The levellers were radical groups active in London in the late 1646 which gained a lot of their support from the army. This group was very popular among men of “middling sort” who were unrewarded in seventeenth century English politics. The leaders of these groups were John Lilburn and Richard Overton. Their main aim was for religious toleration and to also replace the monarchy and the House of Lords with a single representative chamber elected by the male leads of the households. There manifesto was the agreement of people which favoured the ordinary citizens and wanted them to gain more rights than rich property owners.
With the rise in the professional politician many prefer to remain loyal in order to gain power and move up in the hierarchy as opposed to become a rebel who remains in the back benchers. This can be seen after the vote on tuition fees and the liberal democrats. Despite the fact that they had campaigned for this cause endlessly only 26 (including a few Conservatives) chose to vote against the bill. Whips play an important part in removing efficiency from Parliament. By having whips who ensure that MPs behave in accordance to the decisions of the executive both Parliaments ability to scrutinise and hold the executive to account is diminished, but also their role as representatives of their individual constituency is also compromised.
In source 4 we also learn that much must have depended on diplomatic relations with Maximilian and Ferdinand, however Henry’s allies proved unfaithful and unreliable. Source 4, is written by a member of the Government of England. The government is who Henry and Wolsey would go to for Money for these situations. The Government did not like how much Money Henry kept asking for so this could have been reflected in Keith Randall’s report. Henry spent 1.4 millions pounds on fighting wars between 1511-25 and this set England back a far way.
Buckingham had too much influence with the King; this meant he was seen as one of the main causes to the break down in parliament. James wanted money from the Parliament in 1625 because of the war with Spain. Parliament decided to grant a tonnage and poundage as the monarch’s main source of Revenue. Opposition MPs discussed Parliament choosing the Kings ministers for him and also the impeachment of those who gained undue influence over him; this was especially aimed at Buckingham. A breakdown in parliament then occurred because Charles realized the parliamentary attack on Buckingham was increasing so in 1625 dissolved his first Parliament in order to protect his close companion.
Some may say that Henry was largely successful in achieving his aims with his biggest success being the battle of the spurs in 1513. Henry VIII want to be seen as a different king to his father who had a bad reputation for being aware of his money and not engaging in many wars which the nobilities did not like. He started by giving away the crowns land and gave many titles to the nobilities to prove that he would be different to his father. Catherine of Aragon, who had married Henry’s brother Arthur was still kept in England after Arthur had died. Henry had immediately married her after all the delays that his father had caused.
There are several reasons and causes for the wars, including growing religious tensions, weak monarchs, foreign intervention, the role of Catherine de Medici and the existence of weak Kings coupled with strong Nobles. These factors provided shaky foundations, which, when confronted with a collapsing economy, led to rebellion and civil war. One of the most important reasons for war in the second half of the century was the existence of weak kings. During the first half of the century, France was led by domineering Monarchs, who kept control with an authoritarian style. In addition, the wars only ended when a strong King returned to the Throne; Henry IV after the ninth war.
The monarchy treated its states people terribly and they were fed up, this is how the revolutionaries came to be, in general the revolutionaries were to an extent successful because they overthrew the monarchies however they were then beaten by the Austrian reinforcements that the monarchy asked help from. Mazzini was born in 1805 in Genoa; he became a nationalist after witnessing the Piedmontese refugee revolutionaries. I will be arguing whether or not Mazzini’s limited appeal was the main reason for the slow progress of national unity or whether it was down to the weak armies, little communication or with Metternia’s army. Mazzini believed that every man was equal which is why he was very unpopular with the middle, upper and aristocratic members of society as they did not wish to lose their power, influence and money. This made it difficult for Mazzini to obtain national unification as a majority of powerful and influential people in Italy were against his ideologies, this meant that the progress of national unification was very slow as a large amount of people opposed his views.
‘Arminianism was the most important cause of conflict between Crown and Parliament in the years 1625 to 1629’ explain why you agree or disagree with this view. Arminianism was important for the collapse of the relationship between Crown and Parliament to a certain extent, as religious conflicts were an underlying theme throughout the period of 1625 to 1629. Furthermore many Puritans feared that Charles was trying to push towards Arminianism, and so did everything they could to prevent this, causing much tension. However due to Charles’ personal monarchy, he shaped the way he wanted the country to be run thus was the root cause of the deterioration in the Crown-Parliament relationship. The most important factor and root for all of the problems was Charles.
Both countries were turned against each other in a brutal war where both sides were decimated by deadly military innovations. A decline in the power of Feudalism could also be seen as the kings on both sides used hired mercenaries to fight for them instead of the usual peasants who followed the lords. But because so many fought and died in the war, peasants began to take more pride in their country. Soon enough, more people are looking up to the king than they are their own lords. Another reason feudalism lost power was the mercenaries that fought for the English king.
These were not laws but were important to peace. Probably the most radical part was the clause which set up an elected group of 25 barons to check that the king did as was promised. Only three clauses in the Magna Carter are still valid today. One says that London and all other towns and ports shall enjoy their ancient liberties and customs. Many people think that King John was a bad King, this is largely due to stories surrounding Robin Hood and the fact he charged high taxes and imprisoned people without good reason.