The
Personal Rule (also known as the
Eleven Years' Tyranny) was the period from 1629 to 1640, when King
Charles ICharles I, , the second son of James VI of Scotland and I of England, was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England...
of
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
ruled without recourse to
ParliamentThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, by which he sought advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
. He was entitled to do this under the
Royal PrerogativeThe Royal Prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the Sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...
, but his actions caused discontent among those who provided the ruling classes.
Charles had already dissolved Parliament three times by 1628. After the murder of
George Villiers, Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England Despite a very patchy political and military record he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
, who was deemed to have a negative influence on Charles' foreign policy, Parliament began to criticise the king more harshly than before.
The
Personal Rule (also known as the
Eleven Years' Tyranny) was the period from 1629 to 1640, when King
Charles ICharles I, , the second son of James VI of Scotland and I of England, was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England...
of
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
ruled without recourse to
ParliamentThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, by which he sought advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
. He was entitled to do this under the
Royal PrerogativeThe Royal Prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the Sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...
, but his actions caused discontent among those who provided the ruling classes.
Charles had already dissolved Parliament three times by 1628. After the murder of
George Villiers, Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England Despite a very patchy political and military record he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
, who was deemed to have a negative influence on Charles' foreign policy, Parliament began to criticise the king more harshly than before. Charles then realised that, as long as he could avoid war, he could rule without parliament.
WhigThe Whigs are often described as one of the two original political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to the mid-19th centuries. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
historians sometimes called this period the Eleven Years' Tyranny. The term is indicative of the partisan nature of activities at the time, which would eventually result in the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first and second civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war saw fighting between supporters of...
. However, more recently revisionists refer to the 11 years a period of "Creative Reform", due to the measures taken by Charles to restructure English politics at the time.
Background
In the Medieval period, government in England was very much centred on the
KingKing may be a title for a head of state.King may also refer to:-Places:* King, Ontario, Canada* King, Indiana, United States* King, North Carolina, United States* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin, United States...
. He ruled personally, usually assisted by his Council, the
Curia RegisCuria regis is a Latin term meaning "royal council" or "king's court."- England :The Curia Regis, in the Kingdom of England, was a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics that advised the king of England on legislative matters...
. The council members were chosen by the King, and its membership varied greatly, but members often included powerful
nobilityNobility is a state-privileged status which is generally hereditary, but which may also be personal only. Titles of nobility are usually associated with present or former monarchies. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in...
and churchmen, senior civil servants, and sometimes certain of the King's friends and family.
Early Parliaments began to emerge under
Edward IEdward I , also known as Edward Longshanks, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English Barons. In 1259 he briefly sided with a baronial...
, who wished to implement taxation changes and wide-ranging law reforms, and sought to gain the consent of the nation. Nevertheless, calling a Parliament was an expensive and time-consuming process, requiring many personal invitations (for the
House of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons , and the Lords...
) and elections in the
shireA shire is a traditional division found in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in Australia.In Britain, "shire" is the original term for what is usually known as a county; the word county having been introduced at the Norman Conquest. The two are synonymous...
s and chartered
citiesA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement, particularly a large urban settlement. Although there is no agreement on technical definitions distinguishing a city from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status...
and
boroughA borough is an administrative division of various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
s. So Parliaments would only be summoned on particularly important occasions. And, once a Parliament had finished its business, the King would dissolve it, and perhaps not summon another for an extended period. In the meantime, the Curia Regis - that is, the King with his chosen advisers - would make laws ("
ordinanceOrdinance may refer to:* A law made by a colony, or a municipality or other local authority, see also Local ordinance* A law or decree made by any authority or authoritative body:...
s"), spend money, and carry on the business of government.
From the 14th to the 16th centuries, the acknowledged powers of Parliament grew. In particular, it was established that Parliament was the only body that could authorise nationwide taxation and excise. Kings also began to use Parliaments more widely in lawmaking, as for example during the
English ReformationThe English Reformation was the series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England first broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
, when the Reformation Parliament, at
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
's instigation, passed a succession of laws regulating the church in England.
James IJames VI & I was King of Scots as James VI from 1567 to 1625, and King of England and Ireland as James I from 1603 to 1625....
, at the start of the 17th century, found himself perennially short of money, and was obliged to summon Parliaments often. Successive Parliaments thereupon sought to turn the King's financial woes to their advantage, requiring various policy concessions before voting taxes. In 1625, James was succeeded by
Charles ICharles I, , the second son of James VI of Scotland and I of England, was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England...
, who immediately plunged England into an expensive and ultimately unsuccessful war with Spain, in an attempt to force the Catholic Spanish King
Philip IVPhilip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640. On the eve of his death in 1665, the Spanish empire reached its territorial zenith spanning almost 3 billion acres...
to intercede with the Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand IIFerdinand II , of the House of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , King of Hungary .-Life:...
on behalf of Charles's brother-in-law,
Frederick V, Elector PalatineFrederick V was Elector Palatine , and, as Frederick I , King of Bohemia...
, the husband of Charles's sister Elizabeth, to regain the Palatinate and his hereditary lands, which the Emperor had taken from him.
Parliament's protests about the war's mismanagement by the
Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England Despite a very patchy political and military record he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
, and others of Charles' policies, primarily regarding taxation and other methods of acquiring funds, and Charles' refusal to compromise, eventually led to Charles dissolving Parliament in January 1629. He also made peace with Spain and France, partly due to the financial burden of waging these wars. For the next eleven years, Charles governed with only an advisory council of royal appointees.
Finances
The greatest problem Charles initially encountered at this stage, was a continued lack of funds. The main sources of income for the King were customs duties, feudal dues and income from the King's personal estates. Nationwide taxation was widely understood to be for emergencies and special purposes, such as war, and it was by this time generally accepted that only Parliament could authorise a general tax. But even in peacetime, the traditional sources of the King's revenue were stretched to the limit to fund the business of government. So Charles and his advisers developed various schemes to raise additional revenue without recourse to Parliament. Easily the most famous of these measures was the so-called "
Ship MoneyShip money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. In medieval times, this tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or...
", a legal but extremely unconventional tax on the inland counties to fund the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
. Other expedients included fines levied on gentlemen who had failed to attend Charles' coronation to be knighted, the sale of government offices and
monopoliesA patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention....
, and fines for non-attendance at church.
On the other side of the ledger, the government tried to reduce expenditure, especially by avoiding war (thus pursuing an isolationist foreign policy) and also avoiding large-scale innovations on the domestic front.
End of the Personal Rule
The Personal Rule began to unravel in 1637, when Charles, along with his adviser
Archbishop LaudArchbishop William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
, attempted to reform the Presbyterian Church in
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to bring it into line with the Anglican Church. This met with immense Scottish opposition, and when negotiations broke down, a Scottish army invaded England. Charles could not afford to pay English troops to fight the Scots, and was obliged in 1640 to call the
Short ParliamentThe Short Parliament of King Charles I is so called because it lasted only two months.After eleven years of attempting personal rule, Charles recalled Parliament in 1640, under the advice of Lord Wentworth, recently created Earl of Strafford...
. This ended the Personal Rule, though Charles dissolved the Short Parliament after only a few days; by the end of the year, with the Scots still in England and no other routes left to him, he summoned the revolutionary
Long ParliamentThe Long Parliament is the name of the English Parliament called by Charles I, on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its...
. In the months that followed, the Parliamentary leaders, turning their attention to domestic matters, demanded ever more sweeping concessions from Charles over government policy. In 1642, Charles left London in order to raise an army and regain control by force, and the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first and second civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war saw fighting between supporters of...
began.
See also
- John Cooke
John Cooke was the first Solicitor General of the English Commonwealth and led the prosecution of Charles I...
, the prosecutorThe prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
in the 1649 trial of Charles I of England
www.kcjs.org.uk