Charles 1
Charles I and early warning signs
- James died on 27th March 1625.
- Charles married Henrietta Maria (she was 15), by proxy on 1st May 1625 at
the Notre Dame de Paris, and in person on 13th June 1625 on Canterbury.
- Charles delayed the opening of his first Parliament until after the marriage
was consummated to forestall any opposition.
- Charles was crowned on 2nd Feb 1626 at Westminster Abbey, but
Henrietta Maria refused to attend because she refused to participate in a
Protestant religious ceremony.
- There was also an outbreak of plague in London in Feb 1626.
The problem of his marriage
- Charles formed an extremely close partnership to Henrietta Maria, but
only after Buckingham's death, and they were devoted, and faithful, to
each other.
- Her Catholic beliefs marked her out as different and potentially dangerous
in the English society of the time, which had feared Catholic subversion.
- Although he told Parliament that he would not relax religious restrictions
(against Catholics), he promised to do exactly that in a secret marriage
treaty with his brother-in-law Louis XIII of France. Moreover, the treaty
loaned to the French seven English naval ships that would be used to
suppress the Protestant Huguenots at La Rochelle in September 1625.
Charles' character
- James had been scruffy, informal extravagant, open, warm and
affectionate.
- Charles was formal, inflexible, cold, withdrawn and shifty.
Parliament saw an opportunity
Charles and Buckingham had made a grave error - they had unwittingly
encouraged Parliament to believe that it now possessed important
powers:
- The right to dispose of government ministers.
- To initiate foreign policy.
- To control the Crown's expenditure.
1625: The Mansfeld expedition
- In April 1624 James secured the services of the experienced German
mercenary commander Count Ernst von Mansfeld.
- It was intended that Mansfeld would take an English force through French
territory to recover the Palatinate for Frederick V.
- However, the French king, Louis XIII, wished to have Mansfeld's Forces
give help to the Dutch against the Spanish- and therefore refused to allow
the Mansfeld expedition to land in France, making it virtually impossible
for Mansfeld to reach the Palatinate.
, - Eventually, in late January 1625, Mansfeld's army of 6,000 raw recruits
was set down without supplies in Holland, where 4,000 of its soldiers
withered away through sickness and starvation without accomplishing
anything.
- Unsurprisingly, the political nation was upset at this turn of events -
especially as the 1624 Parliament had granted funds for a naval war,
rather than a land campaign.
- This meant that Charles' first Parliament would seek to obtain more
effective control over foreign and military policy.
Charles' foreign policy aims
- Charles wished to provide his brother-in-law Frederick V with practical
assistance to recover the Palatinate. He aimed to provide Mansfeld with
the sum of £20,000 per month so that he could commence military
operations in the Netherlands, before moving on into Germany.
- He promised his Lutheran uncle Christian IV of Denmark the sum of
£30,000 per month, so that he could engage in military operations in
northern Germany.
- Charles also wanted to mount a joint military and naval expedition against
the Spanish mainland.
Charles' requirements in 1625
- To attempt to fulfil these aims would be expensive - Charles estimated
that these commitments would cost around £1,000,000.
- He therefore required a fresh injection of parliamentary funds, as the
money provided by the 1624 assembly had now been largely spent.
The cost of Henrietta Maria
- When Charles and Buckingham's negotiations to obtain the Spanish match
tailed, they had decided to seek a bride from France - Spain's enemy in
the Thirty Years' War.
- The arrival in London of Charles' new queen Henrietta Maria in June 1625
with a train of Catholic priests it appeared to suggest that Charles had
made significant concessions to English Catholics as part of the French
marriage treaty.
- There was also widespread unease that the penal laws against Catholics
had been relaxed as a condition of the marriage negotiations.
1625 Parliament
- In the first session (June 1625) Parliament granted Charles two subsidies -
roughly £140,000 - with no strings attached - but not enough for an
effective war.
- But it outraged him by breaking with precedent and denying him Tonnage
and Poundage for life, granting only T+P for 1 year.
Why did Parliament do this?
- Parliament wanted to retain control over the Crown's income.
- James' exploitation of prerogative forms of income (especially impositions)
made Parliament sensitive that the monarchy would no longer need them.
Charles I and early warning signs
- James died on 27th March 1625.
- Charles married Henrietta Maria (she was 15), by proxy on 1st May 1625 at
the Notre Dame de Paris, and in person on 13th June 1625 on Canterbury.
- Charles delayed the opening of his first Parliament until after the marriage
was consummated to forestall any opposition.
- Charles was crowned on 2nd Feb 1626 at Westminster Abbey, but
Henrietta Maria refused to attend because she refused to participate in a
Protestant religious ceremony.
- There was also an outbreak of plague in London in Feb 1626.
The problem of his marriage
- Charles formed an extremely close partnership to Henrietta Maria, but
only after Buckingham's death, and they were devoted, and faithful, to
each other.
- Her Catholic beliefs marked her out as different and potentially dangerous
in the English society of the time, which had feared Catholic subversion.
- Although he told Parliament that he would not relax religious restrictions
(against Catholics), he promised to do exactly that in a secret marriage
treaty with his brother-in-law Louis XIII of France. Moreover, the treaty
loaned to the French seven English naval ships that would be used to
suppress the Protestant Huguenots at La Rochelle in September 1625.
Charles' character
- James had been scruffy, informal extravagant, open, warm and
affectionate.
- Charles was formal, inflexible, cold, withdrawn and shifty.
Parliament saw an opportunity
Charles and Buckingham had made a grave error - they had unwittingly
encouraged Parliament to believe that it now possessed important
powers:
- The right to dispose of government ministers.
- To initiate foreign policy.
- To control the Crown's expenditure.
1625: The Mansfeld expedition
- In April 1624 James secured the services of the experienced German
mercenary commander Count Ernst von Mansfeld.
- It was intended that Mansfeld would take an English force through French
territory to recover the Palatinate for Frederick V.
- However, the French king, Louis XIII, wished to have Mansfeld's Forces
give help to the Dutch against the Spanish- and therefore refused to allow
the Mansfeld expedition to land in France, making it virtually impossible
for Mansfeld to reach the Palatinate.
, - Eventually, in late January 1625, Mansfeld's army of 6,000 raw recruits
was set down without supplies in Holland, where 4,000 of its soldiers
withered away through sickness and starvation without accomplishing
anything.
- Unsurprisingly, the political nation was upset at this turn of events -
especially as the 1624 Parliament had granted funds for a naval war,
rather than a land campaign.
- This meant that Charles' first Parliament would seek to obtain more
effective control over foreign and military policy.
Charles' foreign policy aims
- Charles wished to provide his brother-in-law Frederick V with practical
assistance to recover the Palatinate. He aimed to provide Mansfeld with
the sum of £20,000 per month so that he could commence military
operations in the Netherlands, before moving on into Germany.
- He promised his Lutheran uncle Christian IV of Denmark the sum of
£30,000 per month, so that he could engage in military operations in
northern Germany.
- Charles also wanted to mount a joint military and naval expedition against
the Spanish mainland.
Charles' requirements in 1625
- To attempt to fulfil these aims would be expensive - Charles estimated
that these commitments would cost around £1,000,000.
- He therefore required a fresh injection of parliamentary funds, as the
money provided by the 1624 assembly had now been largely spent.
The cost of Henrietta Maria
- When Charles and Buckingham's negotiations to obtain the Spanish match
tailed, they had decided to seek a bride from France - Spain's enemy in
the Thirty Years' War.
- The arrival in London of Charles' new queen Henrietta Maria in June 1625
with a train of Catholic priests it appeared to suggest that Charles had
made significant concessions to English Catholics as part of the French
marriage treaty.
- There was also widespread unease that the penal laws against Catholics
had been relaxed as a condition of the marriage negotiations.
1625 Parliament
- In the first session (June 1625) Parliament granted Charles two subsidies -
roughly £140,000 - with no strings attached - but not enough for an
effective war.
- But it outraged him by breaking with precedent and denying him Tonnage
and Poundage for life, granting only T+P for 1 year.
Why did Parliament do this?
- Parliament wanted to retain control over the Crown's income.
- James' exploitation of prerogative forms of income (especially impositions)
made Parliament sensitive that the monarchy would no longer need them.
