The Long Parliament (Kathye Macias-Ramirez)
In order to understand the Long Parliament some
background knowledge of the Short Parliament is needed. To begin, the Short
Parliament was summoned by King Charles I in 1640, the first of such in 11
years (Short). The king previous to this had entered into what is now known as
the Bishops’ War. War erupted due to the king's determination to implement
Anglican—the Church of England—on those belonging to the Scottish Church.
Meanwhile the Scottish Church wanted to abolish episcopacy (Bishops’), defined by
Dictonary.com as a “government of the church by bishops” which includes
“ministers, namely bishops, priests or presbyters, and deacons” (episcopacy).
Despite the king's efforts he lost and was now out of money and in need of
more. Money that only a Parliament could raise to continue funding the war
(Long). However, the Parliament brought into question concerns that they had
over past actions by the king. This led the king to question the Parliament's
willingness to raise the funds to fight the Bishops’ War. Nevertheless, the
Parliament set a date for further discussion on the topic on May 7th, but on May 5th the king dissolved the Parliament (Short).
Shortly after, England was invaded marking the start of the second Bishops’
War.
It wasn’t until November of later that year that a new Parliament was summoned.
This Parliament however was even less adamant to the requests of King Charles I
and his power. For example, the Parliament made it “statutory” (Long) to hold
repeated meetings, along with an act that would no longer allow for the
dissolution of a Parliament unless it had the authorization of its members.
This move by the Parliament upset the king and soon led to a series of Civil
Wars . By 1646 the king had been defeated (Long). The power then transferred
over to the army, led by Thomas Pride who led the arrest of 45 Members and kept
out another 186 whom he believed would not be loyal to the cause of punishing
the king. The Parliament was then divided by those who remained, known as the
Rump, after Pride's Purge (Pride’s). The remaining Rump set the course of the
trial and execution of the king (Long). Out of the one hundred and thirty five
appointed to the high court of Justice, only fifty-nine signed off on the death
warrant (Hughes). The beheading of King Charles I was said to have brought
heartache to the people, one bishops described the situation as unique and
touching to the point that, ‘. . .women miscarried, [and] men fell into
melancholy' (Hughes). In the end, there were two conclusions to the Long
Parliament
. The first of those dissolutions was in 1653,
however it did not have the formal approval, or royal assent (Long). This
technicality was then finally resolved in December of 1660 after twenty years.
“Bishops' Wars.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2017,
"episcopacy." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random
House, Inc. 28 Aug. 2017. <Dictionary.com
Hughes, Ann. “The Execution of Charles I.” BBC,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/charlesi_execution_01.shtml. Accessed 28 Aug. 2017.
“Long Parliament.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2017,
“Pride's Purge, 'the Rump' and regicide.” UK Parliament, 28
Aug. 2017,
“Short Parliament.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2017,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Short-Parliament
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