Aurora on the Personal Rule of Charles I

         The Personal Rule of Charles I (Aurora Dressler)  

3 Views of Charles I by Sir Anthony Van Dyck

The Personal Rule of Charles I was an era of politics mostly without the rule of parliament that lasted from 1629 to 1640. This period appeared to many as a time of growth and little conflict from an outsider’s view. Truly, though, it was a time of many conflicts regarding religious and economic views. These issues arose due to the controversial methods Charles I used to rule in England.

Charles believed in using medieval policies for gaining money, which was very unpopular amongst the public. Some of his methods for attaining money were to collect tonnage and poundage, impositions. When he brought back these many ancient tax policies, he was taxing people without their permission. This, of course, did not set well with the public. In 1629, merchants tried to resist from paying taxes. These attempts to strike were shut down by Charles, and the main person leading the strikes, Richard Chambers, was fined and put in prison for going against the tax laws set in place. With the recent calling of peace between France and Spain, taxes also went up when trade with these countries started picking up. Charles also allowed monopolies in his rule, as it gained more money. The worst tax in place during Charles’ rule, though, was the taxing of ship money. He used these funds to finance the Royal Navy. Citizens that resisted were imprisoned, and often fined.  

Charles I came to power in 1629 from the dissolution of the parliament, taking its place as the ruler. This led to many of his opponents to make peace and join sides with his ruling. William Noy, who led many attacks on monopolies in the year 1621, was one of his opponents who came to terms with Charles. With his power, Charles appointed William Noy as the attorney general, who then resurrected old tax laws. These tax laws are the ones that created many issues during Charles’ rule. Another opponent who later sided with Charles was Sir Dudley Diggs, who previously was the leader of the House of Commons in judging Charles’ ministers. In 1636 he became Master of the Rolls. Another opponent of Charles’ was Richard Weston, First Earl of Portland, was against the wars with Spain and France. In 1628, he became Lord High Treasurer and persuaded Charles to end the war with Spain. He was secretly a Roman Catholic. Many had suspicions of the numerous secret Catholics of Charles’ court and had much resentment to his rule due to this.

Charles I only appointed those with the same views as his own, which led to a lonely and isolated life wit a court that was strictly business. He never called Parliament during his rule, which was another factor as to why a barrier was created between Charles and the citizens of England. Charles didn’t let the resentment the public had towards him change his policies or way of ruling.

Later during the rule of Charles I, Scotland started to go against the policies of Charles’. They were against his religious policies and started to act. When Queen Mary of Scots resigned in 1567, a Presbyterian church was put in Scotland. James VI/I attempted, unsuccessfully, to bring back Bishops in Scotland. In 1618 he placed the Five Articles of Perth through the Scottish General Assembly and Parliament. This did not hold up well, as with these articles, James was trying to bring Catholicism into Scotland. In 1637, Charles I introduced a book of prayers and gave power to the Bishops. This led Scotland to rebel. In November of 1638, the Scottish gathered and brought back Presbytery, knocking Episcopal government. Charles wanted to do something about this but was low on funds. This led his army to be low funded and undermotivated. In contrast, the Covenanting army was well paid, consisted of many Scottish mercenaries. The English army backed down, bringing an end to the First Bishops’ War. In 1639, Charles signed the Pacification of Berwick, forced to allow the customs and demands of the Presbyterians. He secretly still plotted against the Scottish, though. On April 13, 1640, he called Parliament, in hopes of creating an anti-Scottish feeling. Parliament didn’t not trust Charles, so he broke up Parliament on May 5, 1640. This short assembly was known as the Short Parliament. Charles eventually was defeated and his attempts to go against the Scottish army ended. He was forced to sign the Treaty of Ripon on October 26, 1640, which required that Charles fund the Scottish army. Charles did not have the funds to do so, causing him to call Parliament again. On November 3, 1640, the Long Parliament assembled.

Works Cited

“Charles I: Personal Rule.” The Peasants Revolt, faculty.history.wisc.edu/sommerville/361/361-25.htm.