Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Buckingham's England in crisis
- 3 The death of a Parliament
- 4 The aftermath
- 5 Government and justice
- 6 The king, his court and its enemies
- 7 Foreign policy
- 8 Decision
- 9 The anatomy of a political transition
- Bibliography
- Index
- Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Buckingham's England in crisis
- 3 The death of a Parliament
- 4 The aftermath
- 5 Government and justice
- 6 The king, his court and its enemies
- 7 Foreign policy
- 8 Decision
- 9 The anatomy of a political transition
- Bibliography
- Index
- Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History
Summary
Sir Thomas Barrington, writing to his mother, captured the threatening atmosphere overhanging the end of Charles's third Parliament. No man knew what to do, he wrote, ‘the distraction was so sudden and so great …’ Barrington hinted at the possibility of bloodshed which he seems to have feared as the likely outcome of the events of 2 March. He concluded: ‘he whose heart bleeds not at the threat of these times is too stupid. I pray God send us better grounds of comfort, and with all to be armed for the worst that can befall us … ’ The imprisonment of those who had staged the demonstration in the House of Commons was part of Charles's response to what was, from a royal point of view, an extremely threatening situation. Contarini wrote on 6 March:
Parliament is dissolved in anger, and without deciding anything… The present times were not suited to disputes of this sort … The courtiers are very disconsolate, foreseeing that they will remain a long time in need, without money, as they have been for many months. The kingdom is furious against the Treasurer, and bears the king very little love … It is bad news for Italy, and the king of Denmark also will be compelled to do what he does not wish … What matters is that Parliament has retained the full possession of its privileges without yielding a jot, for on the last two occasions the king has always yielded something. […]
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Charles I and the Road to Personal Rule , pp. 99 - 117Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989