Mohit Agrawal (1.4)
James I
Born: June 19, 1566.
Death: March 27, 1625.
Ruled: 1603-1625.
James was well received by the English public.
There was little effort to block his ascension.
Wife: Anne of Denmark. In an attempt to align Children: Henry (who died in 1612), Elizabeth
himself with the Protestant nobles of Scotland,
(who was married off to Frederick of the
and to distance himself from his tarnished
Palatinate), and Charles (later Charles I)
Catholic mother Mary, James converted from
Catholicism and married the Lutheran Anne.
Her embarrassing conversion to Catholicism and
her expenditures made her unpopular in England
and Scotland.
Advisors: Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury. Cecil
allowed for a semblance of transition between
the two monarchs. James still embroiled himself
with Parliament.
Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset. James and Carr
may have had a gay relationship. Appointing
Carr was a big snub to the rest of court. He also
wasn't very good.
George Villiers, Earl of Coventry, Duke of
Buckingham. Nobles at first supported
Buckingham to replace Carr. Parliament
especially hated Buckingham and were rejoiced
when he died. They were probably gay lovers.
James also had Sir Francis Bacon as an
advisor.
General notes: James was obsessed with
witchcraft and the danger it apparently posed
him.
He wrote aggressively against sodomy, though
he was probably gay with Carr and maybe
Villiers.
James denied the Puritans most of their wants,
but did okay a new Bible translation.
The Guy Fawkes episode in 1605, in which
Catholic conspirators were to blow up Parliament
and the king, scared James silly. It might be why
he was so soft on Catholics.
James is considered one of the best Scottish
kings, if not English kings. Unlike Charles, he
was politique in his decisions regarding religion
up north.
Popularity with the general public: James was
generally unpopular for being too nice to
Catholics.
When Spain said so, James had Sir Walter
Raleigh beheaded. This was all in an effort to
get a subsidy from Spain.
James just wasn't kingly.
Popularity at court: James was hated for bringing
in Scottish nobles.
He also sold so many peerages that the nobles
got mad at the “inflation of honors.”
He would crap his pants to avoid getting off his
horse while hunting.
Popularity with Parliament: extremely unpopular. Foreign Policy: He ended wars, probably to save
When he did not get enough money from
money. His official moniker was “peacemaker.”
Parliament, he started selling peerages and raised He ended war with Spain in 1604.
tariffs.
He avoided going to war with Spain in the
James had Parliament dismissed numerous
1620s.
times during his reign.
Charles I
Born: November 19, 1600.
Death: July 30, 1649.
Ruled: 1625-1649.
Mohit Agrawal (2.4)
Wife: Charles had been rejected by the Infanta. Children: Charles II, James II, Henry Stuart,
He married Henrietta Marie, a French Catholic, Mary (Princess of Orange), Anne, Henrietta
over the objections of Parliament and the English Anne Stuart.
public. In the marriage treaty with Louis XIII,
Charles had promised to help Catholics in
England.
Advisors: Thomas Wenworth, Earl of Strafford
William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Laud pushed the church in a more High Church
manner.
Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. He helped
marshal the royal forces during the civil war.
General notes: Charles, who was sickly, is listed
by Guinness as England's shortest king.
Charles also stuttered and didn't carry like a
king.
Popularity with the general public: Charles gave
political cover to Robert Montague when his
works against Calvin caused problems in
Parliament. This made Charles, with this
Catholic wife, look pro-Catholic.
Charles's new ship money and forced loans
made him hated. He used devious means to get
around Parliament and force more taxes on
England.
Popularity at court: Charles removed all of
James's court except for Buckingham.
Charles's new ship money and forced loans
made him hated.
The great abuse of the Court of High
Commission and the Court of Star Chamber,
both of which were extralegal and stripped away
basic rights, angered the nobility (and basically
everyone else too).
Charles kept selling peerages.
Popularity with Parliament: extremely unpopular.
Parliament would only finance limited war with
Spain, while Charles wanted full war.
Even with Buckingham gone, Parliament hated
Charles.
After a confrontational Parliament, Charles had
personal rule for 11 years.
The Short and Long Parliaments were even
more combative than previous ones (literally:
civil war).
Foreign Policy: Charles, rebuffed by Spain,
wanted to go to war. But with his pocketbooks
checked, he soon made peace with Spain and
France instead.
Charles was no politique, and his misguided
religious war with Scotland in 1639 forced him
to call Parliament.
Charles II
Born: May 29, 1630.
Death: February 6, 1685.
Wife: Catherine of Braganza. She was the
second daughter of the king of Portugal. Her
dowry brought Tangier and Bombay to British
control. She was not a particularly popular
choice of queen, being a Roman Catholic, and
her religion prevented her ever being crowned,
since Roman Catholics were forbidden to take
part in Anglican services. Catherine
introduced the custom of tea drinking in court,
which later spread across England. Charles's
Ruled: 1660-1685.
Children: No legitimate children.
Advisors: Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon.
Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby. Danby took
the heat when, in 1678, Charles agreed not to
attack France for money. Charles had him
imprisoned to satisfy Parliament.
Mohit Agrawal (3.4)
reign brought the rise to power of the British
East India Company.
General notes: Charles II was known as the
merry monarch for his jolly demeanor. The
King had a distinctive appearance: very dark
and six foot two inches tall.
He famously fathered numerous illegitimate
children, of whom he acknowledged fourteen;
but no legitimate children that lived. Charles
was also a patron of the arts and less restrictive
than many of his predecessors. Some historians
believe that Charles was secretly a Roman
Catholic for much of his life while others
disagree. All that is known for certain is that he
converted to Roman Catholicism on his
deathbed. Charles respected Catholicism
because Catholics had helped him escape
England during the Civil War.
Although Charles granted amnesty to
Cromwell's supporters, he specifically excluded
those involved in his father's trial and execution.
Many among those who signed Charles I's death
warrant were executed in 1660 in the most
gruesome fashion. The bodies of Oliver
Cromwell, Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw
were subjected to the indignity of posthumous
executions.
In 1665, London was hit by the Great Plague.
It was not stopped until the city burned in 1666
in the Great Fire. People in general blamed the
Catholics.
The Test Act contributed to the development
of the English two-party system; the Whigs
were those who supported the Act, whilst the
Tories were those who opposed it.
Popularity with the general public: Charles lost
popularity with the public when he agreed to
leave the Church of Scotland alone. He was
thought of as not pro-Anglican enough.
The Popish plot, along with the Plague and
Fire, excited great anti-Catholicism during his
reign.
During the waning years of his reign, the king
got an upsurge of respect from the public. This
may have been due to a plot to kill him and his
brother James in favor of Mary II.
Popularity at court: Charles was disliked for his
rampant womanizing, in which the wives of
prominent noblemen gave birth to his illegitimate
children.
Popularity with Parliament: Unlike his father
Charles I, Charles II was skilled at managing
the Parliament of England, so much so that
Charles is still considered by some as one of
England's greatest kings. It was during his
reign that the Whig and Tory political parties
developed.
When Charles agreed to abandon his father's
creative tax policies, Parliament agreed to give
him full access to the treasury. The only
problem was that there wasn't anything in the
treasury.
Charles's opposition to the Test Act again
made him seem pro-Catholic and riled
Parliament against him. However, by the end
of his reign, Parliament was stacked in his
Foreign Policy: Appreciative of the assistance
given to him in gaining the throne, Charles
awarded Carolina—named after his father—to
eight nobles in 1663.
Due to the Navigation Acts, Charles had
three wars with the Netherlands, most of which
went badly.
In 1670, Charles, seeking to solve his
financial troubles, agreed to the Treaty of
Dover, under which Louis XIV would pay him
£200,000 each year. In exchange, Charles
agreed to convert himself to Roman
Catholicism "as soon as the welfare of his
realm will permit." It remains unclear if
Charles ever seriously intended to follow
through on the conversion clause.
Mohit Agrawal (4.4)
favor.
James II
Born: October 14, 1633.
Death: September 16, 1701.
Ruled: 1685-1689.
Wife: Lady Anne Hyde (married in 1660 to her
death in 1671), daughter of the Earl of
Clarendon. Hyde was one of the few
Englishwomen to marry into the royal family.
She converted to Catholicism to the horror of her
family. However, because Charles II saw
James's children as heirs to the throne, he
ordered them to be brought up Anglican.
Mary of Modena, married in 1673. She had
a strict Roman Catholic upbringing and was
favored by Louis XIV to be James's wife.
Though beautiful, her Catholicism made
England hate her. She had many stillborn
children, but in 1688 James Edward lived.
Children: Lady Anne Hyde—Mary II and
Anne (both later queens).
Mary of Modena—James Edward, Maria
Louisa. Because of James's age and the history
of stillbirth, much care was taken to prove the
legitimacy of James Edward's birth. James
Edward was later known as the Old Pretender
and his son the Young Pretender or Bonny
Prince Charles.
Advisors: mostly self-rule, but also Robert
Spencer, Earl of Sunderland
General notes: He was the last Roman Catholic
monarch to reign in England.
His supporters were known as Jacobites, and
James, his son, and his grandson all tried to take
back the throne on various occasions.
Popularity with the general public: James
converted to Catholicism in 1668/9, and it
became general knowledge when he refused to
partake in the Test Act of 1673.
The Declaration of Indulgence, which allowed
religious toleration of Catholics, made everyone
angry.
James also had the Archbishop of Canterbury
and other prominent Anglicans put on trial for
sedition.
Popularity at court: James controversially
allowed Roman Catholics to occupy the highest
offices of the Kingdom and stripped prominent
Protestants of their posts. James also appointed
many Catholics to positions in Oxford. This
made the nobility (and the public) very angry.
Popularity with Parliament: At first, there was
little overt opposition to the new Sovereign.
The new Parliament which assembled in May
1685 seemed favorable to James, agreeing to
grant him a large income.
By putting Roman Catholics in charge of
several regiments, the King was drawn into a
conflict with Parliament.
William and Mary acceded to the throne
when they agreed to the Bill of Rights, which
criticized many of James's absolutist actions.
Foreign Policy: James was close to Louis XIV
and France. James made a tactical error in not
accepting Louis's offer of help against William in
1688. Most of the Protestants of James's army
joined William in battle, so James could have
used Louis's troops. He refrained, however,
because he thought he would anger the English
(but at least he still would have been king...).