A Brief History Of Charles I - Charles I Of England

today on brief history we take a look at a king of England who would bring his kingdom into a new era of internal turmoil as a youth he would learn much from his father the king and would ultimately develop a mindset that was at odds with his subjects his time as king would see International conflict Civil War religious confrontation and the unfortunate and bloody end of a crowned King join me as I take a brief look at the second Stewart King of England remember today as King Charles the first [Music] [Music] Charles was born on November 19 1600 at Dunn firmland Palace in dunfermland Scotland he was the son of King James VI of Scotland and first of England and Anne of Denmark was his mother he would have two siblings that would survive to adulthood and elder brother named Henry Frederick and an elder sister named Elizabeth Charles would develop a closeness with his elder brother and sister and both will come up again during his story Charles was born with some issues and his physical health was not particularly good he had issues with his legs something his father also struggled with he had special boots made to assist in this and indeed this issue would improve over his lifetime as by the age of 10 he was no longer considered lame he also developed a speech defect which caused him to stutter although he would improve this over his lifetime as well but never fully rid himself of it Charles was initially cared for by the Earl of dunfermland and remained in Scotland when his family traveled south to England some believe that his parents had little hope that he would survive but this did not mean that they were disinterested in him or shunned him the reasons for his family traveling to England from Scotland are due to events that took place in 1603 the Queen of England at the time Elizabeth the first died and Charles father was determined to be the rightful heir Charles father by this time had already been King of Scotland for 36 years having been crowned when he was just a child and his Ascension to the English Throne is King James the first of England meant that although he would still be King of Scotland he would spend the majority of the rest of his life in the south in 1604 when Charles was well enough to travel he met up with his parents in England and would eventually be made Duke of York in 1605 in a night of the Garter in 1611. as would be expected for a royal Prince Charles was educated in proper princely fashion and was instructed in humanist studies physical education math music history Etc he would develop a fondness for reading especially Shakespeare and was raised on Protestant ideology it was said that in his youth he showed signs of stubbornness something that he would be long remembered for later in his life Charles being the Second Son of his parents was not seen as the key figure in the future of the monarchy indeed he was the spare to his brother The Heir his brother Prince Henry over his lifetime would become much loved by the people and many looked forward to him ascending to the English Throne as Charles father was not particularly popular within England but this unfortunately was not to be during preparations for Charles sister's marriage to Frederick elector Palatine Prince Henry fell ill and died in 1612 just prior to Charles's 12th birthday as one could imagine this changed Charles life dramatically as he now became The Heir Apparent to the crown of England to add to this dramatic change his mother Anne unfortunately also died seven years later in 1619. Charles father in both instances fell ill and was not able to attend the funerals thus Charles filled the role as Chief mourner at both ceremonies additionally his sister who had been wed to Frederick left for his lands on the continent Charles would never see his beloved sister again although her troubles as we will see would influence Charles in his youth although Prince Henry before he died had been eagerly awaited by subjects in England Charles was not looked upon in the same light and did not possess the same personality and presence that his brother did nevertheless he began to be groomed for his future position as king as his brother had been before his death Charles was made Prince of Wales when he was 16 and a regimented learning program was developed for him amongst Protestant religious teachings he also was instructed indirectly by his father the king Charles father was very proud of his own education and did much writing during his life his Works included the true law of free monarchies which laid out his idea of kingship a quote-unquote counterblast to Tobacco where James as the title implies discussed his dislike of tobacco and most importantly in Charles case basilicon Duran basilicon Duran when translated from ancient Greek means Royal gift and this work was intended to be a form of instruction to Charles elder brother Henry but when Henry Died its instructions were instead relayed to Charles the text would not be interpreted fondly in England and James would later backtrack stating that the work was intended to be interpreted specifically to ruling Scotland but nevertheless it influenced young Charles as he grew it laid out in part an argument for the Divine rights of kings and warns against both Papas I.E Catholics and more radical Protestants within kingdoms of course these radical Protestants would eventually be be known as Puritans these issues would become major points of contention during Charles later life Charles father was also known to be partial to young attractive male favorites which many believed shared a bed with James one of these men was a 21 year old son of a minor gentleman from leicestershire named George failures Villiers would be doted on by Charles father and he would be elevated quickly through the ranks of nobility eventually becoming the Duke of Buckingham and a close counselor of Charles father initially Charles and billiards butted heads but they soon found a common ground and grew fond of one another their relationship along with the relationship between Charles father the age in King James would be an interesting and event-filled one and as we will see would lead to much trouble in the near future foreign ERS and Charles father became a close Trio as the years went on but politics would be where a split would occur with the old King Charles brother-in-law the Protestant Frederick V elector Palatine was offered the Bohemian Crown after the Bohemian people rejected the Catholic Habsburg Ferdinand II Holy Roman Emperor Charles father although Protestant was very War averse internationally and did not want to stir the international pot politically thus although many thought he would gladly support his son-in-law and daughter this was not the case he urged caution in the matter and attempted to dissuade his son-in-law from accepting and his popularity in the matter was very low the advice was not heated and Frederick V and Charles sister accepted the offer to the Bohemian Crown this was all part of the beginning stages of one of the bloodiest European Wars in history known as the 30 Years War and things would not go as Frederick and Elizabeth had thought they would to add more stress to the issue Charles father was trying to seek a positive relationship with Catholic Spain again adding to his unpopularity at home in England Charles on the other hand supported his brother-in-law and sister although he was still at the time still very obedient to his father's wishes this was clearly evident with regard to Spain there had been discussions for a marriage between Charles brother before he died with Maria Anna of Spain but after Charles brother died the negotiations eventually transferred over to Charles in 1620 Charles and the English were devastated to hear of Charles brother-in-law's defeat at the Battle of White Mountain forcing him and Charles sister to flee worse yet the palatinate itself was overrun by Imperial forces and thus Charles sister and brother-in-law now fled to the Netherlands thus not only had the couple been forced from Bohemia but the rightful lands in the palutanate as well Charles father hoped that a marriage settlement with Spain would in part allow him to diplomatically assist his daughter and son-in-law in reacquiring their lands in the palatinate as Spanish obviously perhaps for works as well same as Ferdinand II and were part of the international Catholic Alliance at the time the Spanish for their part did not want to see the English enter on the side of Charles brother-in-law and thus were keen on negotiating these terms although it is believed that they never really had any tension to follow through with any of this and instead just hope to delay any action on the english's part for as long as possible Charles was firmly of the opinion that assistance should be extended to his sister and brother-in-law he was willing to do whatever was necessary to help them even if that meant marrying a Catholic bride from Spain this all needs to be discussed simultaneously with events taking place in the English Parliament Charles father did not get on well with Parliament and this was specifically due to the fact that parliament in England had already established itself as a necessity a king or queen in England could not rule effectively without consent from their parliament in a short and simplified explanation funding in the form of taxes this term being used broadly here could only be granted to King by Parliament however in return it had been established that the king or queen would hear a dress and concede to grievances specifically in the scenarios we will discuss from The Commons this did not sit will Charles father as his mindset as a king was more absolutist meaning he believed that his power should be all-encompassing and not limited and he was a firm believer in the Divine rights of Kings the Royal prerogative which essentially is the rights of privilege immunity and authority of Kings was not to be contested one can already see the uncomfortable almost Mutual exclusivity of these two ideas that being Royal prerogative and parliamentary concessions although at this time it was Charles father that was arguing with Parliament we will see that the commons grievances concessions and the Royal prerogative will become a major issue later in Charles story Charles father was not a fan of parliament nor was his predecessor Elizabeth before him but the Parliamentary members knew their rights and they were Keen to exercise them in 1621 the third parliament of Charles father's Reign was called and here Charles would begin to develop his political understanding and identity he now sat in the House of Lords and began serving on committees resentment towards George Villiers had already began to quell and Charles was instrumental in limiting opposition to him as the two would remain close friends for the remainder of villier's life when Villiers and Charles father departed from London Charles stayed behind and was the liaison between Parliament and the King it has been argued that it was here that he began to become suspicious of the commons and was beginning to view their actions as slights on Royal Authority although he was initially tolerant to this when the commons urged James to go to war with Spain and began to discuss that Charles himself should instead be married to a Protestant wife Charles mindset shifted after protesting this and relaying what was happening to his father hand Villiers Charles father ended up dissolving Parliament without attaining funding this episode was blamed on a perceived few rebellious and seditious spirits in the comments by Charles and his father this would be a somewhat innocent precursor to a terrible theme that was to occur and we will see that although Charles now in his youth was keen on Military intervention on behalf of his sister and the Protestant cause future events including many similar events in Parliament would shift his mindset into the more peaceful ideals that his father had taken later in life but for the time being Charles was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed still dedicated to pleasing his father and was ready to make his move with regard to quickly furthering the Spanish marriage it is also believed that he was keen on attempting to assist his sister in these negotiations as well in 1623 Charles decided that he wished to travel to Spain himself in order to hasten these negotiations after bringing Villiers around to the idea they convinced James to allow them to travel on a secret mission to the continent to secure the marriage to the Spanish infanta this idea however was still overwhelmingly unpopular in England as Catholic and Spanish detestation was rampant through the country the quote unquote Voyage of the Knights of Adventure as Charles and billiards referred to it was to see Charles and Villiers travel incognito through England and France in order to travel to Madrid in Spain the trip itself was somewhat farcical and the two traveled as quote unquote Jack and Tom somewhat comically wearing false beards they immediately drew the suspicion of many Englishmen during their travels and at one point were forced to reveal their identity they were able to make it to France safely and then on to Spain being welcomed magnificently in Madrid unfortunately although the Spanish had led many to believe that a treaty with England which was to include a loosening of laws against Catholics in England was worth restoring Charles sister and brother-in-law to the palatinate this ultimately would not be the case and Charles was obviously not happy about this the negotiations drug on partly due to Spanish hesitation and partly due to issues with papal dispensations which had to start over mid-negotiation because Pope Gregory the 15th died the negotiations included Maria Anna being able to practice her own faith and that Charles children were to be raised Catholic in addition to the laxing of the strict laws against Catholics in England all of this would of course be deeply unpopular back home in England Villiers drove a hard bargain and was praised for his obstinacy against the Spanish back in England getting nowhere with the Spanish in regards to his sister and brother-in-law Charles began to become disheartened by the negotiations a marriage treaty was sworn to by Charles and Philip IV based on amended articles but the terms were less than appealing and the marriage was to be by proxy and was not to take place for some time due to the need for a Papal dispensation to arrive finally Charles and Villiers began their trip home they were welcomed home with great celebration that is a celebration that the marriage was not truly completed and Charles was not married to the Spanish infanta Charles was very disappointed and angry at his failure to secure a marriage and indeed his mind had shifted greatly from when he Departed the perceived duplicity of the Spanish made him in Billiards keen on war with Spain although Charles father continued to attempt to find a way to make peace with Spain and diplomatically secure the palutanate for Charles sister Charles now began to come into his own and Point Blank refused to treat with the Spanish it was clear that Charles was beginning to take the reigns from his father and was commanding much more respect thus the Blessed Revolution would come to be as Charles and billiards convinced Charles reluctant father that war was Spain was the future and that a parliament must be called Charles began chairing privy Council meetings while his father and billiards remained in the countryside he began with Villiers to develop a quote-unquote patriot Coalition of pro-war supporters in order to further this desire for war with Spain the parliament of 1624's early session was somewhat of a success for Charles as the members of parliament were eager to please their future king and Charles reciprocated this feeling Supply was granted many fell in line with the anti-spanish Patriot Coalition and Villiers Charles and the Patriot Coalition enjoyed considerable prestige Charles also did not seem to have the same suspicion towards the commons as he had in the previous parliament of 1621 but unfortunately for Charles this was simply a calm before a violent and unrelenting storm that was to play out over the coming decades soon complaints began to arise about costs of war and thus the Spanish war did not materialize as had been anticipated additionally marriage negotiations with the Catholic French did not Aid in these matters as complaints against this were too also voiced to make matters worse James and Charles disagreed on how to handle the military operations with regard to assisting in the palatinate James being the king ultimately had his way and the supply that was granted by Parliament was ultimately used for military Excursion on the continent in 1625 which ended in disaster and accomplished nothing a marriage contract for Charles to Mary Henrietta Maria of France was also concluded which was see recusancy laws suspended in England something that Charles father had explicitly stated in Parliament that he would not do additionally ships were lent to Henrietta Maria's brother the king of France Louis XII which would be used in ways that would cause problems in the future for Charles as we will soon see Henrietta Maria would indeed become Charles wife in 1625 and will come up again often in a major way throughout Charles story but by 1625 Charles father the king had been deteriorating fast on March 27 1625 Charles father King James VI of Scotland and first of England died it was now time for Charles to begin his Incredible Journey as a king Charles was now King of England Scotland and Ireland although his coronation would not be until 1626 for England and Ireland and 1633 for Scotland due to the complex nature of Charles rain and the long list of intense and incredible events that played out we will throughout Charles story briefly paused to discuss an attempt to simplify the larger picture before continuing chronologically at this point we must address one Charles nature both as a person and King and to the topic of religion as far as Charles nature goes early in Charles life and Reign he was said to have been lacking in confidence and was insecure to a degree this is not something that should be surprising as he was for as much of his early life raised in his brother's Shadow and did not have the same bright personality that his brother did this meant that with ill Health early in life and an argued lack of affection shown by his parents he understandably developed some insecurities this would not always be the case and Charles would develop confidence in personality and spirit both personally and politically throughout his life but at the time that he inherited the English Throne he was still somewhat green and young along these lines Charles also had a serious sense of Pride and honor and was quick to see things as black and white many would find that he would attempt to defend those that He favored in order to protect them at any cost many times claiming that an attack on them would also be considered an attack on him this sense of Honor also meant that once he pledged himself in a certain direction or to a certain person he found it extremely difficult to switch course even if it would benefit him politically this of course was not necessarily a good trait for a king as oftentimes compromises were necessary in order to walk the line of political faction he was also very sensitive to perceived personal slights and this this could bring out an angry and bitter side to him as we will soon see Charles was also said to have been lacking political understanding to a degree and due in part to him taking honor so seriously this would often cause him to be much more obstinate in negotiation than his predecessors even when confronted with legitimate arguments that he would disagree with he would often remain silent and simply fall back on Royal authority to Trump everything something that unsurprisingly did not go over well he would often blame serious objections by many on simple quote-unquote popularity essentially an idea that a few individuals would oppose an established system or way of life and they would then in turn attempt to convert other people to this cause this inflexibility at times made negotiation with moderates around him very difficult and would lead to many problems as we will soon see when Charles personality is applied to the scenario we already touched on the Royal prerogative AKA King's rights and Privileges and grievances in Parliament we can already see a combustible environment at the ready Charles was not however opposed to parliaments as he believed in this tradition and was also keenly aware as his father had been before him that judgment and Punishment awaited tyrants but the problem was that Charles would expect parliaments to function on his own terms and in England this was not how that institution functioned however with all that said these personality traits would not always be applied in every situation that Charles would find himself in and it should be noted that on occasion he could conduct himself much differently than would be expected many times in the name of compromise or due to lack of strength in certain scenarios additionally some have argued that the members of parliament themselves hold a degree of responsibility in the deterioration of relations with Charles as the commons especially could also be seen as being obstinate in the face of a sometimes compromising Charles nevertheless the stage was set for a showdown between Charles and the leading members of government another thing to note about Charles personality relates to his home life with his wife and children his relationship with his wife will be discussed shortly but at this point it is prudent to note that Charles had a soft side for his family Charles doted on his children and he was said to have taken great care in their upbringing something unusual for a king in that time he was said to have been one of the few Kings of that era who had a particularly happy home life the other topic that must be discussed is religion Charles religious leanings and the state of religious fairs in England when Charles came to power as this was quite a convoluted and complex situation to start one must realize that Charles took his religion very seriously and attributed his rights and Powers as a king to Divine placement religion in England had been for some time a topic of contention going all the way back to the Tudor King Henry VII as many are fully aware Henry VIII Broke Free from the Catholic Church during the time of Martin Luther in the Protestant Reformation although this was mostly for his own personal Pursuits he tended to walk a middle ground line between Catholicism and protestantism after Henry VII's death his son Edward VI and his government furthered this by clearly moving England closer to protestantism Geneva Switzerland became the breeding ground for a type of protestantism known as Calvinism and after Edward VI died many English were forced to flee from England when the Catholic Mary the first came to power and attempted to bring England back into the Catholic faith under the pope many of the exiled Englishmen found their way to Geneva were influenced by Calvinism on the continent and returned to England after Mary the first death when Elizabeth the first came to power Elizabeth was indeed forced to install more radical Calvinists into positions specifically bishopric positions something in itself we will touch on as well but she too maintained a type of Middle Ground style of worship as her father Henry VII had despite the fact that the Calvinists continued to try and push for further reform of the English church by the time Charles father inherited the crown the religious settlement in England was clearly of a calvinist flavor but Charles father was no calvinist and was also Keen to walk the middle ground religious line that many of his predecessors had also walked before him he would advise Charles to do the same that is walk a middle ground line between Rome I.E Catholicism and Geneva I.E Calvinism to add confusion to the matter there were also other types of religious or religious terms that were in the picture at this point and the ones that we need to touch on are presbyterianism puritanism and arminianism puritanism is perhaps the most famous term with regard to the scenarios we will discuss and is a blanket term that can be Loosely described in this scenario as more radical Protestants and those specifically in England who suffered under Elizabeth and wished to further reform in England Puritans in many respects were Calvinists themselves but were split into many different groups including separatist Puritans who many of which would become famous for traveling to America independent Puritans who rejected any role in state religion and a group that will come up in a major way later in Charles story etc etc however many of the Puritan opponents early on were Calvinists as well so we can see that this can get very messy very quickly for the sake of Charles story we must understand that Puritan is a blanket term covering radical Protestants in England Puritans no matter where they were located were all opposed to Catholicism indeed presbyterianism the Scottish style of protestant worship was Puritan in nature and this form of worship was also greatly opposed to the episcopate I.E the Bishops being the leaders of the Church of course this idea was not only limited to presbyterianism as there was intersectionality between many of these sects with regard to beliefs but the Scottish Presbyterian Church's opposition to the Bishops will be the most important group to take issue with this as we will soon see Charles father strictly forbade the idea of eliminating the Bishops famously stating quote no Bishop no King and many Puritans in England and Scotland were forced to conform to this under James but we are touching on this topic the topic of Bishops being eliminated as church leaders for a reason as this will come back up again over and over later in Charles story Charles for his part was initially raised religiously by Calvinists again Calvinists wanting to continue to reform the Church and move away from the more Catholic practices and indeed Charles sister and brother would both become strict calvinist during their life there was every indication early on that this would happen for Charles as well however Charles would end up differing greatly from his siblings in this regard Charles father the king introduced anti-calvinist individuals into Charles presence specifically a man named Lancelot Andrews and his followers who over time began to undo much of the calvinist indoctrination that Charles had experienced a man named William laude was also one of these anti-calvinists and will come up again later in Charles story Andrews disagreed with the calvinist belief of predestination the idea that God had predestined some to heaven and some not foreign because this line of thinking was in line with a branch of Dutch protestantism known as arminianism many anti-calvinists in England were simply labeled as arminian although there were differences between Andrew's ideas and arminians in fact it should be noted that Charles did not consider himself an Armenian and many times showed equal disdain towards this ideology many of the anti-calvinists around Charles were forced to disavow arminianism in order to keep favor therefore without going too far down the rabbit hole we can start to see that a major split was beginning to form in religious Affairs between those Calvinists which consisted of Puritan slash Presbyterian believers who wish to eliminate Bishops and further reform the Church of England Scotland and the Armenian AKA anti-calvinist believers who wish to consider other theological ideas and maintain the middle ground settlement that had been adhered to by previous kings and queens Calvinists Puritan and slash Presbyterians were concerned about the Armenian anti-calvinists refusal to eliminate popish I.E Catholic practices and the perceived connection or acceptance of Catholicism and the Armenian anti-calvinists were concerned about the calvinist Puritan Presbyterian threat of popularity the elimination of the Bishops and the infringement on the Royal prerogative which again is the rights and privileges of Kings this of course is a gross simplification and anyone interested in religion during Charles Reign should consider looking further into this complex an interesting topic when King James still lived he had of course allowed the anti-calvinist room to work to a degree but did not promote their cause per se however when calvinist attempted to sway the general public against the Spanish marriage he had been seeking he decided that it was time for the anti-calvinist to have their day the Calvinists were demonstrating the detested dangers of quote-unquote popularity and it had to be stopped thus a man named Richard Montague published something called a new gag for an old Goose although this was supposed to have been a reply to Catholic criticism to the Anglican Church in reality it was a slight to Calvinism and rejected the idea of predestination arminianism brought in the idea of human Free Will which was also accepted by the Catholics and this of course added to the suspicion that arminians were quasi-catholic the follow-up to Montague's writing the apello cesareum was approved by Charles father and further attacked calvinist in Puritans quasi-grouping them into one category of dangerous threats to the English church it was during these defining times that Charles father died and Charles became king himself Charles for his part embraced Montague's ideas and thus committed himself to The Armenian anti-calvinist group another supporter of this and an important character as it relates to Charles in the long term is a man we briefly discussed William laude who would eventually be made Archbishop of Canterbury and will be discussed throughout Charles story early in Charles Reign processes were being put into place that was to see the anti-calvinists brought into positions of power and it became very clear to all where Charles stood religiously he was not in favor of Calvinism per se and was especially opposed to puritanism in England and as we have already seen there were attempts to lump these groups together which Charles somewhat subscribed to so with that being said let us continue on to Charles story in June 1625 what is known today as the quote-unquote useless Parliament met although due to an outbreak of the plague many were wary about being in London again Charles hoped to secure further subsidies to continue the war in defense of his sister and brother-in-law he expected that the commons would continue on where they had left off before and believed that Parliament essentially had already agreed to fund his War efforts in the 30 Years War during the last Parliament he hoped to forestall the discussions of grievances to a later session but Charles had lacked the recusancy laws against Catholics as a part of the French marriage treaty which allowed him to collect the first part of his Dowry and this proved to be a source of contention additionally there were many in the house who had lingering animosity for Charles father's treatment of Parliament and with the new monarch they saw an opportunity to reignite Old battles a much smaller Supply was offered but this was not sufficient and members were still very concerned for their personal safety thus Parliament was adjourned and moved to Oxford in August at Oxford the problems persisted and when the commons began to attack Charles closest advisor that of course being the Duke of Buckingham George Villiers he dissolved Parliament it should also be noted that the king had traditionally been granted custom duties known as tonnage and poundage for life but Parliament did not choose to allow this for Charles instead they offered a one-year granting of this thus forcing Charles to call Parliament every year when he needed it to be renewed of course this was unfathomable to Charles here Charles believes on why the commons were failing him began to come to the Forefront the failure was blamed on a few individuals pursuing popularity and thus Charles complained that it was a slight to his sovereignty as a king however in September 1625 the ships that James had agreed to lend France were used against the Protestant huguenots in France this led to a rapid deterioration of relations between the English and the French the recusant sea laws in England would indeed be reinforced a new Parliament was now called and plans were made to assist the huguenots in France with the deterioration of relations in France Charles and Villiers could now claim that they were defending protestantism in hopes of acquiring Supply from Parliament but after the French King and the huguenots concluded a piece the fervor surrounding this died out thus the 1626 Parliament which met a few days after Charles English coronation was basically an opportunity for the commons to attack Billiards who went as far as impeaching him additionally Supply could only be granted after grievances were addressed although Charles offered to relieve Billiards of many of his offices as a compromise the commons remained bullheaded and moved along with the impeachment as we touched on when discussing Charles character here Charles began to claim that Billiards was simply acting on his orders in and began to hint that the commons attacks on Villiers were in truth an attack on him incredibly raising the bar of potential conflict Additionally the commons voted that tonnage and poundage the custom duties discussed previously that had been usually granted to Kings for life was now illegal although this was unacceptable for Charles he could already see the writing on the wall that is that little would be achieved financially in Parliament already a discussion of other ways of raising money were being had in Charles Inner Circle and when the commons remained Resolute in their positions Charles again dissolved Parliament the playing field had been set in the interactions between Charles and Parliament would come to dominate Affairs in the coming decades on one side we have Charles the king inflexible angered at slights towards his Royal prerogative and believing that a few people were influencing the majority through popularity on the other side we have the commons inflexible in their own respects believing that the king must address their issues and take them seriously if the kingdom was to run smoothly of course this would all lead to disaster Charles now turned to his quote-unquote new councils as they were referred to which essentially meant new ways to raise money without the utilization of parliament many on the privy Council were opposed to this and urged Charles to call a new Parliament but in August 1626 Charles Uncle the Protestant Dane Christian IV of Denmark was defeated by Imperial forces at the Battle of Luder Charles had offered assistance but had not been able to deliver this thus shortly after the defeat what is referred to today as the force loan was pursued by Charles in England in order to raise funds and was collected through the rest of 1626 and all the way through 1627. financially this was a resounding success but politically it was a resounding disaster many began to see what Charles was aiming at essentially finding loophole waste attacks without the council or consent from Parliament Charles for his part argued that he was simply carrying out his role as divinely anointed Monarch protecting his people from foreign threats to add fuel to the fire the punishments for failure to conform were severe and Charles was a major driving Factor behind the financial Pursuit attention switched from assisting Charles Uncle to the French and Villiers led a fleet to the IL De Ray in an attempt to relieve the huguenots in the port of LA Rochelle this ended in disaster and Villiers was forced to return home after defeat this failure was due in part to the inability to raise money for resupply and reinforcement which of course continued the deterioration between Charles and his subjects another attempt was planned but only a parliament could Finance this and so Charles reluctantly agreed to call another Parliament which assembled in March 1628. it was clear to all that the this Parliament would determine the future of parliaments in England and Charles was well aware of this himself Charles ability to raise funds outside of parliamentary consent was very concerning to many of the members of parliament as this was quasi-infringement on the well-established ideas of Magna Carta the commons negotiated a grant that Charles initially found acceptable but of course grievances would have to be addressed before this could be agreed unsurprisingly a deadlock ensued and thus the comments presented what is known today as the Petition of Right this laid out that Charles would have to agree to the protection of men's rights in property in person Charles had not only implemented the forced loan but had also imprisoned some who refused it citing Royal prerogative I.E privileges the Petition of Right clearly objected to these things and required Charles to subscribe to a protection from these issues of course here was another example of Royal prerogative versus Commons Grievances and surprisingly Charles was not impressed and initially refused the petition but he desperately needed money in order to send his ships back to La Rochelle and thus on June 7 1628 Charles relented and consented to the Petition of Right essentially making it law the subsidy bill was passed and preparations continued but Charles immediately began backtracking with regard to the Petition of Right by August of that year the fleet was almost ready to sail when Charles was dealt a devastating blow after Villiers had arrived in Portsmouth to take control of the fleet he was stabbed to death at the Greyhound Pub by a man named John Felton this of course devastated Charles as Buckingham had not only been his closest advisor in favorite but someone who had been a crutch for him and his youth when his father still lived we must remember that Charles and Villiers had experienced much together from their relationship with Charles father to their trip to Spain and their experiences in Parliament as well Billiards had been an invaluable advice advisor to him but even more so he had been a valued friend thus this void needed to be filled and indeed it would be by none other than Charles wife Henrietta Maria here we must pause once more in order to briefly discuss the relationship between Charles and Henrietta Maria as the relationship would play a large role in Charles future decision making when the marriage was concluded between Charles and Henrietta the match was not a particularly happy one Henrietta was said to have been unhappy after her wedding night and early on the couple would butt heads Henrietta was denying Charles her bed and was said to have often been depressed in his presence as a Catholic she refused to be crowned in a Protestant ceremony thus Charles was forced to be crowned alone Charles in 1626 decided that his Queen's Entourage was no longer to be permitted and sent them home replacing them with English officials of course the deterioration of relations with France did not help the matter and vice versa because of the sending home of henrietta's Entourage and the tense relations between her and Charles the French had actually refused to pay the second half of her Dowry but after villier's death the two began to reconcile and became very close after over three years of marriage their first child was conceived they would have nine children together six of which would survive early Youth and two of their sons would become future kings of England indeed after some time the two would find it difficult to be apart from one another Villiers had been a forceful and serious Ally and with his death Charles lost a powerful advisor Henrietta Maria would in part fill these shoes and we will soon see that she will be very influential in Charles decision making and will be just as forceful as Villiers had been when he lived the 1628 Parliament had been another disaster and there were many who had a front row seat to the drama especially one man sitting for the first time in the Commons as a representative from the Huntington constituency in Cambridgeshire he had played a minimal if no role in the Parliamentary conflicts and did not stick out from the crowd but over time this man would rise from his lowly position to incredible Heights in the English government and there will be much more to come from this young man later in Charles story his name was Oliver Cromwell foreign of right had been accepted prior to villier's assassination Charles quickly pro-rogued Parliament meaning that he discontinued it until a later time but did not dissolve it this was due in part to Parliament looking to address the tonnage and poundage discussed previously as well as religious matters thus this delayed Parliament still needed to be dealt with and in January 1629 it reconvened Charles was already at his wit's end with Parliament and he continued to discuss ways in which he could raise money outside the approval of parliament his counselors were split on the matter and some still believed that Charles should continue working within the confines of Parliament and some were convinced that he must try to find a workaround of course since many in Parliament detested the now dead failures there could have been an opportunity at a clean slate for everyone but if Charles wanted to continue on with the struggles against Spain and France he would need to raise money through Parliament but it was becoming clear that the enthusiasm that Charles once had towards the 30 Years War on the continent or against the French had begun to dissipate not least because he was beginning to see the impossibility of working with Parliament also peace negotiations between the French crown and the huguenots had released some of the tension as well however Charles made it clear to his counselors that he was interested in finding ways to work graciously with Parliament Charles looked to find a way to have the tonnage and poundage granted him for life as he had hoped but his backtracking previously on the Petition of Right forced the commons to reject this they turned to religion and to punishing those who had collected duties outside of parliament of course Charles Bound by his honor stood up for these men who claimed that they were acting on Royal Authority therefore again this path could only lead to a direct conflict with the crown additionally attacks on the quote-unquote Armenian style of religion led to an even further hardening of Charles mind against the Calvinists unsurprisingly chaos ensued Charles attempted to adjourn Parliament again but the speaker was forced back into his chair and declarations were read about Charles quickly dissolved Parliament and had nine of the leading members involved arrested with nothing accomplished this was a turning point in the rain Charles would now look to find a way of governing without Parliament and indeed would not call another Parliament for 11 years this time frame is known today as the personal Rule and would be the lead-up to some of the most destructive events in England's history Charles soon began to look for peace towards both Spain and France and Charles once enthusiastic ideas towards entering the 30 Years War on the continent slowly died out this was aided in part by the birth of his first son Prince Charles in 1630 as Now with an heir secured his sister's position on the continent seemed less a problem for him thus peace was concluded for the time being and when an opportunity arose in December 1631 to restore the palatinate to Charles sister and brother-in-law Charles past as it would have required a parliament to be summoned thus it had become clear that Charles was intent on working outside of parliament no matter the cost in 1633 discussions were still being had about ways to raise money without Parliament involved and the discussion had turned to an old military Levy used in times of emergency called ship money this previously had been used during a time when there was no standing Navy where Coastal ports and towns would be required to either provide ships for Royal use or provide a monetary equivalent ship money since this was technically a levy and not attacks Charles was able to claim that this was not a violation of the Petition of Right he had ascended two years prior thus Ritz were issued in 1634 to the coastal ports and towns when the amount that was brought in was insufficient to outfit ships for the defense of the channel the levy was imposed Kingdom wide and those who refused were on the hook to have their property seized this practice continued for much of the personal rule financially it worked well but politically it was another disaster as it was met with widespread disdain especially after five of twelve judges in the 1637-1638 Hampton case declared against the crown bringing further questioning into the practice the defendant in this case John Hampton Oliver cromwell's first cousin will come up again briefly during Charles story additionally Charles furthered his anti-calvinist agenda one of the men who was opposed to working within the confines of parliament was William laude the anti-calvinist arminian discussed previously who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633. he and Charles seem to be on the same page for the most part and together they set out two and Force religious change though it should be noted that he would never have the same relationship with Charles that Villiers once had and Charles tended to limit him to religious Affairs laud was given great freedoms and the reform movement that would be named after him laudianism was crucial in moving the Episcopal bench of Bishops to being decisively anti-calvinist in nature and the ideas of predestination and Free Will were at the tip of the spear this forced a divide and many Calvinists who previously were moderate and conformed now began to not conform and even separate as they were disgusted in part by the rise of the Free Will Armenian ideas that were perceived to be so close to Catholicism the Bishops now for many began to be looked at as religious enemies rather than allies in reform as they had been looked at before many also feared that a watered-down form of Catholicism finding its way back into England would be the Catalyst to further Catholic practices entering the kingdom none of this was helped by Charles sympathies towards this group or the fact that he was being influenced by his Catholic and French wife by the end of the decade more radical forms of puritanism were finding their ways into the mainstream it should be noted that Charles was abjectly opposed to Catholicism but he was also just as opposed to puritanism unfortunately his support of anti-calvinists such as laud gave the wrong impression and many believe that he was biased towards Catholicism thus the two ideological Arenas were set the first being the religious Arena where Puritan slash reformed ideas were squarely matched with the Armenian and anti-calvinist ideas simply put by each of their opponents radical puritanism versus pseudo-catholicism the second ideological Arena was Parliament where again the Royal prerogative-minded anti-parliamentarians looking for ways around Parliament were matched with the grievance-minded comments and pro-parliamentarians opposed to practices like the force Loan in ship money which they believed circumvented Parliament illegally of course knowing where everyone lied Within These Arenas at all times is almost impossible to know or fully comprehend as by this time and definitely within the near future there was or would be moderate factions fighting against radical factions and counselors or members switching sides or attempting to sway their faction Etc the complexity of these interactions should not be understated and again anyone interested in this topic should look further into the discussion Charles personal rule would technically last through the remainder of the 1630s however serious events in Scotland would lead to a parliament finally being recalled and a dangerous fuse would be lit that would ultimately lead to war in addition to the ideological Arenas there was also three physical Arenas that existed during Charles pain that need to be discussed before we continued on these Arenas were Ireland Scotland and of course England Wales all of which were ruled by Charles we know somewhat the extent of religious and political Affairs that existed in England as we have just discussed them in relative detail but Ireland and Scotland need a brief rundown as well to understand the events that we will shortly discuss Ireland and Scotland first off were significantly poorer than England at the time with Ireland being the poorest as we recall the religious state of Scotland for the most part was Protestant Presbyterian or Puritan if you will and detested Roman Catholicism Charles father had forced the Presbyterian Scottish Church aka the Kirk into conforming by installing the detested Bishops in Scotland among many other unpopular enforcements Ireland on the other hand was mostly Catholic and made up of three groups the first was the Catholic Gaelic Irish which held the majority population wise but held little power the quote-unquote new English who were Protestant imports from England and had vast control there including in the church and the quote-unquote old English who were also Catholic but had been in control of Ireland prior to the Protestant Reformation and the implantation of the new English although there is much to be said about these places and both will play a key role in the future interactions with Charles we are going to simplify here the main takeaways to keep in mind from these areas are that Charles wished to implement his anti-calvinist ways in both realms that the Scots I.E Presbyterians hated the Bishops and were already disgruntled about having to conform and that the majority of Ireland was Catholic but ruled by a few implanted Protestants in 1634 Charles had appointed a man named Sir Thomas Wentworth eventual Earl of Stratford as Lord Deputy of Ireland and he quickly got to work fixing the financial woes that had been plaguing Ireland he would be able to raise a large subsidy from the Irish Parliament after promising to negotiate a loosening of attacks towards the Catholics in Ireland amongst other things with the old English but quickly went back on his word this had the effect of uniting many enemies in Ireland especially between the Catholic native Irish and the Catholic Old English he also succeeded in offending the new English religion wise due to the anti-calvinist impositions on the Irish Church his ability to play both sides against each other worked well early on but eventually this would all turn on him and Charles however at the time the Irish parliamentary subsidy was of course pleasing to Charles and Charles would hold wentworth's parliamentary success as an example of how he believed the English Parliament could be worked and dealt with he would find out the hard way that this would not be the case here we must turn our attention to Scotland where the first step into chaos would truly occur on his trip to Scotland in 1633 for his coronation Archbishop William laude accompanied him and unsurprisingly he and Charles found much to be desired with regard to the Scottish church although Charles father as discussed previously had attempted to force the Scots to conform little had been done to see this happen yes Bishops had been installed as the church leaders in Scotland but a prayer book that was supposed to have been completed had not been and thus Charles decided that it was time for this to happen although he allowed this prayer book to be written by Scots it was only approved by the bishop ships at a high level and much of the populace was greatly opposed by what was in the prayer book thus in 1637 the ticking Time Bomb exploded when the dean of Saint Giles Church in Scotland used the prayer book during a service causing a riot to break out in reality this was much more than a riot it was actually a coordinated attack and movement with much support although Charles was not initially aware of this and turned to his often used reasoning of placing blame on a small group of individuals stirring up popularity what this ended up turning out to actually be was a serious attack on the Bishops something that Charles was as we recall resolutely and abjectly opposed to doing away with the flame of discontent and Rebellion spread rapidly and there was little that Charles could do to put it out eventually after pulling back on the prayer book Scottish demands for reformation of the Scottish Church continued on with fervor people were calling for the heads of the Bishops and despite Charles attempts to reconcile the Scots were in no mood for negotiation they formed what is famously known today as the national Covenant which banded them all together against Charles reforms and required that no changes could be made to religion in Scotland without the approval of the general assembly of the church or Parliament most in Scotland subscribed to the Covenant and thus the so-called Scottish covenanters were born this would be the beginning phases of something known today as The Bishop's Wars but before we get into the Bishops Wars we must pause briefly again to give an overview of the conflicts that we are about to discuss to start the bishop wars were part of a larger conflict known today as the wars of the Three Kingdoms the Three Kingdoms of course being Ireland Scotland and England the wars of the Three Kingdoms includes the Bishops Wars the first English Civil War the second English Civil War the Irish Confederate Wars and the anglo-scottish war aka the third Civil War in char oral story however we will only be discussing the Bishops Wars which is broken down into the first Bishop's War and the second Bishop's War the Irish Confederate Wars in which we already briefly touched on some of the preceding events the first English Civil War and the second English Civil War these are all conflicts that Charles would either be directly involved in or would be directly affected by so with that being said let us continue on Charles was acting in a somewhat conciliatory manner towards the Scots but again what he would not give way on was the elimination of the Scottish Bishops as he like his father saw this as a step towards infringing on Royal Authority a serious Crossroads had been reached and it has been argued that neither side was fully aware how serious each other were dedicated to their causes the covenanters began to make military preparations and Charles was now in a serious predicament if he stood his ground war would likely be inevitable in Scotland but if he wavered a dangerous precedent would be set and this could light a fire underneath English Puritans to rebel and fight in the same manner and for the same things in November the Glasgow assembly met and although Charles tried to dissolve the Gathering it continued on in defiance of the king this assembly made revolutionary changes to the Scottish Church abolishing the detested prayer book and revoking the articles of Perth that Charles father had imposed on them perhaps the most significant of these was the deposition of the Bishops which when mixed with all the other changes eliminated the Royal supremacy of the Church of Scotland and replaced Royal Authority with that of the Presbyterian Kirk of course Charles opted to fight and is stubborn and inflexible Nature Made any type of negotiating an almost impossibility he believed that any concessions he made to the Presbyterians in Scotland would be seen as a sign of weakness and this could again give the Puritans in England courage to stand up in the same manner the time for war had arrived and thus in 1639 the first Bishop's War Began property and castles were seized by the covenanters and Charles initially opted for a three-prong attack however this plan was complicated and soon fell apart not wanting to call Parliament Charles funded the Army on his own accord something that many in England were unhappy about as Charles was Waging War without parliamentary consent Charles found that he was not able to draw support from areas that he assumed he would a troubling sign his army was larger but had many untrained soldiers and military leaders whereas the Scottish covenanters were more professional soldiers and reunited in their cause the covenanter military leader was an experienced soldier named Alexander Leslie who had fought in the 30 Years War on the continent in June Charles and Leslie's armies met near Kelso and Leslie utilized a 30 Years War trick to give the impression that his army was significantly larger than it actually was in fact Charles had the larger force and should Charles have engaged at this juncture he very well could have reasserted his authority through a military Victory but the ruse worked and Charles fearing the size of the covenanter forces retreated thus giving the Scots a psychological Victory thus negotiations were opened between the two sides resulting in the pacification of Barrack which formally ended the first Bishop's war in reality the pacification was a truce and although Charles agreed to another general assembly and Parliament the Scots were emboldened by their victories at this point the treaty unsurprisingly disintegrated and soon military preparations were underway yet again but here major events were to unfold as Charles would have to call an English Parliament for the first time in 11 years in order to fund the conflict thus this would end the so-called personal rule if Charles could have a successful Parliament he could attain much needed funding unite the country behind a war and demoralize the covenanters in Scotland in April 1640 what is known today as the short Parliament met the name of the parliament is in itself telling it's called the short Parliament due to the fact that it sat for only three weeks and ended disastrously Charles was not in the mood to compromise and believed that calling the parliament in itself should be seen as a concession on his part he again hoped to delay the discussion of grievances to a later session of course the list of grievances had grown during Charles 11-year personal rule especially with practices like ship money still being imposed by this time however there was a faction in the comments that was pro-scottish and this group had colluded with the Covenant tours previously they wanted nothing more than this Parliament to fail and they were led by a man named John Pym Pym was the son of a man who was a member of the minor Gentry from Somerset and after his father's death he had been raised to detest Spain the Catholic church and arminianism and eventually became a zealous Puritan as he aged he and his faction would play a serious role in Charles future parliamentary proceedings Pym gave a speech denouncing arminianism and all the Grievances that plagued the country including ship money other members agreed that grievances must be put to the king before Supply could be granted especially with regard to ship money Charles offered to do away with ship money for a staggering sum of money in the form of a grant when the comments hesitated Charles lost patience and dissolved the session in May again Charles blamed a few individual Jewels stirring up popularity as the reason for the failure of the parliament in reality with the Scottish faction looking to disrupt any negotiation this was not necessarily incorrect again sitting at this Parliament was Oliver Cromwell however no longer as a representative of the Huntington constituency Cromwell had had disputes with the powerful montagues in Huntington and had fallen down the social ladder he had lost property and became a tenant Farmer for some time but after inheriting property on the death of a family member he once again became financially stable and now became a representative of Cambridge in Parliament he still remained at this time a relatively obscure individual and added little to the incredible events that were happening around him of course as we have already stated this was to soon change Charles raised what funds he could and traveled to join his army in the north seeing the failure of the short Parliament the Scottish covenanters only became more emboldened and decided on a more aggressive approach in what is known today as the second Bishop's War a covenanter army crossed the border in August 1640 and Charles with an unenthusiastic and cash short Army was unable to defend properly the royalists were defeated at the Battle of New Bern which allowed the covenanters to occupy Newcastle the Scots were now in the driver's seat and many begged Charles to call Parliament again he eventually was forced to relent and finally agreed to call another parliament in November 1640 although not until he called a great Council of peers in an attempt to sidestep Parliament yet again in the meantime the Treaty of Rippon was signed which agreed that the English would fund the Scots Army for the time being among other concessions the Parliament that Charles was forced to call in November 1640 is one of the most famous parliaments in England's history it would sit for an astounding 13 years and not fully be concluded for 20. this Parliament is famously remembered today as the long parliament here again Oliver Cromwell took his place as a representative of Cambridge he again added little to the proceedings but it is important to note that Cromwell was witnessing firsthand the DraStic events that were unfolding in Parliament and although the experiences of the 1628 Parliament short Parliament and long parliament obviously influenced Charles greatly they also influenced many others who played a passive role at the time including Oliver Cromwell the covenanter Army gave Parliament a serious advantage against Charles and Parliament used this to their utmost Advantage Charles was as a concession he was forced to agree to stripped of his ability to dissolve parliament at will hence why the parliament was able to last so long in the first place the pro Scottish party in the Commons led by Pym was the most powerful and in the opening weeks of parliament the steps were taken first and foremost to eliminate Charles quote-unquote evil counselors who many believed were influencing him incorrectly although Cromwell played only a small role he was not completely inactive he interacted regularly with this pro-scottish group in the Commons often appearing on committees managing petitions and serving as the liaison between the commons and the Lords at the top of Charles Commons evil counselor list was Charles Deputy in Ireland the Earl of Stratford Thomas Wentworth who was arrested and sent to the tower Archbishop William laude was also part of this list and was arrested as well the commons also were keen on abolishing the Bishops but here Charles took a stand yet again wise in this scenario as the commons were split on this issue Charles was forced to accept significant infringement on his Royal Authority when he ascended to the triennial ACT which essentially stated that Parliament should meet every three years if the king did not call them this was obviously intended to prevent another form of a personal rule from happening in England Charles was keen on not only saving the episcopate but also his advisor and Deputy in Ireland Wentworth who was impeached in March 1641. the commons attacked wentworth's actions and style of government in Ireland due to the fact that many could see that wentworth's actions in Ireland were actions that Charles hoped could be applied to England therefore the battle to find Wentworth guilty of treason was in reality and in part a battle to prove that Charles's own style of governing would not be tolerated and Charles knew this perfectly well but Charles made a serious blunder at this point he had been making some ground and gaining the initiative due to the distrust of the Scots and the divisive issue of the Bishops but soon plots were discovered known as the first Army plot and the second Army plot which was to include Charles Northern Army marching on London and freeing Wentworth from the tower thus taking the initiative by force this took away any momentum Charles had going for him Charles was partially influenced on the matter of the plots by his Catholic wife Henrietta Maria who detested Puritans in Parliament she had begun to emerge as an influential advisor and would often prod her husband into taking a more hardlined and aggressive stance she often threatened to flee abroad which would eventually become a reality and although Charles did not always respond to his wife's prodding or criticism it should be noted that it was something that he took very seriously and she did indeed influence him in political matters at certain times the most serious consequence of the army plots was to seal wentworth's fate Charles was pressured to approve a bill of attainder against his Lord Deputy as many crowds in London were calling for his head he eventually agreed and due to the strong feeling of honor and responsibility to protect those who served him loyally this was something that he would regret internally for the rest of his life Wentworth was executed on May 11 1641. Charles then decided that he would attempt to take the covenanters and their army who were disgruntled by this point out of the picture he decided that he would Ascent to what the Scottish General Assembly had approved prior which incredibly included the abolition of the Bishops in Scotland among many other concessions thus the Treaty of London was agreed to in August 1641 effectively ending the second Bishop's War Charles then traveled North to Scotland himself to see the treaty concluded here he was hope hoping to further the divide that had been growing between the pro-scottish party in the English Parliament and the covenanters themselves the pro-scottish parliamentarians including Pym were aware of this and so sent a delegation along to disrupt this indeed they were able to renew their contacts once in Scotland here another plot emerged known as the quote-unquote incident this plot was to include the kidnapping or murdering of leading covenanters this failed and Charles was ultimately forced to accept many concessions of the Scottish Parliament including the abolition of the Bishops but here another major event shifted the course of events the Irish Confederate Wars discussed previously broke out with a Catholic rebellion in Ireland in October 1641 with the elimination of Wentworth from the Ireland a power grab had ensued the Protestant new English were keen on making a connection with Pym AKA Parliament and the Scots whereas the Catholic Old English were counting on the king to help their situation the native Gaelic Irish had been plotting Rebellion for some time and when Charles was unable to protect the Catholic Old English from harsh anti-catholic laws they decided to join up with the native Irish to form Rebellion Charles initially did nothing an anti-catholic fervor was reaching a Breaking Point concerns that Charles was tolerating potpourri via the old English and his wife Henrietta Maria allowed Pym to gain the upper hand on December 1st 1641 the grand remonstrance was presented to Charles by Parliament which put forth a list of grievances coded in anti-catholic rhetoric Charles had already made large concessions to Parliament as discussed previously but it seemed that the commons would stop at nothing short than making Charles but a king in name only this remonstrance passed by only 11 votes and it was clear that there was a serious divide on these issues and some who had been critical of Charles now switched sides many expected Parliament to put the rebellion in Ireland down but in order to do this they would have to allow Charles an army Charles had a great opportunity here to seize the moment and capitalize on the Divide but again he threw this all away with his actions he appointed Thomas Lunsford to guard Parliament and ludsford and his men had it out with the London citizens where many citizens lost their lives additionally Charles in a roundabout way attempted to forcibly close Parliament with the assistance of the Bishops which failed miserably causing him to lose his factions much needed support in the Commons lastly perhaps Charles most famous attempt to followed when he attempted to have the commons leaders including John Pym and John Hampton arrested in January 1642 we recall that Hampton was cromwell's cousin who became famous after the Hampton case related to ship money discussed previously this group that Charles attempted to arrest would famously become known as the five members and received word of their impending arrest and took flight before Charles was able to have them arrested Charles entered the house with soldiers and was embarrassed to find that they were not there although he made a proclamation for their arrest the charges against the five members were found to be illegal and thus they were not pursued the once divided Commons were once again United against the king as Charles exited Parliament shouts of privilege echoed behind him one of those members of The Commons who would have certainly been involved in this shouting was of course Oliver Cromwell the stakes have been raised and Charles was yet again in another situat Nation where if he was to back down he would greatly lose face or he could push forward into the territory of Civil War Parliament moved to the London Guild Hall out of fear of Charles and the five members returned in Triumph Charles and his family fled from London to Hampton Court effectively surrendering London with its doors of arms and treasure to Parliament Charles needed to buy time as he was in no position to wage a civil war he was initially conciliatory and open-minded due to the fact that he needed to secure his wife's safety Charles still had friends in the House of Lords some of which began to defect to his cause after shooting down a bill that would give Parliament control of the militia but the commons was able to push through The Bishop's exclusion spill which excluded bishops from the House of Lords Queen Henrietta Maria had emerged as a close advisor at this time and she was unsurprisingly more concerned about the militia over the state of the Bishops but she was eventually sent to the Netherlands for her safety and and thus after also securing his eldest son Prince Charles the king's conciliatory mindset evaporated Charles decided that he would move north and travel to York by this time he was still unable to wage war and had been cut off from the assets needed to wage war mainly the exchequer and the ordinance but Charles was still a king in a country that held very dear their ties to the monarchy and it would be this appeal that would allow Charles to gain ground he needed to touch on popular opinion and become the face of the status quo against the Parliamentary revolutionaries he attempted to take control of Hull with his ordinance but after the King was refused to entry Charles believed that he was able to declare that Parliament was now in Rebellion against him in essence striking the first blow thus on August 22 1642 the first English Civil War officially commenced although it should be noted that military skirmishes with losses did predate this per perhaps most notably the Battle of Marshall's Elm in Somerset on the 4th of August Charles requested financial assistance from Oxford and Cambridge universities of which Oxford did indeed assist by sending Charles their college plate but Cambridge we remember was represented by Oliver Cromwell in Parliament he was sent by Parliament to Cambridge to convince them to not assist Charles and thus in August 1642 Cromwell traveled to Cambridge collecting Military Support along the way this was cromwell's first military action and though it was not a particularly glorious Endeavor this small step would lead to an undeniably incredible rise to fame it was time for a new bloody phase in England's Royal history foreign declaration Pym and Parliament tried to argue that the King was incapacitated and it was their right to take control based on precedent but Charles was neither a child nor mentally incapacitated thus the argument held little water Charles began to gain ground as concern over Puritan policy grew many noblemen began to flock to Charles side and many offered money and men to defend him Parliament soon put forward something known as the 19 propositions this would have effectively removed Charles role in government almost completely Charles drafted a response rejecting the propositions and both sides began to raise troops for war in mid-1642 after the pro-royalists began to abandon Parliament a pro-parliament majority had been reached which had allowed what was called the militia ordinance to pass basically allowing Parliament to control the militia this had been shot down by the law Lords previously but was now passed with the new majority of course Charles had refused to give Royal assent which was needed to make it law but Parliament simply declared that the people were still bound to it and thus seized control of the militia Charles on the other hand continued to appeal to those wanting the status quo Charles had very little military experience certainly a detriment to his cause but he was powerful enough to recruit an array of battle-tested generals he also was happy to have his nephews Prince Rupert of the Rhine and Prince Maurice Sons to his deposed sister Elizabeth arrive in England at this time and pledge to his cause both would be loyal soldiers to their uncle and indeed Prince Rupert would prove to be an invaluable asset to Charles military actions of course we cannot go into each Skirmish Siege battle Etc so we will be touching on some of the more decisive battles and sequences of events that had a serious the leader of the Parliamentary Army would be Robert Devereaux third Earl of Essex the son of Elizabeth the first favorite of the same name Cromwell although being successful in his attempt to prevent Cambridge College from funding Charles was still a very minor figure militarily at this point just as he had been in Parliament however he had shown reliability and after being praised by Parliament he traveled back to Huntington to raise troops it was said that his ability to recruit well and learn fast were the reasons he would be so successful militarily Cromwell was a quality over quantity type recruiter and aimed to recruit the men who he deemed had a proper moral compass but a crucial thing that must be understood at this juncture is that Cromwell was a Puritan and held a specific type of Puritan belief that being independency of course not everyone on either side of the conflict agreed on everything and as we will soon see disagreement in these areas will lead to much future trouble especially on the parliamentarian side at the beginning of the first Civil War generally speaking Charles held loyalty in the North in areas in the west including Wales whereas Parliament held sway in London and the East after the first Siege of whole where Charles tried to capture the town's ordinance and the first Skirmish at Marshall's Elm both of which we briefly touched on multiple seizures and skirmishes followed Prince Rupert's victory at the Battle of poet Bridge lifted the royalist AKA Cavaliers as they would be known spirits but by October the decision was made to engage devaru's Army in the field they met in October of 1642 at the Battle of Edgehill this would be cromwell's first experience in combat and he was less than impressed he is believed to have arrived late and added little to the confused and inconclusive struggle this battle ended in a draw but it left the initiative with the royalist Cavaliers the road to LA London was open should Charles choose to push on he did not and many have said that this was a serious missed opportunity for Charles to either secure a decisive Victory or at least be able to settle unfavorable terms instead Charles took Banbury Oxford reading and Colebrook which allowed devru and his parliamentary Roundheads as they would become known to reach London in early November the royalists won another victory at the Battle of Brentford and Prince Rupert's men were allowed to sack the town this put fear into londoners that this was what awaited them and so they took the parliamentarian side the London trained bands essentially a part-time militiamen joined devaru and marched to turn them green where the parliamentarian Roundheads were able to secure a standoff and repulse the royalist Cavaliers to Oxford this would be the closest Charles would ever be to taking London in early 1643 Cromwell was promoted from Captain to Colonel and took command of the East Eastern counties he was successful there and the Parliamentary press began to praise him for his efforts ratcheting up his Fame and notoriety however devaru's Army was gradually disintegrating in Berkshire and Charles and the Cavaliers won victories at Ed Walton Moore round way down in Bristol Additionally the queen returned to England and met up with her husband at his headquarters in Oxford she had remained a serious adviser to Charles when overseas but now that she was back in the flesh her influence over her husband against any type of negotiated settlement was much more serious the return of his wife and the victories in his name gave Charles a boost in morale and it appeared that the parliamentarians were losing ground the royalists seemed to be gaining ground especially in the west where the parliamentarians were reduced to isolated strongholds such as that of Gloucester but unfortunately for Charles mistakes would be made a Siege was laid to Gloucester and Devereaux sent a relief Force to assist the town down Charles would indeed be forced to raise the siege of Gloucester but he now had the opportunity to crush devaru in the field in a decisive blow the two forces met at the first battle of Newbury in September the battle was deadlocked and many believe Charles had devaru on his heels and could have delivered the Fatal blow here but he blundered this opportunity by taking advice that he must Retreat due to being low on supplies this was opposed by Charles nephew and successful General Prince Rupert but Charles ignored his protestations and did indeed withdraw this allowed devaru's parliamentary roundhead Army to return to London by late September 1643. this would also be around the time that major decisions adjusted the playing field of War Charles looked to Ireland for Aid and when the Catholic Irish Confederacy agreed to a truce and Catholic soldiers were freed up and shipped to Aid him in the west many in England and Scotland were appalled that Charles would do such a thing and that is negotiate or Ally himself with Catholics he had always been suspected of crypto Catholicism and with his anti-calvinist Armenian ways this decision of course was seized upon by the parliamentarians propaganda wise the Presbyterian Scots equally appalled by Charles overtures to the Catholics in Ireland also decided that it was time for them to enter The Fray after the Scottish Parliament authorized negotiations with the English Parliament what was known as the solemn league and Covenant was created thus merging the causes of the parliamentarians and the Scottish covenanters a committee known as the committee of both kingdoms was set up to oversee the management of the war the solemn League was one of John pym's last great achievements before his death from cancer in December 1643 Cromwell soon to be promoted from Colonel to Lieutenant General did not sign the league until early 1644 and he was subsequently appointed to the new Committee of both kingdoms however as we recall when discussing cromwell's personal beliefs on Puritan independency many signing the solemn league did not fully agree with it the solemn League had set out in part that Presbyterian would be the future of religion in England and of course individuals like Cromwell in reality would have none of this but for the time being all was well with this Alliance in January 1644 the royalists began the year with the defeat at the Battle of nantwich and the Scots Army Advanced into Yorkshire in England Charles called what is known today as the Oxford Parliament also known as the mongrel parliament in an attempt to build political support and to oppose the long parliament in London it had a decent turnout and agreed to his Supply needs this Parliament also condemned the Scottish Alliance and declared that anyone in the parliament in London involved in this was guilty of treason this could probably be considered Charles most successful Parliament and was probably online with how he believed all parliaments should have operated however those at the Oxford Parliament were greatly opposed to any negotiations with the Catholics in Ireland and this also eliminated any chance of negotiation with parliament in London as well Prince Rupert was able to score a victory at the relief of Newark but this was followed up by a disastrous royalist defeat at the Battle of Chariton which all but eliminated any advantage that the Irish Catholic reinforcements were providing the first session of the Oxford Parliament ended in April 1644 Cromwell had joined forces with the Scottish covenanters and other parliamentarian forces including one that was led by Lord Fairfax Lord Fairfax son Sir Thomas Fairfax was part of this Force as well and will come up again shortly this combined Force laid Siege to York but this Siege was raised when Prince Rupert marched and relieved the city Rupert pursued the parliamentarian roundhead but unfortunately for the royalists Rupert would be delivered a crushing defeat and the largest and deadliest Battle of the war the parliamentarians had the Manpower Advantage but it was a tough-fought battle both Cromwell and Sir Thomas Fairfax Calvary played a large role in the Victory and indeed both these men would be wounded in the battle the royalist Cavalier losses were 10 times the parliamentarians and this defeat eliminated Charles hold in the north of England and indeed the siege of York resumed after Rupert's defeat with the city eventually falling to the parliamentarians however not all was lost the parliamentarians had laid Siege to Oxford Charles headquarters during the war but he was able to escape thus the parliamentarians made a serious mistake when they split their forces some to pursue the king and the others under devaru's Army to relieve the siege of Lyme Regis which had been started in April by Charles other nephew Prince Maurice the siege of Lyme Regis was lifted by devaru's Army but Charles was able to return into his forces at Oxford and win a battle against the remaining parliamentarians that had stayed at the Battle of croperty bridge Charles then turned to pursue devaru who was now trapped in Cornwall at the Battle of Lost with Thiel the majority of devaru's army was forced to surrender putting the Southwest in control of the royalists although devaru and much of his Calvary was able to escape and his captured soldiers were allowed to lay down their arms and March away they were able to regroup and face the royalists at the Second Battle of Newbury in October 1644. Cromwell joined this Force although he was not fond of his Superior at the time a man named Edward Montague Earl of Manchester Cromwell was said to have performed poorly here as after the royalist flank was routed Cromwell hesitated and the royalists were able to safely return to Oxford Charles was then able to relieve three garrisons including one at Donnington after he was reinforced by his nephew Prince Rupert thus Charles was able to end the year on a somewhat positive note the inexperienced and indecisive Commander that Charles had once been had been replaced by a more confident and experienced leader but much was still lacking the stalemate year over year in theory should have strengthened the cause of those looking for a negotiated settlement on each side but Charles was becoming fed up with the Oxford Parliament which had reconvened in October 1644 due to their desire to reach a Peaceable compromise he would end up proroguing it in March 1645. the negotiations that took place at Uxbridge around this time in early 1645 were unfruitful the demands sent to Charles were harsh and could never have been accepted by him they included Charles agreeing to the solemn league and Covenant converting England to presbyterianism giving the control of the militia to parliamentarian Commissioners and rescinding the treaty with the Irish of course this was not accepted Charles would have none of this especially the Presbyterian clause which of course would have eliminated the Bishops in England but the parliamentarians went through some changes at this stage and it should be noted that Archbishop William laude was executed around this time by the parliamentarians many in the Parliamentary Camp were of the belief that Parliament was not winning the war because the commanders essentially had a conflict of interest members of parliament were in positions of command and many including Cromwell wanted this done away with thus the self-denying ordinance came to be which forbade any Member of Parliament from commanding in the field this meant that devaru and Cromwell Superior for a Time Manchester were now no longer in charge of forces but Cromwell was a member of parliament as well and thus should have been excluded as well but an exception would eventually be made for him and he would be allowed to resume his post thus showing how serious his rise to prominence had been the parliamentarians also decided on a restructure of their army thus in 1645 5 what is known today as the New Model Army was created which answered directly to the committee of both kingdoms Cromwell was heavily involved in the creation of this although at the time he had not yet been given an exemption to serve in it Sir Thomas Fairfax discussed previously was made Lord General essentially the most Superior officer in the New Model Army unfortunately the royalists made a serious mistake when they split Charles Main Army to send some to assist in the siege of Taunton but Fairfax New Model Army was more of a force to be reckoned with than Charles had realized after news reached Charles that Fairfax was advancing through the Midlands Charles requested that his army cavalry that had been split and sent to Taunton returned to rejoin the bulk of the main Force additional reinforcements were requested but word soon reached Charles that Fairfax had laid Siege to Oxford he and Rupert hoped that Oxford could hold out and give them a chance to run free while the New Model Army was pinned down at Oxford the this did allow Rupert to capture Lester in May 1645 after which Cromwell was appointed as Lieutenant General and returned to the field unfortunately due to poor communication and reconnaissance Charles did not realize how exposed he had become he believed that his force would be significantly stronger once the requested reinforcements and the rest of his army that had broken off reached him in reality neither were coming to him but he was unaware of this additionally the strength of the New Model Army was consistently underestimated thus when Charles engaged the New Model Army at nasby disaster awaited him Rupert commanded the battle and when his Cavalry was initially successful against his counterpart his troops pursued them from the field cromwell's more disciplined Calvary on the other hand remained United on the battlefield and were able to overwhelm the Cavalry and then attacked the exposed infantry in the center thus Cromwell and the Parliamentary Roundheads carried the day and Victory was one over Charles which shattered his army worse yet his coach was captured and correspondence with his wife exposed that he continued to negotiate with the Catholics in Ireland and considered abolishing laws against Catholics in Ireland and England to add insult to injury in July the other branch of Charles Army that had split off to lay Siege to Taunton Was Defeated at the Battle of langport by Fairfax and Cromwell thus giving Parliament control of the West Charles and Rupert came into disagreement with one another at this time as well and after the loss of Bristol Charles sacked his nephew who was perhaps his most capable General and the general most respected by his men Charles cause was slowly deteriorating and by the Fall after no Irish reinforcements arrived things were looking Bleak he had hoped that an ally in Scotland would force the Scottish covenanter's Army to come to peace but after this Ally Was Defeated at the Battle of Philippa this too was out of the question although Charles worked vigorously to try and get reinforcements from Ireland and France this would not materialize and after his last field Army Was Defeated at the Battle of stolen the world in March 1646 the writing was on the wall when Fairfax and the New Model Army Advanced on Oxford Charles decided that it was time to surrender his surrender would not be to the English Parliament however instead he surrendered to the Scots on May 2nd 1646 at Newark essentially bringing an end to the first English Civil War Charles had been defeated and was now in custody but he was far from out of the fight and his calculated surrender to the Scots would indeed play a big part in the events that were to follow [Music] although Charles was a prisoner his decision to surrender to the Scots was calculated and that there had already been a rift that had been forming between the English Parliament and the covenanters indeed the English parliament in itself was divided as well with some supporting Presbyterian reforms and others specifically the independence being greatly opposed to this The Divide between the Presbyterians and The Independents in Parliament was ever growing of course as we have already discussed Cromwell was an independently minded individual this group favoring congregationalism with no National Church there was talk of deposition but Charles had sent his son Prince Charles overseas and thus many were well aware that this would do little to disrupt any royalist Revival in the future Charles remained ever dedicated to the issues that meant the most to him he would not waver in his support of the Bishops nor would he concede to allowing those who had supported him to be open to trees and charges the so-called Newcastle propositions from the English Parliament were even more harsh than what had been offered to him at Uxbridge and of course Charles was not willing to accept them the Scots stated that if he would just take the Covenant and agree on the Presbyterian front they would do everything they could to put him back in power in England Charles again refused there was a growing royalist Resurgence in many areas that were fed up with high taxation the Scots Army and the New Model Army the Presbyterian faction in the English parliament in London had the advantage has their desire to reinstate Charles as quickly as possible and return to a status quo was popular the Scots eventually became flustered with the situation pulling their army from England and ransoming Charles back to Parliament he was installed at holmby house and provided a full household and staff after negotiating with English Presbyterians in Parliament he was invited to come near London but events took a serious turn here the Presbyterian leadership in London had looked at a full demilitization on all sides which was to include royalists Scots and their own New Model Army although they were said to have reasonably traded with the Scots to see Charles delivered and the Scots Army removed from England with the New Model Army who had been so crucial in securing a victory they were less than fair soldiers were owed a great deal of back pay and they were told to go home on vague promises that they would eventually be paid the cooling in relations was in part related to the divide that had been growing with regard to the Presbyterian and independent movements the Presbyterians in the English Parliament had power but the majority of the New Model Army were Independents in fact the New Model Army was showing signs of becoming a political Force themselves and we're now beginning to show organization they began to voice their opinions on matters through what were known as agitators essentially spokesmen for the Army and these opinions were not only related to money in fact political reform and religious freedom were also being discussed and voiced the New Model Army petitioned Parliament reasonably asking for what could be considered today as understandable requests for pay both in back pay and pay moving forward as well as accommodation for those injured and disabled by the fighting the Presbyterians in Parliament had a sense of fear specifically related to the growing number of more radical ideologues in the New Model Army known as levelers who look to level the playing field of society with regard to land and power Etc thus Parliament incredibly issued the Declaration of dislike essentially deeming the New Model Army as enemies of the state Cromwell was in an interesting position in all this as he after his exemption was both A Member of Parliament and a soldier in the New Model Army he unsurprisingly was one of those commissioned to negotiate a compromise Parliament was in no mood for negotiation and continued toward disbandment it had been argued that should they have been more open to getting the troops paid the events that followed could have possibly been overted cromwell's role had been minimal and indeed he was not seen as the main leader at this time as Sir Thomas Fairfax was looked to as this although Cromwell and Fairfax remained fairly moderate in their beliefs the brunt of the rank and file and the New Model Army were growing radically independent and this mixed with the obstinacy of the Presbyterians in Parliament made playing both sides impossible when all was said and done Cromwell chose his army over his parliament in June 1647 Charles was seized by the New Model Army at Holby Charles prospects for restoration and negotiation now took a new dangerous turn down the Road of Revolution parliament's alliance with the Scots now became worthless negotiations with Charles now commenced with the New Model Army and although Parliament was still involved in this the independence in Parliament became the powerful group instead of the Parliamentary Presbyterians in July 1647 what was known as the heads of proposals was produced which was the independent Army's attempt at settlement with Charles the terms were far better than Charles had ever been offered in the past Charles was willing to tolerate independency which was part of the negotiation and the independence seemed to be much more open to compromise than the Presbyterians had been additionally one of Charles sticking points punishments of his loyal royalist supporters were walked back considerably he would initially share power with the Parliamentary elected Council of state but eventually power would be relinquished back to him many believe this was Charles's best opportunity for settlement and he was unable to capitalize on this this was due in part to a few issues number one he could not be certain that what was agreed to with the Army was something that would be accepted in Parliament and number two there was chaos that had taken place in London between the Presbyterians and independents in Parliament which was only suppressed when Fairfax marched an army to London to settle the matter lastly the Scots and Presbyterians in the English Parliament were terrified at The Growing Power of the New Model Army in Independence the Scots were ready to reinstate Charles by force if necessary with this in mind Charles decided to throw in his lot with the Scots this of course angered the New Model Army an opinion throughout the ranks turned against him talks of deposition abounded which spooked Charles into escaping he traveled to karisbrook Castle on the Isle of Wight hoping to turn the leadership there this would not be the case as the governor there was cromwell's second cousin Charles was duly imprisoned at the castle there parliamentary envoys traveled to carisbrook and presented Charles with one final offer known as the four bills the Scots Commissioners were close behind afraid that Charles would settle with the parliamentarians thus they agreed to what was known as the engagement with Charles Charles would Implement presbyterianism in England for three years and approve various acts that the Scottish Parliament had passed in return if Charles was denied a personal treaty in London the Scots would provide Military Support to to restore his authority in England the Covenant would remain in place in Scotland but neither Charles nor his subjects would be required to be a part of it moving forward those Scottish supporters who became part of the engagement now became known as the quote-unquote engagers by mid-april the Scots Army had been mobilized thus effectively beginning the second English Civil War the New Model Army for their part decided that if they were successful in the upcoming War Charles would be tried as a traitor Fairfax was still in control of the New Model Army but Cromwell was emerging as the go-to man in this respect Royal uprisings in Wales and the north and south of England forced the New Model Army into action Cromwell was successful in Wales despite a longer Siege at Pembroke Castle after it capitulated Cromwell moved on to Preston while Fairfax besieged Colchester the Battle of Preston was cromwell's first battle as a sole commander and he was able to Route the royalists and win a decisive victory for the parliamentarians Colchester soon fell as well after news of Preston and cromwell's subsequent pursuit of royalists reached them however the Presbyterians in Parliament were able to reassert their Authority and thus they were able to make moves towards the personal treaty that Charles had required as part of his deal with the Scots although much of parliament was keen on reaching a settlement with Charles the levelers and independents and the New Model Army were growing more steadfast in their hopes for revolution at Newport in September 1648 Charles was presented with similar harsh terms he had experienced years prior and the negotiations stalled as had usually been the case many believe that Charles was never truly open to the idea of negotiation and remained dedicated to seeing his enemies humiliated and defeated his openness to negotiation had always been both at Newport and in the past a way of buying time for divisions between his enemies to widen and give him opportunity Unity to exploit them Charles also continued to hope for assistance from Ireland another reason for his desire to stall at negotiations by late November the negotiations had collapsed the New Model Army now took the reins in an incredible way they were extremely unhappy with parliament's attempts to negotiate with Charles and as stated previously wanted to put him on trial in November they had presented the remonstrance of the army to Parliament which requested a purge of Parliament and a trial for the king this had been rejected by The Commons and the Presbyterians in Parliament continued to seek a negotiated settlement with Charles the New Model Army had had enough and on December 6th Colonel Thomas Pride who had fought with Cromwell at Preston and his regiment forcefully prevented members of parliament hostile to the New Model Army from entering the parliament in London something known today as Pride's Purge the remaining members of what had still been the long parliament now constituted what is known today as the rump Parliament the Presbyterians were now eliminated from the equation and the door was opened to the radical ideas of the New Model Army a trial would be held for the king in England Cromwell who had arrived in London hours after Pride's Purge had taken place would be present for said trial Charles was removed from parliamentary hands and placed into the hands of the New Model Army soldiers who were said to have treated him cruelly Charles still appealed to the Presbyterians in Parliament but he was unaware that as a result of Pride's Purge they were no longer in a position to help the main players had now shifted and included those looking to take a more conciliatory approach which included the leaders of the army such as Fairfax and Cromwell and those who wish to punish the King which included many radical members of parliament and lower Rank and file members of the New Model Army when a mission was launched by the more moderates to attempt to convince Charles to give way on things he held close to his heart the Bishops being one of those things he refused to negotiate thus his obstinacy tended to push more moderates and radicals in line with one another and there was no way of preventing or stage managing a trial at this point in January 1649 the act for a high court of justice was passed essentially allowing a trial to ensue without the consent of the king or the Lords this was led by the more radical members who essentially wish to do away with the King and Lords altogether although there remained many opposed to this on January 20th 1649 Charles trial commenced Charles was accused of being a tyrant and a traitor among other charges when asked how he would plead Charles refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the court and asked by what Authority he was called although Charles defended himself properly and made valid points as to the validity of the Court trying him it did not matter the court took his refusal to plead as an admission of guilt and moved on to sentencing Charles The Sovereign King of England was incredibly sentenced to death by a court of his subjects Charles uncharacteristically lost his stoic composure and burst out before regaining his composure and being led away Fairfax had absented himself from these proceedings and it was understood that Cromwell had emerged as a driving force behind the New Politics that had surfaced he was the third person of 59 to sign Charles death warrant a warrant that even many members of the rump Parliament were hesitant to sign Charles spent his last few days calmly and wrote to his son Charles with advice for his future Prince Charles was involved in the second Civil War and was coming into his own as an 18 year old young man he would have his own incredible story in England's Royal history but at the time he wasn't able to help his father in a significant way after Charles came to terms with his sentence he did not display the troubled face of anxiety that he had shown during the war when he was in particularly stressful situations he knew he had lost and he he seemed to be at peace with his impending death he was allowed a meeting with his younger children which was filled with tears and instructions to Charles youngest son Henry to resist what the parliamentarians would ultimately throw at him on the day of his execution he was said to have awoken in good spirits and spent much of the morning in prayer as he rented himself for the block he requested an additional shirt as to make sure he would not shiver in the cold and give the impression of fear in his scaffold speech he attempted to present himself as a constitutional Monarch and relay his dedication to peace for his kingdom he famously said the words I go from a corruptable to an Incorruptible Crown Charles knelt and placed his head on the Block and thus on Monday January 30th 1649 around 2PM in the afternoon The Executioner's ax severed King Charles the first of England's head from his body he was 48 years old Cromwell was said to have viewed Charles body before burial uttering the unverifiable phrase cruel necessity Charles was refused Burial at Westminster Abbey and thus was transported to Saint George Chapel at Windsor Castle he was laid to rest in the Vault of Henry VII and his wife Jane Seymour this tomb can still be seen at St George's Chapel to this day the life and reign of King Charles the first is an unfortunate stressful and disturbing tale to reflect upon from an early age his experiences in life did not set him up to be particularly successful in the role of King he lived in his brother's Shadow for some time and developed a perhaps more sensitive and reserved personality that led to some insecurities early in life perhaps many in the modern day can sympathize with this to an extent to a degree he was destined for conflict as his father who had already experienced trouble in Parliament himself instructed his son in his absolutist ideas of kingship where a king was divinely anointed and answerable to God first and foremost Charles entered the role of King has a mostly green and untested young man and although there was initially a palpable excitement for his Ascension this feeling soon wore off after his Troublesome first experiences as King in Parliament Charles conscience and Honor made him obstinately close-minded in many situations to which an open mind could have benefited him in the long run his failure to see the bigger picture in many aspects of his kingdom especially in that of religion led to some of the greatest troubles that England had ever experienced of course not all the blame for the wars of the Three Kingdoms and the English Civil Wars can be placed At His Feet as an emerging radical component of the commons were at one point or another just as dedicated to destroying any type of settlement that could have averted the war than Charles was indeed it takes two to tango and there was no shortage of men in the Commons or Parliament as a whole who were astaunchly dedicated to their beliefs as Charles Charles was a dedicated father and for the most part husband as well and although it was not discussed he was keen on aspects of regality that can be admired in today's age he was a patron of the Arts both in physical Art Theater masks Etc and was Keen to lean on his majesty and regality but this in the end was part of the problem Charles insistence at times on relying on his Royal prerogative and absolute power was no doubt the main reason for the conflicts arising in his Realms aided by his hard-line position with regard to religion there may be a degree of sympathy that one can feel for Charles but just as much a degree of condemnation and criticism deserves to be put forward some of the most incredible events in England's Royal history played out during his time as king and indeed these incredible events will continue for years after his death with the meteoric rise of Cromwell during the protectorate and interregnum the restoration of his son Prince Charles and ultimately the Glorious Revolution decades later but Charles remains as an international historical example at what awaits perceived tyranny and those who refuse to compromise for this he has surely left his incredibly bloody and influential mark on England's Royal history

Channel: Brief History

Views: 180,594

Keywords: Charles I, Charles I Of England, Brief History

Id: O53VC2766to

Length: 110min 12sec (6612 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 18 2022