James I wanted to be known as the king of all of Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Ireland). But as the seventeenth century unfolded, it was not a united kingdom, but a united republic that would emerge after a series of disastrous wars.
In the ideas of the age, the main argument was about liberty and obedience. The young king Charles I declares war on Spain, which is the starting point of his problems because Charles needed cash to fund the war, and he needed Parliament for the cash. Charles and Buckingham had traveled to Spain to woo the Infanta for Charles. But they returned empty-handed. Charles then runs afoul of Parliament. Buckingham is eventually assassinated.
The Banqueting House in Whitehall Palace includes Reubens' frescoes of the Stuarts, including the apotheosis of James. The discolored teeth of Charles' wife Henrietta were airbrushed into glory by Van Dyck. But in reality, was Charles' dreamland of England-Scotland-Ireland yoked together in harmony a possibility or a fantasy?
It all began with taxes, and there continued to be outrage at Charles in 1635, both from intransigent lawyers in Parliament and from the Puritans. The Stormtroopers of the Reformation go on the offensive against the bloodsucking papists, apparent in the rituals that were part of the belief system of Charles and his Catholic wife. In the face of opposition, Charles sought harmony across three nations. But his obsession with union turned into hatred and division.
It all begins in 1637 in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. This is where the revolution begins with shouting and wailing against Charles' imposition of a new prayerbook. At Canterbury, the arch-supporter of Charles, William Laud, becomes the villain. At Edinburgh, a covenant is signed, and the goal is nothing less than the new Israel!
In 1629, Charles had closed down Parliament. After eleven years, in 1640, Charles calls a new Parliament. But after three weeks, he shuts it down again. When he is forced to reopen, John Pym, leader of the Long Parliament and critic of Charles, has an opening. The beheading of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Stafford occurs. Now comes the rising of the Irish Catholics.
In the spring and summer of 1642, the painful decision of three nations is which side to choose. Fathers were torn asunder from sons, brothers from cousins. At Edgehill in Warwickshire on October 23, 1642, the battle ensues, and a terrible civil war is underway: the Royalists vs. the Parliamentarians. In 1643, Pym pulls off a last coup. Under Cromwell, the Anglo-Scots alliance hammers the Royalist army. The war now seemed to be over and Parliament was the winner.
But would Charles now be willing to share power? Unfortunately, he could not bring himself to compromise and relinquish any power. Now, Cromwell decides that Charles has to go. In 1648, a second civil war flares up, and Charles is finally defeated. There is now a new power in the land, and it demanded Jerusalem.
The winners also wanted Charles to feel the force of God's wrath. Cromwell asked the Lord of Hosts for an answer, and the one that he received was that Charles needed to be tried in public and beheaded in the open air. This would be the great turning point in British history.
The trial would kill off one kind of Britain, and it would give birth to another: a republic. In the end, what had Charles learned from the experience? The answer is: nothing. On January 30, 1949, Charles was beheaded. His final words were "a subject and a sovereign are clean different things." He never would budge from his position that he offered the people justice, and he expected obedience in return.
In the ideas of the age, the main argument was about liberty and obedience. The young king Charles I declares war on Spain, which is the starting point of his problems because Charles needed cash to fund the war, and he needed Parliament for the cash. Charles and Buckingham had traveled to Spain to woo the Infanta for Charles. But they returned empty-handed. Charles then runs afoul of Parliament. Buckingham is eventually assassinated.
The Banqueting House in Whitehall Palace includes Reubens' frescoes of the Stuarts, including the apotheosis of James. The discolored teeth of Charles' wife Henrietta were airbrushed into glory by Van Dyck. But in reality, was Charles' dreamland of England-Scotland-Ireland yoked together in harmony a possibility or a fantasy?
It all began with taxes, and there continued to be outrage at Charles in 1635, both from intransigent lawyers in Parliament and from the Puritans. The Stormtroopers of the Reformation go on the offensive against the bloodsucking papists, apparent in the rituals that were part of the belief system of Charles and his Catholic wife. In the face of opposition, Charles sought harmony across three nations. But his obsession with union turned into hatred and division.
It all begins in 1637 in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. This is where the revolution begins with shouting and wailing against Charles' imposition of a new prayerbook. At Canterbury, the arch-supporter of Charles, William Laud, becomes the villain. At Edinburgh, a covenant is signed, and the goal is nothing less than the new Israel!
In 1629, Charles had closed down Parliament. After eleven years, in 1640, Charles calls a new Parliament. But after three weeks, he shuts it down again. When he is forced to reopen, John Pym, leader of the Long Parliament and critic of Charles, has an opening. The beheading of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Stafford occurs. Now comes the rising of the Irish Catholics.
In the spring and summer of 1642, the painful decision of three nations is which side to choose. Fathers were torn asunder from sons, brothers from cousins. At Edgehill in Warwickshire on October 23, 1642, the battle ensues, and a terrible civil war is underway: the Royalists vs. the Parliamentarians. In 1643, Pym pulls off a last coup. Under Cromwell, the Anglo-Scots alliance hammers the Royalist army. The war now seemed to be over and Parliament was the winner.
But would Charles now be willing to share power? Unfortunately, he could not bring himself to compromise and relinquish any power. Now, Cromwell decides that Charles has to go. In 1648, a second civil war flares up, and Charles is finally defeated. There is now a new power in the land, and it demanded Jerusalem.
The winners also wanted Charles to feel the force of God's wrath. Cromwell asked the Lord of Hosts for an answer, and the one that he received was that Charles needed to be tried in public and beheaded in the open air. This would be the great turning point in British history.
The trial would kill off one kind of Britain, and it would give birth to another: a republic. In the end, what had Charles learned from the experience? The answer is: nothing. On January 30, 1949, Charles was beheaded. His final words were "a subject and a sovereign are clean different things." He never would budge from his position that he offered the people justice, and he expected obedience in return.
