James I James IIOliver Cromwell(Not a Stuart)

Charles I Charles II

THE STUARTS (1603-1688)

Think of the Stuart family as a Cromwell Big Mac…

James I

Charles I

Oliver Cromwell

James II

Charles II

Mmmmmmm… History

Queen Elizabeth I died with no children, so there were no more Tudors left to run England.

The English throne passed from the Tudors to the Stuarts. King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England.

Q: What do these symbols tell you about the Stuart family?

Q: What was the major conflict in 16th century England?

The major conflict in 16th century England was over religion.

James I, who was raised a Calvinist, inherited a tumultuous situation when he took over the English throne in 1603.

Q: Who were the Calvinists closer to, Catholics or Anglicans? Why?

English Catholics were against James I because he was a Protestant.

On November 5, 1605, a group of Catholics, led by Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Parliament building, but were caught and executed.

“Remember, remember the fifth of November: The gunpowder, treason and plot. I know of no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.”

The Stuarts were not popular in England, in part because they disregarded English traditions of constitutional monarchy, such as following the Magna Carta and listening to Parliament.

James I wrote:

"[Kings arose] before any estates or ranks of men, before any parliaments were holden, or laws made, and by them was the land distributed, which at first was wholly theirs. And so it follows of necessity that kings were the authors and makers of the laws, and not the laws of the kings."

James I’s son, King Charles I, was even more unpopular.

As King of England, Charles I was head of the Anglican Church. However, he married a Catholic princess, Henrietta Maria of France, even though Parliament objected.

Q: William Shakespeare was alive during the reign of James I and Charles I. What play does this scenario remind you of?

Charles I tried to move the Anglican Church closer to Catholicism and persecuted a group of English Calvinists known as Puritans.

Some of those Puritans left England, sailing into Massachusetts Bay on the Mayflower in 1620.

Charles I tried to rule as an absolute monarch, raising taxes without Parliament’s permission and throwing his enemies in jail with no trial.

Charles I believed in the divine right of kings, saying:

“Kings are not bound to give an account of their actions but to God alone.”

Q: Explain this quote.

Charles I managed to alienate both the Calvinists in Scotland, and the Catholics in Ireland, both of whom rebelled against the English crown.

Charles I attempted to raise taxes to put down the rebellion, provoking two English Civil Wars between Parliament and the King in 1642 and 1648.

A Puritan army loyal to Parliament captured Charles I and tried Charles I for treason. They cut off his head and declared England a Commonwealth.

A Puritan named Oliver Cromwell ruled England from 1649-1658.

The Puritan regime was extremely religious, and wouldn’t let the people play cards or go to the theater.

Shakespeare’s plays were even banned.

After Cromwell died, the English people were ready to have a new king.

Parliament asked Charles I’s son, Charles II, to return to the English throne – but only if he obeyed the Magna Carta and listened to Parliament as a Constitutional Monarch.

Charles II reestablished the Anglican Church as the official Church of England over the Catholics and Puritans.

According to the Test Act, English subjects had to be members of the Anglican Church in order to hold public office.

Charles II also agreed to the writ of Habeas Corpus – not to throw anyone in jail without bail and a trial by jury.

But Charles II’s brother, James II, his father’s promise to follow the Parliament’s laws.

He tried to go back to absolute monarchy, converted to Catholicism and reclaimed the Divine Right of Kings.

James II violated the Test Act by appointing Catholics to high office.

Finally, Parliament had enough of the Stuarts. In 1688 they kicked James II out.

James II had a Protestant daughter, Mary, who was married to a Dutch nobleman named William of Orange.

Parliament invited William and Mary to be the new English sovereigns.

The accession of William and Mary is known as the Glorious Revolution, because it was accomplished without major bloodshed. When William arrived in England with an army, James II simply fled to France.

King William promised to follow the Magna Carta and the writ of Habeas Corpus. William signed the English Bill of Rights, a list of rights for every British Subject. The Glorious Revolution confirmed England as a constitutional monarchy.

The oldest college in America, in Williamsburg, VA, is named after William and Mary.