While we were off studying French things, England was beginning to have some issues. In a matter of 100 years, England had 5 different rulers; James I, Charles I, Cromwell, Charles II, James II.
It was a Cromwell sandwich.
After the death of Queen Elizabeth I, James I came into power. Although he was not a bad king, he would never be seen as good in comparison to Elizabeth. James will always be the Kesha to Elizabeth's Beyonce.
James I started England on the path of absolutism. He whole heartedly believed in the divine right of kings, stating that a monarch has a divine right to his authority and is responsible to only God. Using his thinking, a king did not need to listen to anyone. This was a similar method as Louis was using in France. The only difference is that Louis believed in awing his subjects whereas James was not interested in displaying majesty and mystique of monarchy. James I had many issues with the House of Commons over his line of thinking because they did not want to bow down to the him. They were like wild animals that could not be tamed or domesticated.
 |
| how the House of Commons felt |
After James I, Charles I rose to power. Like James, he believed in absolutism. Charles, however, put it into practice. He took action against Parliament and dissolved it. Charles, then taxed the people without consent from anyone. This lead to Parliament and the people believing he was a despot. Civil war began to rage in England over who should rule. The debate was only concluded with the beheading of Charles. This lead to Oliver Cromwell rising to power with the beginning of the interregnum.
No comments:
Post a Comment