Northumbrian English Civil War: 2019

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Charles I ascends to the throne

On the 27th March 1625 Charles I ascended to the thrones of England and Scotland on the death of his father King James I & VI.

King Charles I

James VI of Scotland had succeeded to the Scottish throne in 1567. He was the only son of Mary Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, both of whom were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England through his oldest sister Margaret Tudor. When Elizebeth I died childless on 24th March 1603, it was this lineage that saw the English throne pass to James. Thus he became James I of England and James VI of Scotland and the monarchical lineage passed from the House of Tudor to the House of Stuart.

House of Stuart Royal Arms

Charles therefore inherited the thrones of two separate nations each with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and law.

Charles realm included Ireland. James I and VI had officially sanction the Planation of Ireland in 1609. This was an organised colonisation of a mainly catholic Ireland with settlers who in the main were protestant immigrants from Scotland and northern England. This colonisation, together with wealthy English landlords taking over lands, meant simmering tensions existed in Ireland.

Charles like his father believed in the divine right of Kings, that the monarch was accountable to god and not an earthly authority such as Parliament. He saw Parliament merely as a conduit to pass laws to enact his policies, as well as a means to raise taxes to meet the King's expenditure, in particular the costs of the military engaged on campaigns decided by the King.

Parliament could only be convened on by order of the King and he could dissolve it when ever he wished.

King Charles I believed in the divine right of Kings

When Charles came to the throne, continental Europe was at war. War began in 1618, when Ferdinand II was deposed as King of Bohemia and replaced by Frederick V of the Palatinate (Rhineland), who was married to Charles's sister Elizebeth. The conflict escalated to become a struggle between the Lutheran and Catholic states of the Holy Roman Empire and a power struggle for dominance between the Habsburgs of Spain and Austria, and the French House of Bourbon.

Conflict in Europe within the Holy Roman Empire

In 1624, the anti-Catholic sentiment of Parliament, as well as Charles's(then Prince of Wales) desire to support his sister in Lutheran Rhineland led to the authorising of funds for war. A mercenary army under the command Count Mansfield for service in the Palatine was raised, and the strengthening of the English navy.

Shortly after becoming King, Charles married by proxy Princess Henrietta Maria of the French Bourbon family. The princess was a Roman Catholic and the marriage was opposed by many Parliamentarians fearful that Charles might make concessions to Catholics and undermine the Church of England.

Princess Henrietta Maria

Charles was crowned King of England at his coronation at Westminster Abbey 2nd February 1626.

Coronation King Charles I
Westminster Abbey

It would be 7 years before Charles would hold is coronation in Scotland. He travelled north staying at Raby, Aukland and Durham castles en route. He visited Newcastle on 3rd June and Tynemouth on 5th June 1633. He was crowned at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh on 18th June.

Coronation King Charles I
Edinburgh

NEXT: Charles I Government

Charles I Government

The origins of Parliament and the challenge to monarchical power began in June 1215 King John signed the Magna Carta to make peace with rebel barons who were displeased with the way John was ruling the country. Magna Carta established the principle that the King was subject to laws in the same way his subjects.

During the reign of John's son Henry III (1216 to 1272), the rule of the country by an absolute monarch was ended. Following a power struggle between Henry and his barons, the noblemen won and the rebel baron's leader, Simon de Montford called the first Parliament in English history which had no prior royal authorisation. Montford's parliament was a single chamber consisting of bishops, noblemen together with two knights from each shire and two burgesses from each borough.

From 1295 Parliament met at the palace of Westminster.

In 1341 the clergy and nobility met separately from the knights and burgesses which created an Upper Chamber (House of Lords) and a Lower Chamber (House of Commons), with the knights and burgesses sitting in the latter. The structure of the Lower Chamber would develop into the representatives being Members of Parliament representing constituencies. The monarch ceased to be a member of either chamber by the time Henry VII came to the throne in 1457, relying now on supporters in both chambers to influence the affairs of Parliament.

In 1534 Henry VIII broke away from the authority of the Catholic Church in Rome and established himself as the head of the Church of England. The Church would no longer answer to the authority of the Pope in Rome, but to the King. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the first and most senior Bishop of England was appointed by the King, thus consolidating the monarchs power within the church.

During the Tudor period (1485 to 1603) the relationship developed between the Monarch and Parliament. The monarch could convene and dissolve Parliament whenever they wished. They did however look to the support of Parliament as a means to legitimise decisions and raise money through taxation.

Westminster the power base of Parliament

The day to day running of the country lay with the Privy Council. This consisted of advisers to the sovereign and the means by which the monarch exercised their power through their royal prerogative. The council could be a a place of intrigue and positioning for favour of the King, a power struggle within the court, and also another source of conflict with Parliament.

Court of Charles I

On ascending to the throne Charles I retained James I & VI's principal adviser, the Duke of Buckingham, as his primary confidant. Buckingham

Buckingham had accompanied Charles, when he was heir to the throne, to Madrid in in 1623 in an ill-fated attempt to arrange a marriage Infanta Maria, sister of Philip IV of Spain. It was Buckingham who negotiated Charles' marriage to the Catholic princess Henrietta Maria of France. This action together with his his monopoly of royal favour and patronage made him extremely unpopular with parliamentarians.

George Villers
Duke of Buckingham

A member of either chamber could propose a Bill for deliberation by Parliament. As members of the Privy Council sat in Parliament, the monarchs proposals could be put to both chambers for consideration. In order for a Bill to be passed into law it had to be approved by a majority in both Houses of Parliament. The monarch would need to give royal ascent before it became an Act of law, giving them the power of veto, another area of contention between the monarchical and parliamentary power.

The House of Commons consisted of Members of Parliament 'elected' from County and Borough franchises. Each franchise returned two members. In addition the Cinque Ports each returned two members, as did the University franchises of Oxford and Cambridge. [1] An exception was the County Palatine of Durham which was administred by a "Prince Bishop" who's powers dated back to medieval times. Durham did not return any MP's to Parliament. [2]

Stuart England

In County franchises those allowed to vote was restricted to resident freeholders who's with a freehold value of land or property was 40 shillings a year. [3]

The voting qualification in Borough franchises varied. It could be based upon payments to local poor and church rates, or the ownership of a hearth on which to cook a pot. It may be based upon the payment of monies to the king or local lord. [4] Some cities required those who voted to be freemen of that city. Some boroughs would only allow those who were members of the corporation that ran the town, often men under the patronage of local dignitaries. [5]

NEXT: Charles I Northumbria

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[1] The History of the Parliamentary Franchise RESEARCH PAPER 13/14 1 March 2013 page 5

Research Paper (parliament.uk)

[2] ibid page 8

[3] ibid page 8

[4] ibid page 10

[5] ibid page 11

Charles I Northumbria

North of England

The lands from coast to coast north of the River Humber and south of the River Forth had formed the Kingdom of Northumbria in Saxon Britain.

Kingdom of Northumbria around 700AD

The Viking colonisation of the north led to a break up of the Kingdom, with those lands north of the River Tweed being absorbed into what would become Scotland. The lands between the River Tees being divided between the Earl of Northumberland and the Bishop of Durham. [1]

9th Century England

Immediately after the Norman conquest the lands north of the River Tees were not formally incorporated into the Kingdom of England. They continued to be controlled by the Bishop of Durham and the Earl of Northumberland. It was not until 1095, that those lands were incorporated into England, Northumberland becoming a county and subject to crown rule, Durham becoming a Palatinate under the control of the Bishop of Durham. [2]

Palatinate of Durham

The Palatinate of Durham lay principally between the River Tess and the River Tyne. The Bishop controlled local government and the judiciary and appointed officials. The Bishopric was however subject to the laws of England and although the Palatinate issued it's own coins, they had to be of the same denomiation and value as the coinage of England. It was the monarch's prerogative to choose who was the Bishop of Durham, and whilst he could not dismiss the bishop, the monarch could limit the clerics power and the lands that formed the bishopric. Durham did not have any Parliamentary Constituencies, so there was no representation in the House of Commons. [3] The Bishop of Durham sat in the House of Lords.

County of Northumberland

The accession of James VI of Scotland to the English crown brought a formal end to hostilities with Scotland, and Northumberland could enjoy a period of peace and stability. The county of Northumberland was mainly agricultural with the exception of the growing coal industry around Newcastle. By the time Charles ascended to the throne, over 400,000 tons of coal was being shipped from Newcastle, the primary market being London, as well as exports to the Low Countries and the Baltic. The control of the shipments resting mainly with a small cartel of Newcastle merchants. [4]

There were four Parliamentary Constituencies, each having two Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the county Northumberland; Northumberland, Newcastle, Morpeth and Berwick upon Tweed.

The constituency of Northumberland was dominated by local gentry with elections being held at the official county town of Alnwick. The two MP's elected to sit in Charles I first Parliament were landowners, Sir John Fenwick and Sir Francis Brandling. [5]

17th Century Alnwick

Newcastle was governed as a corporation which selected the constituencies' Members of Parliament. The corporation consisted of the mayor, sheriff, ten alderman and a common council of 24 members elected by twelve of the towns guilds. The MP's elected to the 1625 were both merchants, Sir Thomas Riddell and Sir Henry Anderson. [6]

17th Century Newcastle

Morpeth was a Borough which was presided over by two bailiffs and seven alderman representing the towns seven trading guilds. Representing the constituency in the 1625 Parliament were Thomas Reynell, a courtier to Charles I and Arnold Herbert a member of the gentry [8], neither of who had a tangible connection to the borough. [7]

The northern most constituency in England was Berwick, a town that had changed hands between England Scotland nine times during medieval conflicts, before finally coming under permanent English control in 1482. Those selected to represent the town in Parliament were chosen by the freemen of the borough. Those elected to the 1625 Parliament were Sir Robert Jackson, a merchant, and a member of the gentry. Sir John Selby. [8 ]

17th Century Berwick

Sitting in the House of Lords were the Bishop of Durham and the Earl of Northumberland. [9]

The Bishop of Durham was Richard Neile who had been appointed in 1617. [10] Neile had appointed William Laud, Charles I future Archbishop of Canterbury, as his chaplain when he was Bishop of Rochester. Neile would go on to use his political connections to become part of the Kings Privy Council.