Was King Charles an Absolutist?

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HISTORY Level 3 90658 Examine a significant issue in the context of change, in an essay Credit: Five England 1558-1667 In England, in the period 1558-1667, there were a number of significant historical situations that influenced Tudor-Stuart society. Such an historical situation was: • Civil War in Charles I reign. Describe Charles I’s role in the deepening political and religious crises up to mid-1642. To what extent was the outbreak of the Civil War a British problem rather than an English government problem?. Suggested Essay Plan • Land and religious issues triggered action in Scotland in 1639. There had been a long building of antagonism. From 1625 onwards, Scots landowners were incensed by the attempts of the English government to use the Act of Revocation to renegotiate the terms of leases on secularised Church lands. Calvinist nobles, already seething at the 1618 ‘Black Articles of Perth’ (which reintroduced the office of Bishop into Scotland), joined a rapidly growing reaction to the 1637 edict to use the Church of England prayerbook. Riots spread. By January 1638, the National Covenant was challenging Charles’ rule. • Charles immediately gathered military support – in the Northeast under the Marquis of Huntly, in Ireland under Randall MacDonnell and the Earl of Antrim, who was commissioned to raise a Scots-Irish army. The Earl of Hamilton was to take the Firth of Forth and Charles’s English force was to rally to Berwick. The Covenanters disposed of Huntly and other royalist groups in Scotland. Poor communications with Hamilton and Antrium led to ineffective strategies and the poorly trained English were beaten by the Scots at Berwick. The 18th June treaty demanded a return to the pre-war state. • Charles refused defeat. He directed Wentworth (now Strafford) to
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