Charles I's Domestic Policy

in 1629. It was symbolic of a time when the King felt that any joint

A Comparison of the Characteristics of the Absolutist Rule of Charles I of England and Louis XIV of France

Throughout history, authentic sources have made kings seem like, either, tyrannical beings or beings that have turned a country over from a depressed past. Who the citizens celebrated or detested, but were too scared to protest because the power of the king was too overbearing to challenge his authority. King Charles II was the king of England from 1630 to 1685, and during his reign the citizens of England criticized him for his efforts, or lack of in his governing. Sir George Savile, a member of Charles’ Privy Council, in an essay, used rhetorical devices to portray King Charles II as an ordinary person, that gets to live the life of royalty.

According to the text book, an absolute monarch is a king or queen who has unlimited power and seeks to control all aspects of society (McDougall little, 1045). In more simple terms, it is a ruler who can do just about anything without having to get permission from anyone, or having to worry about the repercussions. This was a trend that started in the 1600’s by European leaders who were rich, and didn’t

The English had been under the combined rule of both the king and the assembly for so long that they were not ready to give all the power of government to a single person. The least influential, Charles I, was born in 1600 and died 1649 when he inherited the throne parliament was very upset with the monarchy and sought to lessen the power of the monarchy. Charles I tried to rule without consenting Parliament, but Parliament had so much control at the time that he failed to decrease its power. However, Charles believed in the divine rights of kings. Charles went on to oppress his people by levying taxes without the consent of the parliament. Many of his subjects saw him as a tyrannically oppressive leader. He created

England. King Charles II. RULES AND ORDERS. N.p.: n.p., 1666. The National Archives. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. This document is helpful to use for our research because it is a list of orders the King of England published in 1666. The list included strict rules and orders intended to be followed for the prevention of the infectious bubonic plague.

Being an absolute ruler is hard work. Making sure that nobody tries to claim some of the power and making sure that the people still love the ruler. Charles I’s rule over England changed many precedents that were set before him. No ruler before him, or even after him, has done what Charles attempted. There were no other rulers of England that had created as many issues as Charles I. Charles I had multiple disagreements with the Parliament over certain laws, and many of his people of England disagreed with his views.

Most historians would argue that the years 1660 to 1789 could be summarized as an Age of Absolutism, the period from the Restoration in England and the personal rule of Louis XIV up to the beginning of the French Revolution. Our textbook defines absolutism as “a political arrangement in which one ruler possesses unrivaled power (Western Civilization pg 184). Rulers received their power directly from God – theory of divine right – claiming they were above the law. As a result, absolute monarchs were viewed differently among the individual’s social class; the Noble’s view differed from the every day commoner’s view.

Charles I and the Establishment of Royal Absolutism Royal absolutism is a state of government whereby the monarch rules supreme, with virtually no legislative power placed in other organisations such as Parliament. For the people of England in the 1630s, it was a very real threat. After the dissolving of Parliament in 1629, Charles I embarked on his Personal Rule. Without analysing whose fault the breakdown in relations was, it was probably the only thing Charles could do in the circumstances. Certainly, no dialogue with Parliament was possible.

England was also in economic issues because of the way that Buckingham left it, and the many expenses that were a result of the Thirty Years War. Charles was desperate for money and tried many different approaches to get it from his subjects. In 1628, Charles collected tax from the people without Parliament’s authorization. After Parliament complained about his actions, they then composed the Petition of Right which discussed some of the rights that the people and the members of Parliament had. Charles rejected their ideas and dissolved Parliament. Since Parliament was kept out of order for several years, Charles had no means of taxation. He had to find new methods of collecting money because his subjects refused to pay taxes that were not approved by Parliament. Some methods that Charles abused during his personal rule consisted of: Ship Money, Tariffs and Forced Loans. He used these certain approaches as an excuse to take money from the people of England, however most of the money that he took belonged to the middle class. Many merchants and Puritans were driven by their anger towards these unreasonable actions, which caused them to side with Parliament’s

Charles I was described as a constitutional monarchy since he had rules to live by unlike kings. Many feared that he might become a king. Once Charles' brother, Prince Henry, died

England was experiencing arising conflict in its country in large part from religious conflict between different types of Protestants and factors including financial problems Charles I experienced as King. England was a Protestant country and when Charles I started implementing changes to the church, many got upset and fears he was turning the nation to Catholicism. Charles I also didn't spend his money wisely, just like his father, and found himself in the need to find more money in different ways. With Charles looking for money, he upset many people. England’s civil war in 1642 arose in large part due to differences in religious attitudes, the authority of the King and the lack of money he had for England.

The relationship between King Charles I and the Parliament became more and more tense. Within the Parliament, factions were created between the ones who supported the King, and the ones who wanted a better and larger reform.

Charles needed money from his financial past but because of his believes he couldn’t turn to Parliament so he tried to earn money raising taxes and carrying out schemes such as a Monopoly.

Charlemagne also known as Charles the Great, was born around the 2nd of April 747 and died on the 28th of January 814. He was noted down in history as King of the Franks, a Germanic-speaking people who invaded western Rome residing in current day Germany, the King of the Lombards, Germanic people who resided in parts of the Italian peninsula, and finally was the First Holy Roman Emperor. Another name that has been bestowed upon Charlemagne was the title “Father of Europe”. Due to the Carolingian empires rule, Charlemagne was able to unite nearly all of western Europe. The last empire to do so was the Roman Empire and no other country would unite Europe until the eighteen hundred under napoleon. Charlemagne’s father was named Pepin the Short, a name that deceives most on the battlefield due to his incredible and unmatched strength. Pepin the Short was the predecessor to Charlemagne as the king of the Franks. Pepin also set up the Carolingian dynasty but did not peak its power until the crowning of Charlemagne. Charlemagne’s successor was his son, Louis the Pious, who would be dissimilar from Charlemagne. In fact, for most of his reign, Louis the Pious would have to deal with many civil wars which foreshadowed the diminishing strength of the Carolingian empire. Charlemagne would serve as the prototype for most of medieval western Europe for the next millennium until the founding of the new world.