James I: a new king and old problems (1603–1625)
The political nation was the small group with a say in politics: the king, nobles, bishops, gentry (landowners) and richer merchants. Most people had no vote. Power was based on owning land.
James I believed in the divine right of kings: kings are chosen by God and answer only to God. He wanted a full union of England and Scotland, but Parliament refused; the two kingdoms shared a king only.
Money troubles
Prices had risen, so the Crown's old income was not enough. James also spent freely on favourites such as the Duke of Buckingham. Ideas to fix this, such as the Great Contract (1610, a yearly grant in return for giving up old royal rights), failed. The Crown sold titles and used impositions (extra customs duties), which annoyed Parliament.
Religion
Catholics were a small, feared minority; the Gunpowder Plot (1605) made fear worse. Puritans wanted a plainer Church. James held the Hampton Court Conference (1604) and backed a new English Bible (1611), keeping a broad Protestant Church.
Charles I, Personal Rule and the road to war (1625–1642)
Charles I married a Catholic French princess and backed Archbishop Laud, who wanted more ceremony in churches. Puritans feared this was a step back towards Catholicism.
Parliament forced the Petition of Right (1628): no taxes without Parliament and no prison without cause. In 1629 Charles dismissed Parliament and ruled alone for 11 years (Personal Rule). He raised money by old rights such as Ship Money, a tax for the navy now charged on inland areas too.
When Charles forced a new prayer book on Scotland (1637), the Scots rebelled. Needing money for war, he recalled Parliament (1640). The Long Parliament removed his ministers, ended Ship Money and passed laws limiting him. A rebellion in Ireland (1641) raised the question: who should control the army? In 1642 Charles tried to arrest five MPs, failed, and both sides prepared for war.
The Civil Wars and the regicide (1642–1649)
The First Civil War (1642–46) split families and towns. Royalists (Cavaliers) were strongest in the north, west and Wales; Parliamentarians (Roundheads) held London, the south-east and the navy. Parliament allied with the Scots (1643) and built the New Model Army (1645), with promotion by skill. It won at Naseby (1645).
War brought hunger, taxes, troops in homes and new ideas. Groups like the Levellers wanted votes for more men; others, like the Diggers, wanted shared land.
After the war, Parliament and the Army quarrelled over pay, religion and what to do with the king. Charles made a secret deal with the Scots, causing the Second Civil War (1648). The Army purged Parliament (Pride's Purge), leaving the Rump. Charles was tried for treason against his people and executed in January 1649: the regicide.
Republic and Protectorate (1649–1660)
Monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished. The Commonwealth was ruled by the Rump Parliament. Cromwell crushed opposition in Ireland and Scotland and beat Charles II's army at Worcester (1651).
Experiments followed: Cromwell dismissed the Rump (1653), tried a nominated assembly (Barebone's Parliament), then became Lord Protector under a written constitution, the Instrument of Government (1653). The Rule of the Major-Generals (1655–57) put the country under army officers, which was unpopular.
Cromwell's aims: 'godly reformation' (a moral, Protestant nation), liberty of conscience for many Protestant groups, and stable government. He refused the crown in 1657. After his death (1658) no one could hold the system together.
Restoration: Charles II and James II (1660–1688)
In 1660 Parliament invited Charles II back: the Restoration. The king got his crown, but no return to Personal Rule: Parliament still controlled most taxes. Laws called the Clarendon Code punished Protestants outside the Church of England (Dissenters).
Fear of Catholic influence returned, as the king's brother James was Catholic. The Exclusion Crisis (1679–81) tried to bar James from the throne. Supporters of exclusion became the Whigs (Country), its opponents the Tories (Court): the start of party politics.
James II (1685) put Catholics into the army and offices and used his power to suspend laws. When his son was born in 1688, a Catholic line seemed certain.
The Glorious Revolution and constitutional monarchy (1688–1702)
Leading nobles invited the Dutch prince William of Orange, husband of James's Protestant daughter Mary. William landed in 1688; James fled. Parliament offered the crown to William and Mary jointly.
The Bill of Rights (1689): no taxes or standing army in peacetime without Parliament; free elections; free speech in Parliament; regular Parliaments; no Catholic monarch. The Toleration Act (1689) let most Protestant Dissenters worship freely (not Catholics).
Long wars with France needed money every year, so Parliament now met every year. The Bank of England (1694) and a national debt funded war. The Act of Settlement (1701) fixed a Protestant succession. Supporters of the exiled Stuarts (Jacobites) rose later, in 1715 and 1745, and England and Scotland became one kingdom by the Act of Union (1707). By 1702 Britain was a constitutional monarchy: the monarch reigned, but Parliament held the purse.
Try it
Move the year slider from 1603 to 1702. At which three moments does the scale move most? Name the event behind each.
Key formulas and definitions
- Divine right of kings: the belief that monarchs are chosen by God and answer only to God.
- Personal Rule (1629–40): Charles I governs without Parliament.
- Regicide (1649): the killing of a king; Charles I was tried and executed.
- Interregnum (1649–60): the years without a monarch (Commonwealth, then Protectorate).
- Restoration (1660): the return of the monarchy under Charles II.
- Glorious Revolution (1688–89) and Bill of Rights: the Crown limited by Parliament; constitutional monarchy.
Worked examples
1. Give three long-term causes of the Civil War.
Money: the Crown's income was too small and its ways of raising money (impositions, Ship Money) angered Parliament. Religion: Laud's changes made Puritans fear a return to Catholicism. Power: the king's belief in divine right clashed with Parliament's view of its rights (Petition of Right).
2. Why did Charles I recall Parliament in 1640?
The Scots rebelled against his prayer book and invaded northern England. He needed taxes to pay for an army, and only Parliament could grant enough.
3. Put in order: Pride's Purge, Naseby, Personal Rule begins, regicide, Petition of Right.
Petition of Right (1628) → Personal Rule (1629) → Naseby (1645) → Pride's Purge (1648) → regicide (1649).
4. Why did the republic not last after Cromwell died?
It rested on Cromwell and the army. His son Richard lacked support, the army and Parliament quarrelled, and many wanted the stability of a king. So in 1660 Parliament invited Charles II back.
5. How did the Bill of Rights change the monarchy?
The monarch could no longer raise taxes or keep a peacetime army without Parliament, could not suspend laws, had to allow free elections and regular Parliaments, and could not be Catholic.
6. Why was 1688 called 'glorious'?
Supporters said it was a change of ruler with little bloodshed in England that protected Protestantism and Parliament. Critics point out it led to war in Ireland and Scotland.
Common mistakes
- Saying the Civil War was simply rich against poor. Both sides had nobles, gentry and ordinary people.
- Thinking Cromwell was king. He refused the crown and ruled as Lord Protector.
- Thinking the Restoration brought back absolute monarchy. Parliament still controlled most taxes.
- Mixing up the Petition of Right (1628) with the Bill of Rights (1689).