The Glorious English Revolution

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The Glorious English Revolution
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AbsolutismEngland and Constitutional Monarchy

• Monarchy One ruler who acquires his or her
  position through inheritance or family ties.
• Absolute Monarchy - the one ruler has total,
  unlimited authority and power

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AbsolutismEngland and Constitutional Monarchy

• The most prominent example or resistance to
  absolute monarchy came in the 17th C. England.
• Here, King and Parliament struggled to determine
  the roles each should play in governing England
• The outcome was much different than on the
  continent

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• With the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603 the
  Tudor dynasty came to an end and the Stuart line
  of rulers was inaugurated.
• King James I took the throne (son of Mary Queen
  of Scots)
• He believed in the Divine Right of Kings, this
  alienated the parliament which was accustomed to
  the Tudors rule in which the Monarch and
  Parliament worked together

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• King James I (r. 1603-1625)
• Known for the authorization of the King James
  version of the bible

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• The Puritans were alienated by James strong
  defense of the Anglican church.
• Puritans were protestants within the Anglican
  church who, inspired by Calvinism, wished to
  remove any trace of popery from the Church of
  England.
• Many of Englands wealthy landowners, below the
  level of Nobility, had become Puritans.
• They formed and important and large part of the
  House of Commons, the Lower House of Parliament.
• It was not wise to alienate them.

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• The conflict that had begun during the reign of
  James I came to a head during the reign of his
  son, Charles I (r. 1625-1649).
• Charles also believed in the divine right of
  Kings.
• From the onset of his reign it became apparent
  that the constitutional issues between the
  Monarch and Parliament would not be easily
  resolved.

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• King Charles I (r. 1625-1649)
• Supported by the High Church, Nobility
  peasants.
• Opponents were the wealthy landowners, middle
  class, merchants, and Puritans

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• Religious differences also added to the hostility
  between them.
• Charles attempted to impose more ritual on the
  Anglican Church, Puritans saw it as a return to
  Catholicism.
• When Charles tried to force the Puritans to
  accept his religious policies, thousands went to
  America instead.

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• Grievances finally mounted until England finally
  slipped into a civil war (1642-1648) that was won
  by the Parliamentary forces.
• Parliaments success over the King was largely
  due to the success of Oliver Cromwell, the
  Puritan Army leader.

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• Oliver Cromwell (r. 1649-1658)
• Believed he was doing battle for God.

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• Charles I was tried and convicted (68-67 vote) by
  Parliament and was executed.
• After his execution Parliament abolished the
  Monarchy and the House of Lords and proclaimed
  England a Republic or Commonwealth.

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• However, Cromwell and his army, unable to work
  effectively with Parliament, dispersed it by
  force.
• In its place, Cromwell established a military
  dictatorship, ironically using more arbitrary
  policies than those of Charles I.
• After Cromwells death in 1658, the army decided
  that military rule was no longer feasible and
  restored the monarchy in the person of Charles
  II, the son of Charles I

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• Charles II (r. 1660-1685)

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• However, to the chagrin of the Puritans Charles
  II was sympathetic to Catholicism.
• Moreover, his brother James, heir to the throne,
  did not hide the fact he was Catholic.
• Parliaments suspicions were aroused when Charles
  II took the audacious step of issuing a
  declaration of indulgence - suspending laws
  parliament had passed against Catholics and
  Puritans after the restoration of the Monarchy.

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• Parliament would have none of it and induced the
  King to suspend the declaration. He did.
• The accession of James II (r. 1685 - 1688) to the
  crown virtually guaranteed a new constitutional
  crisis for England.
• An open and devout Catholic, James attempts to
  further Catholic interests made religion once
  more a primary cause of conflict between King and
  Parliament.

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• King James II (r. 1685-1688)
• Fervent Catholic, tried to persecute the
  protestants.
• He was hated by the English populace and
  Parliament

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• James named Catholics to high positions in the
  government, Army, Navy, and Universities.
• In 1687, he issued the Declaration of
  indulgences, thus suspending all laws excluding
  Catholics and Puritans.
• Parliamentary outcries against James policies
  stopped short of rebellion since members knew
  that he was an old man, and his successors were
  his protestant daughters Mary and Anne, born to
  his first wife.

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Absolutism England Revolution and Civil War

• But, on June 10, 1688 a son was born to James
  second wife, also a Catholic.
• Suddenly the specter of a Catholic hereditary
  monarchy loomed large on the horizon.
• A group of prominent English nobleman
  Parliament invited the Dutch chief executive,
  William of Orange, husband of James daughter
  Mary, to invade England and lead a Protestant
  revolution.

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End of Absolutism William and Mary

• William and Mary raised an Army and invaded
  England while James, his wife, and infant son
  fled to France.
• With almost no bloodshed, England had undergone
  its Glorious Revolution.
• In January 1689 Parliament offered the throne to
  William and Mary, who accepted it along with the
  provisions of the Bill of Rights

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End of Absolutism William and Mary

• William III (r. 1689-1702)
• Died when he was thrown from a horse when the
  horse stepped in a mole hole.
• Mary II (r. 1689-1694)
• Died early from smallpox
• Jacobite plots were frequent during their reign.

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End of Absolutism William and Mary Jacobites

• Throughout the reigns of William and Mary and
  Anne, other descendants of James II claimed to be
  the rightful King.
• The Jacobites were the Scottish Highlanders, who
  supported James and Charles.

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End of Absolutism William and Mary Bill of
Rights

• The Bill of Rights affirmed
• Parliaments right to make laws and levy taxes
• The rights of citizens to keep arms and be tried
  by a jury
• By deposing one King and establishing another,
  Parliament had destroyed the Divine Right
  theory of Kingship (William was, after all, King
  by grace of Parliament, not God) and asserted its
  rights to participate in the Government.

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End of Absolutism Britains Constitutional
Monarchy

• Parliament did not have complete control of the
  Government, but it now had the right to
  participate in affairs of state.
• Parliament strengthened its control over the
  collection and expenditure of public money.
• Future sovereigns were thereafter unable to
  conduct the countrys business without recourse
  to the House of Commons for funds to do so
• Over the next century, it would gradually prove
  to be the real authority in the British system of
  Constitutional Monarchy.