King Charles II example essay topic

The Restoration, a period of constantly changing ideals, shows how the change in government from Charles I to Oliver Cromwell affected the people of that time. Also showing the shift in winds of religion, compares and contrasts Absolutism and Constitutionalism, shows how the influence of the English people on the world, and shows a new era being heralded in without which we would not exist. The seventeenth century started with the Ascension of Charles I to the throne of his father James II. It was a relatively stable period under Charles I, yet it soon became engrossed in a civil war, of which.

Oliver Cromwell and Dissenters led. They formed an improvised republic, which later collapsed. This led to restoration of Charles II, whose new models of government helped to change ideals in religion not only in Europe, but also in the world. James I handed the reigns of the commonwealth to his only male heir Charles, who at the age of 25 still had no wife, and therefore was not bringing any legitimate heirs to the throne with him. Charles I was a firm believer in divine right. As stated by Donald Kagan: During his reign he rarely asked for help, believing his decisions as those ordained by God (Kagan pg. 451).

As stated by Howard Tomlinson: "The most high and sacred order of kings is of divine right, being the ordinance of God himself, founded in the prime laws of nature, and clearly established by expressed texts both of old and new testaments". (Tomlinson pg. 21) During the reign of Charles I problems with parliament escalated to a point at which confusion erupted. Problems with money had plagued this monarchy for several centuries, though later it would see wealth coming from its colony. The Tudors (before the Stuarts) were better able to confront parliament, and had much more success in doing so.

After the Scottish rebellion the crown needed money again, and since money could not be raised without the consent of parliament, parliament began to stay in session more. The foreign policy Charles was able to implement helped the royal family get out of a financial bind. The family was known to be protestant yet nearing the end of his reign there is evidence to prove Charles I was a Roman Catholic at heart. This Catholic influence would continue to play a role in the lives of the rest of the monarchy. During January of 1629, it was decided by parliament to legally try to reduce the power held by the crown.

In so doing it was found that Popery and placing taxes on the people without their consent was treason. Popery was especially bad in England because it was in England that the king was also the head of the church and could make any religious policies he desired. When parliament declared Charles I guilty of treason England was full of mixed emotions. Those who followed the king believed that only through submission to divine authority could they be true Christians. As stated by Howard Tomlinson: "Dissenters were able to gain control thus beheading Charles, and unknowingly creating a dictator". (Tomlinson pg. 339) Royalists were those who supported the king.

Their name was derived from Caballero (Spanish) this term denoted someone who was Catholic and had an extreme dislike for Protestants. Roundheads were those who supported anyone but the king. Their name referred to the apprentices of the day; these apprentices caused conflicts to escalate into violence and in turn caused many people to flee the cities. With compromise now nearly impossible parliament was not about to change. As stated by John Buchan: "It could not change because Parliament was already so far ahead, Religion could be used to control and sway the people, and Charles was stubborn". (Buchan pg. 237) Oliver Cromwell emerges as the leader of the dissenters and quickly takes control of a volatile situation.

Authority was clearly being questioned. The time parliament was in control was useless, because now they could not agree with Oliver Cromwell. They had established the Instrument of Government which is referred to as the first constitution, done in contemporary style it would later be the backbone of the United States Constitution, though it helped England very little. This Instrument of Government was passed by parliament, yet it still gave the people of England very little, so it had to be maintained by force.

This Cavalier Parliament brought with it strict Protestant rules, it unified the Squire and Parson of the time. They now had one goal to spread their religion. There was dissension even among the dissenters, who could not agree on religious authority. Which brought upon The English Civil War: a complicated, intellectual war between the two most powerful forces in England Parliament and the King.

Conflicts between the two powers began when King Charles I dissolved Parliament in 1625 because they would not give him the money he demanded to fund his war against Spain. As stated by Esmond Wright: "Parliament, who was lead by John Pym, felt that the King was showing favoritism towards the Roman Catholics, especially since Charles had recently married the Roman Catholic French Princess". (Wright pg. 748) Although Charles recalled Parliament in 1626, he proceeded to dissolve the second Parliament mainly because it attempted to impeach him. John Pym, who had been prevented from being elected to the second Parliament, was re-elected into the third Parliament and was looking for revenge on King Charles. He refused to give Charles supplies for his war until certain issues such as forced loans; The King attempted to bargain with Parliament, agreeing that Parliament could no longer be dissolved and that it had to be called regularly. When the Irish rebellion broke out, Pym took the opportunity to blame Charles and his administration for the rebellion.

Pym stated that the parties at fault should be dismissed and replaced with people approved by Parliament. Charles attempted to impeach Pym and others, but word of his plans leaked out and the individuals got away. This was the beginning of conflicts between Parliament and the King and although discussions between the two groups went on until March of 1641, war was inevitable. When the war began, it was clear that the King held the upper hand. However, after four years of fighting (1642-1646), Parliament emerged victorious, lead by Oliver Cromwell who had obtained leadership after the Marston Moor battle. Although it took more then eighteen years for the results of the civil war to settle, there were no long-term effects of the war.

While there were minor reforms to the system, the people, the Church and the Monarchy of England went back to living their lives relatively the same as they had before the start of the English Civil War. Violence during the English Civil war effected hundreds of thousands of English civilians. However, As stated by Hester Chapman: "while violence killed thousands of people... the impact of the war - as a war - was surprisingly limited. Casualties during the war were high: 190,000 people died in England and 868,000, or 11.6% of the population, perished within the British Isles". (Champ an pg. 1327) This number was only a third of the amount of people who died in England during the great plague of 1570-1670. King Charles II was content with putting things aside and starting over again, and it seemed like the people of England were too.

Although women and children lost husbands and fathers, their loses were quickly replaced by new husbands or relatives to help out. By the end of the war, most people simply wanted to get on with their lives since there was nothing that they could about the people they lost during the war. Many people forgot their differences and were found even marrying across the barriers, which were created during the war. Damaged property was quickly repaired since it created jobs for civilians looking for work. Buildings were destroyed, but since the war was not as explosive as the wars we know today, they were easily rebuilt.

Cities were sacked, however most were mended; citizens lost possessions, but they were easily rebought; royalists forced residents of London to cut down trees for fuel by cutting off their coal supply, but the trees grew back. It seemed like civilians were anxious to forget the wars and restore their lives to what it was before the war by returning to life as it were. A more difficult transition for the common folk of England was the re-civilization of the soldiers, but even that did not create many effects. It was a complicated procedure to merge the soldiers into society as every day working people, however since it took place at two different times; once when Cromwell was dissolving the army and once when the new Parliament was Cromwell acted as the kings he hated when in 1656 he was forced to call parliament back into session, and to make sure he received the money he so desperately needed, he excluded 100 members who he knew would vote against him. Finally, when this Parliament could take no more the made a date for dissolution, As stated by W.E. Lunt: "yet Oliver could not wait, and was forced to show his true colors when he cast out the hose and declared it officially dissolved".

(Lunt pg. 137) Cromwell, as history shows, was a very good military strategist, but a poor politician. It is said that we must judge not only by what someone did, but also by what they set out to do. The new revolution was now taking place; this was due largely to a new oath, which parliament required the monarch to take. This oath required the king to uphold the customs and laws of the Protestants. The years between 1640 and 1660 witnessed in England a greater outpouring of printed material than the country had seen since the first printing press had begun operating in the 1470's. 1 The breakdown of government and Church censorship in the early 1640's was almost total until the mid-1650's when Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector reimposed some controls.

Not until the return of the Stuarts and their royal censors did the flow of pamphlets cease. This tumultuous period of English history therefore became a crowded arena for free expression of radical religious, social, and political ideas. This fact, coupled with the euphoria surrounding the victories of the New Model Army, the uninhibited exchange of ideas, and the general millennial atmosphere, especially following Charles I execution, led many Englishman to see their nation as the emerging leader of the Protestant world. A recurring theme among these pamphlets, sermons, and broadsides was the idea that Oliver Cromwell was the man to lead England into this new age. Like the second coming of the Swedish soldier-king Gustavus Adolphus, Cromwell would champion the Protestant cause wherever it was in need. As a Civil War hero, conqueror of the Irish and Scots, and later as Lord Protector, the devoutly religious Cromwell certainly had the background to fit the role.

Yet in practical terms, England of the 1640's and 1650's was not the military juggernaut that many writers pictured it to be. The nation was not capable of wiping out the Turkish menace, unseating the Pope, and defending persecuted Protestants on the Continent all in one fell swoop. The financial difficulties of the Stuarts did not disappear with the execution of Charles, and though the navy was strong, it was not logistically feasible for the army to get involved in a large Continental war. The last words of Oliver Cromwell as written by John Buchan are as follows: "Lord, tough I am a miserable wretched creature... give them consistency of judgment, one heart, and mutual love... ' " (Buchan pg. 441).

The improvised republic was now over, as stated by John Buchan: "A republic can not be made merely by decapitating a monarchy" (Buchan pg. 351). England was now no longer a nation, but in the confusion of small factions. For a while it looked as if she never would be. It was during this time that several members of the clergy and upper society began to refuse allegiance; they stated that they had already sworn allegiance to James II. After William and Mary consideration was given to the Duke of Monmouth whose father was Charles II. This could not be legally proved, so he was then excluded, and his supporters were executed.

Execution was seen as a must, trust was held sacred, and privacy cherished. Cardinal Richelieu (France) Stated: "The English were so foolish they killed their wisest man" (Richelieu p. g. 246) referring to the beheading of Charles I. Now the Royalists worked diligently to spread rumors about this dictatorship. The people of England were overjoyed when the reign of Oliver Cromwell was over, but his Commonwealth and Protectorate would be remembered, and used in the years to come. Remarkable during this time it became fashionable to study Greek texts, thus the Humanist movement of the seventeenth century had begun. The Child of Hope (Charles II) was to the people of England almost a God They believed him to be ordained from God, and put faith in him as hope for the future.

Charles obliviously used the idea of Predestination to his advantage. Predestination was one of the central beliefs of those who were Protestant (England at this time was almost entirely protestant), and it was Martin Luther who saw it as a guarantee of the covenant. So great was the adoration of this king that peasants would race out of their cottages to kiss his majesty. The king even appointed a day, July Twenty-Sixth, in honor over his triumph over The Duke of Monmouth. Soon this king had the support of foreign countries as well. The Spanish supported England, and they did this so that England would support Spain against her rivalry France.

The religious winds of this time were variable and one had trouble choosing which to follow. They were still a problem under the rule of James II, because the puritans had thought he would be more supportive. The Clergy took offense to this and stated that they most certainly did not change their sermons or morals to fit their present circumstances. Unity and Order became the keys to control of religion in the seventeenth century. They were operating as one, which resulted in a unified and orderly clergy.

God's work began to take on a new shape as the belief that god worked through people spread. As stated by Ivan Roots: People were not to be judged because judging them would be like judging God. (Roots pg. 211) Now that religion was back on the forefront, the politics of religion began to be questioned. People started to see the goals of their church, and most did not like what they saw. England since the time of Henry V tried to separate the pope-like duties of the Church of England from those of the king, both claimed to be of divine inspiration. All this commotion started coming to an end when what was called a Parliamentary Monarchy developed.

This allowed both Parliament and the Monarch joint control of their fates. It let the people speak, yet still had the absolute control afforded a monarchy. During the seventeenth century two forms of government had been developed in Europe. The first, adopted by England was constitutionalism, which would prove to be the best. It created a Constitution, written by the people, which governed the people.

The other form of government, adopted by France was Absolutism. In absolutism all the power was held by the monarchy, which meant that the people (in general) were very unhappy because they had no voice in their government. The court at Versailles had more influence on European culture than any other. These became the models of other countries, and only the monarchy that wasn't dependent on the church or landed gentry could survive. Nearing the end of the rule of James II, a plot was revealed, in which the Jesuits (a catholic order) would assassinate the king, and in so doing would change England back to Catholicism. This would have been a disaster for England since protestant dissenters made up the middle class of the day, the class that made most of the money their country ravenously took.

During this Popish Plot William Godfrey was found murdered, and it was arranged to look like a suicide. He was a justice of the peace, who most likely found out more then he needed to know. Most felt the Catholics were behind this, but it was later proved that Godfrey was their friend. The Protestants took complete advantage of the situation, their propaganda bolstered their ideas, and the newly invented printing press spread these ideas like wild fire. Now Godfrey was a martyr, there were many theories of his death, yet none could ever be proved. Now science and philosophy as well as religion were being questioned.

This revolution was one of the most important in history.