The meeting of the Long Parliament (as it was afterwards called) in November 1640 ended the great days of the English monarchy, and sowed the seeds for the English Civil War. The Commons were determined on reform; they meant to put an end to the king's unconstitutional methods in both Church and State. Charles I himself, though he seldom faced facts, saw that some concessions would be necessary. But a real settlement was not achieved, chiefly because tempers were rising and the atmosphere soon became that of a revolution. Charles was partly to blame. He had no real desire for a lasting understanding with Parliament, and his shifty character aroused general distrust. But he found that the more he gave way to Parliament, the more it demanded. John Pym, a squire of Somerset, was the acknowledged leader of the Commons.
His enemies nicknamed him 'King Pym'. He was 'the first great popular organiser', for he used the press, the petition, and even the platform to support his cause. He now led the attack on the chief instruments of the late personal government. The judges who had upheld Charles's financial exactions in the Courts were arrested and imprisoned, and so was Archbishop Laud, who was beheaded in 1645. But the principal victim was Strafford. He was charged with having tried to 'subvert the fundamental laws and government of England and Ireland, and instead thereof to introduce an in March arbitrary and tyrannical government against law'. 1641 he was brought to Westminster Hall to be tried for high treason. But his accusers were at once faced with a difficult point. Strafford may have tried to 'subvert the laws'; but treason meant treason to the king, and had Strafford been a traitor to Charles? It was difficult to prove that he had, and as the trial proceeded it became clear that the verdict would be Not Guilty. But the Puritan majority in the House was determined that Strafford should die. Parliament therefore passed a special Bill of Attainder, condemning the minister to death without trial.
The Lords passed the Bill of Attainder, and it remained for the king to give or to withhold his consent. Some may think that it was Charles's duty to risk his life to defend Strafford. But the mob raged round Whitehall, howling for blood. Charles feared for the safety of the queen and his children, and he gave way. ' If my own person only were in danger', he told the Council, with tears in his eyes, 'I would gladly venture it to save Lord Strafford's life.' Three days later the earl was led to his execution in May 1641 in the presence of a crowd of 200000 people who had come to witness the end of 'Black Tom Tyrant'. No man ever died more bravely. 'I thank my God', he said, as he prepared to die, 'I am not afraid of death, but do as cheerfully put off my doublet at this time as ever I did when I went to bed.' The executioner offered to cover his eyes with a handkerchief. 'Thou shalt not bind my eyes.' said Strafford, 'for I will see it done.' And so he placed his head upon the block.
His misfortune, wrote Laud, was that 'he served a mild and gracious prince, who knew not how to be, or be made great'. That summerParliament was busy passing a number of Acts intended to make absolute government impossible for the future. One Act declared that the presentParliament could not be dissolved without its own consent; another - the Triennial Act - that in future Parliaments should be Called every three years. The three Courts by which the king and Laud had carried out their religious and financial measures were abolished - the Star Chamber, the Court of High Commission, and the Council of the North. Finally Ship-Money and other arbitrary forms of taxation were declared illegal. These abolitions of the year 1641 were the permanent, constructive work of the Puritan revolution; nor were the institutions then destroyed restored with the monarchy in 1660. Meanwhile another Bill had come up for discussion. A petition was presented to Parliament praying for the ending of episcopacy (that is, the rule of the Church by bishops) 'in all its roots and branches'.
The thorough-going Puritan members considered the petition, and a 'Root-and-Branch' Bill in 1641 was prepared, but it fell through. For now a new factor came into play. Hitherto a large majority, both of Lords and Commons, had been united in their opposition to the king. But this Bill divided parliamentarians for the first time. There were many who began to fear extremes; and a moderate party now sprang up. It was out of this debate on the Root-and- Branch Bill that the germs of the future Roundhead and Cavalier parties were formed. The extremists - the Roundheads - included Pym, Hampden, and Oliver Cromwell. The chief figures on the other side were LordFalkland and Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards the famous Earl of Clarendon, the future Chancellor and historian. Parliament adjourned for six months, but met again at the end of October. It had no sooner assembled than terrible news arrived from Ireland. Now that the stern hand of Strafford was withdrawn, the crushed Irish had risen against their lords. There was a sudden and horrible rebellion thousands of Protestants were massacred in cold blood. When this news was received in London it only served to increase the Puritanfury. Meanwhile the Commons drew up a Grand Remonstrance in November 1641, in which they recited the past acts of the king and his servants to which they objected - there were 201 items - and stated a programme for the future. Some of its clauses prayed the king to reduce the power of the bishops and to remove 'oppressions in religion'. Another clause asked His Majesty to employ ministers 'such as the Parliament may have cause to confide in' - which in later times solved the problem of disputes between king and Parliament.
All this shows that Parliament had considerably advanced its demands. During the months from November 1640 to September 1641 they, had succeeded in placing constitutional checks on the king's power. From November 1641 to August 1642 they were bent on seizing control of both Church and State, until they forced Charles to reply: ' If I granted your demands, I should be no more than the merephantom of a king.' The Grand Remonstrance was passed by a majority of only eleven - a fact which illustrates the growth of the anti-Puritan party.
The situation, at the end of 1641, was dangerous in the extreme. On the one hand the queen and the swaggering ' Cavaliers' of the Court were urging Charles to strike at King Pym and his fellow leaders before it was too late. On the other hand, London was a stronghold of Puritanism, and it was the London merchants who had felt the weight of Charles's taxation most heavily. The London ' prentices' and the king's swordsmen were itching to get at one another's throats. Never the less Pym proceeded steadily on his way. He was determined to deprive the king of the command of the militia; for it was obvious that if the Irish rebellion was to be crushed a militia must be called out. And once Charles had command of the national armed forces, would he not use them to crush Parliament and destroy English liberty for ever? Pym had no doubt that he would. A Militia Bill was therefore brought in, and - contrary to all English law and custom - it took the command of the military forces out of the king's hands. To this Charles of course refused his consent.
Early in January 1642 he took the queen's advice, and instructed the Attorney- General to impeach Pym, Hampden, and three other leading members of the Commons. The members were alarmed, but Charles promised them 'on the word of a king' that no violence should be done them. The next day - the 4th of January 1642 - he went down to the House with 400 swordsmen. He left his guard at the door, and walked in accompanied only by Prince Rupert, his German nephew. But the five members, warned of his intention, had fled by river. There was a dead silence as the king looked round. He asked the Speaker, Lenthall, where the missing members were. 'I have neither eyes to see', Lenthall replied, 'nor tongue to speak in this place, but as this House shall direct me.' There was another pause as Charles scanned the benches. 'I see', he said at last, 'all the birds are flown. I do expect you will send them to me as soon as they shall return hither.' Then, amid cries of 'Privilege, privilege', he walked out. By this revolutionary act the king had outlawed himself. All hope of reconciliation being now past, he determined to try the issue of war. He left his capital on the 10th of January, sent the queen out of the country, and took up his quarters at York. Parliament claimed the control of the militia and secured the command of the fleet. During the spring and summer of 1642 both sides were busy raising troops. The great strength of the Puritan cause was London. The city contained a tenth of the population of England - 500000 out of five million. The number of troops which London provided was more than sufficient to quell any Royalist opposition in the surrounding country. The London 'train-bands' therefore protected the Puritan leaders during the eight months that the king was gathering his army in the north - January to August 1642. And so the English Civil War started. Research Long Parliament
Marquis or marques is the second order in the peerage of England, ranking below a duke and above an earl. The title was originally applied to certain officers appointed to defend the marches or borders of Wales. The first marques proper was Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who was created Marques of Dublin by Richard II in 1386. In 1397 Richard made John Beaufort, earl of Somerset, Marques of Dorset. The oldest existing marquisate is that of Winchester, dating from Edward VI in 1551. The eldest son of a marquis is generally by courtesy an earl, and the younger sons and the daughters are styled lords and ladies. His wife is a marchioness. Marquis is often the courtesy title of the eldest son of a duke during his father's lifetime. Research Marquis
Tom Putt is a very old mid-season species of apple. The fruit is used for cooking and cider making. Very popular in the Midlands and the West Country, where cider was traditionally made. The species was raised in the late eighteenth century by the Reverend Tom Putt, Rector of Trent in Somerset, who was a keen fruit grower. The fruit is crisp and quite sharp when raw, but sweeter when cooked. Research Tom Putt
Alfred or Aelfred the Great was a King of England. He was born in 849 at Wantage, Berkshire and died in 901. He was one of the most illustrious rulers on record. His father was Ethelwolf, son of Egbert, king of the West Saxons. He succeeded his brother Ethelred in 872, at a time when the Danes, or Nosemen, had extended their conquests widely over the country, and they had completely overrun the kingdom of the West Saxons by 878. Alfred was obliged to flee in disguise, and stayed for some time with one of his own neat-herds.
At length he gathered a small force, and having fortified himself on the Isle of Athelney, formed by the confluence of the rivers Parret and Tone, amid the marshes of Somerset, he was able to make frequent sallies against the enemy. It was during his abode here that he went, if the story is true, disguised as a harper into the camp of King Guthrum (or Guthorm), and, having ascertained that the Danes felt themselves secure, hastened back to his troops, led them against the enemy, and gained such a decided victory that fourteen days afterwards the Danes begged for peace. This battle took place in May, 878, near Edington, in Wiltshire. Alfred allowed the Danes who were already in the country to remain, on condition that they gave hostages, took a solemn oath to quit Wessex, and embraced Christianity. Their king, Guthrum, was baptized, with thirty of his followers, and ever afterward remained faithful to Alfred. They received that portion of the east of England now occupied by the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge, as a place of residence.
The few years of tranquillity (886-893) which followed were employed by Alfred in rebuilding the towns that had suffered most during the war, particularly London; in training his people in arms and no less in agriculture; in improving the navy; in systematizing the laws and internal administration; and in literary labours and the advancement of learning. He caused many manuscripts to be translated from Latin, and himself translated several works into Anglo-Saxon, such as the Psalms, AEsop's Fables, Boethius on the Consolation of Philosophy, the History of Orosius, Bede's Ecclesiastical History, etc. He also drew up several original works in Anglo-Saxon. These peaceful labours were interrupted, about 894, by an invasion of the Norsemen, who, after a struggle of three years, were finally driven out.
Alfred married, in 868, Alswith or Ealhswith, the daughter of a Mercian nobleman, and left two sons: Edward, who succeeded him, and Ethelwerd, who died in 922. Alfred presents us with one of the most perfect examples of the able and patriotic monarch united with the virtuous man. Research Alfred
Lady Arabella Stuart was an English princess. She was born in 1575 and died in 1615. She was the daughter of Charles Stuart, earl of Lennox, who was himself the grandson of Margaret, sister of Henry VIII. When Elizabeth I died, Arabella Stuart was next in line to the throne after James. Kept a prisoner at Hardwick, she was made the figurehead of a conspiracy in 1603. In 1610 she secretly married William Seymour, afterwards the duke of Somerset, and together with her husband was arrested by James I. Both she and her husband escaped, but Arabella Stuart was recaptured near Calais and in 1611 was imprisoned in the Tower of London where she died insane in 1615. Research Arabella Stuart
Sir Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland was an English politician, educational reformer and former clergyman. He was born in 1847 at Holnicote, Somerset and died in 1926. Educated at Rugby and Oxford he became a Liberal member of parliament for Rotherham in 1885, serving until 1899. Research Arthur Acland
In 1547 Edward Seymour was made Duke Of Somerset but on his attainder in 1552, the title passed into abeyance, only to be restored in the person of his grandson, William Seymour, the husband of Lady Arabella Stuart, in 1660. He was succeeded by his grandson, William on whose death without heirs in 1671 it fell to John Seymour, the 2nd duke's youngest son. He too died without issue, and the dukedom devolved upon his cousin Francis who became the 5th duke in 1675. His brother, Charles, an important figure at the court of Anne and George I, became the 6th duke in 1678. Research Duke Of Somerset
Edgar the Peaceful) was King of England from 959 to 975. He was born in 944 and died in 975. Edgar was a son of Edmund I, and was elected king by the northern insurgents against his brother Eadwig and on his brother's death in 959 became also king of the West Saxons.
Edgar was a firm and capable ruler, whose power was acknowledged by other rulers in Britain, as well as Welsh and Scottish kings. Edgar's late coronation in 973 at Bath was the first to be recorded in some detail; his queen Aelfthryth was the first consort to be crowned queen of England. Edgar was the patron of a great monastic revival which owed much to his association with Archbishop Dunstan. New bishoprics were created, Benedictine monasteries were reformed and old monastic sites were re-endowed with royal grants, some of which were of land recovered from the Vikings. In the 970s and in the absence of Viking attacks, Edgar - a stern judge - issued laws which for the first time dealt with Northumbria (parts of which were in the Danelaw) as well as Wessex and Mercia. Edgar's coinage was uniform throughout the kingdom. A more united kingdom based on royal justice and order was emerging; the Monastic Agreement passed around 970 praised Edgar as 'the glorious, by the grace of Christ illustrious king of the English and of the other peoples dwelling within the bounds of the island of Britain'. After his death on 8 July 975, Edgar was buried at GlastonburyAbbey, Somerset. Research Edgar The Peaceful
Edmund Beaufort (2nd duke of Somerset) was an English statesman and soldier. A son of John Beaufort, earl of Somerset, and the younger brother of the duke of Somerset, Edmund Beaufort won military successes in France and succeeded his brother as earl of Somerset in 1444, and as a Beaufort and a favourite of the king was made lieutenant of France in 1447, with the disastrous result that Henry VI lost the whole of Normandy in 1450. Edmund Beaufort returned to England and was appointed high constable in 1452. Popular discontent spread against the king and his supporters and when the Duke of York became protector during the king's temporary incapacity, Edmund Beaufort was sent to the Tower of London. After his release in 1455 the duke of York raised an army against Edmund Beaufort and fought the first battle of the Wars of the Roses at St Albans on May the 23rd 1455, at which Edmund Beaufort was killed. Research Edmund Beaufort
Edward Seymour (duke of Somerset) was an English statesman. He was born in 1506 and died in 1552. A son of Sir John Seymour, his early years were passed at court where he was attendant upon Henry VIII and Wolsey. In 1536 he was made a viscount, and in 1537 earl of Hertford, his sister Jane, having just been married to the king. In charge of the forces sent to Scotland in 1544, he took Edinburgh, and he gained further military experience on the borders and in France. In 1547, on the accession of Edward VI, Edward Seymour was a member of the council of regency. Almost at once he was chosen protector and made duke of Somerset, and for two years he governed England. He gained the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547 and carried through a moderate reformation of the Church, and made an attempt to stop the enclosure of common lands. His policy and position, however, created enemies and foreign affairs started to go badly for England. This resulted in his fall secured by his rival the Duke of Northumberland who managed to have Edward Seymour tried and subsequently executed for treason in 1552. Research Edward Seymour
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
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