Civil war

[cazie]

How was royal authority modified by the civil wars in the British Isles?

[WaldoMcFroog]

After the Civil War even royalty were obliged to do their own homework and not just get the peasantry to do it for them.

[shammydodger]

Hmm, it does rather sound like a homework question doesn't it, Waldo?

Cazie, to try to point you in the right direction, go to the Wikipedia site on the English Civil War and also one or two of the other excellent sites. Read up on the reasons for why the relationship between the King and Parliament broke down to the extent that war was thought to be the only way of resolving the issues. List these reasons and make short notes on each. Then consider what the outcome of the war was. What happened to the monarchy for starters? For approximately 10 years, the monarchy had no authority at all, since it didn't exist. After The Restoration, how did the workings of Parliament differ from before the war? What was the role of the monarchy and the monarch? It might help to consider what the role and authority of the present Queen is.

[jno]

came to an abrupt halt - cut off at the top, you might say. It resumed years later on a modified basis.

[jake-the-peg]

In a sense it wasn't but continued as an uneasy truce for many years each side pushing the other.

Charles I had tried to raise taxes without parliament with the ship tax which was against 300 years of prescedent. He hadn't the authority run the country anyway he wanted so the fact that nobody tried it again is hardly a modification of authority.

Charles II made a lot of financial demands which were generally met but he never tried to raise money on his own and he only converted to Catholicism on his deathbed - he knew that would have been too much.

Unlike his Catholic brother James who came to the throne a Catholic and was kicked out on his bum in 1689 a few years later.

The last monarch to really push their luck was Queen Anne in 1707 who was the last monrch to veto an act of parliament and in 1721 Walpole became the first real prime minister in exchange for promising to sort out the countries woes.

The king or queen still nominally had the right to appoint ministers but power had pretty much gone then.

The 1800s saw a number of reform bills sorting out corrupt elections and in 1911 the parliament act gave the house of commons rights to overrule the lords.

So the loss of power from the absolute power of King John has been a gradual process and the civil war was a remarkably small step on that road.

[Peter Pedant]

Come one Cz, you have to read the whole chapter on Charles 1 and think about it. Also the chapter on his scottish policy because it says Br isles and not England.

He had to call parliaments

He couldnt tax by himself

He had to act through his ministers - Charles II was told he had been described as - never said a foolish thing and never did a wise one.

he replied - my words are my own, my actions are my ministers

He couldnt decree - he had to get parliament to pass the relevant law

he couldnt set uphis own courts - star chamber etc

he couldnt hire and fire judges - on parliament could dismiss if well behaved.

Write a para on all these and your essay stretches out to infinity

Oh Scotland - the difficulty Charles i had and he knew it, was that he was head of both Sc and E churches and they were fundamentally incompatible - i e it was immpossible.

[shammydodger]

That's right, do their homework for them.

[vehelpfulguy]

Come on lets be helpful to them

Charles the third was king of England and his allies, including Isumbard Kingdom Brunel, tried to rule with a rod of iron.

The iron was made with a steam engine designed by Louis Pasteur.

The peasants revolted, led by Guy Fawkes, and Thomas Cromwell invaded parliament and took control of the country.

Charles the third's wife, Anne Boleyn, fled the country to excape the riots.

Thomas Cromwell arrested Charles the third and burnt him at the stake.

Thomas Cromwell was not a good leader and after a few years his son, Oliver, took over, but he was no better.

Eventually the people tired of having no king and brought back the next in line to the throne, Richard the third.

He appointed William of Orange as his vice president and as a tribute built Hampton Court.

Hope that answers your question. It is good to have a good grasp of history.

[jno]

people are entitled to ask for guidance, it's what the site is for (or used to be before it became a chatroom). Jake and Peter have offered a good outline but just cutting and pasting them won't give cazie a pass - they just explain where to start.

[Peter Pedant]

There are times when the children need a erm kick start in the sense of telling them the direction.

blimey anyone who cuts and pastes my scripts does so at their peril.

[phaloides]

This lot reads like "1066 and all that" by Sellars and Yeatman. Has anyone read this masterly volume?.

[Mary42]

I think you will find that Cazie is an OU student who is on the same course as me and has to get her assignment in by 16th May 2006! Busted!

Mary :)