The Parliament :: essays research papers

The Parliament was an elected organization set up by the king to manage the country to save the King the effort. Although officially ruled by the King, Parliament was increasing it’s power so rapidly that by the 1600s it could no longer be relied on to do what the King wanted. King Charles 1st came into conflict with his Parliament in 1629 when he ordered Parliament to raise taxes and it refused. His response was to abolish Parliament and he ruled Parliament on his own for 11 years. However, the people didn’t support him and he ran short of money so he had to reinstate Parliament in 1640. However, conflict broke out again in 1642 when Charles tried to have 5 members of Parliament arrested who had been actively disagreeing with his policies. The MPs fled into the back of the streets of London but when the King went after them, the citizens expelled him angrily from their city. This was a direct violation by the people of the supreme power of the King and marked the beginning of the English Civil War. Those English who supported the King (the Cavaliers) had support in north England and Wales and the parliamentarians (Roundheads) had support in the rest of England. Despite the fairly even start, however, the Cavaliers were fought back and in 1646 the Roundheads forced the King to surrender. However, at the cease fire negotiations Charles would not agree to the Roundhead terms and after a stalemate the war erupted again in 1648. Once again the Cavaliers were defeated but this time he Roundheads did not accept a surrender and instead captured the and executed Charles in 1649. England now had no King. For the next 11 years was a Republic. It was ruled from 1633 to 1658 by a general named Oliver Cromwell, who was a fundamental Protestant but an extremely cruel man. He was given the title ‘Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England’, but he had been active in Ireland long before he undertook that role. In 1641, just before the Civil War, the Irish of Ulster had begun an uprising and attacked the planters who had settled 30 years before. Between 10,000 and 15,000 Protestant planters were murdered by the Irish at places such as Portadown. Due to the war, the English did nothing about this and the death-toll became heavily exaggerated over time. In 1649, after the Civil War had ended, Cromwell landed at Dublin with 12,000 men with the intention of punishing those who had uprisen. He first attacked Drogheda and captured it, slaughtering over 3000 people. He then marched on Wexford town and massacred several hundred people there.