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Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland , but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England, where he spent much of the rest of ...
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- Overview
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Charles I was the king of Great Britain and Ireland from 1625 to 1649. Like his father, James I, and grandmother Mary, Queen of Scots, Charles I ruled with a heavy hand. His frequent quarrels with Parliament ultimately provoked a civil war that led to his execution on January 30, 1649.
What was Charles I’s early life like?
Charles I was born in 1600 to James VI of Scotland (who later became James I) and Anne of Denmark. He was a sickly child and was devoted to his brother, Henry, and sister, Elizabeth. He was devastated when Henry died in 1612 and when his sister left England to marry Frederick V in 1613.
How did Charles I become king of Great Britain and Ireland?
When his brother, Henry, died in 1612, Charles became heir to the throne. He formed an alliance with the duke of Buckingham. In the last 18 months of his father’s reign, Charles and the duke decided most issues. After James I died on March 27, 1625, Charles ascended the throne. Not long after, he married Henrietta Maria, sister of the French king Louis XIII.
What was the relationship between Charles I and Parliament like?
In March 1625, Charles I became king and married Henrietta Maria soon afterward. When his first Parliament met in June, trouble immediately arose because of the general distrust of Buckingham, who had retained his ascendancy over the new king. The Spanish war was proving a failure and Charles offered Parliament no explanations of his foreign policy or its costs. Moreover, the Puritans, who advocated extemporaneous prayer and preaching in the Church of England, predominated in the House of Commons, whereas the sympathies of the king were with what came to be known as the High Church Party, which stressed the value of the prayer book and the maintenance of ritual. Thus antagonism soon arose between the new king and the Commons, and Parliament refused to vote him the right to levy tonnage and poundage (customs duties) except on conditions that increased its powers, though this right had been granted to previous monarchs for life.
The second Parliament of the reign, meeting in February 1626, proved even more critical of the king’s government, though some of the former leaders of the Commons were kept away because Charles had ingeniously appointed them sheriffs in their counties. The failure of a naval expedition against the Spanish port of Cádiz in the previous autumn was blamed on Buckingham and the Commons tried to impeach him for treason. To prevent this, Charles dissolved Parliament in June. Largely through the incompetence of Buckingham, the country now became involved in a war with France as well as with Spain and, in desperate need of funds, the king imposed a forced loan, which his judges declared illegal. He dismissed the chief justice and ordered the arrest of more than 70 knights and gentlemen who refused to contribute. His high-handed actions added to the sense of grievance that was widely discussed in the next Parliament.
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By the time Charles’s third Parliament met (March 1628), Buckingham’s expedition to aid the French Protestants at La Rochelle had been decisively repelled and the king’s government was thoroughly discredited. The House of Commons at once passed resolutions condemning arbitrary taxation and arbitrary imprisonment and then set out its complaints in the Petition of Right, which sought recognition of four principles—no taxes without consent of Parliament; no imprisonment without cause; no quartering of soldiers on subjects; no martial law in peacetime. The king, despite his efforts to avoid approving this petition, was compelled to give his formal consent. By the time the fourth Parliament met in January 1629, Buckingham had been assassinated. The House of Commons now objected both to what it called the revival of “popish practices” in the churches and to the levying of tonnage and poundage by the king’s officers without its consent. The king ordered the adjournment of Parliament on March 2, 1629, but before that the speaker was held down in his chair and three resolutions were passed condemning the king’s conduct. Charles realized that such behaviour was revolutionary. For the next 11 years he ruled his kingdom without calling a Parliament.
In order that he might no longer be dependent upon parliamentary grants, he now made peace with both France and Spain, for, although the royal debt amounted to more than £1,000,000, the proceeds of the customs duties at a time of expanding trade and the exaction of traditional crown dues combined to produce a revenue that was just adequate in time of peace. The king also tried to economize in the expenditure of his household. To pay for the Royal Navy, so-called ship money was levied, first in 1634 on ports and later on inland towns as well. The demands for ship money aroused obstinate and widespread resistance by 1638, even though a majority of the judges of the court of Exchequer found in a test case that the levy was legal.
May 12, 2021 · Definition. Charles I of England (r. 1625-1649) was a Stuart king who, like his father James I of England (r. 1603-1625), viewed himself as a monarch with absolute power and a divine right to rule. His lack of compromise with Parliament led to the English Civil Wars (1642-51), his execution, and the abolition of the monarchy in 1649.
- Mark Cartwright
- What was Charles I of England known for?Charles I of England is known as the king who fought Parliament during the English Civil War. He lost the war and was executed.
- Why did Charles I lose his head?Charles I of England was beheaded after he lost the English Civil War and was tried and found guilty of treason by Parliament.
- Why did King Charles I of England struggle with ParliamentKing Charles I of England and Parliament disagreed over how to raise finances, religious reforms in the Anglican Church, and the powers of the mona...
- Who was king of England after Charles I?The next king of England after Charles I was his son Charles II following the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660.
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Charles I was born in Fife on 19 November 1600, the second son of James VI of Scotland (from 1603 also James I of England) and Anne of Denmark. He became heir to the throne on the death of his brother, Prince Henry, in 1612. He succeeded, as the second Stuart King of Great Britain, in 1625. Controversy and disputes dogged Charles throughout his ...
Apr 3, 2014 · The opposing force, led by Oliver Cromwell, defeated Charles' royalist forces and the king was beheaded in London, England, on January 30, 1649. Early Life Charles I was born in Fife, Scotland, on ...
Charles I was born in Fife on 19 November 1600, the second son of James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark. On the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 James became king of England and Ireland. Charles's ...
Charles I succeeded his father James I in 1625 as King of England and Scotland. During Charles’ reign, his actions frustrated his Parliament and resulted in the wars of the English Civil War, eventually leading to his execution in 1649. Charles married the Catholic Henrietta Maria in the first year of his reign.
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