From Republic to constitutional monarchy

(1625-1689)
From Republic to
constitutional monarchy
Performer - Culture & Literature
Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella,
Margaret Layton © 2012
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
1. Charles I (1625-1649)
• Charles I succeeded his father James I in 1625.
• He could not avoid direct confrontation with the Puritan
party, who held a considerable majority in Parliament.
A. Van Dick, Equestrian Portrait of
Charles I, 1637-38, National Portrait
Gallery, London
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
2. Who were the Puritans?
The Puritans
• were extreme Protestants within the Church of
England;
• thought the English Reformation had not done enough
to reform the doctrines and structure of the Church;
• wanted to purify their national Church by eliminating
every trace of Catholic influence;
• wanted a true balance of power between the king
and the Parliament.
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
2. Who were the Puritans?
The Puritans
• supported the Parliamentarian party;
• were linked to continental Reformed theology;
• believed that personal salvation depended on God;
• regarded the Bible as a guide to life;
• encouraged personal acts of mercy.
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
3. The Civil War
CAUSES
Charles I believed he was king by divine right.
He had continuous clashes with
Parliament.
He refused to give up the command
of the armed forces in 1642.
The war broke out in 1642.
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
3. The Civil War
CONSEQUENCES
The King was taken prisoner in 1647.
Oliver Cromwell took control of London.
He expelled or arrested more than 100
members of the House of Lords.
The remaining members voted for the
execution of the King on 30th January 1649.
The monarchy was abolished and replaced
by a republic, the Commonwealth.
Performer - Culture & Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
3. The Civil War
The two factions
THE ROYALISTS
• sided with the king;
• let their hair grow long;
• also known as ‘Cavaliers’
• included the lords, the gentry and officials of the
Church of England.
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
3. The Civil War
The two factions
THE PARLAMENTARIANS
•supported Parliament;
•considered long hair sinful and cut theirs short;
•also called ‘Roundheads’;
•included London, the ports, the Navy, the new gentry and
small landowners, artisans and Puritans.
Performer - Culture & Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
4. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)
• An East-Anglian gentleman farmer.
• A brilliant leader in raising and training
cavalry composed by brave Puritan
soldiers.
• Commander-in-chief of the army in
1649.
• Appointed Lord Protector of England,
Scotland and Ireland in 1653.
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
4. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)
• Followed a mercantilist policy and
re-organised the Navy.
• Passed the Navigation Acts in 1651
which stated that all English imports
had to be carried in ships owned by
England.
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
5. The Restoration of the
monarchy
• After Cromwell’s death in 1658, the Protectorate
collapsed.
• In 1660 Parliament invited Charles II (1660-1685) to
return from his exile in France.
• The Restoration of the monarchy was greeted with
relief by most Englishmen oppressed by the strict rules
of the Puritans.
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
5. Charles II (1660-1685)
•
•
•
•
His court was the most immoral
in English history.
London was struck by a bubonic
plague in 1665. More than 100,000
people died.
The Great Fire destroyed most of
the city of London in four days in
1666.
Puritans interpreted the two
catastrophes as God’s
punishment for the King’s
immorality.
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
6. The Royal Society
•
Founded in 1662 with King
Charles II’s patronage;
•
its motto, nullius in verba –
‘nothing by words’ – was a
direct challenge to the
dependence on written
authorities;
•
it became the centre of the
development of the new
philosophy and science.
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
7. James II (1685-1688)
• Charles II’s brother, James II, succeeded
him in 1685.
• He had converted to Catholicism in
1660. His attempts to give civic equality
to Roman Catholic and Protestant
dissenters led to conflict with the
Parliament.
• In 1688 his second wife, Mary of Modena,
gave birth to a son.
• Fearing a Catholic succession, a group
of Protestant nobles appealed to William
of Orange, husband of James’s older and
Protestant daughter Mary.
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
8. The Glorious Revolution
• William of Orange landed with an army in Devon in
1688 and James II fled abroad.
• Cooperation between Crown and Parliament became
effective with the so-called Glorious Revolution.
• Its name celebrates the bloodlessness of the event,
which saw William of Orange and his wife Mary
established as joint monarchs in 1689.
Performer - Culture&Literature
From Republic to constitutional monarchy
8. The Glorious Revolution
• The reign of William III and Mary II was a time of
economic progress for England.
• London became the financial capital of the world.
• The Bill of Rights of 1689 prevented the king from
raising taxes or keeping an army without the agreement
of Parliament.
Performer - Culture&Literature