Brief History of King Charles (1600-1649)

Essay by KamsdenJunior High, 9th gradeA-, April 2003

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Charles the first was born in Fife on November 19th, 1600. At birth, Charles was not directly in line to inherit the throne. He had an older brother, Henry, who later died in 1612, giving Charles direct line to the throne. Charles was crowned king on March 27th 1635, after the death of his father. Although most of England was Protestant at the time, he married catholic Henrietta Maria. Although there were religious problems between Catholics and Protestants, it would be trouble with parliament that would eventually kill him. Charles had inherited disagreements with parliament from his father, yet he continued to fight with parliament over his ill-fated, costly wars.

King Charles's troubles with parliament centered mainly on finances. He needed parliamentary funding to help pay for his wars but his funding requests were constantly challenged in parliament. In March of 1629, Charles dismissed his parliament, and decided to make due without it's advice.

In 1640, Charles was forced to call another parliament, which came to be known as the long parliament. He wanted Parliament to give him money to help fight the war against the Scots but Parliament refused, and Charles retaliated by arresting five leading members of the House of Commons.

Parliament and the King drifted farther apart and in 1642 civil war broke out in England between Cromwell and the loyalists. The war lasted for seven years ending in victory for Cromwells forces or "roundheads" as they were called. After the war, attempts were made to reach a settlement with the king. These efforts were soon stopped when it was found the King was negotiating with other countries to bring their armies in and wipe out Cromwells troops.

In 1649, the parliament decided to put Charles on trial for waging war on his people and for...