What financial disputes caused tension between Crown and Parliament before 1629?
• Parliament granted tonnage and poundage for only one year (1625) rather than life.
• Forced Loan (1626–27) raised ~£240,000 without Parliament.
• Five Knights’ Case (1627) challenged imprisonment for refusing Forced Loan.
• Petition of Right (1628) demanded no taxation without Parliament.
What religious tensions contributed to the breakdown between Crown and Parliament by 1629?
• Rise of Arminianism promoted by William Laud and Richard Montagu.
• Fear of Catholicism due to Charles I’s marriage to Henrietta Maria (1625).
• Puritans feared move away from Calvinism.
• Montagu’s works (A New Gagg for an Old Goose) defended Arminian theology.
What political events in 1629 symbolised the breakdown between Charles I and Parliament?
• Speaker John Finch held down in chair (1629) by MPs.
• Resolutions passed condemning Arminianism and tonnage/poundage.
• Charles dissolved Parliament and began Personal Rule (1629–1640).
What characterised Arminianism under Charles I?
• Emphasis on free will over predestination.
• Ceremony, altar rails, decoration in churches.
• Supported by William Laud (Archbishop of Canterbury 1633).
• Seen by Puritans as “crypto-Catholic.”
What was Puritanism and why did it oppose Laud?
• Calvinist theology stressing predestination and simple worship.
• Opposed Laudian ceremonial reforms.
• Strong support in Parliament and London merchants.
• Saw Laud’s reforms as Catholic innovation.
What was Millenarianism and how did it influence politics in the 1640s?
• Belief in the imminent Second Coming of Christ and the millennium.
• Inspired radical groups such as Fifth Monarchists.
• Encouraged belief England had divine mission to purify church/state.
How did Charles I rule without Parliament during the Personal Rule (1629–1640)?
• Used prerogative courts (Star Chamber, High Commission).
• Expanded Ship Money (1634–1639) to inland counties.
• Promoted Laudian religious reforms.
• Ruled through Thomas Wentworth (Strafford) and William Laud.
Why did Ship Money cause opposition?
• Traditionally a coastal wartime tax, expanded nationwide in 1635.
• Raised about £200,000 annually.
• John Hampden case (1637) challenged legality; judges supported king 7–5, but politically damaging.
Why did the Personal Rule collapse in 1640?
• Scottish resistance to the Prayer Book (1637).
• National Covenant (1638) united Scottish opposition.
• Bishops’ Wars (1639–1640) drained royal finances.
• Charles forced to recall Parliament.
What were the main causes of the First Civil War (1642–1646)?
• Failed negotiations after Grand Remonstrance (1641).
• Attempted arrest of Five Members (Jan 1642).
• Breakdown of trust between King and Parliament.
• Control of militia and army.
Why did Parliament win the First Civil War?
• Controlled London and major ports.
• Larger population and tax base.
• Creation of the New Model Army (1645).
• Decisive victory at Battle of Naseby (1645).
Why did the Second Civil War occur in 1648?
• Charles negotiated secretly with Scottish Engagers (1647).
• Royalist uprisings in Wales, Kent and Essex.
• Led Parliament to conclude Charles could not be trusted.
Who were the Levellers and what did they demand?
• Radical political movement within the army.
• Leaders: John Lilburne, Richard Overton, William Walwyn.
• Proposed Agreement of the People (1647):
• Wider male suffrage
• Equality before law
• Religious toleration.
What happened at the Putney Debates (1647)?
• Debates between Levellers and army officers.
• Discussed voting rights and constitution.
• Cromwell and Ireton rejected universal suffrage.
Why did divisions emerge between Parliament and the Army after 1646?
• Parliament wanted to disband the army without pay.
• Army feared Presbyterian settlement and limited toleration.
• Formation of Army Council and Agitators.
What events led to the execution of Charles I?
• Pride’s Purge (Dec 1648) removed moderate MPs.
• Creation of the Rump Parliament.
• Trial for “tyrant, traitor and murderer.”
• Execution 30 January 1649.
How did Cromwell secure the republic in Ireland?
• Campaign 1649–1650.
• Massacres at Drogheda and Wexford.
• Brutal suppression of Irish Royalists and Catholics.
How was Scotland defeated by Cromwell?
• Battle of Dunbar (1650) victory over Covenanters.
• Battle of Worcester (1651) defeat of Charles II.
• Scotland incorporated into Commonwealth.
What was the Rump Parliament (1649–1653)?
• Remnant of Long Parliament after Pride’s Purge.
• Abolished monarchy and House of Lords.
• Created Commonwealth republic.
• Dissolved by Cromwell in 1653.
What was the Parliament of Saints (Barebone’s Parliament)?
• Nominated assembly 1653.
• Dominated by religious radicals and millenarians.
• Attempted reforms (law, church).
• Dissolved after five months.
What powers did Cromwell have under the Instrument of Government (1653)?
• First written constitution in England.
• Cromwell became Lord Protector.
• Parliament every three years.
• Religious toleration for Protestants.
Who were the Major-Generals (1655–1657)?
• England divided into 11 military districts.
• Governors enforced moral reform and security.
• Funded by Decimation Tax on Royalists.
How was Charles II restored in 1660?
• General George Monck marched from Scotland.
• Restoration of the Long Parliament.
• Declaration of Breda (1660) promised pardon and tolerance.
What characterised the government of Clarendon (1660–1667)?
• Royalist Anglican settlement.
• Clarendon Code restricted nonconformists.
• Ended after failures in Second Anglo-Dutch War.
