Wednesday 17 October 2012

THE STUART DYNASTY AND THE RESTORATION OF THE MONARCHY


The Stuart dynasty reigned in England and Scotland from 1603 to 1714, a period which saw a flourishing Court culture, but also  uproar  and instability,  plague, fire and war.
It was an age of intense religious debate and radical politics. Both contributed to a bloody Civil War in the mid-17th century between the Crown and Parliament, resulting in a parliamentary victory for Oliver Cromwell and the dramatic execution of King Charles I.
There was a short-term republic, the first time that the country had experienced such an event.
The Restoration of the Crown was soon followed by another "Glorious" Revolution. William and Mary of Orange ascended the throne as joint monarchs and defenders of Protestantism, followed by Queen Anne, the second of James II's daughters.


1603
As Queen Elizabeth I of England’s nearest relative, James I, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, succeeded to the throne of England at her death.
He became the first Stuart king  and he combined the thrones of England and Scotland  for the first time.
He had problems with Parliament throughout his reign because he believed in the divine  right of kings to rule and in the subjection of Parliament to the King’s will; he also insisted on strict conformity to the Anglican Church which  excluded both Catholics and Puritans from government.

1621
A group of Puritans (a branch of extreme Protestants within the Anglican Church; they obeyed strict moral rules, believed spiritual life should become the focal point of all human existence, wanted to purify their Church from any traces of Catholicism), the Pilgrim Fathers,  sailed to  America on the Mayflower and founded New Plymouth in Massachusetts - the New World provided a convenient ground for unwanted religious and political agitators  and also a valuable market for English goods.

1625
When Charles I  became king of England, he engaged in a struggle for power with Parliament, attempting to obtain royal revenue, while Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which he believed was divinely ordained.

1629-1640
When Parliament refused to give him money, Charles I responded by dissolving Parliament and reigned as an absolute sovereign  causing great hostility.

1642
The  conflict between the King and Parliament  led  to the Civil War.  There were two factions:  the Royalists or Cavaliers, who supported the King, and the Roundheads, the parliamentary faction  led by Oliver Cromwell, who were supported by the landed gentry, the mercantile classes and Puritans.

1647
The King was made prisoner and Cromwell took control of London and  arrested more than 100 Members of Parliament loyal to the King.

1649
Charles I was executed, monarchy was abolished and Cromwell established a republic  known as  the “Commonwealth”.  However it was little more than a dictatorship, and Cromwell  made himself  Lord Protector, a position he held until his death in 1658.

1660
After a period of political uncertainty, the son of the beheaded Charles I was invited to return from his exile in France and became Charles II.
The restoration of monarchy was greeted with a sigh of relief by most people,  who had felt oppressed in their everyday life  by the strict rules of the Puritan Commonwealth.

1665
London was struck by an outbreak of bubonic plague, during which more than 100,000 people died.

1666
The so-called “Great Fire of London” destroyed  most of the city in four days.

1673
To reassert the predominance of the Church of England, the Test Act was passed,  which excluded from public offices those who refused to  receive the communion according to the rites of the Church of England  -  the Test Act, required all persons holding public office to receive the Sacrament according to the Anglican rite and expressly to deny the Roman doctrine of Transubstantiation.

1685
James II,  Charles II’s brother, came to the throne.  He had open Catholic sympathies  and wanted to impose  Catholic religion on  a country which was largely  Protestant.  
Thus Parliament made secret arrangements to  depose him.

1688
James II was forced to abdicate  leading to the event  which became known as the Glorious Revolution because it was  successful with minimal bloodshed. Parliament offered the throne  to William of Orange, who reigned as William III,  and his wife Mary, who were established as joint monarchs.
Their  reign marked the beginning of the transition from the personal rule of the Stuarts to the more Parliament-centred rule of the House of Hanover.

1689
The Bill of Rights  established that the Crown could not rule the country without Parliament; it weakened the power of the monarch  and Britain became a constitutional monarchy.

1689
The Toleration Act allowed more religious  freedom.

1701
The Act of Settlement prohibited Catholics from inheriting the British throne.

      1702
Queen Anne, the Protestant daughter of James II,  came to the throne.
Despite seventeen pregnancies, Anne died without surviving children and she was the last monarch of the  Stuarts. 
Anne favoured moderate Tory politicians, who were more likely to share her Anglican religious views than their opponents, the Whigs.
Since the time of the Glorious Revolution there had been a development of the two great parties which would  dominate English political life  for the next two hundred  years: the Whigs represented the interests of the middle  classes; the Tories represented the old aristocracy, they were loyal supporters of the Crown and stricter in religious  matters.

     1707
With the Act of Union England, Wales and Scotland joined to form the united Kingdom of Great Britain.

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