THE CIVIL WAR, REPUBLIC,

RESTORATION AND UNION

1. THE UNION OF THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH CROWNS.

• House of Stuarts (from Wikipedia):

o Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs
of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century.
o Their direct ancestors (from Brittany) had held the title High Steward of
Scotland since the 12th century, after arriving by route of Norman
England.
o The dynasty inherited further territory by the 17th century which covered
the entire British Isles, including the Kingdom of England and Kingdom
of Ireland, also upholding a claim to the Kingdom of France.
o Nine Stuart monarchs ruled Scotland from 1371 until 1603.
o After this, under James VI & I: Union of the Crowns of Scotland and
England.
o Six Stuart monarchs ruled both England and Scotland as well as Ireland
(with an interregnum 1649-1660 because of the English Civil War).
o Additionally at the foundation of the Kingdom of Great Britain after
the Acts of Union, which politically united England and Scotland, the
first monarch was Anne of Great Britain. However, she died without
issue and all the holdings passed to the House of Hanover, under the
terms of the Act of Settlement 1701.

KING CROWNS RULING PERIOD

ROBERT II SCOTLAND 1371 - 1390

ROBERT III SCOTLAND 1390 - 1406

JAMES I SCOTLAND 1406 - 1437

JAMES II SCOTLAND 1437 - 1460

JAMES III SCOTLAND 1460 - 1488

JAMES IV SCOTLAND 1488 - 1513

JAMES V SCOTLAND 1513 - 1542

MARY I SCOTLAND 1542 - 1567

JAMES VI SCOTLAND 1567 – 1625

JAMES I ENGLAND - IRELAND 1603 - 1625

CHARLES I SCOTLAND – ENGLAND - IRELAND 1625 - 1649

CHARLES II SCOTLAND 1649 – 1651

SCOTLAND – ENGLAND – IRELAND 1660 - 1685

JAMES II SCOTLAND – ENGLAND – IRELAND 1685 - 1688

WILLIAM III SCOTLAND - ENGLAND – IRELAND 1689 - 1702

ANNE SCOTLAND – ENGLAND – IRELAND 1702 - 1714

1
• Time of expansion: Britain’s first empire: Canada, New England, Nova Scotia,
Virginia, Maryland, New York.
• New stuff and commodities: tobacco, chocolate, potaotes, forks, newspapers,
patent and copyright laws, calculating machines, etc.
• James I
o The Divine Right to rule. Refusal to follow Parliament tradition.
o Gunpowder plot 1605: failed killing attempt by a group of English
Catholics led by Robert Catesby
o Toleration to Catholics
o Inefficient counsellors
o Foreign policy: peace with Spain
o The Puritans of England, the Book of Sports

2. CHARLES I AND HIS PREROGATIVES

• The Divine Right to rule.
• War with Spain, war with France (supporting the Hugonotes). Parliament
refused to give money for the wars. Raising of taxes
• Arrogancy to Parliament. Short and Long Parliaments
• Arminianism, absolutist church, new bible to unite the country
• The Civil Wars
• Not continuous wars: the weather, mobility...
• Charles’s side: the aristocracy, the peasants, the Anglican Church,
Catholics, the north and the west.
• Parliament’s side: the new commercial classes, the navy, the Puritans,
the south, the midlands London.
• Long term causes: a) The King’s arrogance and behaviour (James), b)
economic shortage of the Crown, c) James proposal of engagement
between Charles and a Spanish princess
• Short term causes: a) Charles I personality (Divine Right to rule), b)
money: purchsing of titles, Ship Money, c) religion: new prayer book for
Scotland, d) Charles attemts to arrest memeber of Parliament
• Onset: 1642, Charles established a base at York, Battles of Edgehill
and Turnham Green.
• 1643: Parliament was supported by the Covenants (Scottish
presbyterians). They gainged Yorkshikre.
• 1644: Charles lost control of North England and went back to Oxford.
• Ascension of Oliver Cromwell. Reformation of the Army. Collapse of
Royalists. Charles surrendered to the Scots in 1646 and handed over to
Parliament.
• 1649: Charles was beheaded, the monarchy was abolished, a
Commonwealth established ruled by Cromwell.
• The Parliament against the King Charles I: continuous conflict between
the King and Parliament:
• Dissolution of first Parliament in 1626 because they demanded limist on
Charles’s rithg to levy customs
• Dissolution of second Parliament in 1629 because of the protests over
taxation, the war with Spain and the toleration to catholicism
• 1629 – 1640: Charles ruled without Parliament

2
 • In order to raise money he called the Short Parliament (1640) and the
Long Parliament (1640 – 1660) after the crisis caused by the attempts
of the imposition of the English liturgy in Scotland
• Concessions of the King: execution of Lord Stratford, Triennial Act
(which allowed Parliament to summon every three years witouth the
Kings calling)
• Rebellion in Ireland in 1641. Parliament didn’t want Charles to control
any army to supress the rebellion. Passing of the Gand Demonstrarion
(list of grievances against Charles, promoted by the Puritans), Charles
attempts to arrest some member of the commons in 1642.
• 1649: execution of Charles I. The King refused negotiations about the
monarchy and the Church, he also refused to plead; this would led him
to death. The Stuarts understood they had to count on Parliament.
• The monarchy was abolished and the Republic was declared. However,
the Scots didn’t accept the execution of his monarch by an English
Parliament and paid loyalty to Charles’s son (Charles II).

3. THE REPUBLIC (1649 – 1660)

3.1. The Commonwealth

• 1649: end of English Civil War. England was declared a
Commonwealth.
• Rump Parliament: provisional government. Divisions between factions
in Parliament and in the Army over what form the new government should
take.
• Cromwell forced Rump Parliament to move out in 1653, perhaps
believeing that Parliament wanted to perpetuate.
• Nominated Assembly or ‘Barebone’s Parliament’: only six month later, it
was dissolved by moderates because of its radical proposals (legal and
ecclesiastical)
• Cromwell proposed a revival of the title “Lord Protector” to avoid
monarchy. He was declared Lord Protetor for life, he had the executive
power under the terms of the Instrument of Government.
• Many republicans and religious radicals understood this movement as a
betrayal to the civil war principles

3.2. The Protectorate

• The most durable and stable regimen of this period: it brought orderly
civilian rule, restored traditional forms, began the process of reunification
and provided the basis for further reforms. It was seen with respect by
other countries
• Cromwell’s protectorate of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and
Ireland, althouth was supposed to share the power with a Council of State,
was in fact a dictatorship resting on the army
• The country was divided in 11 military districts administrated by major
generals who enforced puritanical laws and collectec taxes.
• Toleration was extended to Jews and all non-Anglican Protestants, but not
to Roman Catholics
• The Protectorate was British: it gave seats in the same Parliament to
England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It worked, for the first time, under a
detailed written constitution and provided for a potent army and navy and
guaranteed religious liberty for Protestants
3
 • The Constitution appointed a Lord Protector as a head of the State.
Although it was not hereditary, he was in fact suceeded by his son Richard
Cromwell
• Richard was Lord Protector for only eight months, unable to control the
army. The Rump Parliament was recalled

4. THE RESTORATION OF MONARCHY

• Charles I’s sons (Charles and James) had fled to France in 1649
• After Oliver Cromwell’s death, there was a political vacuum. Parliament
invited Charles I’s sons back
• The monarchy was restored in 1660: Charles II
• Cromwell’s Puritanism was also withdrawn from British life

4.1. The Succession Crisis

• Charles II: shortage of money. Secret Treaty wih the French King Louis
SIV: he received funds from France whenever he improved the status of
English Catholics
• James (Charles’ brother) was a catholic. There were two attempts to
pass an Exclusion Bill, promoted by protestant politicians, to exclude
James from succession
• James II heired the throne on the death of his brother in 1865.

4.2. Charles II: The Return of Liberties

• Charles and James had return to Britain with expectations of an absolute
monachy justified by the ‘Divine Right of Kings’
• Tensions with Parliament existed during this period.
• Compromise during the Restoration:
o Charles II would control his succession, his judiciary (persons who
administered justice) and could collect traditional taxes
o Charles II would remain Protestant and new taxes would require
Parliament’s approval
• Declaration of Breda, 1660, by which Charles accepted the conditions of
the crown of England
• Keys of the Stuart Restoration: to be mercy and reconciliation:
o Parliament was summoned and lasted for over 17 years
o It was a Royalist Parliament: Pensionary Parliament for adherents to
the King
o Parliament wanted revenge against the republicans but Charles
insisted that only the regicides should pay for injustices
o The Parliamentary army was dissolved peacefully
o The Church of England was re-established
o Men were allowed to keep property no matter where their loyaltied
had been
o Act of Indemniti and Oblivion
o Many royalists returned from exile
o By 1660: a bloodless restoration of a monarchy had been achieved
o The liberties and delights came back, which had been denied during
the Puritan rule
o Arts and sciences flourished: Purcell, Newton, the Royal Society, the
reopening of the teathres...
4
4.3. James II (1685 – 1688)
• His intention of restoring Catholicism and his policies led to
conflict with Church and Parliament
• He declared illegal the Bill of Rights
• He suspended penal legistlation against religious
nonconformity
• His son was baptised into the Roman Catholic faith,
consolidating a Catholic dynasty
• Six bishops were arrested for petitioning the king against the
concessions to the Catholics
• Leading politicians turned on William of Orange to save the
country from James, he was proclaimed King in 1689, promising to defend
England and the Protestant religion
• James fled to France. The Glorious Revolution took place

5. THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION OF 1688

• Concept: the Glorious Revolution was the overthrow of King James II by
a union of Parliamentarians and an invading army led by the Dutch William
III of Orange. The term was first used in 1689.
• As a result: William III of England
• It is also called the Bloodless Revolution, although there were two
significant fights between the two armies, anti-Catholic riots in several
towns, the Williamite War in Ireland and several battles in Scotland
• Other consequences: the collapse of the Dominion of New England and
downfall of Maryland’s government
• New co-monarchy of King William and his wife Queen Mary II (1689
-1702): they accepted more constraints from Parliament than ever, never
since the monachy has held absolute power: the modern English
parliamentary democracy began
• Catholics: rights were retired: right to vote, rights in the army...
• Financial Revolution: the new balance of power gave credibility and
allowed to reorganize the finances, property rights were made more secure
promoting economic development
• They transformed the role of English monarchy: Mary won the hearts of
ther people

5.1. Queen Anne: the last Stuart monarch (1702 – 1714)

• She was James II’s daughter and succedeed her brothe in-law (William III
of Orange)
• Almost as soon as she succeeded to the throne, Anne became embroiled
in the War of the Spanish Succession. This war, in which England
supported the claim of Archduke Charles to succeed to the Spanish
Throne, would continue until the last years of Anne's reign, and would
dominate both foreign and domestic policy.
• Because she died without surviving issue, Anne was the last monarch of
the House of Stuart. She was succeeded by her second cousin, George I,
of the House of Hanover, who was a descendant of the Stuarts through his
maternal grandmother, Elizabeth, daughter of James VI & I.

5.2. The Bill of Rights

• Laws that reformed the English constitution at this time:
5
 o The Triennial Act 1694: which prevented the King from dissolving
Parliament and placed that general elections had to be held every
three years
o The Toleration Act 1689: which promoted limited religious toleration
o The Bill of Rights 1689: confirmation of the Declaration of Rights
presented by Parliament to William and Mary inviting them to
become joint sovereigns of England
• The Bill of Rights:
o Basic rights for all Englishmen:
 Freedom from royal interference with the law. Though the
sovereign remains the fount of justice, he or she cannot
unilaterally establish new courts or act as a judge
 Freedom from taxation by Royal Prerogative. The agreement
of parliament became necessary for the implementation of
any new taxes
 Freedom to petition the monarch
 Freedom from the standing army during a time of peace. The
agreement of parliament became necessary before the army
could be moved against the populace when not at war
 Freedom for Protestants to have arms for their own defence,
as suitable to their class and as allowed by law
 Freedom to elect members of parliament without interference
from the sovereign
 Freedom of speech and debates; or proceedings in
Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any
court or place out of Parliament
o It barred Roman Catholics from the throne of England; thus William
III and Mary II were named as the successors of James VII and II
and that the throne would pass from them first to Mary's heirs, then
to her sister, Princess Anne of Denmark and her heirs and, further,
to any heirs of William by a later marriage. The monarch was further
required to swear a coronation oath to maintain the Protestant
religion
• Importance: together with the 1701 Act of Settlement, it is one of the main
contitutional laws about the succession to the throne of the United
Kingdom. It was the inspiration of the Bill of Rights of the United States. It
also influenced the Canadian charter o Rights and Freedom, the Eupean
Convention on Human Rights, etc...

6. THE ACT OF UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND OF 1707

o With James’s accession to the throne of England in 1603, Scotland and

England united the crowns, but consitutionally remained separated countries.
o During a hundred years, the union of the kingdoms had been proposed. In
1707 the Acts of Union had finally been passed by both the English and
Scottish Parliaments and the Parliament of the United Kingdom met for the
first time.
o Mistrust between the two countries had prevented the union in the 17th century:
o Scotland didn’t want to be simply a region of England
o England feared the revival of the alliances between Scotland and
France: the English purpose of it was to ensure that Scotland would not
choose a monarch different from the one on the English throne. The two
6
 countries had shared a king for much of the previous century, but the
English were concerned that an independent Scotland with a different
king, even if he were a Protestant, might make alliances against
England. The English succession was provided for by the English Act of
Settlement 1701, which ensured that the monarch of England would be
Protestant member of the House of Hanover. Until the Union of
Parliaments, the Scots could choose their own successor to Queen
Anne: the Scottish Act of Security 1704 explicitly required a choice
different from the English monarch.
o The Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed in 1707 by
the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England to put into effect the
terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706, following
negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the two
countries. The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of
Scotland (previously separate states, with separate legislatures but with the
same monarch) into a single Kingdom of Great Britain.
o The two countries had shared a monarch since the Union of the Crowns in
1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his
double first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I. Although described as a
Union of Crowns, until 1707 there were in fact two separate Crowns resting on
the same head. There had been three attempts in 1606, 1667, and 1689 to
unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early 18th
century that the idea had the will of both political establishments behind them,
albeit for rather different reasons.
o A few financial incentives appear to have convinced some dithering Scottish of
the many potential benefits of a union with England. In the words of Robert
Burns, they (the Scottish) were "bought and sold for English gold".
o The first change of attitude came from the English. They found themselves, yet
again, at war with France. King Louis XIV recognised the Catholic James VIII
as the rightful heir to both the crowns of England and Scotland. Highlanders in
particular also recognised this claim on Scotland's Crown and many in
England, Ireland and Scotland sympathised and supported the Jacobite cause.
o It is regarded by historians of the time, and of now, that should the Jacobites,
namely James VIII (son of the exiled James VII) have landed in Scotland to
restore the exiled House of Stuart claim in 1702 instead of later, he (James
VIII) may well have been accepted instead of Anne - and the whole history of
Scotland, and the situation now, would have been completely different. As it
was, the 14 year old pretender, blessed with as hopeless a sense of timing as
his father, did nothing
o The threat of Jacobite invasion and civil war at a time when England was
vulnerable due to the war of Spanish Succession which they were also
fighting, was something which, as far as the English were concerned, must
never happen. England relied on having Scottish soldiers in its front line
against the Spanish and having them suddenly turn and join ranks with the
French would easily turn the balance of power against them
o Scotland kept its independence with respect to its legal and religious systems,
but coinage, taxation, sovereignty, trade , parliament and flag became one.
The red cross of St. George combined with the blue cross of St. Andrew
resulting in the 'old' union flag.

7
8