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BRITISH MONARCHY AND ITS INFLUENCE UPON GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS

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BRITISH MONARCHY AND ITS INFLUENCE UPON GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS

Charles I's son, Charles, to become King.

OLIVER CROMWELL (1649-1658)

Oliver Cromwell, born in Huntingdon in 1599, was a strict Puritan with a

Cambridge education when he went to London to represent his family in

Parliament. Clothed conservatively, he possessed a Puritan fervor and a

commanding voice, he quickly made a name for himself by serving in both the

Short Parliament (April 1640) and the Long Parliament (August 1640 through

April 1660). Charles I, pushing his finances to bankruptcy and trying to

force a new prayer book on Scotland, was badly beaten by the Scots, who

demanded Ј850 per day from the English until the two sides reached

agreement. Charles had no choice but to summon Parliament.

The Long Parliament, taking an aggressive stance, steadfastly refused to

authorize any funding until Charles was brought to heel. The Triennial Act

of 1641 assured the summoning of Parliament at least every three years, a

formidable challenge to royal prerogative. The Tudor institutions of fiscal

feudalism (manipulating antiquated feudal fealty laws to extract money),

the Court of the Star Chamber and the Court of High Commission were

declared illegal by Act of Parliament later in 1641. A new era of

leadership from the House of Commons (backed by middle class merchants,

tradesmen and Puritans) had commenced. Parliament resented the insincerity

with which Charles settled with both them and the Scots, and despised his

links with Catholicism.

1642 was a banner year for Parliament. They stripped Charles of the last

vestiges of prerogative by abolishing episcopacy, placed the army and navy

directly under parliamentary supervision and declared this bill become law

even if the king refused his signature. Charles entered the House of

Commons (the first king to do so), intent on arresting John Pym, the leader

of Parliament and four others, but the five conspirators had already fled,

making the king appear inept. Charles traveled north to recruit an army and

raised his standard against the forces of Parliaments (Roundheads) at

Nottingham on August 22, 1642. England was again embroiled in civil war.

Cromwell added sixty horses to the Roundhead cause when war broke out. In

the 1642 Battle at Edge Hill, the Roundheads were defeated by the superior

Royalist (Cavalier) cavalry, prompting Cromwell to build a trained cavalry.

Cromwell proved most capable as a military leader. By the Battle of Marston

Moor in 1644, Cromwell's New Model Army had routed Cavalier forces and

Cromwell earned the nickname "Ironsides" in the process. Fighting lasted

until July 1645 at the final Cavalier defeat at Naseby. Within a year,

Charles surrendered to the Scots, who turned him over to Parliament. By

1646, England was ruled solely by Parliament, although the king was not

executed until 1649.

English society splintered into many factions: Levellers (intent on

eradicating economic castes), Puritans, Episcopalians, remnants of the

Cavaliers and other religious and political radicals argued over the fate

of the realm. The sole source of authority rest with the army, who moved

quickly to end the debates. In November 1648, the Long Parliament was

reduced to a "Rump" Parliament by the forced removal of 110 members of

Parliament by Cromwell's army, with another 160 members refusing to take

their seats in opposition to the action. The remainder, barely enough for a

quorum, embarked on an expedition of constitutional change. The Rump

dismantled the machinery of government, most of that, remained loyal to the

king, abolishing not only the monarchy, but also the Privy Council, Courts

of Exchequer and Admiralty and even the House of Lords. England was ruled

by an executive Council of State and the Rump Parliament, with various

subcommittees dealing with day-to-day affairs. Of great importance was the

administration in the shires and parishes: the machinery administering such

governments was left intact; ingrained habits of ruling and obeying

harkened back to monarchy.

With the death of the ancient constitution and Parliament in control,

attention was turned to crushing rebellions in the realm, as well as in

Ireland and Scotland. Cromwell forced submission from the nobility, muzzled

the press and defeated Leveller rebels in Burford. Annihilating the more

radical elements of revolution resulted in political conservatism, which

eventually led to the restoration of the monarchy. Cromwell's army

slaughtered over forty percent of the indigenous Irishmen, who clung

unyieldingly to Catholicism and loyalist sentiments; the remaining Irishmen

were forcibly transported to County Connaught with the Act of Settlement in

1653. Scottish Presbyterians fought for a Stuart restoration, in the person

of Charles II, but were handily defeated, ending the last remnants of civil

war. The army then turned its attention to internal matters.

The Rump devolved into a petty, self-perpetuating and unbending

oligarchy, which lost credibility in the eyes of the army. Cromwell ended

the Rump Parliament with great indignity on April 21, 1653, ordering the

house cleared at the point of a sword. The army called for a new Parliament

of Puritan saints, who proved as inept as the Rump. By 1655, Cromwell

dissolved his new Parliament, choosing to rule alone (much like Charles I

had done in 1629). The cost of keeping a standard army of 35,000 proved

financially incompatible with Cromwell's monetarily strapped government.

Two wars with the Dutch concerning trade abroad added to Cromwell's

financial burdens.

The military's solution was to form yet another version of Parliament. A

House of Peers was created, packed with Cromwell's supporters and with true

veto power, but the Commons proved most antagonistic towards Cromwell. The

monarchy was restored in all but name; Cromwell went from the title of Lord

General of the Army to that of Lord Protector of the Realm (the title of

king was suggested, but wisely rejected by Cromwell when a furor arose in

the military ranks). The Lord Protector died on September 3, 1658, naming

his son Richard as successor. With Cromwell's death, the Commonwealth

floundered and the monarchy was restored only two years later.

The failure of Cromwell and the Commonwealth was founded upon Cromwell

being caught between opposing forces. His attempts to placate the army, the

nobility, Puritans and Parliament resulted in the alienation of each group.

Leaving the political machinery of the parishes and shires untouched under

the new constitution was the height of inconsistency; Cromwell, the army

and Parliament were unable to make a clear separation from the ancient

constitution and traditional customs of loyalty and obedience to monarchy.

Lacey Baldwin Smith cast an astute judgment concerning the aims of the

Commonwealth: "When Commons was purged out of existence by a military force

of its own creation, the country learned a profound, if bitter, Lesson:

Parliament could no more exist without the crown than the crown without

Parliament. The ancient constitution had never been King and Parliament but

King in Parliament; when one element of that mystical union was destroyed,

the other ultimately perished."

Oliver Cromwell: Lord Protector of England (1599-1658)

There is definitely an association between John Knox and Oliver Cromwell.

Knox, in his book The Reformation of Scotland, outlined the whole process

without which the British model of government under Oliver Cromwell never

would not have been possible. Yet Knox was more consistently covenantal in

his thinking. He recognized that civil government is based on a covenant

between the magistrate (or the representative or king) and the populace.

His view was that when the magistrate defects from the covenant, it is the

duty of the people to overthrow him.

Cromwell was not a learned scholar, as was Knox, nevertheless God

elevated him to a greater leadership role. Oliver Cromwell was born into a

common family of English country Puritans having none of the advantages of

upbringing that would prepare him to be leader of a nation. Yet he had a

God-given ability to earn the loyalty and respect of men of genius who

served him throughout his lifetime. John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's

Progress served under his command in the English Civil War, and John

Milton, who penned Paradise Lost, served as his personal secretary.

Cromwell's early years were ordinary, but after a conversion experience

at age 27, he was seized by a sense of divine destiny. He became suddenly

zealous for God. He was a country squire, a bronze-faced, callous-handed

man of property. He worked on his farm, prayed and fasted often and

occasionally exhorted the local congregation during church meetings. A

quiet, simple, serious-minded man, he spoke little. But when he broke his

silence, it was with great authority as he commanded obedience without

question or dispute. As a justice of the peace, he attracted attention to

himself by collaring loafers at a tavern and forcing them to join in

singing a hymn. This exploit together with quieting a disturbance among

some student factions at the neighboring town of Cambridge earned him the

respect of the Puritan locals and they sent him to Parliament as their

representative. There he attracted attention with his blunt, forcible

speech as a member of the Independent Party which was made up of Puritans.

The English people were bent upon the establishment of a democratic

parliamentary system of civil government and the elimination of the "Divine

Right of Kings." King Charles I, the tyrant who had long persecuted the

English Puritans by having their ears cut off and their noses slit for

defying his attempts to force episcopacy on their churches, finally clashed

with Parliament over a long ordeal with new and revolutionary ideas. The

Puritans, or "Roundheads" as they were called, finally led a civil war

against the King and his Cavaliers.

When he discerned the weaknesses of the Roundhead army, Cromwell made

himself captain of the cavalry. Cromwell had never been trained in war, but

from the very beginning he showed consummate genius as a general. Cromwell

understood that successful revolutions were always fought by farmers so he

gathered a thousand hand-picked Puritans - farmers and herdsmen - who were

used to the open fields. His regiment was nicknamed "Ironsides" and was

never beaten once, although they fought greatly outnumbered - at times

three to one.

It was an army the likes of which hadn't been seen since ancient Israel.

They would recite the Westminster Confession and march into battle singing

the Psalms of David striking terror into the heart of the enemy. Cromwell's

tactic was to strike with the cavalry through the advancing army at the

center, go straight through the lines and then circle to either the left or

the right milling the mass into a mob, creating confusion and utterly

destroying them. Cromwell amassed a body of troops and soon became

commander-in-chief. His discipline created the only body of regular troops

on either side who preached, prayed, paid fines for profanity and

drunkenness, and charged the enemy singing hymns - the strangest

abnormality in an age when every vice imaginable characterized soldiers and

mercenaries.

In the meantime, Charles I invited an Irish Catholic army to his aid, an

action for which he was tried for high treason and beheaded shortly after

the war. After executing the national sovereign, the Parliament assumed

power. The success of the new democracy in England was short-lived.

Cromwell found that a democratic parliamentary system run by squires and

lords oppressed the common people and was almost as corrupt as the

rulership of the deposed evil king. As Commander-in-Chief of the army, he

was able to seize rulership and served a term as "Lord Protector."

During the fifteen years in which Cromwell ruled, he drove pirates from

the Mediterranean Sea, set English captives free, and subdued any threat

from France, Spain and Italy. Cromwell made Great Britain a respected and

feared power the world over. Cromwell maintained a large degree of

tolerance for rival denominations. He stood for a national church without

bishops. The ministers might be Presbyterian, Independent or Baptist.

Dissenters were allowed to meet in gathered churches and even Roman

Catholics and Quakers were tolerated. He worked for reform of morals and

the improvement of education. He strove constantly to make England a

genuinely Christian nation and she enjoyed a brief "Golden Age" in her

history.

When Charles I was beheaded, the understanding was that he had broken

covenant with the people. The view of Cromwell and the Puritans was that

when the magistrate breaks covenant, then he may legitimately be deposed.

The Puritan understanding of the covenantal nature of government was the

foundation for American colonial government. This was true of Massachusetts

and Connecticut and to a lesser extent in the Southern colonies. When the

Mayflower Compact was written, the Pilgrims had a covenantal idea of the

nature of civil government. This was a foundation for later colonies

established throughout the 1600s. These covenants were influenced by what

Knox had done in Scotland and what the Puritans had done in England.

RICHARD CROMWELL (1658-1659)

The eldest surviving son of Oliver Cromwell, Richard was Lord Protector

of England from September 1658 to May 1659, but failed in his efforts to

lead the Commonwealth.

Richard served in the Parliaments of 1654 and 1656 and some government

posts, but showed little of his father's ability. Constitutional changes in

1657 allowed Cromwell to choose his successor. He began to prepare Richard,

appointing him to the council of state and the House of Lords.

He was proclaimed Lord Protector immediately after his father's death, on

3rd September 1658. Unfortunately, the Commonwealth had been held together

by his father and Richard was no Oliver. It was an unstable mixture of

zealous reform and a yearning for stability, Parliamentary authority and

military power.

Richard soon faced serious problems. The army were disillusioned with a

government that had grown increasingly ceremonious. They grew more restless

when Richard appointed himself commander in chief. A new Parliament was

elected in 1659 but a vacuum of power prompted the army council to seize

power. In April 1659 it forced Richard to dissolve Parliament.

The officers now recalled the Rump Parliament, dissolved by Oliver

Cromwell in 1653. It dismissed Richard as Lord Protector; he officially

abdicated in May. Yet the Rump was incapable of governing without financial

and military support and the army itself remained bitterly divided. George

Monck, one of the army's most capable officers, marched south from Scotland

to protect Parliament but, on arriving in London, realised that only the

restoration of Charles II could put an end to the political chaos that now

gripped the state.

Richard, having amassed large debts during his time in office, left for

Paris in 1660 to escape his creditors, living under the name of John

Clarke. After living in Geneva, he returned to England in around 1680,

where he lived quietly until his death.

CHARLES II (1660-85)

Although those who had signed Charles I's death warrant were punished

(nine regicides were put to death, and Cromwell's body was exhumed from

Westminster Abbey and buried in a common pit), Charles pursued a policy of

political tolerance and power-sharing. In April 1660, fresh elections had

been held and a Convention met with the House of Lords. Parliament invited

Charles to return, and he arrived at Dover on 25 May.

Despite the bitterness left from the Civil Wars and Charles I's

execution, there were few detailed negotiations over the conditions of

Charles II's restoration to the throne. Under the Declaration of Breda of

May 1660, Charles had promised pardons, arrears of Army pay, confirmation

of land purchases during the Interregnum and 'liberty of tender

consciences' in religious matters, but several issues remained unresolved.

However, the Militia Act of 1661 vested control of the armed forces in the

Crown, and Parliament agreed to an annual revenue of Ј1,200,000 (a

persistent deficit of Ј400,000-500,000 remained, leading to difficulties

for Charles in his foreign policy). The bishops were restored to their

seats in the House of Lords, and the Triennial Act of 1641 was repealed -

there was no mechanism for enforcing the King's obligation to call

Parliament at least once every three years. Under the 1660 Act of Indemnity

and Oblivion, only the lands of the Crown and the Church were automatically

resumed; the lands of Royalists and other dissenters which had been

confiscated and/or sold on were left for private negotiation or litigation.

The early years of Charles's reign saw an appalling plague which hit the

country in 1665 with 70,000 dying in London alone, and the Great Fire of

London in 1666 which destroyed St Paul's amongst other buildings. Another

misfortune included the second Dutch war of 1665 (born of English and Dutch

commercial and colonial rivalry). Although the Dutch settlement of New

Amsterdam was overrun and renamed New York before the war started, by 1666

France and Denmark had allied with the Dutch. The war was dogged by poor

administration culminating in a Dutch attack on the Thames in 1667; a peace

was negotiated later in the year.

In 1667, Charles dismissed his Lord Chancellor, Clarendon - an adviser

from Charles's days of exile (Clarendon's daughter Anne was the first wife

of Charles's brother James and was mother of Queens Mary and Anne). As a

scapegoat for the difficult religious settlement and the Dutch war,

Clarendon had failed to build a 'Court interest' in the Commons. He was

succeeded by a series of ministerial combinations, the first of which was

that of Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington and Lauderdale (whose

initials formed the nickname Cabal). Such combinations (except for Danby's

dominance of Parliament from 1673 to 1679) were largely kept in balance by

Charles for the rest of his reign.

Charles's foreign policy was a wavering balance of alliances with France

and the Dutch in turn. In 1670, Charles signed the secret treaty of Dover

under which Charles would declare himself a Catholic and England would side

with France against the Dutch - in return Charles would receive subsidies

from the King of France (thus enabling Charles some limited room for

manoeuvre with Parliament, but leaving the possibility of public disclosure

of the treaty by Louis). Practical considerations prevented such a public

conversion, but Charles issued a Declaration of Indulgence, using his

prerogative powers to suspend the penal laws against Catholics and

Nonconformists. In the face of an Anglican Parliament's opposition, Charles

was eventually forced to withdraw the Declaration in 1673.

In 1677 Charles married his niece Mary to William of Orange partly to

restore the balance after his brother's second marriage to the Catholic

Mary of Modena and to re-establish his own Protestant credentials. This

assumed a greater importance as it became clear that Charles's marriage to

Catherine of Braganza would produce no legitimate heirs (although Charles

had a number of mistresses and illegitimate children), and his Roman

Catholic brother James's position as heir apparent raised the prospect of a

Catholic king.

Throughout Charles's reign, religious toleration dominated the political

scene. The 1662 Act of Uniformity had imposed the use of the Book of Common

Prayer, and insisted that clergy subscribe to Anglican doctrine (some 1,000

clergy lost their livings). Anti-Catholicism was widespread; the Test Act

of 1673 excluded Roman Catholics from both Houses of Parliament.

Parliament's reaction to the Popish Plot of 1678 (an allegation by Titus

Oates that Jesuit priests were conspiring to murder the King, and involving

the Queen and the Lord Treasurer, Danby) was to impeach Danby and present a

Bill to exclude James (Charles's younger brother and a Roman Catholic

convert) from the succession. In 1680/81 Charles dissolved three

Parliaments which had all tried to introduce Exclusion Bills on the basis

that 'we are not like to have a good end'.

Charles sponsored the founding of the Royal Society in 1660 (still in

existence today) to promote scientific research. Charles also encouraged a

rebuilding programme, particularly in the last years of his reign, which

included extensive rebuilding at Windsor Castle, a huge but uncompleted new

palace at Winchester and the Greenwich Observatory. Charles was a patron of

Christopher Wren in the design and rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral,

Chelsea Hospital (a refuge for old war veterans) and other London

buildings.

Charles died in 1685, becoming a Roman Catholic on his deathbed.

JAMES II (1685-88)

Born in 1633 and named after his grandfather James I, James II grew up in

exile after the Civil War (he served in the armies of Louis XIV) and, after

his brother's restoration, commanded the Royal Navy from 1660 to 1673.

James converted to Catholicism in 1669. Despite his conversion, James II

succeeded to the throne peacefully at the age of 51. His position was a

strong one - there were standing armies of nearly 20,000 men in his

kingdoms and he had a revenue of around Ј2 million. Within days of his

succession, James announced the summoning of Parliament in May but he

sounded a warning note: 'the best way to engage me to meet you often is

always to use me well'. A rebellion led by Charles's illegitimate son, the

Duke of Monmouth, was easily crushed after the battle of Sedgemoor in 1685,

and savage punishments were imposed by the infamous Lord Chief Justice,

Judge Jeffreys, at the 'Bloody Assizes'.

James's reaction to the Monmouth rebellion was to plan the increase of

the standing army and the appointment of loyal and experienced Roman

Catholic officers. This, together with James's attempts to give civic

equality to Roman Catholic and Protestant dissenters, led to conflict with

Parliament, as it was seen as James showing favouritism towards Roman

Catholics. Fear of Catholicism was widespread (in 1685, Louis XIV revoked

the Edict of Nantes which gave protection to French Protestants), and the

possibility of a standing army led by Roman Catholic officers produced

protest in Parliament. As a result, James prorogued Parliament in 1685 and

ruled without it.

James attempted to promote the Roman Catholic cause by dismissing judges

and Lord Lieutenants who refused to support the withdrawal of laws

penalising religious dissidents, appointing Catholics to important academic

posts, and to senior military and political positions. Within three years,

the majority of James's subjects had been alienated.

In 1687 James issued the Declaration of Indulgence aiming at religious

toleration; seven bishops who asked James to reconsider were charged with

seditious libel, but later acquitted to popular Anglican acclaim. When his

second (Roman Catholic) wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth on 10 June 1688 to

a son (James Stuart, later known as the 'Old Pretender' and father of

Charles Edward Stuart, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'), it seemed that a Roman

Catholic dynasty would be established. William of Orange, Protestant

husband of James's elder daughter, Mary (by James's first and Protestant

wife, Anne Hyde), was therefore welcomed when he invaded on 5 November

1688. The Army and the Navy (disaffected despite James's investment in

them) deserted to William, and James fled to France.

James's attempt to regain the throne by taking a French army to Ireland

failed - he was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. James spent

the rest of his life in exile in France, dying there in 1701.

WILLIAM III (1689-1702) AND MARY II (1689-94)

In 1689 Parliament declared that James had abdicated by deserting his

kingdom. William (reigned 1689-1702) and Mary (reigned 1689-94) were

offered the throne as joint monarchs. They accepted a Declaration of Rights

(later a Bill), drawn up by a Convention of Parliament, which limited the

Sovereign's power, reaffirmed Parliament's claim to control taxation and

legislation, and provided guarantees against the abuses of power which

James II and the other Stuart Kings had committed. The exclusion of James

II and his heirs was extended to exclude all Catholics from the throne,

since 'it hath been found by experience that it is inconsistent with the

safety and welfare of this protestant kingdom to be governed by a papist

prince'. The Sovereign was required in his coronation oath to swear to

maintain the Protestant religion.

The Bill was designed to ensure Parliament could function free from royal

interference. The Sovereign was forbidden from suspending or dispensing

with laws passed by Parliament, or imposing taxes without Parliamentary

consent. The Sovereign was not allowed to interfere with elections or

freedom of speech, and proceedings in Parliament were not to be questioned

in the courts or in any body outside Parliament itself. (This was the basis

of modern parliamentary privilege.) The Sovereign was required to summon

Parliament frequently (the Triennial Act of 1694 reinforced this by

requiring the regular summoning of Parliaments). Parliament tightened

control over the King's expenditure; the financial settlement reached with

William and Mary deliberately made them dependent upon Parliament, as one

Member of Parliament said, 'when princes have not needed money they have

not needed us'. Finally the King was forbidden to maintain a standing army

in time of peace without Parliament's consent.

The Bill of Rights added further defences of individual rights. The King

was forbidden to establish his own courts or to act as a judge himself, and

the courts were forbidden to impose excessive bail or fines, or cruel and

unusual punishments. However, the Sovereign could still summon and dissolve

Parliament, appoint and dismiss Ministers, veto legislation and declare

war.

The so-called 'Glorious Revolution' has been much debated over the degree

to which it was conservative or radical in character. The result was a

permanent shift in power; although the monarchy remained of central

importance, Parliament had become a permanent feature of political life.

The Toleration Act of 1689 gave all non-conformists except Roman

Catholics freedom of worship, thus rewarding Protestant dissenters for

their refusal to side with James II.

After 1688 there was a rapid development of party, as parliamentary

sessions lengthened and the Triennial Act ensured frequent general

elections. Although the Tories had fully supported the Revolution, it was

the Whigs (traditional critics of the monarchy) who supported William and

consolidated their position. Recognising the advisability of selecting a

Ministry from the political party with the majority in the House of

Commons, William appointed a Ministry in 1696 which was drawn from the

Whigs; known as the Junto, it was regarded with suspicion by Members of

Parliament as it met separately, but it may be regarded as the forerunner

of the modern Cabinet of Ministers.

In 1697, Parliament decided to give an annual grant of Ј700,000 to the

King for life, as a contribution to the expenses of civil government, which

included judges' and ambassadors' salaries, as well as the Royal

Household's expenses.

The Bill of Rights had established the succession with the heirs of Mary

II, Anne and William III in that order, but by 1700 Mary had died

childless, Anne's only surviving child (out of 17 children), the Duke of

Gloucester, had died at the age of 11 and William was dying. The succession

had to be decided.

The Act of Settlement of 1701 was designed to secure the Protestant

succession to the throne, and to strengthen the guarantees for ensuring

parliamentary system of government. According to the Act, succession to the

throne went to Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover and James I's

granddaughter, and her Protestant heirs.

The Act also laid down the conditions under which alone the Crown could

be held. No Roman Catholic, nor anyone married to a Roman Catholic, could

hold the English Crown. The Sovereign now had to swear to maintain the

Church of England (and after 1707, the Church of Scotland). The Act of

Settlement not only addressed the dynastic and religious aspects of

succession, it also further restricted the powers and prerogatives of the

Crown.

Under the Act, parliamentary consent had to be given for the Sovereign to

engage in war or leave the country, and judges were to hold office on good

conduct and not at royal pleasure - thus establishing judicial

independence. The Act of Settlement reinforced the Bill of Rights, in that

it strengthened the principle that government was undertaken by the

Sovereign and his or her constitutional advisers (i.e. his or her

Ministers), not by the Sovereign and any personal advisers whom he or she

happened to choose.

One of William's main reasons for accepting the throne was to reinforce

the struggle against Louis XIV. William's foreign policy was dominated by

the priority to contain French expansionism. England and the Dutch joined

the coalition against France during the Nine Years War. Although Louis was

forced to recognise William as King under the Treaty of Ryswick (1697),

William's policy of intervention in Europe was costly in terms of finance

and his popularity. The Bank of England, established in 1694 to raise money

for the war by borrowing, did not loosen the King's financial reliance on

Parliament as the national debt depended on parliamentary guarantees.

William's Dutch advisers were resented, and in 1699 his Dutch Blue Guards

were forced to leave the country.

Never of robust health, William died as a result of complications from a

fall whilst riding at Hampton Court in 1702.

ANNE (1702-14)

Anne, born in 1665, was the second daughter of James II and Anne Hyde.

She played no part in her father's reign, but sided with her sister and

brother-in-law (Mary II and William III) during the Glorious Revolution.

She married George, Prince of Denmark, but the pair failed to produce a

surviving heir. She died at 49 years of age, after a lifelong battle with

the blood disease porphyria.

The untimely death of William III nullified, in effect, the Settlement

Act of 1701: Anne was James' daughter through his Protestant marriage, and

therefore, presented no conflict with the act. Anne refrained from

politically antagonizing Parliament, but was compelled to attend most

Cabinet meetings to keep her half-brother, James the Old Pretender, under

heel. Anne was the last sovereign to veto an act of Parliament, as well as

the final Stuart monarch. The most significant constitutional act in her

reign was the Act of Union in 1707, which created Great Britain by finally

fully uniting England and Scotland (Ireland joined the Union in 1801).

The Stuart trait of relying on favorites was as pronounced in Anne's

reign as it had been in James I's reign. Anne's closest confidant was Sarah

Churchill, who exerted great influence over the king. Sarah's husband was

the Duke of Marlborough, who masterly led the English to several victories

in the War of Spanish Succession. Anne and Sarah were virtually

inseparable: no king's mistress had ever wielded the power granted to the

duchess, but Sarah became too confident in her position. She developed an

overbearing demeanor towards Anne, and berated the Queen in public. In the

meantime, Tory leaders had planted one Abigail Hill in the royal household

to capture Anne's need for sympathy and affection. As Anne increasingly

turned to Abigail, the question of succession rose again, pitting the Queen

and the Marlborough against each other in a heated debate. The relationship

of Anne and the Churchill's fell asunder. Marlborough, despite his war

record, was dismissed from public service and Sarah was shunned in favor of

Abigail.

Many of the internal conflicts in English society were simply the birth

pains of the two-party system of government. The Whig and Tory Parties,

fully enfranchised by the last years of Anne's reign, fought for control of

Parliament and influence over the Queen. Anne was torn personally as well

as politically by the succession question: her Stuart upbringing compelled

her to choose as heir her half-brother, the Old Pretender and favorite of

the Tories, but she had already elected to side with Whigs when supporting

Mary and William over James II. In the end, Anne abided by the Act of

Settlement, and the Whigs paved the way for the succession of their

candidate, George of Hanover.

Anne's reign may be considered successful, but somewhat lackluster in

comparison to the rest of the Stuart line. 1066 and All That, describes her

with its usual tongue-in-cheek manner: "Finally the Orange... was succeeded

by the memorable dead queen, Anne. Queen Anne was considered rather a

remarkable woman and hence was usually referred to as Great Anna, or Annus

Mirabilis. The Queen had many favourites (all women), the most memorable of

whom were Sarah Jenkins and Mrs Smashems, who were the first wig and the

first Tory... the Whigs being the first to realize that the Queen had been

dead all the time chose George I as King."

THE HANOVERIANS

The Hanoverians came to power in difficult circumstances that looked set

to undermine the stability of British society. The first of their Kings,

George I, was only 52nd in line to the throne, but the nearest Protestant

according the Act of Settlement. Two descendants of James II, the deposed

Stuart King, threatened to take the throne and were supported by a number

of 'Jacobites' throughout the realm.

The Hanoverian period for all that, was remarkably stable, not least

because of the longevity of its Kings. From 1714 through to 1837, there

were only five, one of whom, George III, remains the longest reigning King

in British History. The period was also one of political stability, and the

development of constitutional monarchy. For vast tracts of the eighteenth

century politics were dominated by the great Whig families, while the early

nineteenth century saw Tory domination. Britain's first 'Prime' Minister,

Robert Walpole, dates from this period, while income tax was introduced.

Towards the end of the reign, the Great Reform Act was passed, which

amongst other things widened the electorate.

It was in this period that Britain came to acquire much of her overseas

Empire, despite the loss of the American colonies, largely through foreign

conquest in the various wars of the century. At the end of the Hanoverian

period the British empire covered a third of the globe while the theme of

longevity was set to continue, as the longest reigning monarch in British

history, Queen Victoria, prepared to take the throne.

THE HANOVERIANS

1714 - 1837

GEORGE I =

Sophia Dorothea, dau. of Duke of Brunswick and Celle

(1714–1727)

GEORGE

II = Caroline, dau. of Margrave of

(1727–1760) Brandenburg-Anspach

Augusta of =

Frederick Lewis,

Saxe-Gotha-Altenberg Prince of

Wales

GEORGE III = Sophia Charlotte of

(1760–1820) Mecklenburg-Strelitz

GEORGE IV WILLIAM IV

Edward, = Victoria

(1820–1830) (1830–1837)

Duke of Kent of Saxe-

Coburg

VICTORIA

(1837–1901)

GEORGE I (1714-27)

George I was born March 28, 1660, son of Ernest, Elector of Hanover and

Sophia, granddaughter of James I. He was raised in the royal court of

Hanover, a German province, and married Sophia, Princess of Zelle, in 1682.

The marriage produced one son (the future George II) and one daughter

(Sophia Dorothea, who married her cousin, Frederick William I, King of

Prussia). After ruling England for thirteen years, George I died of a

stroke on a journey to his beloved Hanover on October 11, 1727.

George, Elector of Hanover since 1698, ascended the throne upon the death

of Queen Anne, under the terms of the 1701 Act of Settlement. His mother

had recently died and he meticulously settled his affairs in Hanover before

coming to England. He realized his position and considered the better of

two evils to be the Whigs (the other alternative was the Catholic son of

James II by Mary of Modena, James Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender). George

knew that any decision was bound to offend at least half of the British

population. His character and mannerisms were strictly German; he never

troubled himself to learn the English language, and spent at least half of

his time in Hanover.

The pale little 54 year-old man arrived in Greenwich on September 29,

1714, with a full retinue of German friends, advisors and servants (two of

which, Mohamet and Mustapha, were Negroes captured during a Turkish

campaign). All were determined to profit from the venture, with George

leading the way. He also arrived with two mistresses and no wife - Sophia

had been imprisoned for adultery. The English population was unkind to the

two mistresses, labeling the tall, thin Ehrengard Melusina von Schulenberg

as the "maypole", and the short, fat Charlotte Sophia Kielmansegge as the

"elephant". Thackeray remarked, "Take what you can get was the old

monarch's maxim... The German women plundered, the German secretaries

plundered, the German cooks and attendants plundered, even Mustapha and

Mohamet... had a share in the booty."

The Jacobites, legitimist Tories, attempted to depose George and replace

him with the Old Pretender in 1715. The rebellion was a dismal failure. The

Old Pretender failed to arrive in Britain until it was over and French

backing evaporated with the death of Louis XIV. After the rebellion,

England settled into a much needed time of peace, with internal politics

and foreign affairs coming to the fore.

George's ignorance of the English language and customs actually became

the cornerstone of his style of rule: leave England to it's own devices and

live in Hanover as much as possible. Cabinet positions became of the utmost

importance; the king's ministers represented the executive branch of

government, while Parliament represented the legislative. George's frequent

absences required the creation of the post of Prime Minister, the majority

leader in the House of Commons who acted in the king's stead. The first was

Robert Walpole, whose political mettle was tried in 1720 with the South Sea

Company debacle. The South Sea Company was a highly speculative venture

(one of many that was currently plaguing British economics at that time),

whose investors cajoled government participation. Walpole resisted from the

beginning, and after the venture collapsed and thousands were financially

ruined, he worked feverishly to restore public credit and confidence in

George's government. His success put him in the position of dominating

British politics for the next 20 years, and the reliance on an executive

Cabinet marked an important step in the formation of a modern

constitutional monarchy in England.

George avoided entering European conflicts by establishing a complex web

of continental alliances. He and his Whig ministers were quite skillful;

the realm managed to stay out of war until George II declared war on Spain

in 1739. George I and his son, George II, literally hated each other, a

fact that the Tory party used to gain political strength. George I, on his

many trips to Hanover, never placed the leadership of government in his

son's hands, preferring to rely on his ministers when he was abroad. This

disdain between father and son was a blight which became a tradition in the

House of Hanover.

Thackeray, in The Four Georges, allows both a glimpse of George I's

character, and the circumstances under which he ruled England: "Though a

despot in Hanover, he was a moderate ruler in England. His aim was to leave

it to itself as much as possible, and to live out of it as much as he

could. His heart was in Hanover. He was more than fifty-four years of age

when he came amongst us: we took him because we wanted him, because he

served our turn; we laughed at his uncouth German ways, and sneered at him.

He took our loyalty for what it was worth; laid hands on what money he

could; kept us assuredly from Popery and wooden shoes. I, for one, would

have been on his side in those days. Cynical, and selfish, as he was, he

was better than a king out of St. Germains [the Old Pretender] with a

French King's orders in his pocket, and a swarm of Jesuits in his train."

GEORGE II (1727-60)

George II was born November 10, 1683, the only son of George I and

Sophia. His youth was spent in the Hanoverian court in Germany, and he

married Caroline of Anspach in 1705. He was truly devoted to Caroline; she

bore him three sons and five daughters, and actively participated in

government affairs, before she died in 1737. Like his father, George was

very much a German prince, but at the age of 30 when George I ascended the

throne, he was young enough to absorb the English culture that escaped his

father. George II died of a stroke on October 25, 1760.

George possessed three passions: the army, music and his wife. He was

exceptionally brave and has the distinction of being the last British

sovereign to command troops in the field (at Dettingen against the French

in 1743). He inherited his father's love of opera, particularly the work of

George Frederick Handel, who had been George I's court musician in Hanover.

Caroline proved to be his greatest asset. She revived traditional court

life (which had all but vanished under George I, was fiercely intelligent

and an ardent supporter of Robert Walpole. Walpole continued in the role of

Prime Minister at Caroline's behest, as George was loathe keeping his

father's head Cabinet member. The hatred George felt towards his father was

reciprocated by his son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, who died in 1751.

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