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James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England
"When Elizabeth I died in 1603 without children, the English crown passed to James VI of Scotland , the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, who became James I of England, the first of the Stuart dynasty" (Craig et al, p.608)
Difficulties he faced during his reign (1603-1625)
- Conflicts with the nobility and landed and commercial elites of England.
- Conflicts with the Puritans and their reforms. -
Charles I becomes king of England
Charles I faced many of the same problems his father (James I) faced. Specifically issues with Parliament and their support for the Protestant Reformation in England. -
Charles I dissolves Parliament and embarks on eleven years of personal rule.
Sometime in March Charles I dissolved Parliament. This led to 11 years of personal rule, in other words an Absolute Monarchy. -
The Short Parliament
Charles I's 11 years of personal rule came to a close with the calling of the Short Parliament. He was forced to do this because he needed to raise funds for a war with Scotland.
The short Parliament lasted only 3 weeks (until May 5, 1640)
Parliament took the opportunity to redress wrongs. <a href='http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/glossary/short-parliament.htm' TARGET="_blank">The Short Parliament</a> -
Period: to
Long Parliament
The King was reluctant to summon another Parliament but the expense of the wars had left him desperately short of money and in urgent need of parliamentary subsidies. The Long Parliament sat...until December 1648, when it was purged by the New Model Army. The Purged Parliament (or the "Rump" of the Long Parliament) was expelled by Cromwell in April 1653 and was reinstated in February 1660 after the fall of the Cromwellian Protectorate and was formally dissolved on 16 March 1660. -
First Civil War (1642-1645)
"By 1642 the conflict between Charles I and Parliament over religion and arbitrary taxation erupted into civil war. In 1645 the parliamentary and Puritan forces triumphed. " (Craig et all, p.608) Image: 17th Century Print of the Long Parliament -
The Rump Parliament
The Rump Parliament is the name given to the Long Parliament after Pride's Purge of December 1648 in which those MPs who sought a negotiated settlement with King Charles I were forcibly expelled by the New Model Army. The Rump regarded itself as the lawful Parliament of the Commonwealth of England but the derisive name first used widely in 1660 became nickname after the Restoration.
<a href='http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/glossary/rump-parliament.htm' TARGET="_blank"> Rump Parliament</a> -
Charles I Executed
The Rump Parliament voted for the execution of Charles I. <a href='http://anglicanhistory.org/charles/charles1.html' TARGET="_blank">Read: Charles I's speech from the Scaffold</a> <a href='http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199899/ldparlac/ldrpt66.htm' TARGET="_blank">Read: The Death Warrant of Charles I</a> -
Attempts at a Puritan Commonwealth
With the death of Charles I Parliament abolished the monarchy, the House of Lords, and the established Church of England. They replaced these with a Puritan Republic led by Oliver Cromwell (pictured here). Cromwell encountered difficulties with Parliament and from 1653 until his death in 1658 he governed as a military dictator. -
Charles II Restored to the English Throne
The Convention Parliament declares Charles II to have been King since 30th January 1649 on May 8th 1660. "After Cromwell Died in 1658, disillusionment with Puritan strictness and political uncertainty led to the restoration of the Stuart monarchy under Charles II." (Craig et al, p. 608) -
Secret Treaty of Dover
There were TWO treaties of Dover: one, which was secret delt with the conversion of England to the Roman Catholic faith, which was favoured by Charles II; and the other, which was formal, was concerned with an Anglo-French military and naval alliance designed to beat the Dutch. (Source: "Treaty of Dover" Encyclopaedia Britannica) -
Parliament passes the Test Act
[Specific Date in 1672 Unknown]
Test Act: "The name given in English History to various acts directed against Roman Catholics and Protestant Nonconformists" (Source: Oxford English Dictionary) Read the Text of the Test Act of 1672 <a href='http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47451' TARGET="_blank"> For preventing dangers which may happen from Popish Recusants </a> -
James II becomes king of England
"James, Duke of York, Charles's brother, was a Roman Catholic and became monarch in 1685. Immediately he extended Toleration to both Roman Catholics and the Protestant Non-Conformists." (Craig et al. p.608) -
The Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution resulted in the deposition of James II and the accession of his daughter Mary II and her husband, William III, prince of Orange and stadholder of the Netherlands. Source: "Glorious Revolution." Encyclopædia Britannica. -
William III and Mary II come to the throne of England
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Act of Settlement provides for Hanoverian Succession
Toward the end of 1700 William III was ill and childless; his sister-in-law, Anne, had just lost her only surviving child; and abroad the supporters of, James II, were numerous and active. The need for the act was obvious. It decreed that, in default of issue to either William or Anne, the crown was to pass to Sophia, electress of Hanover and granddaughter of James I, and to “the heirs of her body being Protestants.” -
Queen Anne Takes the Throne
"She wished to rule independently, but her intellectual limitations and chronic ill health caused her to rely heavily on her ministers, who directed England’s efforts against France and Spain in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). The bitter rivalries between Whigs and Tories that characterized her reign were intensified by uncertainty over the succession to her throne." (Source: "Anne, Queen of England" Encyclopaedia Britannica.) -
George I of Hanover becomes king of England
"At Anne's death in 1714, the Elector of Hanover became King George I of England,... the thurd foreigner to occupy the English throne in just over a century." "Under the Hanoverians, Britain achieved political stability and economic prosperity during the first quarter of the eighteenth century." (Craig et al. p.609) -
Period: to
Ascendancy of Sir Robert Walpole
Generally regarded as the first British prime minister:
