Charles - Chapter 6 Flashcards
When did Charles I get executed?
Jan 1649
How many years in total, did the three civil wars, collectively last for?
7
What does commonwealth mean?
An Independent state that is usually a republic. it can be used to describe England between Charles I execution and the restoration.
Why was the Rump weak/ unpopular?
- few actually wanted it
- had internal money shortages
- army and the rump wanted different things
- soldiers, levellers, religious sectaries all wanted different things
- active plots against it- threats on the behalf of Charles II- threats from Scotland- threats from Ireland- threats from the Continent
- growing size of the Army- so tax burden grew making the rump even more unpopular (army was payed through tax)
what did religious sectaries want ?
- a new Jerusalem to be built
- restraints on preaching removed
- all institutions to be brought into the line of God
when did the Rump rule from and till?
1649-1653
when Cromwell dissolved it
why did the Rump grow in size ?
1 feb 1649, any member who registered opposition to the commons vote on the 5 Dec 1648 to continue the negotiations with the former king, were allowed back in.
This let in 80 members by March
How many votes did the bill to abolish the House of Lords get passed by ?
44 to 29
What is a Council of State?
When was it established ?
Under the control of the Rump parliament.
It was in place of the privy council and King - in charge of domestic and foreign policy and to ensure the security of the commonwealth. It was dominated by the army. Appointed by the Rump and then had yearly elections to it.
Mid-Feb
what were the problems with the Council of State ?
- just as conservative as the Privy council was
- under the control of parliament who didn’t want to give the power away and wanted to keep the Army out of Politics
- reluctant to pass more radical reforms-corrupt
when did the levellers issue a new”agreement of the people”
what happened as a result ?
May 1649
Fairfax and Cromwell led loyal troops against them and on may 14,the last of the leveller groups surrendered at Burford in Oxfordshire, showed they didn’t have a good enough strategy or support to provide a strong enough threat.
why couldn’t the army be disbanded
the rump needed a lot of its members to be able to sit
at this point Scotland declared Charles II King,and he could invade along with Ireland.
when did the Rump declare it would disband itself?
March 1969
Why did the Rump not disband itself?
- pressing threat of invasion
* new parliament would produce MPs hostile to the republic
When was Cromwell sent to Ireland ?
How big of an army did he take?
August 1649
30,000 men
What did Cromwell do in Ireland?
Had a short, Brutal, military campaign, with little resistance. Towns such as Drogheda and Wexford who refused to capitulate got massacred. Some letters to parliament suggested that he enjoyed the butchery.
why were the events at Drogheda controversial ?
whether they denied ‘quarter’ or not is up for debate/if surrender was denied then ‘the law of war’ means its defenders could be legally killed. It’s said that even those who surrendered were took to a windmill were killed under Cromwell’s instructions.
What were two motives for Cromwell’s actions in Ireland ?
- Catholics had carried out massacres in 1641 and Cromwell’s army had a God-given duty to avenge the deaths of Protestants
- the army bases that were attacked contained English Royalists as well as Irish. They were seen as a part of the alliance that Charles had created to attack England, they deserved to be punished as they were partly responsible for the Second Civil war.
Was Cromwell successful in Ireland
YES-within 9 months he established English authority even if it wasn’t totally secure.
NO- limited resistance continued until 1652
- Limerick, the provinces of Leinster, Ulster and Munster put up a fight but were in English control by the end of 1650.
What happened when Charles Stuart was crowned Charles II in Scotland?
this posed a threat to the Rump and Cromwell sp he took his forces North and defeated the Scot at Dunbar on 3 September 1650. Charles then returned the next year with 12,000 scots. Cromwell had more force and crushed his troops in Worcester and Charles went into exile.
what were the achievements of the Rump in its early days?
- laws on debaters were eased
- legal proceedings had to be written in normal hand not script that only the trained could read
- the Elizabethan law meaning you had to go to church at least once a week was repealed
- enquiries were started to make better uses of church endowments
- large parishes were to be split and smaller ones united
- acts to improve preaching in the north, west and wales
what was the navigation act
an act to regulate colonial trade and enabled England to collect duties (taxes) in the Colonies.
as the war with the dutch continued there was more focussing on this act in the Rump than the actual things Cromwell wanted to discuss. Also people started to question why exactly we were fighting the only other predominantly protestant country.
when did the Rump promise they would have elections by? why was this unpopular?
3 nov 1654- 3 years after Cromwell had returned from battlefield, so this didn’t please the army as it was a long time away.
The council of officers wrote a letter to the Rump complaining.
When was this and what was it about?
August in 1652
- corrupt revenue officers who they wanted dismissed
- the composition of parliament, of which they wanted it to consist of the devoutly religious and godly.
parliament did then press for new elections but nothing really happened until the army god agitated again.
What were the three major clashes between the Army and the Rump?
- Religion
- Reform of the law
- A new constitution
What was the Blasphemy Act
Limited religious non-conformity
Passed by the rump in 1650
In April 1653 what commissions did the Rump not make over religion?
Legislation about spreading the preaching of the gospel needed updating but they let it lapse. this angered Cromwell and those that had served as commissioners.
what problems did the Rump have over the law?
In Dec 1651,the rump appointed a commission to review the legal system.the MPs who were lawyers blocked them due to vested interests. the proposals were to make the law simpler and get rid of those which were out of date
why was the rump slow to draw up a new constitution
They wanted to preserve its privileges and refused to be dictated to
Why did it seem like the Rump was preparing to transfer power in 1653?
They drew up a constitutional bill to be read in Feb 1653 the bill included things like increasing representation and narrowing the franchise.
How did the Rump get dissolved?
Cromwell called a meeting on the 19th April with 20 MPs and some senior army officers. he wanted the power to be temporarily be transferred to 40 men that the Rump had nominated and then dissolve themselves. when the nation was peaceful enough the nation could then start electing again. The next day the Rump debated their bill again but Cromwell stormed in with musketeers to eject them.
What were three of the motives behind Cromwell’s actions in dissolving the Rump?
- ) Cromwell was under pressure from the soldiers, which he could no longer resist because the Rump was about to vote to perpetuate itself and then adjourn.
- ) The Rump, although it was going to pass power to a new body, had not ensured that the new body would consist of men who supported the revolution and army.
- ) It had failed to pass religious reforms and legal reforms whilst at the same time appearing to be too keen to prosecute war.- Some think that he wanted to pick a body of ‘saints’ who would help bring the kingdom of christ.
