Today's English monarch is a tragic one. His fate would shape not only a nation, but arguably the world. His inability to win friends would doom him and his nation to death and violence. Here is the tragic tale of the second Stuart king: Charles I.
- Born in 1600, Charles was a very frail, small, and sickly child. He did not even have the energy to walk more than a few steps. By 1603, his father had inherited England and moved to London. Charles was too frail to go, so while his parents and older brother moved, he was left behind in Scotland. - A year later, he was well enough to move, and would spend most of the rest of his life in England. - His weakness, (probably caused by rickets,) led also to a stammer which would plague him for his whole life. He was painfully shy and withdrawn, and kept to himself most of the time. His self-esteem was notoriously low. - When Charles was 12, his much more capable brother, Henry Frederick, (who Charles idolized,) died of Typhus. Charles, devastated, became the heir apparent, much to the worry of his father and many others. Charles was the opposite of his his outgoing, vivacious brother. Charles was over his infirmity, but he was by no means strong, or even large. (He was short and skinny.) - The next year, his sister, Elizabeth, (The middle child,) was married to the Elector Palatine (and sometimes King) of Bohemia, Frederick V. She was sent to Germany. Charles was left without any siblings (all the other children died before age 2.) Elizabeth would become much more important later, when the Stuart line died out. - His teen years were lonely and generally miserable. However, he excelled in riding and fencing, and was shaping up to be quite the young gentleman. - His father wanted him to marry the princess of Spain, in order to secure peace. Parliament wouldn't have it (Spain was Catholic.) So Charles, at 23, secretly traveled to Spain to show his love to the "Infantina." She was physically and religiously repulsed by him, and Charles returned to England, embarrassed and publicly shamed. This soured any further relations between King James I and Parliament, and would later come back to haunt Charles. - As James was supporting a war, Charles and the Duke of Buckingham used Parliament to impeach the treasurer, who had opposed James. Although this worked, and James got his war, King James also warned young Charles that the power of impeachment could and WOULD someday be used to remove even kings from power. (how right he was...) - The next year, James died. Charles became Charles I. This all happened while he was in the middle of his own marriage negotiations. - Since Spain told Charles to go screw himself, he wound up marrying a princess of France, Henrietta Maria, instead. Parliament protested the king marrying a Catholic, but Charles assured them that he was not going to change the oppressive laws against Catholics in England. This was a lie... he had told the King of France that he intended to do just that... and had even signed a marriage contract that stated this very thing. - Charles was crowned in England... his wife refused to attend, as the ceremony was Protestant. This of course did nothing to make Parliament more at ease. Grumbling about the queen had started before she even became the queen. - Now stuck in the heart of a religious dispute that was quickly turning heated, Charles backed the Arminians, (Protestants who stood against Calvinism,) in a bid to try to make both sides happy. The Puritans were outraged, thinking of this as an attack on fellow Protestants. The Catholics had no trust for Charles, as he was a Protestant, first and foremost. Charles's plan had backfired, and now nobody trusted nor liked him. - Charles now set about making sure he had a friend in Parliament. George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, the probably lover of King James I and long a friend of Charles, was appointed to Parliament, and immediately set about meddling in nearly every affair he could, on behalf of Charles. - Parliament, in retaliation, called for his impeachment. Charles did everything he could to divert this. If Buckingham was removed from one office, Charles simply appointed him to another. Charles arrested members of Parliament who spoke out publicly against Buckingham. - Parliament finally demanded Charles dismiss Buckingham personally. So Charles dismissed Parliament and sent them home. When they tried to do this again, Charles sent them home again. - Charles was by now growing to detest his pushy, high handed wife. She refused to sleep with him or dine with him, due to him being a Protestant. Charles responded by firing her staff and sending them back to France. This enraged the queen, but as she had refused to be crowned, there was little she could do other than refuse love. Charles, now angry at what he felt was a broken marriage deal with France, betrayed them and sent the Duke of Buckingham to help the Huguenots, (French Protestants.) This invasion was a complete loss, and Buckingham returned to England in defeat. - Charles, having dismissed Parliament, forced a tax on the people. He felt, like his father, that he had the "Divine Right" to do so, and that Parliament was merely an advisory board, nothing more. Parliament reconvened without the King's sayso, and refused to enforce this tax. Charles was forced to back down, and signed documents forbidding him from raising taxes or imprisoning anyone without Parliament's consent. Much like old King John, Charles signed away his power, then immediately carried on as he had before, ignoring the agreement. Parliament was WELL beyond tired of this treatment, and began to publicly say so. - In 1628, the Duke of Buckingham was assassinated, stabbed to death in a local pub by a member of the army. Charles was devastated, and spent two days in mourning. Meanwhile, the people of England partied and danced in the streets. Public opinion was most CERTAINLY not high regarding His Royal Highness Charles I. - While Parliament remained hostile, it seems that many felt pity for Charles at this point. Spain ceased hostilities, the moderate Protestants celebrated Charles's achievements, and even his wife started sleeping with him. Their relationship improved dramatically with Villiers dead. (Many suspect that, like his father, Charles was bisexual and having an affair with Villiers. We'll probably never know for sure.) - Charles attempted to impose his taxes yet again in order to keep his war in France going. Parliament wanted more discussion on the matters of religious doctrine and to bring an end to Arminianism. Charles told the speaker to close the Parliament, (again,) but 9 members of Parliament physically restrained the speaker so that he could not bang the gavel and bring things to a close. Charles, shocked and horrified, watched as Parliament continued on despite him. He was so upset and angered by this that he fired Parliament. Completely... for 11 years. Seriously. This action started what would be later called the "11 years of Tyranny." - Charles, unable to raise taxes without parliament's approval, was forced to make peace abroad. England pulled out of all of its wars. Still, money wasn't coming in, and Charles needed money. He managed to skirt the law and find loopholes to keep himself afloat. He was a learned man, after all. He found out that according to an ancient law, any man who made more than 40 pounds a year was considered eligible for knighthood. Thus, he was able to keep something resembling an army going, by knighting many commoners who could then "volunteer" to fight when needed. This, of course, pissed off his actual standing army. Charles also found out that those who did not attend the coronation of a king could be fined. Thus, he was able to fine thousands of wealthy individuals in order to make money. This also did not make him popular. - His most infamous move, however, was the "Ship Tax." By ancient statute, all harbor towns had to provide ships to the crown. However, Charles needed no ships. He said that, instead, harbor towns could pay money instead. This infuriated some of the wealthiest cities in England. The next year, "Just to be fair," he put the same tax on INLAND cities. Now everyone had to pay the ridiculous "Ship Tax" from more than 500 years ago, and Charles showed no sign of stopping. - Charles kept drudging up ancient history in an effort to make money. He pointed out that Royal Forests, long since forgotten, were technically his domain. He ordered the forests logged for profit. These forests hadn't been considered "King's Forest" land for hundreds of years. Entire woodland stretches were ripped away and sold by the King. The people who lived there were not impressed. He found out that kings could appoint or dismiss business ventures... thus he gave monopolies to those who would support him. The Monopolies drove up local prices to insane levels, hurting trade and pissing off the people.... but the king had to make money somehow... - In religious matters, Charles was equally unpopular. Distrusted due to his Catholic wife and his hatred of Calvinism, but also hated by Catholics for the continued policies of oppression, Charles used the power of the Star Chamber to jail or destroy any sort of religious dissent in his kingdom. Hundreds were jailed. Some were tortured or even killed. - Charles fared no better in Scotland. The Scots naturally detested him for railing against their native Calvinism. Any approach Charles took to bring the countries together was seen as an "Attack by Anglicans." Scotland drew further away from England... things were getting out of hand. - Seeing this as a challenge to his divine authority, Charles launched an attack on Scotland. This failed. His sea conquests failed... in fact, every single military campaign England started ended in failure. Charles was a far cry from the power of "Good Queen Bess." Ironically, the people of England began to "remember the good days of the Tudors." - Forced into a corner, Charles attempted to bring back Parliament... however, his candidates for Parliament were not voted in. (to no one's great surprise.) Charles continued to meddle, and this attempt fell apart. (Called the "short parliament.") This bolstered resistance in Scotland, who now was voting for the first of many times, for independence from the crown of England. - Charles tried again, and the new "Long Parliament" came to power. However, Charles was kept at arms' length. His candidates were again soundly defeated, and the majority of Parliament was now openly speaking against the king. - The Long Parliament quickly made a law saying that the king was REQUIRED to convene Parliament at least once every 3 years. They then began to arrest anyone loyal to the king for "Promoting Tyranny." In 1641, Parliament forced the king to sign assent saying that Parliament could convene even if the king refused to talk to them or attend. Charles, outwitted and outplayed, begrudgingly signed everything. Parliament then fell to infighting, the royalists versus the ever more radical Puritans. - Charles tried in vain to protect his friends, but could only watch helplessly as his best supporters were tried and beheaded for treason. Charles was enraged, but could only curse and pout, as Parliament had effectively stripped him of all powers he once enjoyed. - The Irish were already pissed off at the treatment of Catholics in England, but by now, many protestants had moved into Ireland from England and Scotland. This increased tension was met with a sympathetic ear in the form of Charles and his closest advisers. But now, with his advisers dead or fled, Ireland rose up in revolt against the English Parliament. Ireland was ordered to disband its army, which it refused to do so on 3 occasions. Charles asked for money from Parliament to put down the rebellion, but Parliament had no idea if he was going to attack or help the Catholic rebels. Local magistrates began all sorts of abuses of power, and the Irish were whipped into a frenzy. Charles (rightly) believed that Parliament would not let him raise an army because they were afraid that he (rightly) would use them against Parliament. - By now London was slipping into anarchy. Rumors were flying every which way. The king was going to murder parliament! The queen was conspiring with the Irish! Parliament was going to murder the royal family! Every sort of crime and dastardly deed was being laid at the feet of Charles. When rumor got to him that Parliament intended to arrest his wife and interrogate her, he sprang into action. He showed up at Parliament at the head of a gang of armed soldiers. He demanded, at gunpoint, the 5 heads of the rival political factions who he felt were against him. By now, they had (conveniently) fled the country. Charles, realizing had been betrayed by someone close to him, had to retreat home. This incident blew the lid off the growing anarchy, and Parliament revolted against the King.... the English Civil War had begun. - The queen and royal children fled, but Charles refused to budge. Parliament seized London, and Charles retreated to Westminster, then Windsor. - The civil war lasted years, and despite most modern portrayals of Charles as being inept, there is evidence that shows he took personal command several times in his own defense, even riding out with his troops and commanding. However, the battles were generally inconclusive, and neither the Cavaliers (Royal troops) nor the "Roundheads" (Puritan and Parliamentary troops) could gain a clear advantage. - However, by 1646, the Roundheads and their "New Model Army" were winning.... Charles was besieged in Oxford. Cunningly disguising himself as a servant, Charles escaped and fled to Scotland, his ancestral home. However, the Scots wanted nothing to do with him, as the Stuart family had promised to remain loyal to Scotland, and neither James nor Charles had done so. - A few months later, the Scots betrayed Charles and handed him over to the English Parliament in chains. - Charles was typically arrogant and rude in captivity. Negotiations for peace always broke down due to either Charles' arrogance, or the New Model Army's unwillingness to concede their points. Parliament and the NMA were starting to turn against each other, which Charles (stupidly) tried to exploit. When this didn't work, Charles escaped and ran to the Isle of Wight, where he was betrayed again and sent back to London. - Charles secretly wrote to the Scots, promising that their Presbyterianism would be allowed to continue, if they would invade and help the Cavaliers. Scotland agreed, and the SECOND Civil War broke out. Again, the royalists were crushed by the New Model Army. It was clear that Charles was still dangerous, even as a captive king. - Though Parliament voted to return to negotiations, Oliver Cromwell, a charismatic Puritan leader of the New Model Army refused to let that happen. He argued that Charles could never be trusted, and promised that the army would pull its support of Parliament if negotiations continued. Parliament instead put the king on trial for tyranny, and charged him with the deaths of over 300,000 people in the wars. - Charles, now disheveled and raggedy (he wouldn't let anyone come close to him with a razor at this point,) stubbornly refused to defend himself. Instead, his defense was that the courts had no right to try him, as he was above the courts. After 3 days of this, he was removed from the court, and declared guilty on the next day. He was sentenced to death. - On the day of his execution, he tearfully said goodbye to 2 of his children who were in attendance, and asked for a second shirt, as it was cold, and he didn't want a sudden shiver to be mistaken for fear. He was paraded through a grand hall, covered in majestic depictions of his father, James I, which were covering the walls and ceilings. He gave a short speech, still defiant, and was beheaded on January 30, 1649. Many people dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood as a memento. - Parliament refused to let him be buried in Westminster Abbey, fearing his power as a martyr to the Royalists. Instead, his head was sewn back on, and he was buried next to Henry VIII and Jane Seymour in Windsor. England now had no king... so what would it do now? |
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