Ward's Book of Days.
Pages of interesting anniversaries.
What happened on this day in history.
NOVEMBER 19th
On this day in history in 1600, was born Charles I.
Charles
was a king who believed totally in the ‘Divine Right of Kings’ and engaged
in a power struggle with Parliament, which he lost and paid for with his life.
Charles
was born in 1600, the second son of James VI of Scots, at Dunfermline Palace.
He was a sickly child and not expected to live, so when his father inherited
the throne of England in 1603, Charles was left in the care of nurses when the
Royal family left for London. Ironically, in 1612, Charles was still alive
when his elder brother died and Charles became heir to the thrones of England
and Scotland. Charles father, James I of England, James VI of Scots, never
quite got used to the idea of the English House of Commons, where
parliamentarians were involved in state business and the king was overlooked.
It was from his father that Charles acquired the notion of the ‘Divine Right
of Kings’, whereby God appoints a king to rule and that the purpose of
parliaments and people’s representatives is to assist and advise the king.
In
1625, James died and Charles succeeded to the throne. Almost immediately,
Charles fell foul of Parliament when he married the French, and Catholic,
Princess, Henrietta Maria. Charles then became involved in a war with Spain
and was obliged to ask Parliament for money. Parliament granted him a small
sum, £140,000, not nearly enough for a costly war. Parliament also refused
Charles the lifetime grant of ‘Tonnage and Poundage’; the right to levy
taxes on imports and exports, but only granted him this right for one year at
a time. It became clear that Parliament was going to ration the king’s
supply of cash and keep control over expenditure. Charles then resorted to the
expedient of dismissing Parliament and ruling on his own.
Without
a supply of finance, Charles was obliged to make peace with Spain. He financed
the upkeep of the Royal Navy by levying an ancient tax known as ‘Ship
Money’, which, although had not been approved by a current Parliament, had
been granted, as a permanent tax, to previous kings and as such was
technically legal.
In
1639, Charles found himself in trouble in Scotland when he imposed a new
Prayer Book on the clergy which the Scots deeply resented as they thought it
tantamount to Catholic practice. Charles resolved to subdue rebellion in
Scotland with the sword, but found himself outmanoeuvred, in the First
Bishops’ War, by a coordinated Scottish army led by dissident nobles. He was
obliged to sign an ignominious truce at Berwick.
Charles
was advised to call Parliament and request money for a second war against the
Scots. The new Parliament, The Short Parliament, instead of granting money,
busied itself with grievances against the king and his collection of Ship
Money and the conduct of the war in Scotland. In exasperation, Charles
dissolved Parliament.
This
only encouraged the Scots to cross the border and take on the king’s troops
at Newburn and now, Charles had to call Parliament again. The Long Parliament
was even more uncooperative that the Short Parliament. They passed a Triennial
Act, ensuring that Parliament had to meet at least once every three years and
could not be dissolved without its own consent and far from granting more
money to the king, condemned Ship Money as illegal. They even demanded control
of the army.
In
desperation, Charles made peace with the Scots and asked them to support a
campaign against the English Parliament. He also pawned the crown jewels to
raise funds and, at Nottingham, raised the Royal Standard in a theatrical
gesture signifying war on Parliament.
The
country split into two factions and a vicious civil war ensued. Parliament
raised a New Model Army, trained to fight as a unified force. Charles had the
support of Scottish nobles and English aristocrats. Charles was deeply
disturbed by slaughter of his own people on the battlefield. He was too much
of a gentleman to engage in full-scale warfare. The New Model Army, on the
other hand, pursued the conflict with full vigour, with the result that they
emerged victorious and captured the king.
Charles
was put on trial at Westminster Hall. He was charged with high treason and
‘other high crimes’ but refused to accept the authority of the court, and
was subsequently convicted and beheaded in public. A Commonwealth (republic)
was declared and Oliver Cromwell ruled England as Lord Protector. But
Cromwell’s rule was worse than Charles’ had ever been. He put down dissent
ruthlessly, raised taxes whenever he wanted money, without any consent, made
war against Scotland, tried to create a union of England and Holland and when
that failed went to war with Holland. Cromwell reduced Parliament to a
‘Rump’ by dismissing members who opposed him and finally abolished
Parliament altogether. He was on the verge of declaring himself King Oliver,
when he died in mysterious circumstances. After this, there was no hesitation
in inviting Charles’ son, Charles II, to return and rule quietly.
On 30th January 1661, on the anniversary of the death of Charles I, Cromwell’s body, was disinterred from his grave, and ceremonially hanged at Tyburn. His head was exhibited on a pole outside Westminster Abbey until 1685, when it fell to pieces.
©2006 Ward’s Book of Days