The Early Reign of Charles I, 1625–27 (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes
The Early Reign of Charles I, 1625–27
Charles I: the role of the individual
Charles I's accession to the throne in 1625 marked a notable shift in the character of English monarchy. The new king brought a personality fundamentally different from his father, James I, and these personal qualities exercised a pronounced influence on the political tensions that emerged during his early reign.
Background and formative experiences
Charles's position as a second son profoundly shaped his development and approach to kingship. Until the age of twelve, he existed in the shadow of his elder brother Henry, who had been groomed as the heir apparent. Henry embodied the qualities England anticipated in a future monarch: outgoing, confident, and aggressively Protestant. Charles, by contrast, grew up small in stature, sickly, and reticent. When Henry died from fever in 1612, little attention had been directed toward preparing Charles for the responsibilities of rule.
Henry's death in 1612 was sudden and unexpected, leaving the twelve-year-old Charles to inherit a role for which he had received minimal preparation. This lack of formal training in statecraft and diplomacy would have lasting consequences throughout his reign.
This background left lasting marks on Charles's behaviour. He developed into an intelligent and perceptive man in certain respects. He became a generous and discerning patron of the arts and architecture, assembling a remarkable collection of fine works at Whitehall and Windsor. Yet he remained shy and unable to communicate with ease. More damagingly, he lacked confidence in his own capabilities, a trait that would prove costly in his dealings with Parliament and his subjects.
Character traits and their political impact
Charles's childhood experiences fostered a protective reserve and an intense preoccupation with orderly formality. This manifested itself in the procedures and protocols he established for his Court. Immorality attracted disapproval, rank and nobility received careful preservation, and the privacy of the royal family was rigorously guarded.
During his visit to the Spanish Court in 1623, Charles had been profoundly impressed by the elaborate ceremonial practices and formal protocols. He sought to replicate this dignity and grandeur in England, believing it would enhance the prestige and authority of the English monarchy.
These preferences extended to his religious outlook. A devout and conscientious Anglican, Charles was undoubtedly Protestant in his beliefs, yet his appreciation of the 'beauty of holiness' expressed itself through rich decoration and elaborate rituals. This encouraged his sympathy for the High Church party and fostered respect for Catholic ceremonial practices.
Charles's emphasis on ceremony and High Church practices, combined with his appreciation for Catholic ritual, aroused deep suspicions among many of his subjects. Despite his genuine Protestant faith, these preferences led to persistent doubts about his religious commitment and loyalty to the English Reformation – suspicions that would prove politically damaging throughout his reign.
Lack of confidence and dependence on advisers
Charles's fundamental lack of self-assurance created a serious problem in governance. When faced with opposition, his response was to retreat into the appearance of certainty and to regard those who disagreed with him as motivated by malice. To some extent, his conscientious attention to duty made criticism harder to accept. More seriously, this insecurity generated a lifelong tendency to rely on the counsel of those close to him.
Edward Hyde, who later served as chief adviser to both Charles I and his son Charles II, offered a revealing assessment of this weakness:
Edward Hyde's Assessment of Charles I:
'he will be found not only a prince of admirable virtue and piety, but of great knowledge, wisdom and judgement; and that the most signal parts of his misfortunes proceeded chiefly from the modesty of his nature, which kept him from trusting himself enough, and made him believe that others discerned better, who were much inferior to him in those faculties; and so to depart from his own reason, to follow the opinions of more unskilful men, whose affections he believed to be unquestionable to his service...'
This perceptive observation identifies a critical flaw: Charles possessed the intellectual capacity to govern well, but his lack of confidence led him to defer to advisers who were less capable than himself. This pattern of poor judgement in selecting and trusting counsellors would prove catastrophic.
The first of these trusted advisers was the Duke of Buckingham, whose influence would prove disastrous. Following Buckingham's assassination in 1628, the equally determined but equally ill-informed Henrietta Maria assumed this role.
Charles, Buckingham and war, 1625–27
The brief alliance between Charles, the Duke of Buckingham, and the House of Commons collapsed with remarkable speed. Parliament's refusal to vote the new King Tonnage and Poundage (customs duties traditionally granted to monarchs for their lifetime) for more than one year represented a considerable insult.
The Significance of Denying Tonnage and Poundage
Parliament's decision to grant Tonnage and Poundage for only one year, rather than the traditional lifetime grant, was unprecedented and deeply symbolic. Beyond its effect on royal finances, the denial constituted a direct challenge to the new monarch's authority and reflected the lingering consequences of actions during James I's final year. This early confrontation set the tone for the deteriorating relationship between Crown and Commons.
The disastrous Cadiz expedition
Charles bore responsibility for giving MPs every reason to distrust him, even in the absence of Buckingham's problematic influence. By agreeing to conduct a naval war and employing the resulting subsidies (financial grants from Parliament) to fund a land expedition that proved disastrous, Charles had provided MPs with grounds for suspicion.
The Cadiz Expedition (1625)
The naval expedition to Cadiz was poorly planned and inadequately supplied. The fleet suffered from disease, lack of provisions, and incompetent leadership. Rather than achieving a glorious victory reminiscent of Elizabethan triumphs, the expedition resulted in humiliating failure, wasting Parliamentary grants and undermining confidence in Charles and Buckingham's military competence.
The unsuccessful naval expedition to Cadiz in 1625 was followed by demands for Buckingham to be impeached. In 1626, Charles dissolved Parliament without receiving any financial supply in order to protect his friend from impeachment proceedings. This action demonstrated both his loyalty to Buckingham and his failure to grasp the political realities of his situation.
The marriage to Henrietta Maria
Circumstances deteriorated further. In 1624, Buckingham had negotiated a marriage between Charles and Henrietta Maria, the sister of the French King. The arrangement promised that she would be permitted to practise her Catholic religion and that English ships would assist in suppressing a French Protestant rebellion in La Rochelle. MPs reacted with fury, their anger intensifying when Buckingham's inept diplomacy in 1626 led to war with France.
The La Rochelle expedition and its failure
An expedition dispatched in 1627 to assist the Protestants in La Rochelle failed miserably, primarily because of inadequate planning. By the conclusion of 1627, the combined influence of Buckingham and Charles's stubborn refusal to contain it posed a direct threat to his capacity to govern the kingdom effectively.
The Pattern of Failure Emerges
The new reign had commenced badly and continued its downward trajectory. Unlike his father James, Charles lacked confidence and experience in diplomatic matters, choosing instead to rely upon Buckingham's counsel. Freed from the restraints imposed by James, the Duke embarked upon an adventurous foreign policy intended to glorify both himself and his King. Charles's lack of planning ability, failure to attend to practical details, and unrealistic expectations ensured disaster. The reign's opening years established a pattern of misjudgement and miscalculation that would characterise much of what followed.
Remember!
Key Points to Remember:
-
Charles I's personality – shaped by being an overlooked second son – created a monarch who was shy, lacked confidence, and relied excessively on advisers like Buckingham
-
His emphasis on formality, ceremony, and High Church practices aroused parliamentary suspicion about his religious commitment, despite his genuine Protestantism
-
Parliament's refusal to grant Tonnage and Poundage for life in 1625 represented an unprecedented insult to a new monarch and signalled deteriorating relations
-
The failed Cadiz expedition (1625) and disastrous La Rochelle expedition (1627), both influenced by Buckingham, demonstrated Charles's poor judgement in foreign policy
-
Charles's marriage to the Catholic Henrietta Maria (negotiated 1624) and his dissolution of Parliament (1626) to protect Buckingham from impeachment rapidly undermined trust between Crown and Commons