully resolved decision to
Speaker 1: travel to Scotland. It was feared by parliamentarians that in
Speaker 1: fact his destination would be York rather than Edinburgh, where
Speaker 1: he might take control of the English army garrison. There.
Speaker 1: Hence the call that the English and Scottish armies should
Speaker 1: stand down, because if the English and Scottish armies were
Speaker 1: joined together under the command of the King, then Charles
Speaker 1: would have an almost irresistible force behind him. John Pim
Speaker 1: and his supporters were now seized with both anxiety and alarm,
Speaker 1: and decided that they would seize on the people's anxiety
Speaker 1: and alarm. They even convened Parliament on a Sunday morning
Speaker 1: at the beginning of August to debate the nature of
Speaker 1: the threat. They begged for a delay to the King's journey,
Speaker 1: but he would only consent to a pause of one
Speaker 1: single day. Now, as the King prepared to go on
Speaker 1: his journey, a crowd gathered in Westminster and tried to
Speaker 1: block his exits. It may be that his presence in
Speaker 1: London acted as a form of reassurance at a time
Speaker 1: of great disorder, or it may be that some in
Speaker 1: the crowd suspected his intentions of trying to take control
Speaker 1: of the army. Either way, he went to Parliament on
Speaker 1: that morning, in a mood of I'd say, sort of
Speaker 1: not very well concealed hostility. He named a commission of
Speaker 1: twenty two men who would administer affairs in his absence.
Speaker 1: Among them was the Earl of Newcastle, a notable enemy
Speaker 1: of the parliamentary cause. So the comments immediately responded to
Speaker 1: this by retiring to their chamber and debating the means
Speaker 1: of trying to raise some form of defense. Just to
Speaker 1: be on the safe side, an ordinance was passed, the
Speaker 1: first of its kind, appointing several key parliamentarians to attend
Speaker 1: the King in Scotland. They were, of course not travel companions.
Speaker 1: These were very much spies and babysitters. They were hoping
Speaker 1: to supervise Charles's actions. It seemed another confrontation had become inevitable.
Speaker 1: Now Charles went to Edinburgh. He did not stop in York,
Speaker 1: as was suspected, and he was greeted in Edinburgh with
Speaker 1: every sign of acclamation. He had once proceeded to gain
Speaker 1: the approval of the Scots, hoping to play his one's
Speaker 1: enemies against his new enemies, He attended the services of
Speaker 1: the Scottish Church with an outward display of piety, and
Speaker 1: agreed to the demand of the Scottish Covenanters that the
Speaker 1: bishops would be excluded from their reformed church. He attended
Speaker 1: the sessions of the Scottish Parliament and agreed to the
Speaker 1: terms of an Anglo Scottish Union, whereby his powers over
Speaker 1: Parliament and the army would be cut dramatically. Now back
Speaker 1: in England, at the same time, Parliament had, for the
Speaker 1: first time in its history, begun to govern on its own.
Speaker 1: It paid the army, and it issued orders to royal officials,
Speaker 1: such as the Lieutenant of the Tower. It made decrees
Speaker 1: about liturgy and forms of religious worship. Most importantly, perhaps
Speaker 1: the Parliament decreed that this present Parliament could not be
Speaker 1: closed without its own consent. It was in effect declaring
Speaker 1: that Parliament from now on was a permanent British political
Speaker 1: and governmental institution. Parliament reassembled on the twentieth of October
Speaker 1: in sixteen forty one, this time determined to ring from
Speaker 1: the King the same concessions the Scottish Parliament had already
Speaker 1: obtained from him. Now at this point John Pim was
Speaker 1: truly the leader of the Parliamentary Party and the orchestrator
Speaker 1: of all parliamentary affairs. He had control over all all
Speaker 1: the factions, it seems, and could direct them to will
Speaker 1: wherever he needed them. Him and his colleagues were now
Speaker 1: intent upon stripping Charles of his prerogative powers, namely his
Speaker 1: ability to appoint his officers and counselors with no reference
Speaker 1: to Parliament whatsoever. Yet to do this they had to
Speaker 1: first deprive the upper house, the House of Lords, of
Speaker 1: its majority in favor of the King. And so again Parliament,
Speaker 1: that is, the House of Commons, moved to expel thirteen
Speaker 1: bishops who sat in the House of Lords. A bill
Speaker 1: was passed by the Commons to disqualify clerics from accepting
Speaker 1: secular office, but of course, naturally enough, it was delayed
Speaker 1: in the House of Lords. Him tried to raise the
Speaker 1: temperature of the debate with the news of fresh army
Speaker 1: plots and the ongoings in Edinburgh. Whether all of these
Speaker 1: rumors were true or not wasn't the point, because all
Speaker 1: they did was deep in the alarm within Parliament about
Speaker 1: the King's intentions, and it simply confirmed a fact that
Speaker 1: seemed to be known by everyone at this point that
Speaker 1: Charles the First simply could not be trusted. And it
Speaker 1: was just at that moment at the very beginning of
Speaker 1: November that news reached Parliament a rebellion had broken out
Speaker 1: in Ireland. This immediately changed the game. Honestly, it's one
Speaker 1: of those turning points in history that you probably wonder
Speaker 1: what would have happened if the rebellion wouldn't have broken out,
Speaker 1: because I could see a scenario where somehow everyone steps
Speaker 1: back from the brink. But this is the catalyst that's
Speaker 1: going to push everything over the top, because immediately an
Speaker 1: Irish rebellion aroused the fears of all Protestants throughout England.
Speaker 1: The rebellion, though it came as a had eclismic shock
Speaker 1: to those in England, honestly had been brewing for a
Speaker 1: really long time. And so here we need to just
Speaker 1: back up and explore the origins for a moment of
Speaker 1: the Irish Rebellion of sixteen forty one. Now, there were
Speaker 1: three defined elements in Irish society. The New English were
Speaker 1: Protestant settlers who had established themselves after the Reformation. They
Speaker 1: controlled the Parliament in Dublin and were intent upon imposing
Speaker 1: English ways and standards upon the natives. I know that
Speaker 1: Ireland and England are right next to each other, but
Speaker 1: to them this was sort of an early form of
Speaker 1: imperialism or colonization. The Old English were different. They had
Speaker 1: arrived before the Reformation, some as early as the twelfth century,
Speaker 1: and had become as acclimatized that they identified themselves with
Speaker 1: Ireland rather than England. Many of them were Catholic, while
Speaker 1: some merely conformed in public to the Protestant Church of Ireland.
Speaker 1: They owned about one third of the best land. The
Speaker 1: third group, known by the two former groups as the
Speaker 1: quote unquote mirror Irish, made up the largest part of
Speaker 1: the population, but like most downtrodden groups throughout history, they
Speaker 1: have left little record of their loyalties or beliefs. But
Speaker 1: those last two groups, the Irish and the Old English,
Speaker 1: had a lot of grievances. The Crown had in previous
Speaker 1: years confiscated one quarter of the land that had been
Speaker 1: held by the Anglo Irish gentry and by the native Irish.
Speaker 1: It had already been decided in the reign of King
Speaker 1: James the First that no landowner could have the title
Speaker 1: to his lands unless he could prove he held proper
Speaker 1: feudal tenure. If he could not provide these credentials, then
Speaker 1: his lands would be confiscated and taken over by New
Speaker 1: English or sometimes Scottish settlers. Thus James had resented the
Speaker 1: citizens of London with forty thousand acres in County Derry,
Speaker 1: the territory that is today still known as Londonderry. The
Speaker 1: six counties of Ulster had also dramatically fallen into the
Speaker 1: hands of the Scottish Presbyterians, hence the division nowadays between
Speaker 1: the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The dismal state
Speaker 1: of the Church of Ireland and the zealous work of
Speaker 1: Jesuit missionaries had also emboldened the Catholic cause. The Catholics
Speaker 1: had good reason for resentment. They were unable to educate
Speaker 1: their children, and their priests, with no benefices, were required
Speaker 1: to rely on the charity of their parishioners. Fines could
Speaker 1: also be imposed upon those who did not attend Protestant services.
Speaker 1: Many forces were therefore at work in the revolt. The
Speaker 1: Irish Catholic leaders, who included the Old English, drew up
Speaker 1: a remonstrance in which they claimed to be rising up
Speaker 1: for the safety of their religion and for the defense
Speaker 1: of their lives and the states. They were aware of
Speaker 1: the proceedings of the English Parliament and of the concessions
Speaker 1: made by the King to the Scottish Presbyterians, and so
Speaker 1: felt all the more keenly the injustice to their native religion.
Speaker 1: They feared also that the reformers or Puritans in England
Speaker 1: had so deep a hatred of Catholicism that they would
Speaker 1: force even more restraints upon them. And while they're doing that,
Speaker 1: exact new duties and taxes from them, they might even
Speaker 1: go further. And in a statement of Irish grievances, it
Speaker 1: was suggested that the Scots and the English combined might
Speaker 1: quote come into Ireland with the Bible in one hand
Speaker 1: and the sword in the other, for to plant their
Speaker 1: puritan and narchical religion among us, otherwise to utterly destroy
Speaker 1: us end quote. Honestly, the message went around, why shouldn't
Speaker 1: the Irish rise up in their own defense before it
Speaker 1: was simply too late? This was a grand irony of
Speaker 1: the period. The negotiations between England and Scotland had the
Speaker 1: result of forcing Ireland into revolt. Charles had found it
Speaker 1: impossible in practice to administer three kingdoms when one had
Speaker 1: each pleased its loyalty to a separate religion, as honestly
Speaker 1: was truly the case. At this point. You have Scotland Presbyterian,
Speaker 1: you have England Protestant kind of Puritan, and the ne
Speaker 1: of Ireland Catholic. On the twenty third of October sixteen
Speaker 1: forty one, the rebellion began and the old English and
Speaker 1: Irish rose up against their new English masters. A rebellion
Speaker 1: in Dublin on the previous day had been partially discovered
Speaker 1: and quelled, but the insurrection almost immediately spread throughout the countryside.
Speaker 1: Parties of armed men would ravage an English own plantation
Speaker 1: and then retire to their own territory. Others would actively
Speaker 1: supplant the English owners and replace them with their former owners.
Speaker 1: The English fugitives saw huge in the nearest army garrison,
Speaker 1: where they remained in fear but bottled up. It was
Speaker 1: stated that many thousands of Protestants had been killed, that
Speaker 1: women had been raped and mutilated, and that babies had
Speaker 1: been burned. A letter read out to the House of
Speaker 1: Commons alleged that the Irish rebels in Munster were engaged
Speaker 1: in quote exercising all manners of cruelties and striving who
Speaker 1: can be the most barbarously exquisite in tormenting the poor
Speaker 1: Protestants wheresoever they come, cutting off the privy members ears,
Speaker 1: fingers and hands, plucking out their eyes, boiling the heads
Speaker 1: of little children before their mother's faces, and then ripping
Speaker 1: out their mother's bowels, stripping women naked and standing by
Speaker 1: them naked. Willis they are in travail. That means labor,
Speaker 1: killing the children as soon as they're born, ripping up
Speaker 1: their mother's bellies as they are delivered. End quote. Now, Okay,
Speaker 1: a lot of that was hyperbole and quite frankly wasn't happening.
Speaker 1: The real truth was that there was about five thousand
Speaker 1: English Protestants who were killed and about an equal number
Speaker 1: of Irish Catholics had fallen in the course of the
Speaker 1: English counterattack. But all of this hyperbole and misinformation is
Speaker 1: going to sow the seeds of what's going to happen
Speaker 1: when Oliver Cromwell comes to power. Now November the fifth,
Speaker 1: John pam rose from his seat in Parliament to pledge
Speaker 1: his life and a state to the cause of suppressing
Speaker 1: the Irish rebellion. Parliament at this point decided it not
Speaker 1: the King would be in charge of organizing and directing
Speaker 1: a Protestant army that might be employed in its own
Speaker 1: cause and its own defense if needed, but for now
Speaker 1: it could be used to suppress the rebellion in Ireland.
Speaker 1: Now this was the occasion for the debate in a
Speaker 1: document that would later become known in the history of
Speaker 1: the English Civil War as the Grand Remonstrance, which just
Speaker 1: about two hundred and four clauses length and really sets
Speaker 1: out the basis for parliamentary rule of the Kingdom from
Speaker 1: there on out. He needed this, Pim decided because he
Speaker 1: sensed that a Royalist party was starting to acquire more
Speaker 1: and more support, and he put everything out in writing,
Speaker 1: but at the same time issued a statement that certain
Speaker 1: clauses could be up for negotiation and amended as needed.
Speaker 1: This was sort of an olive branch to the Royalists
Speaker 1: to try to bring them into the fold, or I
Speaker 1: suppose keep them on Parliament's side. Is increasingly members, especially
Speaker 1: of the House of Lords, started to waiver. The significance
Speaker 1: of this occasion is marked by Oliver Cromwell, who said,
Speaker 1: on leaving the chamber that quote, if the Remonstrance had
Speaker 1: been rejected, I would have sold all I had next
Speaker 1: morning and never have seen England more end quote. So
Speaker 1: it was a line in the sand that was being
Speaker 1: drawn at this point over which side you were on
Speaker 1: and what you believed in. Edward Nichols wrote to the
Speaker 1: King while this was being debated all the way back
Speaker 1: on the eighth of November, writing quote it the remonstrance
Speaker 1: relates all the misgovernment and unpleasing things that have been
Speaker 1: done by ill counsuls, as they call it. If your
Speaker 1: Majesty come not instantly away from Edinburgh to London, I
Speaker 1: trouble to think what will be the issue of it?
Speaker 1: End quote. So, hearing the news, Charles does decide to
Speaker 1: return to London from Edinburgh seventeen days later, and on
Speaker 1: his entrance into the city he was met by a cavalcade.
Speaker 1: He told those who assembled to greet him that he
Speaker 1: would maintain the old laws and the Protestant faith, and
Speaker 1: it's likely, honestly that the welcome from the Londoners was genuine.
Speaker 1: The Venetian ambassador had already reported that anonymous placards had
Speaker 1: been posted in the streets naming the lords of Puritans
Speaker 1: as traders and authors of all the sedition, and just
Speaker 1: before the King had left Scotland, he too had received
Speaker 1: news that the Irish had erupted in rebellion. Now Pim
Speaker 1: and his colleagues were inclined to blame Charles for the rebellion.
Speaker 1: In a more direct sense, some of the Irish rebels
Speaker 1: claimed that they had a commission from the King under
Speaker 1: the Great Seal, to arrest and seize goods, estates and
Speaker 1: persons of all the English Protestants. This claim, like many
Speaker 1: of the other ones that I've read, was not true
Speaker 1: by any sense, but it persuaded Pim and his followers
Speaker 1: that the King had actually intentionally started the revolt, the
Speaker 1: idea being that that would give him an excuse to
Speaker 1: raise an army, which he could actually then just turn
Speaker 1: against Parliament before using it in Ireland. And so there
Speaker 1: was a bitter controversy over the size and direction of
Speaker 1: the military campaign in Ireland. The King said that one man,
Speaker 1: rather than four hundred, was best to direct a campaign.
Speaker 1: The parliamentarians naturally disagreed, claiming that Charles could not raise
Speaker 1: an army that the express approval of Parliament. In the
Speaker 1: last two months of the year, the Earl of Warwick
Speaker 1: set about creating what was essentially a parliamentary force. Charles
Speaker 1: wanted a holly volunteer force composed of his supporters, while
Speaker 1: the parliamentarians insisted upon pressing men into service at every
Speaker 1: stage in the process. The Commons, with a small majority
Speaker 1: against the King, was opposed by the lords. In the event,
Speaker 1: only one regiment was ultimately sent to Ireland in sixteen
Speaker 1: forty one. A further force would arrive about five months
Speaker 1: later in sixteen forty two. Of about five thousand Menlish
Speaker 1: garrisons in Ireland were for the moment essentially left on
Speaker 1: their own to fight their own battles. It's probably fair
Speaker 1: to assume that Pim and his fellows wish to continue
Speaker 1: to gather their resources for a conflict that they believed
Speaker 1: was coming much closer to home.