England's Revolutions, 1603–1701

1The Union of the Crowns, 1603When Elizabeth I died childless in March 1603, the English crown passed to her cousin James VI, who had been king of Scotland since 1567. One man now ruled three kingdoms, England, Scotland and Ireland, each with its own laws, parliament and church. This 'union of the crowns' was personal, not political: the kingdoms stayed legally separate, and English MPs rejected James's hopes for a full union. Scotland's church was Presbyterian, England's was governed by bishops, and most people in Ireland remained Catholic under a Protestant ruling class. Ruling such different kingdoms at once created tensions that would later explode, because a policy that pleased one kingdom could provoke another. Historians increasingly call the conflicts of the 1640s the 'Wars of the Three Kingdoms' for exactly this reason. The story of the seventeenth century therefore begins with a new dynasty, the Stuarts, trying to govern a multiple monarchy.
2James I and the Theory of Divine RightJames I was an unusually learned king who wrote books on politics, theology and even witchcraft. In 'The Trew Law of Free Monarchies' (1598) he argued that kings receive their authority directly from God, so subjects may never lawfully resist them, even a bad king. This theory of divine right did not mean James thought he could do anything: he accepted that a good king should rule according to law and consult Parliament. The real question was who had the final word when king and law seemed to clash. Many English lawyers, led by Sir Edward Coke, insisted that the king was under the common law, while James stressed his prerogative, the powers that belonged to the crown alone. Divine-right ideas reassured supporters of order after the religious wars of the sixteenth century, but critics feared they could justify tyranny. These competing ideas set the stage for the century's constitutional struggles.
3Crown, Parliament and the Power of the PurseEarly Stuart kings faced a basic money problem: inflation had eroded the value of crown lands and fixed revenues, while the costs of government and war kept rising. The crown could not levy most taxes without Parliament's consent, which gave MPs real leverage. James tried new 'impositions', customs duties set by royal prerogative, which judges upheld in Bate's Case in 1606, but MPs argued they bypassed Parliament. In 1610 the 'Great Contract' proposed that Parliament grant the king a fixed annual income in exchange for giving up unpopular feudal rights, but it collapsed amid mutual distrust. Parliament claimed the right to debate any subject, while James insisted some matters, such as foreign policy, belonged to the king; in 1621 he tore the Commons' Protestation out of its journal. Money and privilege were therefore intertwined: whoever controlled taxation could shape policy, a lesson that would shape the entire century.
4Puritans, Bishops and the King James BibleEngland's Protestant Church, created under the Tudors, was a compromise: Protestant in doctrine but keeping bishops, set prayers and some traditional ceremonies. Puritans were zealous Protestants who wanted further reform, such as simpler worship and stricter observance of the Sabbath; some also questioned rule by bishops. At the Hampton Court Conference in 1604, James met Puritan and conforming clergy and refused major changes, famously linking bishops to monarchy with the phrase 'No bishop, no king'. He did, however, approve a new English translation of the Bible, published in 1611, which became one of the most influential books in the English language. Most Puritans stayed inside the national church, but a small minority separated from it, and some later emigrated, including the Pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. Religion and politics were tightly linked, because church government seemed to mirror royal government.
5The Gunpowder Plot, 1605Catholics in England had hoped James, son of the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, would ease the penalties they suffered, but those hopes faded quickly. A small group of Catholic conspirators led by Robert Catesby planned to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605, killing the king and much of the government. They placed barrels of gunpowder in a cellar beneath the Lords, but an anonymous letter warning Lord Monteagle to stay away reached the government. Guy Fawkes was arrested guarding the powder, and the other plotters were hunted down, tried and executed. The plot's failure hardened anti-Catholic feeling for generations, and Parliament ordered an annual day of thanksgiving. Most English Catholics had not been involved, yet the plot fed a lasting fear of Catholic conspiracy that shaped later crises, including the reaction against James II.
6Charles I, Buckingham and the Failed Wars of the 1620sCharles I became king in March 1625, a reserved and devout man with a firm belief in his God-given authority. He relied heavily on George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, a royal favourite who had risen under James and now dominated policy. In 1623 Charles and Buckingham had travelled secretly to Madrid to seek a Spanish princess as Charles's bride; the failed 'Spanish Match' turned them toward war with Spain. Charles instead married the French Catholic princess Henrietta Maria, which worried Protestants. Military expeditions to Cádiz in 1625 and to the Île de Ré near La Rochelle in 1627 ended in costly failure, and Parliament tried to impeach Buckingham in 1626. Charles dissolved Parliament to protect his minister, which convinced many MPs that the king would not accept criticism. When Buckingham was assassinated in 1628, crowds celebrated, revealing how far trust between crown and people had broken down.

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