17th Century England

Lesson 5: 1641 - The First Half

Parliament Out of Control

If anyone thought Strafford's execution was the end of matters, they were very wrong indeed. It only produced a moment’s lull before the attack was resumed.

On June 22nd, Charles agreed to the Bill that took away his right to collect customs duties without Parliamentary consent. The courts, which had been there to look after the poor and uphold the King’s authority, were disbanded. On July 5th, the Star Chamber and the Councils of the North and of Wales was abolished.

Finally came the Bill that stated that Parliament could not be dissolved without its own consent.

Charles then had to dissolve the English army in the north and it given an imminent peace with Scotland, Charles declared his intention to travel to the Scottish capital and preside over its Parliament. The English Parliament could not stop him, for he was their Monarch too and suspiciously watched him leave, sending spies after him.

Charles was looking for support in Scotland. He promoted some of his opponents and supporters and ratified bills while trying his best to win the Scots over, before returning to London in November.

London, meanwhile, had undergone an election for Mayor and had returned a Royalist. Charles received a huge welcome from the City and its people, who were weary from taxation and looked to him for stability and continuation of trade once more.

It was a bitter blow to Pym as Charles made a speech to the people telling them that he would govern according to the laws of the land and protect the Protestant religion whilst studying to re-establish the flourishing trade, which now was in some disorder.

Pym began the new Parliamentary session by recovering old ground and then drafting up a huge document called the Grand Remonstrance, which detailed all the concerns with the King's government from settling religious issues and controllingthe armed forces. It was voted on in a tense atmosphere, the debates dragging on until 3am, until after a tumultuous session, it passed by 159 votes to 148.

The narrow majority indicated the extent to which MP's thought they had gone far enough. But Pym and the other extreme men would not back off the accelerator one inch.

Charles began to gain solid support when he said that the Church should be left as established by law under Elizabeth I and his father James I. This was what most men wished for and Charles went on to swear never to deprive the Bishops of their votes in the House of Lords, which the ancient constitution had always maintained.

Very soon though, events in Ireland would start a new crisis.

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