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Charles I and Domestic Affairs, 1625-42
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Charles I and Domestic Affairs, 1625-42
It will be apparent from what has been already said that Charles succeeded to no easy inheritance. He had been left an incompetent and impetuous minister in Buckingham, and unfortunately that minister had more influence in Charles's reign than he had enjoyed even in the later years of King James. At home, there was an empty treasury and a Parliament which was beginning to feel its power; and abroad, things were going badly for the Protestants in the Thirty Years War. Moreover, Charles's wife was to be of no assistance to him. Soon after his accession he married Henrietta Maria, daughter of the French king, a vivacious and attractive person; but, unfortunately, as time went on, she interfered more and more in affairs of state, and had more and more influence over her husband. The queen was quite ignorant of English customs and the English character. She was a Roman Catholic in a strongly Protestant country, and was always striving to obtain concessions for those of her own religion. She actively intrigued, in times of difficulty at home, for assistance from abroad; and she held the most extreme political opinions with regard to the king's authority and the wickedness of those who opposed it.
- Charles and his first three Parliaments, 1625-1629
- Arbitrary Government, 1629-1640, and growing discontent in England and Scotland
- The Short and the Long Parliament, 1640-1642
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Chronology
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