enforced, so Catholics had a respite.
Rebellion of Irish Catholics against England and English Protestants
broke out in Ireland in 1641. Parliament didn't trust the King with an
army that he could use against themselves so it passed the following two
measures expanding the Navy and calling out the militia and naming
certain persons to be Lieutenants of each county.
The Admiral shall impress as many seamen as necessary for the defense
of the realm. This includes mariners, sailors, watermen, ship
carpenters, but no one over the age of 50 or masters or masters' mates.
If one hides, he shall be imprisoned for three months without bail.
Justices of the Peace shall impress as many soldiers as the king may
order for war in Ireland. This is despite the right of a citizen to be
free from being compelled to go out of his county to be a soldier
because the danger from Ireland is imminent. Excluded are clergymen,
scholars, students, those rated at a subsidy of land of three pounds or
goods of five pounds, esquires or above, the sons of such or their
widows, those under eighteen or over sixty years of age, mariners,
seamen, and fishermen. The penalty for disobeying is imprisonment,
without bail or misprise, and a fine of ten pounds. If an offender can't
pay the fine, he shall be imprisoned a year more, without bail or
misprise.
The right to call out the county militia had been a prerogative of the
Crown, so the King issued a Proclamation ordering the soldiers to ignore
this order and obey him. So Parliament declared this Proclamation void.
The King accused five leaders of Parliament, including Pym, of trying
to subvert the government of the kingdom, to deprive the King of his
regal power, to alienate the affections of the people toward their King,
forcing the Parliament to their ends by foul aspersions, and inviting
the Scots to invade England. In 1642, the King entered Parliament with
300 soldiers to arrest these five. They had flown, but Parliament was
shocked that the King had threatened the liberties of Parliament with
military force. The citizens of London, in their fear of popery, rose in
arms against the King, who left the city. Both sides raised big armies.
The goal of the Parliamentarians was to capture the King alive and force
him to concessions.
When the Parliamentarians took Oxford in 1648, they purged its faculty
of royalists.
- The Law -
Real wages, which had been falling, reached their low point and the gap
between the poor and others widened. There were depressions from 1629-32
and from 1636 to about 1640, which called for Royal proclamations for
the relief and distress, especially among the poor. The Book of Orders,
for the relief of distress in earlier reigns, was to be reissued. The
assize of beer and bread maintaining quality, prices, weights, and
measures, was to be duly kept. Hoarding of foodstuffs was to be
punished. Fish days and lent were to be observed to maintain the
fishers. Abstaining from suppers on Fridays and on the eves of feasts
was ordered in all taverns and commended to private families. City
corporations were to give up their usual feasts and half the charge
given to the poor. Foreign ships were not to be supplied with food for
long voyages. The revised Book of Orders also covered the regulation of
beggary, the binding of apprentices, and the general relief of the poor.
All magistrates were to enforce the rules and raise special rates from
all parishes, the richer of these to help the poorer.
From 1625 to 1627 these statutes were passed:
No one shall engage in sports or any pastimes outside his own parish or
bearbaiting, bullbaiting, interludes, plays or other unlawful pastimes
inside his parish on Sundays because such has led to quarrels and
bloodshed and nonattendance at church. The fine is 3s.4d. or if the
offender does not have the money or goods to sell to pay, he shall be
set in the public stocks for three hours.
No carrier with any horse or wagon or cart or drover with cattle may
travel on Sunday or else forfeit 20s.
No butcher may kill or sell any victual on Sunday or else forfeit 6s.8d.
Every innkeeper, alehousekeeper, and other victualer permitting a patron
who is not an inhabitant of the area to become drunk shall forfeit 5s.
or be place in the stocks for six hours. Offenders convicted a second
time shall be bound by two sureties to the sum of 200s.
As of 1627, a parent sending a child out of the country to go to a
Catholic school was to forfeit 100 pounds, one half to the informer and
one half to the king.
The Petition of Right herebefore described was passed as a statute in
1627.
- Judicial Procedure -
The Star Chamber decided cases as diverse as a case of subordination of
witnesses, cases of counterfeiters of farthing tokens, and cases of
apothecaries compounding ill medicines. It tried to keep down the prices
of foodstuffs for the benefit of the poor; it repressed extortion and
false accusations, and disbarred an attorney for sharp practices; it
punished defamation, fraud, riots, forgery of wills; it forbade duels. A
special virtue of its position was that it could handle without fear
matters in which men of social or local influence might intimidate or
overawe juries or even country justices. It punished a lord who caused
records to be forged, unlawfully entered lands, and seized tithes. It
disciplined a nobleman for drawing a sword on a lord hunting hare.
In one of its cases, Sir Edward Bullock, a knight wanting to enclose a
common of a thousand acres threatened his neighbor Blackhall when he
would not sell his lands and rights. The knight hired a man to break
down the hedges and open a gate that had been staked up, so that his
neighbor's cattle would stray. He sued his neighbor three times for
trespass, lost his cases, and threatened revenge on all the witnesses
who testified against him. He had the house of one pulled down. The
pregnant wife and a naked child were turned out and had to lie in the
streets because no one dared to take them in, even when a justice so
directed. The witness, his wife, and family took refuge in an unheated
outbuilding in the winter. He and his wife and one child died there. The
knight had another witness cudgeled so that she was black and blue from
the waist up, and could not put on her clothes for a month. The knight
threatened to set fire to the house of another witness, and sent his men
to pull him out of doors and keep him prisoner for some hours. The Star
Chamber imprisoned the knight and his men. The knight was fined 1,000
pounds and the men 50 pounds each. The knight also had to pay one
witness 100 pounds in reparation to the surviving children of the family
whose house had been pulled down.
But the power of the Star Chamber was abused by King Charles I. For
instance, one lord was accused by another of calling him a base lord.
The evidence was paltry. But he was fined 8,000 pounds, one-half going
to the King. A lord who was accused of converting agricultural land to
pasture was fined 4,000 pounds. A person who exported fuller's earth,
contrary to the King's proclamation, was pilloried and fined 2,000
pounds. A man who defaced a stained-glass window in a church was fined
500 pounds and ordered to pay for a plain glass replacement. A man who
became sheriff of a county and had taken the oath which bound him to
remain in the county was elected to Parliament and stood in opposition
to the king on many matters. He was imprisoned for many years until he
made a humble submission and had to pay a heavy fine. A London importer
who was alleged to have said "That the Merchants are in no part of the
world so screwed and wrung as in England; That in Turkey they have more
encouragement" was fined 2,000 pounds for seditious and slanderous words
against his majesty's happy government. A Scottish minister circulated a
book appealing to Parliament to turn out the bishops and to resist its
own dissolution by the King. In it he called the bishops men of blood,
anti-Christian, satanical, ravens, and magpies, preying on the state. He
was against kneeling at the sacrament and denounced the Queen for her
Catholic religion. He blamed the state for the death of citizens of a
certain town by famine. For as he did "scandalize his Majesties Sacred
Person, his Religious, Wise, and just Government, the Person of his
Royal Consort the Queen, the Persons of the Lords and Peers of this
realm, especially the Reverend Bishops", he was fined 10,000 pounds, was
to be unfrocked (which was done by the Court of High Commission), and
was whipped, pilloried, one ear nailed to the pillory and cut off, his
cheek branded, and his nose slit. Then he was imprisoned for life, but
only served ten years, being released by a statute of the Long
Parliament. A Puritan writer Pyrnne wrote a book that included a
condemnation of masks and plays, and all who took part, and all who
looked on as sinful, pernicious, and unlawful. It opined that Nero had
attended plays and deserved to be murdered. Since Charles had attended
plays and the Queen had taken part in a mask, it was inferred that
Pyrnne meant them harm. His indictment alleged that "he hath presumed to
cast aspersions upon the King, the Queen, and the Commonwealth, and
endeavored to infuse an opinion onto the people that it is lawful to lay
violent hands upon Princes that are either actors, favorers, or
spectators of stage plays". The justices saw in the book an attempt to
undermine authority. The Chief Justice called the book a most wicked,
infamous, scandalous, and seditious libel. Pyrnne was sentenced to be
degraded by Oxford and disbarred by Lincoln's Inn, to be fined 5,000
pounds, to be pilloried and to have his ears cut off, and then to be
imprisoned for life. Three men who wrote attacks on the bishops and
ecclesiastical courts, such as alleging that the bishops suppression of
fasts and preaching had brought the pestilence upon the people and that
the bishops had dishonored God and exercised papal jurisdiction in their
own names, were each sentenced to 5,000 fine, the pillory, where their
ears were cut off, and to life imprisonment. One, who had been convicted
for libel before, was branded on both cheeks: "S.L." for Seditious
Libeller. Others printed similar material. In vain the Star Chamber
limited the number of London printers to twenty, and made licensing
stricter. These prisoners were set free by the Long Parliament.
Charles I intimidated justices to obey him in decision-making even more
than James I.
Charles I so abused the power of the Star Chamber court that it was
abolished by the Long Parliament and with it, the involvement of the
King's Council in civil and criminal cases.
The regular church courts punished people for heresy, non- attendance
at church, sexual immorality, working on the Sabbath or a holy day,
non-payment of tithes, and lending money at interest. The special
ecclesiastical court, the Court of High Commission, was composed of
clerics appointed by the king and decided cases of marriage annulment,
alimony, adultery, married couples living separately, cruelty of
husbands to wives, and habitual drunkenness. But it also took on cases
of schismatics and extended its power over them to include staid and
solid Puritans, who uniformly believed that salvation was the only
worthy earthly aim. Acting on information attained through secret
channels or from visitations, it would summon the accused, who was
required to give, under oath, "full, true, and perfect" answers to broad
and undetailed charges made by secret informants. Refusal to take the
oath resulted in commitment for contempt of court. If he denied the
charges and fled, the court could hold the hearing without him. Many
fled out of the country or went into hiding in it. If the accused went
to the hearing, he could not take an attorney with him. Most of the
issues involved clergy refusing to use the litany, to make the sign of
the cross in baptism, to wear the surplice, or to publish the Book of
Sports, and insistence on extempore prayer and preaching. Other issues
were clergy who, from the pulpit, inveighed against ship-money and
unjust taxes, and spoke rudely against the bishops and tyrannical
princes. One case is that of Samuel Ward, the town preacher of a large
town, heard in 1635. He neglected bowing or kneeling on coming to his
seat in church and preached against the Book of Sports. He did not read
the set prayers from the official book, but said prayers he had himself
conceived. To this he replied that a parrot could be taught to repeat
forms and an ape to imitate gestures. But his most serious offenses had
to do with his utterances from the pulpit derogatory to the tenets and
discipline of the church. He was accused of saying that he believed that
congregations still had the right of election of all officers, including
ministers. Also, he allegedly said that in preaching on the Christmas
holidays he told his people "that in the following days they might do
their ordinary business, intending to cross that vulgar superstitious
belief, that whoever works on any of those twelve days shall be lousy".
He allegedly warned his people to beware of a relapse into popery. Ward
was convicted of depraving the liturgy, tending toward schism,
frightening the people, and encouraging the overthrow of all manner of
government. He was removed from his position, deprived of his
ministerial function, suspended and silenced during the King's pleasure.
He was ordered to make submission and recantation both in court and in
his church and to give bond for 200 pounds. When he did not do this, he
was sent to prison and lay there nearly four years, and died a few
months later. In another case, a Mrs. Traske was imprisoned for at least
eleven years for keeping Saturday as her Sabbath. Many people were
excommunicated and books censored for essentially political reasons.
In 1637, the king proclaimed that the common law courts could not
intervene in ecclesiastical courts.
The Court of High Commission was abolished by the Long Parliament.
Justices of the Peace had general and quarter sessions, the latter of
which were held four times a year with all Justices of the Peace
attending. It was primarily a court of appeal from penal sentences. But
it was also an administrative body to determine taxes and make
appointments of officials and grant licenses for businesses.
In 1638, in distributing a deceased person's estate, the Chancery court
upheld a trust designed to hold the property for an heiress so that it
did not become her husband's property.
At the request of Parliament, the King had all justices serve during
their good behavior instead of serving at the King's will, which had
been the practice for ages. This increased the independence of the
judiciary.
The rack was used for the last time in 1640 before the Long Parliament
met. It was used to torture a rioter before hanging.
Men were still pressed to death for failure to plead, pickpockets still
executed for the first offense, and husband murderers still burned.
- - - Chapter 16 - - -
- The Times: 1642-1660 -
For four years, there was civil war between the King, backed generally
by the upper class, the established church, and most of the gentry,
against the Parliamentarians, backed generally by middle class yeomen,
town dwellers, some of the gentry, most of the great corporations, the
City of London, the ports, the seamen, and the Navy. Oxford University
was royalist, and Cambridge University was Puritan in sympathy. Archery
was not used in the war, having become just sport by 1633. Flint-lock
pistols, which relied on flint striking steel to ignite the powder, as
well as swords were used by horsemen in the civil war. Footmen were
musketeers using a match lock with a cord boiled in vinegar as the
match, and dressed in leather doublets and an iron-pot headpiece; or
pikemen with long wooden poles with spearheads of iron or steel and
short swords, and dressed in armor. This was the last time armor was
used. The Parliamentarians wore orange scarves to distinguish themselves
from their enemy. Cromwell, who had a natural aptitude for military
matters, selected for his troops, Puritan zealots with a Puritan code of
behavior which included no drinking or swearing. He selected horsemen
based on ability rather than social class. He was regarded as one of the
leaders of the Independents, who wanted total abolition of the monarchy
and of the aristocracy. When made a leader of the New Model Army,
Cromwell dressed all his foot men in red with only the facings being
regimental colors. The New Model Army had been assembled because there
had been disagreement about policy among the members of Parliament who
held commissions. Almost all members gave up their commissions. For
their continued support, many wives and also prostitutes put on men's
clothing and followed the troops. They nursed the wounded. Those many
wives who stayed at home pleaded and answered in court; petitioned to
the House of Commons, e.g. for release of debtors from prison, high
taxes, lack of work, and arbitrary government; and made other public
appearances. Puritan and royalist newspapers printed the news at least
once weekly. Poet John Milton pled for civil and religious freedom,
freedom of social life, and freedom of the press. He stated: "Give me
the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely, according to
conscience, above all liberties."
The Mayor and citizens of London were given authority in 1642 to
fortify all highways leading to the city and levy a tax on inhabitants
for this purpose. When London was deprived of coal during the war, trees
and flowers again flourished there.
Officers and seamen in navy ships were authorized in 1642 to take
one-third of all prize goods captured, the other two-thirds going to the
state.
Parliament approved certain persons to set forth ships at their own
expense to defend the realm in 1643. They were allowed to keep any
ships, goods, ammunition, or moneys they seized.
Saltpeter men were appointed by Parliament in 1643 and later times to
search and dig for saltpeter in pigeon houses, stables, and outhouses,
but not dwelling, shops, or milkhouses. They had to repair any damage
done to the contentment of the owners.
Complaints were made to Parliament that there were scandalous and
ill-affected fomenters of the civil war and disobeyers of the ordinaries
of Parliament and deserters of their ordinary places of residence. These
complaints were made by members of the University of Cambridge,
students, clergy in surrounding counties, and schoolmasters. So a
committee was established in 1643 to investigate and sequester their
lands and goods, excepting one- fifth of the estate for the wife and
children.
When Charles was captured in 1646, the episcopacy of the bishops was
abolished. When Parliament was about to reinstate Charles as king with
weakened powers and establish a Presbyterian state church, the soldiers,
who were religious Independents and who still had not been fully paid
(the infantry pay was 18 weeks in arrears and the cavalry 43 weeks)
despite plans to disband them, spontaneously took the King by force.
They demanded liberty of conscience to practice their own religion and
their pay. Cromwell sided with the army and then became leader of the
House of Commons. Charles dissembled in his negotiations with the army
generals. He felt freed from his promises as soon as the pressure was
removed. The army could not forgive Charles' duplicity and deceitfulness
and insisted upon his death as the only way to bring peace. Cromwell
gave up hope on negotiations with Charles when he intercepted a letter
by Charles to his Queen decreeing the final doom of the army adherents
in favor of the Scottish Presbyterians. During protracted negotiations
over months between the army and Parliament over a new constitution, a
renewed support for the King, which was inspired by him, necessitated a
second civil war to put down this revolt and subdue its Scot supporters.
Eventually the army took control of Parliament by force, only allowing
the few members who agreed with them on the trial of the King into
Parliamentary meetings. So Charles was tried in 1649, found guilty of
"an unlimited and tyrannical power to rule according to his will, and to
overthrow the rights and liberties of the people ... which by the
fundamental constitutions of this kingdom were reserved on the peoples'
behalf in the right and power of frequent and successive parliaments or
national meetings in council", and maintaining a war against his
subjects, which amounted to treason. To prevent his adherents from
trying to reinstate him, he was condemned to death and beheaded in
January 1649.
To pay for the civil war, an assessment tax on the yearly value of
rents, annuities, and offices was often levied. The main burden of this
tax fell on the gentry rather than the merchants and smaller men of
property, as previous taxes had. An excise tax, a tax on consumption,
was begun on ale and beer and then extended to meat, salt, starch, soap,
and paper. It was gradually extended to many goods. The excise taxes
were paid, as was the customs tax, by manufacturers on goods made in
England and by foreign manufacturers on goods at the ports.
Parishes had to give maintenance to maimed soldiers and provision for
the livelihood to the wives and children of killed soldiers. Masters of
apprentices who became soldiers had to take them back as apprentices
without loss for their absence in defense of the Commonwealth. Masters
who received considerable loss by the absence of their apprentices
received reasonable satisfaction from the public stock.
From 1640-60, Royalists were purged from Oxford and a group of
Baconians moved into the university behind Parliamentary armies. At the
two universities, books were no longer chained to the bookcases. The
universities were freed from taxation.
After the civil wars, Cromwell led the country. He was a military,
political, and religious leader. He had become a Puritan zealot after a
youth of gambling, drinking, debauchery, and rioting. He believed that
military success was a reflection of divine favor and he regarded
himself as one the few elect preordained for salvation. Those in power
in the new Commonwealth tended to explain their regime in terms of
popular consent, and the takeover from Charles I as due to his breaking
of a contract with the people.
Most people dressed in Puritan fashion. A Puritan's favorite readings
were the Old Testament, Epistles of St. Paul, and writings of John
Calvin.
Wealth and prosperity steadily increased in spite of the civil wars.
During Cromwell's tenure, there was a marked revival of economic
prosperity. By the mid-1600s, landlords had been able to shorten their
leases so that a lease of twenty-one years was the predominant form of
landholding.
Patent protection was given in 1642 for seven years to the inventors of
a device for salvaging ships' goods and cannons from the seas. With it
they could convert to their own use one half of the items retrieved, the
other half going to the Navy and Parliament. Patent protection was given
in 1650 to George Manby on his new invention for boiling liquors and
making salt with less coal and wood and iron, lead, and copper for
fourteen years. Patent protection was given in 1651 for fourteen years
to Jeromy Buck for melting iron, lead, tin, copper, brass, and other
metals with coal without burning charcoal.
The Merchant Adventurers were incorporated again in 1643 to have a
monopoly. It was required to admit into membership for 100 pounds anyone
free of London and bred as a merchant, and for 50 pounds any
non-inhabitant of London. The penalty for trading for one who was not
free of the corporation was forfeiture of his goods.
In 1648, the House of Commons abolished the monarchy and in 1649 the
House of Lords. Also in 1649 it declared that England "should
thenceforth be governed as a commonwealth and free state by the supreme
authority of this nation, the representatives of the people in
Parliament." It made a new constitution.