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Summary An introduction to Charles I
An introduction to the profile of Charles I, idealistic to any individual studying history at alevel.
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Charles I 1600-1649Charles was the second born son to James I and Anne of Denmark, his brother and the King’s heir, Henry the Prince
of Wales, died of typhoid fever in 1612. Whilst his dead brother was popular with the people, Charles was not, and he
never appeared to be a fit king as heir. In 1623, Charles and the Duke of Buckingham traveled to Spain to negotiate a
marriage deal between the Prince and the Spanish Habsburg princess Maria Anne - the daughter of his father’s
enemies, this negotiation would settle the two countries as allies through marriage. However, the attempt was
unsuccessful and two years later, Charles marries Henrietta of France - a catholic. Prior to his reign, Charles had a
good relationship with Parliament often agreeing on several things, however, when he was crowned they shared
several disagreements - the most notable one being in regards to spending where he was given an annual allowance
instead of it in whole at the beginning of his rule (tonnage and poundage.) Charles believed in the divine right of kings
and was determined to govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in
particular, the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent, and perceived his actions as those of a tyrannical
absolute monarch. His religious policies, coupled with his marriage to a Roman Catholic, generated antipathy and
mistrust from Reformed religious groups such as the English Puritans and Scottish Covenanters, who thought his
views were too Catholic. He supported high church Anglican ecclesiastics such as Richard Montagu and William
Laud and failed to aid continental Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years' War. His attempts to force
the Church of Scotland to adopt high Anglican practices led to the Bishops' Wars, strengthened the position of the
English and Scottish parliaments and helped precipitate his own downfall.
From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War. After his
defeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament (the
"Long Parliament"). Charles refused to accept his captors' demands for a constitutional monarchy and temporarily
escaped captivity in November 1647. Re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Charles forged an alliance with Scotland,
but by the end of 1648, Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was
tried, convicted, and executed for high treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and the
Commonwealth of England was established as a republic. The monarchy would be restored to Charles's son, Charles
II, in 1660.
1625 the marriage to Henrietta of France.
Charles purposely waited until after marriage to open his first parliament because he knew members of the Commons
were opposed to the marriage fearing that Charles may lift or be generous to Catholic restrictions and ultimately
destroy the Church of England. He promised he wouldn’t do this to Parliament, but he said he would do so anyway to
Louis XIII of France in a secret marriage treaty which saw him loan the French seven English naval ships. Charles
was crowned on the 2nd February 1626, without his Catholic wife because she refused to attend a protestant
coronation.
His early reign
Charles' relationship with Parliament only worsened with his religious policies which appeared supportive of
anti-Calvinist ways. Charles released a pamphlet named Charles was an Arminian.
1626 Spain Instead of wanting to attack European land, Parliament wanted an inexpensive naval attack ( Cádiz
expedition) on Spanish colonies in the new world, hoping for the capture of Spanish treasure fleets. Parliament
offered Charles £140,000 for Charles' war plan - the money was given to him from his tonnage and poundage
allowance from taxes. The expedition under Buckingham was poorly performed which as a result led to the attempt to
impeach Buckingham. Many of the men died from illnesses and diseases or dehydration. Charles had the two
members who spoke against Buckingham - Dudley Digges and Sir John Elit - arrested, leaving the commons
outraged. Despite both MPs being released after a week, on the 12th of June 1626, the commons launched a
grievance against Buckingham stating “"We protest before your Majesty and the whole world that until this great
person be removed from intermeddling with the great affairs of state, we are out of hope of any good success; and do
fear that any money we shall or can give will, through his misemployment, be turned rather to the hurt and prejudice
of this your kingdom than otherwise, as by lamentable experience we have found those large supplies formerly and
lately given” however, Charles dismissed Parliament instead.
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