Western Heritage
C H A P T E R
17
Paths to Constitutionalism
and Absolutism: England and France in the Seventeenth Century
France Under Louis XIV
Religious wars between
Catholics and Protestants tore France apart in the late 1500s.
France Under Louis XIV
When Henry was
assassinated, the throne was given to his 9 yr.. old son, Louis XIII.
The nobles appointed
Cardinal Armand Richelieu as his chief minister. Richelieu spent the next 18 years strengthening the central
government of France.
Richelieu and Mazzarin
Richelieu defeated the
armies of both the nobles and the Huguenots.
Richelieu hand picked
his successor, Cardinal Jules Mazarin.
Cardinals Richelieu and
Mazarin expanded royal power by weakening the nobles and the Huguenots.
Louis XIV and the Fronde
A year after Mazarin was appointed to succeed
Richelieu, Louis XIII died and he was followed by his son, Louis XIV.
Soon after Louis became
king, an uprising called the Fronde engulfed France.
Various groups within
France rebelled against the boy king, but eventually the uprising was put down.
France Under Louis XIV
Under Louis XIV, who
assumed absolute power, France became the most powerful state in Europe.
France Under Louis XIV
To strengthen his
authority, Louis appointed intendants (royal officials), to govern the
provinces in his name.
Under Louis XIV, the
French army became the strongest in
Europe with over 300,000 men at arms.
France Under Louis XIV
Louis chief minister
was Jean Baptiste Colbert.
Colbert followed
mercantilist policies to promote the economy and trade of France.
Colberts policies
helped make France the wealthiest country in all of Europe.
However, due to the
number of wars France was involved in the treasury was often short of funds.
France Under Louis XIV
The
massive military spending of the French army was under the guidance of Minister
of War, Francois Louvois.
Louvois
completely reorganized the army, basing promotions on merit rather than being
purchased.
The
army was well equipped and highly trained.
Discipline
was very harsh and was the responsibility of General Jean Martinet.
(today a strict disciplinarian is
called a martinet)
Louis XIVs Military Buildup
Having
a large and fine army often creates a desire to use it.
Louis
seemed to become dizzy with grandeur and power.
Believed
the security of France depended upon having natural frontiers.
(Alps, Pyrenees, English Channel,
the Mediterranean, and the Rhine River)
To
gain his ends, Louis fought four wars from 1667 to 1713.
Wars of Louis XIV
Wars of Devolution: 1667-1668
Dutch War: 1672-1678
War of the League of
Augsburg: 1689-1697
War of the Spanish
Succession: 1710-1714
To
counteract France, the great powers of Europe united against France.
In
Frances first two wars, they gained some cities along with the region of
Franche-Comte.
It
is at this time Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes, forcing over 100,000 French
Huguenots to leave France.
By
the end of the third war in 1697, both Louvois and Colbert were dead and the
treasury was empty.
In
the final war (War of the Spanish Succession) France was soundly defeated.
French Decline
Years of costly warfare and an ill-advised
policy of persecuting the Huguenots led to the decline of French power after
the death of Louis XIV.
Successes and Failures
Louis
XIV ruled France for 72 years. During
this time France became the center of culture for Europe.
However,
in foreign and domestic affairs many of Louis policies were failures.
France
became involved in many costly wars which they lost.
Countries
such as England feared a strong France and promoted a Balance of Power among
the European countries.
Another
major mistake of Louis occurred when he revoked the Edict of Nantes. Forcing
thousands of Huguenots out of France.
The End of Louis XIVs Reign
Louis died in 1715, having outlived all of his sons
and grandsons.
He ruled for a total of 72 years.
His five year old great
grandson inherited his throne and became Louis XV.
Louis XV was unable to
maintain control of the government in
such a way as his great-grandfather had.
Triumph of Parliament in England
From 1485 to 1603,
England was ruled by the Tudor family.
Though the Tudors
believed in divine right monarchy, they also had good relations with the
English Parliament.
In 1603, Elizabeth I
died without an heir to the throne and the Stuart family of Scotland gained
control of England.
Triumph of Parliament in England
The first Stuart king,
James I, agreed to rule according to English laws and customs.
The Stuart kings clashed
with Parliament over royal authority, money, foreign policy, and religion.
James often clashed with
Parliament over money and foreign policy.
James eventually
dissolved the Parliament and collected taxes on his own.
James also had religious
problems with a group called the Puritans who wanted to purify the Church of
England of anything that reminded them of Catholicism.
Charles I
In
1625, Charles I became king of England.
Charles
wanted to rule as an absolute monarch just as his father had.
Due
to a war with Scotland, Charles was
forced to recall Parliament to raise taxes.
Parliament
insisted that Charles sign a Petition of Rights.
Charles
did sign but dissolved the Parliament, (the Short Parliament).
For
11 years, Charles ignored the Petition and ruled without Parliament.
The English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642-1649)
One of the underlying
issues in this conflict was the constitutional issue of the relationship
between king and Parliament.
Could the king go
against the wishes of Parliament?
In short, the question
was whether England was to have a limited, constitutional monarchy, or an
absolute monarchy as in France and Prussia.
The theological issue
focused on the form of church government England was to have-whether it would
follow the established Church of Englands hierarchical, Episcopal form of
church government, or acquire a Presbyterian form?
Charles I
Charles
I inherited both the English and Scottish thrones at the death of his father
James I.
He
claimed a divine right theory of absolute authority for himself as king and
sought to rule without Parliament.
That
rule also meant control of the Church of England.
The
king demanded money from Parliament, but Parliament refused.
Parliament
began impeachment proceedings against Charles chief minister, the Duke of
Buckingham, who later assassinated.
Writs of Habeas Corpus???
Charles then levied a
forced loan on many of the wealthier citizens of England and imprisoned
seventy-six English gentlemen, who refused to contribute.
Sir Randolph Crew, Chief
Justice of the Kings Bench, was dismissed from office for refusing to declare
those loans legal.
Five of the imprisoned
men applied for writs of habeas corpus, asking whether the refusal to lean
money to the king was a legal cause for imprisonment.
The court returned them
to jail without comment.
In 1628, both houses of
Parliament Lord and Commons alike united in opposition to the king.
The Petition of Rights
The
Parliament in effect bribed the king by granting him a tax grant in exchange
for his agreement to the Petition of Rights.
It
stipulated that no one should pay any tax, gift, loan, or contribution except
as provided by act of Parliament
No one
should be imprisoned without due process of law
All were to
have the right to the writ of habeas corpus; there should be not forced
billeting of soldiers in the homes of private citizens
That marital
law was not to be declared in England
Parliament in 1629
In the midst of a stormy
debate over theology, taxes, and civil liberties, the king sought to force the
adjournment of Parliament.
When he sent a message
to the Speaker ordering him to adjourn, some of the more athletic members held
the messenger in his chair while the door of the House of Commons was locked to
prevent the entry of other messengers from the king (March 2, 1629).
A number of resolutions
passed.
Innovations towards
Catholicism or Arminianism were to be regarded as treason.
Whoever advised any
collection of taxes without consent of parliament would be guilty of treason.
A week later Charles
dissolved Parliament and arrested several Puritan leaders for several years.
Religious Persecution
The
established Church of England was the only legal church under Charles I, a
Catholic.
Within
the Anglican Church, specific ministers might be more Catholic, Arminian
Protestant, or Puritan.
William
Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, sought to enforce the kings policies
vigorously.
Arminian
clergy were tolerated but not so Puritans.
Criticism
was brutally suppressed.
Alexander
Leighton was whipped and mutilated.
Others had
ears cut off and one had his cheek branded with the letter SL (Seditious
Libeler).
National Covenant of Scotland (1638)
Dissatisfaction with
royal absolutism reached a crisis in Scotland when representatives of the
Scottish people met at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, in 1638 to sign a national
protest against the policies of King Charles, who was king of Scotland as well
as England.
The nobility signed
signed the National Convenanton one day and the burgesses and ministers the next.
The Convenanton affirmed
the loyalty of the people to the Crown but declared that the king could not
re-establish the authority of the episcopate (government) over the church.
King Charles foolishly
declared everyone who signed the National Covenant a rebel and prepared to move
an army into Scotland.
War in Scotland
King Charles called out
the militia of the northern counties of England and ordered the English
nobility to serve as officers at their own expense.
A troop of the kings
horse entered Scotland only to find their way blocked by a large Scottish army.
They returned south of
the border without fighting.
Charles signed the
Pacification of Berwick with the Scots in June, 1639, by which each side would
disband its forces and a new General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and a
Scottish parliament would determine the future constitution of the government.
The Church General
Assembly confirmed the actions of its predecessors
Parliament repealed laws
in favor of episcopacy
Increased its own powers
Maintained the existence
of the Scottish army.
The Short Parliament
For
the first time in eleven years the king convened the English Parliament t vote
new taxes for the war with Scotland.
Instead
the Commons presented to the king a long list of grievances since 1629.
These
included violations of the rights of Parliament; of civil rights; of change sin
church order and governments; and of rights of property ownership.
In
anger, the king again dissolved Parliament, which had met only from April 13 to
May 5, 1640.
The Scots Invade
The
Scots invaded the two northern counties of Northumberland and Durham unopposed.
Charles
called a Great Council of Lords such as had not met in England in over two
hundred years.
They
arranged a treaty with the Scots to leave things as they were.
The Long Parliament
Charles had no money, no
army, and no popular support.
Charles recalled
Parliament in November of 1640.
Parliament passed a
series of laws to strengthen its position and to better protect civil and
religious rights.
The Triennial Act
provided that no more than three years should pass between Parliaments.
The Court of Star
Chamber was abolished.
The courts of common law
were made supreme over the Kings courts.
The Commons was also
ready to revoke the kings power over the church.
Disagreement occurred
over what kind of state church would be formed.
The English Civil War Begins
With
mobs in the streets and gentlemen carrying swords to protect themselves, men
began identifying themselves as Cavaliers, in favor of the king, or Roundheads,
if they supported Parliament.
Charles
ordered his Attorney General to prepare impeachment proceedings against five of
the leading Puritans in the Commons.
The House
refused to surrender the five men.
Charles with
400 soldiers went to Parliament to arrest the five men. (all five had escaped
to Westminster)
In
1642, Charles went to York and the English Civil War began.
The Division of the Country
To some extent every
locality was divided between supporters of the king and supporters of
Parliament.
Geographically, though,
the north and west of England sided with the king, and the south and east, with
Parliament.
The Midlands was
competitive between them.
Eighty nobles sided with
the king, thirty against him.
The majority of the
gentry supported Charles, while a large minority supported Parliament.
Most of the peasants
wanted to avoid fighting.
The majority of
townspeople supported Parliament.
Parliaments Advantages
Parliament
had two great advantages.
The navy and
merchant marine supported Parliament.
They brought
in munitions and revenge from customs as foreign trade continued.
They
hindered the coastal towns behind the kings lines.
Parliament
also had control of the wealthier and more strategic areas, including London,
and were able to secure the three principal arsenals: London, Hull, and
Portsmouth.
The King Attacks London
Charles
put together a sizeable force with a strong cavalry and moved on London.
Charles
won several minor battles on his way toward London.
He
entered Oxford but was beaten back from London.
Oxford
then became his headquarters for the rest of the war.
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver
Cromwell, a gentlemen farmer from Huntingdon, led the parliamentary troops to
victory.
Cromwell,
had been one of the five men to be arrested by Charles.
First with
his cavalry, which eventually numbered eleven hundred.
The as
lieutenant general in command of the well-disciplined and well-trained New
Model Army.
Early Stages of the War
The
early part of the war went in favor of the king.
Lincolnshire,
Comwall, and Devon were occupied by two of the kings armies in 1643.
The Queen
returned from France with reinforcements and supplies.
Charles
planned a three-pronged assault on London, but was beaten back by the Earl of
Essex.
Charles
sought allies among Irish Catholics and Parliament sough aid from Presbyterian
Scotland.
In Jan.
1644, a Scottish army of 21,000 crossed into England greatly upsetting the
military balance in favor of parliament.
Early Stages of the War (Cont.)
The Duke of Newcastle,
the kings general was forced into York and there besieged.
Prince Rupert came to
his rescue from the west, but precipitated the battle of Marston Moor in July
1644.
Cromwell decisively
defeated the kings cavalry in a royalist disaster.
The north was now in
Parliamentary hands.
Charles rebuilt his army
but at Naseby, in June of 1645, Cromwells Ironsides crushed his remaining
forces.
Charles surrendered to
the Scots in May of 1646.
Controversy Between the Parliament and the
Army
The majority of
parliament were Presbyterians, wanting to extend the Scottish National Covenant
idea to England.
Many soldiers, however,
were Independents who believed in democracy in politics and congregational
control of the church.
At the end of the war,
Parliament attempted to disband the army without paying them, but the army
refused.
Parliament tried to
disband them by force.
Parliament planned to
call in the Scottish army to defeat its own army.
The army refused to obey
and arrested the king when he came across the border with the Scottish army.
The army entered London
calling for the establishment of a democracy.
The Death of the King
In 1647, Charles escaped
from Hampton Court to the Isle of Wright.
Charles had made a
secret agreement with the Scots that he would make England Presbyterian if they
restored him to power.
The Second Civil War
followed in 1648.
The Scots invaded
England but were defeated by the forces of Cromwell at Preston.
Cromwell and the army
gained control of London.
Arrested 45 Presbyterian
members of Parliament.
Excluded the rest.
Sixty Independents were
place in Parliament (Rump Parliament)
The Trial of Charles I
The
army then tried Charles Stuart.
Charged with
crimes against the nation.
Illegal
deaths.
Governing in
a tyrannical way.
The
execution of the king particularly shocked the Scots because the English had
specifically promised not to take the kings life when the Scots delivered him
into English hands.
Charles
was executed on Jan. 30, 1649 by Parliament for crimes against the nation.
The Commonwealth
After the execution of
the king, Parliament abolished the office of king and the House of Lords.
The new form of
government was to be a Commonwealth, or Free State, governed by the
representatives of the people in Parliament.
The entirety of the
people, however, were not represented in Parliament.
Many large areas of the
country had no representatives in Parliament.
The ninety Independents
that controlled Parliament did not want elections.
The Commonwealth was in
effect a continuation of the Long Parliament under a different name.
The Parliament was more
powerful than ever because there was neither king nor House of Lords to act as
a check.
The Commons appointed a
Council of State and entrusted it with administrative power.
31 or its 41 members
were also members of Parliament.
Opposition to the Commonwealth
Royalists and
Presbyterians both opposed Parliament for its lack of broad representation and
for regicide.
The army was greatly
dissatisfied that elections were not held, as one of the promises of the Civil
War was popular representation.
The death of the king
provoked a violent reaction abroad.
In Russia, the czar
imprisoned English merchants.
In Holland, Royalist
privateers were allowed to refit
English ambassadors at
the Hague and in Madrid were assassinated.
France was openly
hostile to England.
Surrounded by enemies,
the commonwealth became a military state with a standing army of 44,000.
Probably the best army
in Europe at the time.
Ireland
In the summer of 1649,
Cromwell landed in Dublin with an army of 12,000.
The Irish did not put
together an army to oppose Cromwell.
They relied on their
fortresses for safety.
At Drogheda and later at
Wexford, Cromwells forces massacred the entire garrisons at both cities.
This campaign of terror
induced many towns to surrender.
By the end of 1649, the
southern and eastern coast of Ireland was in English hands.
The lands of all Roman
Catholics was confiscated.
Two-thirds of Ireland
was now controlled by English, Protestant landholders.
Scotland
Scottish
Presbyterians, offended by the Independents control of the English Parliament
and by the execution of the king, proclaimed Charles II (Charles (VII), as
their king.
Charles
accepted the National Covenant and agreed to govern a Presbyterian realm.
On
Sept. 3, 1650, Cromwell defeated the Scots at Dunbar, killing 3,000 and taking
10,000 prisoners.
The
next year Charles led a Scottish army into England and was annihilated at
Worcester.
Charles
escaped to France.
The Protectorate
When it became clear
that Parliament intended to stay in office permanently without new elections,
Cromwell took troops to parliament and forced all members to leave, thus
dissolving the parliament.
Cromwell had no desire
to rule as king or military dictator.
He called for new
elections
Most of the new members
of Parliament were elected by the Independents or by Puritan churches.
Cromwell then agreed to
serve as Lord Protector with a Council o State and a Parliament.
Permitted religious
freedom except for Catholics and Anglicans.
England was not strongly
opposed to military rule, particularly after Cromwell divided the country into
twelve military districts.
Cromwell died on Sept.
3, 1658.
After Cromwells death a
new Parliament was elected under the old system of franchise.
The Restoration
The
new Parliament restored the monarchy, but the Puritan Revolution clearly showed
that the English constitutional system required a limited monarchy, with the
king as chief executive but not as absolute ruler.
Parliament
in 1660, was in a far stronger position in its relationship to the king than it
ever have been before.
Thus
in 1660, Charles Stuart, the son of Charles I, was invited back to England as
Charles II.
Charles II
Thirty
years of age at the Restoration, the new king was dissolute, lazy, affable,
intelligent, a liar, and a cunning deceiver.
He
loved the sea and the nave and was interested in science and trade.
Because
he had so little interest in religion, he was willing to be tolerant.
While
still on the continent, Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda in which he
agreed to abide by Parliaments decisions on the postwar settlement.
The Convention Parliament
Parliament pardoned all
those who fought in the Civil War except for fifty people listed by name.
Of these, twelve were
executed for regicide.
Royalists whose lands
had been confiscated by the Puritans were allowed to recover their lands
through the courts, but those who had sold them should receive no compensation.
That meant that
Roundheads and Cavaliers would be landowners in England.
To raise money for the
government, parliament granted the king income form customs duties and an
excise on beer, ale, tea, and coffee.
Feudalism was largely
abolished.
The Glorious Revolution
Charles
died in 1685, and was followed by his brother who came to the throne as James
II, a devout Catholic.
James
and his first wife (protestant) had two daughters, Mary and Anne.
James
first wife died and he remarried a Catholic princess.
In
1688, she gave birth to a son, who most believed would be raised Catholic and
would be the next heir to the throne.
Parliament
fearing a Catholic monarch in the future insisted on James IIs abdication.
The
invited William of Orange and his wife Mary to rule England.
In
1688, William landed with a Dutch army but James was unable to muster an army
of his own so he escaped to France.
In
1699, James led a Catholic uprising in Ireland but it was also put down by
William and Mary who jointly ruled England.
Under
the Glorious Revolution England established a constitutional monarchy.
Triumph of Parliament in England
The Glorious Revolution,
which established the English Bill of Rights, ensured the supremacy of
Parliament over the monarchy. Under the Bill of Rights, England became a
limited monarchy.
The Glorious Revolution
was justified by the works of John Locke in his Second Treatise of
Government.