1641 - Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England
Oct 23: 50,000 Irish killed in an uprising in Ulster
Charles I and the English Parliament acknowledge the Prebyterian Church in Scotland

1643 - Dec 13: Battle of Alton, A victory for Parliamentarians. Sir Richard Bolle killed in St Lawrence's church
Solemn League and Covenant signed in Scotland

1649 - Jan 6: 'Rump' Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial
   Jan 30: King Charles I executed
   May 19: Commonwealth declared
   Dec 20: Theatres banned by Cromwell
   Christmas banned by Cromwell
   Cromwell's Irish campaign starts
   King Charles II proclaimed King of Scots and England in Scotland

James I, 1603-1625:

Elizabeth was the last of the Tudor family. By birth, James

Stuart, only son of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, and great-grandson of

Margaret, sister of Henry VIII, was the nearest heir to the crown.

He was already King of Scotland under the title of James VI. He now,

by act of Parliament, became James I of England. By his accession the

two countries were united under one sovereign, but each retained its

own Parliament, its own National Church, and its own laws. The new

monarch found himself ruler over three kingdoms, each professing a

different religion. Puritanism prevailed in Scotland, Catholicism in

Ireland, Anglicanism or Episcopacy in England.

On his coins and in his proclamations James styled himself King of

Great Britain, France, and Ireland. But the term "Great Britain" did

not properly come into use until somewhat more than a hundred years

later, when, by an act of Parliament under Anne, Scotland and England

were legally united.

The English Parliament refused to grant free trade to Scotland and

denied to the people of that country, even if born after James I came

to the English throne (or "Post Nati," as they were called), the

rights and privileges possessed by natives of England.

Three chief events demand our attention in this reign. First, the

increased power and determined attitude of the House of Commons.

Secondly, the growth of the Puritan and Independent parties in

religion. Thirdly, the establishment of permanent, self-governing

colonies in Virginia and New England, destined in time to unite with

others and become a new and independent nation,--the American

Republic.

Charles I--1625-1649:

The doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings, which had been so zealously

put forth by James (S419), bore its full and fatal fruit in the career

of his son. Unlike his father, Charles was by nature a gentleman. In

his private and personal relations he was conscientious and

irreproachable; in public matters he was exactly the reverse.

This singular contrast--this double character, as it were--arose from

the fact that, as a man, Charles felt himself bound by truth and

honor, but, as a sovereign, he considered himself superior to such

obligations. In all his dealings with the nation he seems to have

acted on the principle that the people had no rights which kings were

bound to respect.

The whole of Charles I's reign must be regarded as a prolonged

struggle between the King and the nation. Under the Tudors and James

I the royal power had been growing more and more despotic, while at

the same time the progress of the Protestant Reformation and of

Puritanism had encouraged freedom of thought.

Between these opposite forces a collision was inevitable, since

religious liberty always favors political liberty. Had Charles known

how to yield in time, or been sincere in the concessions which he did

make, all might have gone well. His duplicity was his ruin. Though

his death did not absolutely destroy the theory of the Divine Right of

Kings, yet it gave it a blow from which it never recovered.