Greek Gods- Rome- Middle Ages- England
- Автор: Harding Samuel B.
- Год: 1909
- Язык: английский
- Год: Heritage History
- Жанр: История
Электронная книга - «Greek Gods- Rome- Middle Ages- England». Краткое содержание книги:
Greek Gods and Heroes
City of the Seven Hills
The Story of the Middle Ages
The Story of England
In both the House of Commons and the House of Lords there was a strong majority against Charles's policies. The leaders of Parliament, therefore, set to work to do three things—to undo the misgovernment of the last eleven years, to punish Charles's ministers, and to pass laws which should make such abuses impossible for the future.
Their hatred was chiefly directed against the Earl of Strafford, who had joined them in opposing the Duke of Buckingham, but had become Charles's principal adviser after Buckingham's death. Strafford was honest in his course, but his former companions regarded him as a traitor to their cause. They also feared him, for so long as he lived no victory which they might win over the King could be permanent, nor their lives be safe. Every effort, therefore, was made to have him put to death. He was accused of attempting to overthrow the liberties of the kingdom, and particularly of having advised the King to make war on his English people. This was held to be treason, and Parliament at last voted that he should be beheaded.
Trial of Strafford
Charles had promised Strafford that he should not suffer in person or in honor, for aiding him. But the outcry of the London mob against Strafford was so great that the King was terrified for the safety of his Queen and children, and, with tears in his eyes, he at last consented to Strafford's execution.
"Put not your trust in princes!" cried Strafford when this news was brought to him. Nevertheless, he had scarcely hoped that he would be spared. He met his death bravely.
He was a pure and able man, and was loyal to what he believed to be his duty. It was his misfortune that his ideas of government were those of a past age, and that his death was a necessity for the people's liberty.
After Strafford's execution, the King and Parliament drifted ever farther and farther apart.
At one time, Charles caused five of the leaders of Parliament to be accused of treason. In violation of their Parliamentary privileges, he came in person with an armed force to seize them. When the Speaker of the Commons was asked to point out the accused members, he replied, kneeling before the King:
"May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak, in this place, but as the House is pleased to direct me."
"Well, well," replied the King, " 'tis no matter; I think my eyes are as good as another's."
However, he did not find the men he sought, because, as he said, "the birds were flown." This attempt did Charles no good, but only caused Parliament and the nation to distrust his intentions.
Two questions, especially, now separated Charles from his Parliament. One was the government of the Church by bishops, which the Puritans wished to cast out, "root and branch." The other was the appointment by Parliament of the officers who commanded the county militia. Troops were now being raised to put down a rebellion in Ireland, and members of Parliament were fearful lest Charles should use these to put down Parliament itself.
To the demand for the right to appoint the militia officers, Charles replied:
"That is a thing with which I would not even trust my wife and children."
On the religious question, he was equally steadfast. In this position he was supported by many members of Parliament who had formerly opposed him. On a measure called the "Grand Remonstrance," which was directed against the King's government, the opposition to Charles had a majority of only eleven votes, in place of the almost unanimous support which they formerly had. Feeling ran so high that swords were actually drawn on the floor of the House of Commons, and bloodshed was narrowly prevented.
The question really at issue was this: Should the King or Parliament control the government?
It was a question which could neither be evaded nor compromised. Matters grew steadily worse and worse; and finally, in 1642, the two parties drifted into civil war.
Topics for Thought and Search
Why were James I. and Charles I. less successful rulers than Elizabeth?
What is meant by "impeachment"? Who are the accusers in such a trial? Who are the judges?
Find out what you can about Sir John Eliot. About John Hampden.
Was the Earl of Strafford a good man or a bad man? Was he justly or unjustly punished?
Was the King or Parliament right in the struggle over the Church question and the militia question? Why?
The Civil War between King and Parliament (1642-1649)
The great civil war between King Charles and his English Parliament began in August, 1642, when the King "raised his standard" at Nottingham. It did not really end until Charles was beheaded in 1649, and a Commonwealth or republic was set up.
In this war, the great majority of the nobles and the gentry, with their dependents, took the side of the King. The middle classes—the traders and manufacturers of the towns, and most of the small farmers—upheld the cause of Parliament. The King's supporters, for the most part, believed in the Church of England, and loved a gay life and fine clothes. They were called "Cavaliers." The supporters of Parliament were mainly sober-minded Puritans, plain in their lives and in their dress. They were called "Roundheads," from their refusal to wear the "lovelock," which Cavaliers wore curling down over one shoulder.
The east and south—which were then the most populous, industrious, and wealthy parts of England—generally sided with Parliament. The north and west went with the King. Oxford, the seat of England's greatest university, was the royalist headquarters. Parliament controlled London, the navy, most of the seaports, and the law-making and taxing part of the government. From the beginning its resources were much greater than those of the King. Both sides sought aid outside of England. Parliament secured an army from the Scots. The King's efforts to get men from Ireland and the Continent profited him very little.
In the beginning of the war, Charles gained some successes, chiefly because the Cavaliers were better soldiers than the troops which Parliament raised. But among the members of Parliament was a plain, earnest, country squire, named Oliver Cromwell. He had an unsuspected genius for war, and soon saw what was the trouble with the Parliament's army.
Oliver Cromwell
"Your troops," he told his cousin, John Hampden, "are most of them old decayed serving men and tapsters, and such kind of fellows; and their troops are gentlemen's sons and persons of quality. Do you think that the spirits of such base and mean fellows will ever be able to encounter gentlemen that have honor, and courage, and resolution in them? You must get men of a spirit that is likely to go as far as gentlemen will go, or else you will be beaten still."
Setting to work on this principle, Cromwell organized his famous body of troops, known as the "Ironsides." The name was first given to Cromwell himself, by one of the King's generals, and later extended to his troops. They were sternly Puritan men, like their commander, who "knew what they fought for and loved what they knew." And from the time when Cromwell and his Ironsides began to be prominent in the war, the balance of victory inclined in Parliament's favor.
The first great Parliamentary victory was won in July, 1644, at Marston Moor, in the north of England. An army of Scots and Parliamentarians had laid siege to the city of York. Charles ordered his nephew, Prince Rupert—a dashing cavalry general—to go to its deliverance. As Rupert approached, the Scots and Parliament men drew back, and took their stand on a long ridge above Marston Moor. When Rupert arrived at its foot, it was already seven o'clock in the evening of a long summer day. He decided not to begin the attack until morning, and he and his men began to eat such supper as they had with them.