English
Constitutional
Monarchy
By: Ms. Susan M . Pojer
Horace Greeley H. S. Chappaqua, NY
Adapted by: Mr. Reiner Kolodinski
T he Stuart Monarchy
James I [r. 1603-1625]– House of Stuart
Mary, Q of Scots son
James I’s speech to the House of
Commons:
“I am surprised that my ancestors
should ever be permitted such an
institution to come into existence.
I am a stranger, and found it here
when I arrived, so that I am
obliged to put up with what I
cannot get rid of!”
Attitude = Divine Right!!
Star Chamber courts used… no
Parliamentary courts…
James I [r. 1603-1625]
• Strong Anglican
– Anti-Puritan
– Separatists leave
England…Plymouth
Pilgrims
• Anti-Parliament
– Customs Duties
imposed ($$) to
avoid Parliament
• Catholic alliances
• Jamestown, VA…
– Anti-tobacco
Ship Money Assessments, 1636
[per square mile]
What could account
for the differences
in assessments
(duties / taxes) for
the different
regions of the
country?
King James
Bible,
1611
Sponsored the
publication of
this English
version of the
Bible…
Royal
Influences
Charles I [r. 1625-1649]
• Anti-Parliament
– Tariffs, duties, taxes
and quartering troops
• Petition of Right
– Parliament must
approve taxes
– No quartering troops
– No imprisonment
without just cause
T he Petition of Rights, 1628
Nicknamed “T he Stuart Magna Carta”
Original Magna Carta issued 1215
Against royal abuse of power
Contract between King & Nobles
Limited the power of the King
Guaranteed Rights… Jury, Due Process
Required Parliament’s consent on taxes
Charles I
by Van Dyck (1633)
T he Many Faces of
Charles I
• Hired by Charles I
to raise money for
the crown
• Centralized
government
• Sought new
revenue sources
• Enforced and
extended laws
• Angered Parliament
and the people
Thomas Wentworth
Earl of Stafford
Archbishop • Forced religious
conformity in Britain
W illiam Laud
– Book of Common Prayer
– Puritans & Presbyterians
protested
• Scots rebelled… $ req’d
• “Short Parliament”
– “Power of the Purse”
– Parliament seeks
cooperation
– Charles dissolves
Parliament
The Long Parliament
1640-1660
• Charles I called on Parliament for military
operation funding vs. Scots in rebellion
• Parliament religiously & politically divided
• Parliament suspended royal decrees
• Laud & Wentworth impeached AND
executed by Parliament
• Parliament invaded by Charles I & then
passes Military Ordinance >> civil war!
Allegiance of
Members
of the
Long
Parliament
(1640-1660)
Civil War (1621-1649)
Royalists
(Cavaliers)
a House of Lords
Parliamentarians
(Roundheads)
a N & W England
† House of
Commons
a Aristocracy
† S & E England
a Large
† Puritans
landowners
a Church officials
a More rural, less
prosperous
† Merchants
† Townspeople
† More urban ,
more prosperous
Oliver Cromwell [1599-1658]
T he “Interregnum” Period [1649-1660]
† Roundheads prevail in Civil War
† Thomas Hobbes – “Leviathan”
† Oliver Cromwell establishes a Puritan
Republic aka Commonwealth (1649-1653)
† Abolished House of Lords, monarchy &
official church
† Executed Charles I publicly
† Conquered Scotland & Ireland…
BRUTAL TACTICS used
† Disbanded Parliament 1653
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Oliver Cromwell [1599-1658]
The “Interregnum” Period [1649-1660]
The Protectorate (1654-60)
= dictatorship
Cromwell is Lord Protector
Strict Puritan rule
Prohibited theatre, dance,
alcohol, etc.
Limited rights
Religious conformity
Ended 1658 @ Cromwell’s
death
New Model Army Soldier’s Catechism
• Puritan Rule or else
• Atrocities vs. Irish
Catholics
• Military rule = martial law
– Limited Freedoms
The Public Beheading of Charles I
Why is this execution so significant?
King Charles II [r. 1660-1685] T he
Restoration Period
a Had charm, poise, & political
skills.
a Restored the theaters,
reopened the pubs and brothels
closed during the Cromwell’s
Protectorate Era
a Favored religious toleration.
a Secret Catholic sympathies.
a Avoided father’s mistakes
King Charles II [r. 1660-1685]
a
a
1661  “Cavalier” Parliament [Royalists]

Disbanded the Puritan army.

Pardoned most Puritan rebels.

Restored the authority of the Church of
England.
1662  Clarendon Code [Act of Uniformity]

Anglican religious conformity = All had to use
the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.

Forbade “non-conformists” to worship publicly,
teach their faith, or attend English
universities… Catholics, Presbyterians, Jews
King Charles II [r. 1660-1685]
a American “Restoration Colonies”= “Carolinas”
a 1673 Test Act
 Parliament excluded all but Anglicans
from civilian and military positions…
“Puritan Radicals” / “Catholic Traitors”
1679 Habeas Corpus Act
 Any unjustly imprisoned persons could
obtain a writ of habeas corpus = govt.
must explain why imprisoned.
Charles II’s Foreign Policy
1665 – 1667: Second Anglo-Dutch War
a Uses Louis XIV as ideal
ally against the Dutch…
Catholic sympathies, $$
to be made!
a 1670  Treaty of
Dover = E + F vs.
Dutch
a Declaration of
Indulgence rescinds
Clarendon Code
“The Popish Plot 1678”
• Titus Oates swore
Catholics were
plotting to
assassinate King
Charles II
• Parliament
believed…Hysteria…
innocent RCs died…
plot proved to be a lie
• Oates condemned &
humiliated
King James II [r. 1685-1688]
a Bigoted convert to
Catholicism
a Lacked shrewdness or
ability to compromise
a Alienated even the
Tories.
a Provoked revolution by
his attitude
King James II [r. 1685-1688]
a
Put Catholics into the
High Command of both the
army and navy.
a
Stationed “standing army” outside of London.
a
Surrounded himself with
Catholic advisors & attacked
Anglican control of the
universities.
a
Claimed the power to suspend or dispense with Acts
of Parliament.
a
1687  Declaration of Liberty of Conscience
 He extended religious toleration to RC’s without
Parliament’s approval or support.
T he “Glorious” Revolution: 1688
a Whig & Tory leaders offer the throne
jointly to James II’s daughter Mary [raised
a Protestant] & her husband, William of
Orange.
 He was a vigorous enemy of Louis XIV.
 He was seen as a champion of the
Protestant cause.
English Bill of Rights [1689]
a Constitutional Monarchy
a Settled all major issues
between King &
Parliament.
a Served as a model for
the U.S. Bill of Rights.
a Basis for the steady
expansion of civil
liberties of 18c and
early 19c England.
English Bill of Rights [1689]
a
Main provisions:
1. The King could not suspend laws.
2. The King could not interfere with course of justice.
3. No taxes levied or standard army maintained in peacetime
without Parliament’s consent.
4. Freedom of speech in Parliament.
5. Sessions of Parliament would be held frequently.
6. Subjects had the right of bail, petition, and freedom from
excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishment.
7. The monarch must be a Protestant.
8. Freedom from arbitrary arrest.
9. Censorship of the press was dropped.
10.Religious toleration.
Age of Walpole
• “House of Hanover” (German)
begins to rule England
– Act of Settlement 1701 orderly shift
in power if K/Q are childless
– King George I becomes king 1714
• Robert Walpole becomes PM
– England flourished under his
leadership in the 1700s
• Maintained peace, increased trade