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 -
>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, 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.
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.
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.
>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.
Dutchman Stevinus showed that the pressure at the bottom of a
column of liquid is proportional to the height of the column, and
not to its bulk, about 1634. He also studied oblique forces, and
the balancing of such that could bring about "stable equilibrium".
Evangelista Torricelli, an Italian student of Galileo, discovered
in 1643 that any fluid will be supported at a definite height,
according to its relative weight, as compared with air. He
realized that a mercury column, 30 inches in height, in a long
glass tube inverted in a cup of mercury, was being supported by
air pressure exerted on the mercury in the cup. When he observed
that this height changed with the weather, he had invented the
mercury barometer. In his work, he created and used vacuums.