Two British kings were named Charles. Both were of the Scottish house of Stuart (see Stuart). Charles IUnfortunately for Charles I (born 1600, ruled 1625–49), he was king of England in the days of the Puritan Revolution and at a time when new ideas of the rights of the people were coming into sharpest conflict with the old theory of the divine right of kings. Charles was the son of James I (James VI of Scotland), the first of England's Stuart line. From his birth he was sickly. He did not learn to talk until he was about 5 years old or to walk until he was 7. He stammered all his life. His character was a curious mixture of weakness and stubbornness. He followed the advice of his favorite ministers because he did not trust his own judgment, but, if he formed an opinion, he clung to it obstinately. Like his unpopular father, he lacked the skill of understanding the desires of his subjects and of winning their confidence. In 1625, the year that Charles succeeded to the throne, he married a French princess—Henrietta Maria, the daughter of Henry IV. The marriage was unpopular in England because the queen was a devout Roman Catholic and had been brought up in the court of an absolute monarch. Her influence helped to maneuver the king toward the course of action that led to his war with Parliament. The issue was primarily whether the king of England was an absolute king, like the sovereigns of continental Europe, or whether his powers were limited by Parliament. In addition to this, there was a quarrel about religion. Many of Charles's subjects were Puritans who wanted to simplify the Church of England's services by omitting ceremonies used by Roman Catholics. Because Charles instead wanted to retain as many old rituals as possible, the people were afraid that he wished to restore Catholicism less than a century after the birth of the Church of England. Quarrels with ParliamentCharles dissolved two Parliaments because the House of Commons refused to vote money he demanded unless he recognized that his ministers were responsible to Parliament. On the advice of these ministers, Charles had embarked on foreign wars that were both expensive and disastrous. To pay for them, he resorted to forced loans and other irregular devices. When Charles called his third Parliament, in 1628, he faced tremendous hostility. This Parliament stated its major grievances in the celebrated Petition of Right, which called the king's attention to his illegal requests and restated the limitations of the king's authority. Charles signed the petition in order to get the money he needed. Then, angry at the humiliation he had suffered, he dissolved Parliament and determined never to call another. For 11 years—from 1629 to 1640—no Parliament met in England. During this period Charles and his ministers thought of further unpopular devices to raise money. To equip a fleet the king demanded “ship money” from his subjects, maintaining that this was not a tax. John Hampden, a Puritan, boldly refused to pay the 20 shillings levied upon him in order to bring the matter to court (see Hampden, John). The Long ParliamentIn 1633 William Laud was made archbishop of Canterbury. Laud attempted to enforce his High Church policy in both Scotland and England. All Scotland rose in revolt when Laud attempted to impose a modified form of the English Prayer Book on the Scottish church. Unable to put down the revolt, Charles at length summoned another Parliament in 1640 but sent it home after five weeks. This was called the Short Parliament. When another Parliament was called in the same year, it passed an act stating it could not be dissolved without its own consent. This became famous as the Long Parliament. The Long Parliament immediately ordered the imprisonment of the king's chief minister, the earl of Strafford, as well as Archbishop Laud in the Tower of London. (Strafford was executed in 1641 and Laud four years later.) In the Grand Remonstrance, it listed Charles's faults and demanded that the king's ministers be responsible to Parliament. The document was printed and circulated throughout the country. Charles was furious and went to Parliament with an armed guard, determined to arrest five of its members who led the opposition to him. The men had been warned of his approach, however, and had fled. This illegal act swiftly brought on civil war. England's Civil WarBoth Charles and Parliament at once began to gather troops. Those who supported Charles were called Cavaliers. Those who supported Parliament were known as Roundheads because some of them cropped their hair close. The Roundheads controlled London. Through Parliament they also controlled the navy and had the power of raising money by taxes. The Roundheads soon found an incomparable leader in Oliver Cromwell (see Cromwell, Oliver). The battle of Marston Moor, fought in 1644, gave Cromwell's cavalry, known as the Ironsides, the north of England, where the king had enjoyed his chief support. The battle of Naseby the next year completed the king's overthrow. In 1647 he sought refuge with the Scottish army, which had come to the aid of Parliament. The Scots handed him over to Parliament. Many members of Parliament wanted the king to be restored to his throne, but the army intervened in the matter. In 1648 Colonel Pride, with a band of troops, appeared at the door of the House of Commons and barred all Charles's supporters from entering. This illegal act is known as Pride's Purge. The sitting members of the Long Parliament—popularly called the “Rump”—then set up a high court to try the king for treason. The trial began on Jan. 20, 1649. On January 27 Charles was found guilty and condemned as “a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy.” Three days later he was beheaded in front of his palace of Whitehall, in London, while an enormous crowd looked on. The Rump Parliament then proclaimed England a commonwealth, a state of affairs that lasted for only 11 years. Charles met his fate with dignity and composure. So striking was his bearing that the poet Andrew Marvell wrote: He nothing common did, or mean,
Upon that memorable scene,
But bowed his stately head
Down as upon a bed.
Charles IICharles II (born 1630, ruled 1660–85) was the second son of Charles I. He was 19 years old and safe in France when his father was beheaded in 1649. England then became a commonwealth (that is, a republic), with Cromwell as lord protector. The Royalists of Scotland at once proclaimed young Charles their king; so he went to Scotland and in 1651 was crowned king of the Scots at Scone. In the same year he marched into England with 10,000 Scots to halt Cromwell's advance; but Cromwell defeated him at Worcester and put his army to rout. For six weeks Charles wandered about, a fugitive with a price of 1,000 pounds set on his head. After several adventures, including his concealment in a tree known afterward as the “royal oak,” he escaped to France and spent ten years more in exile. The RestorationAfter Cromwell died in 1658, his son Richard proved unable to carry on the government. A new Parliament, called in 1660, restored the Stuart line, and Charles was recalled from exile to be crowned. Charles's apparent purpose throughout his reign was to make himself an absolute monarch like his contemporary, Louis XIV of France. This led him to try to raise a standing army, to restore Catholicism, and to secure a close alliance with Louis XIV, from whom he sought money and troops. During his reign Charles followed a shifty course, bribing, flattering, and yielding to Parliament whenever opposition proved too strong. For instance, he fought two wars with the Dutch, but Parliament finally compelled Charles to make peace. During the last five years of his reign Charles attained a great degree of success in all his policies. The money he received from Louis XIV made it possible for him to rule after 1680 without calling Parliament, and thus prevented it from excluding his Catholic brother James from succession to the throne. On his deathbed he himself became a member of the Roman Catholic church. The Merry MonarchCharles II was not an admirable person, but he was an interesting one. Decidedly selfish, he had an easy good nature and charm of manner. One of his courtiers said that “he never said a foolish thing or did a wise one.” Charles's reply was that his acts were those of his ministers, but his words were his own. He was well read and a patron of the drama, painting, and architecture. He was interested in science and founded the Royal Society in 1662 with himself as first president. However, the immorality of the “merry monarch” and the excesses that prevailed at his court became a scandal. Charles married Catherine of Braganza, daughter of the king of Portugal, but he left no legitimate children. The most notable of his many mistresses was Nell Gwynn, a popular actress who was the mother of two of his sons. |