British Monarchy and its influence upon governmental institutions 
Throughout Charles's reign, religious toleration
dominated the political scene. The 1662 Act of Uniformity had imposed the use
of the Book of Common Prayer, and insisted that clergy subscribe to Anglican
doctrine (some 1,000 clergy lost their livings). Anti-Catholicism was
widespread; the Test Act of 1673 excluded Roman Catholics from both Houses of
Parliament. Parliament's reaction to the Popish Plot of 1678 (an allegation by
Titus Oates that Jesuit priests were conspiring to murder the King, and
involving the Queen and the Lord Treasurer, Danby) was to impeach Danby and
present a Bill to exclude James (Charles's younger brother and a Roman Catholic
convert) from the succession. In 1680/81 Charles dissolved three Parliaments
which had all tried to introduce Exclusion Bills on the basis that 'we are not
like to have a good end'.
Charles sponsored the founding of the Royal Society in
1660 (still in existence today) to promote scientific research. Charles also
encouraged a rebuilding programme, particularly in the last years of his reign,
which included extensive rebuilding at Windsor Castle, a huge but uncompleted
new palace at Winchester and the Greenwich Observatory. Charles was a patron of
Christopher Wren in the design and rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral, Chelsea
Hospital (a refuge for old war veterans) and other London buildings.
Charles died in 1685, becoming a Roman Catholic on his
deathbed.
JAMES II (1685-88)
Born in
1633 and named after his grandfather James I, James II grew up in exile after
the Civil War (he served in the armies of Louis XIV) and, after his brother's
restoration, commanded the Royal Navy from 1660 to 1673. James converted to
Catholicism in 1669. Despite his conversion, James II succeeded to the throne
peacefully at the age of 51. His position was a strong one - there were
standing armies of nearly 20,000 men in his kingdoms and he had a revenue of
around £2 million. Within days of his succession, James announced the
summoning of Parliament in May but he sounded a warning note: 'the best way to
engage me to meet you often is always to use me well'. A rebellion led by
Charles's illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, was easily crushed after the
battle of Sedgemoor in 1685, and savage punishments were imposed by the
infamous Lord Chief Justice, Judge Jeffreys, at the 'Bloody Assizes'.
James's reaction to the Monmouth rebellion was to plan
the increase of the standing army and the appointment of loyal and experienced
Roman Catholic officers. This, together with James's attempts to give civic
equality to Roman Catholic and Protestant dissenters, led to conflict with
Parliament, as it was seen as James showing favouritism towards Roman
Catholics. Fear of Catholicism was widespread (in 1685, Louis XIV revoked the
Edict of Nantes which gave protection to French Protestants), and the
possibility of a standing army led by Roman Catholic officers produced protest
in Parliament. As a result, James prorogued Parliament in 1685 and ruled
without it.
James attempted to promote the Roman Catholic cause by
dismissing judges and Lord Lieutenants who refused to support the withdrawal of
laws penalising religious dissidents, appointing Catholics to important
academic posts, and to senior military and political positions. Within three
years, the majority of James's subjects had been alienated.
In 1687 James issued the Declaration of Indulgence
aiming at religious toleration; seven bishops who asked James to reconsider
were charged with seditious libel, but later acquitted to popular Anglican
acclaim. When his second (Roman Catholic) wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth on
10 June 1688 to a son (James Stuart, later known as the 'Old Pretender' and
father of Charles Edward Stuart, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'), it seemed that a
Roman Catholic dynasty would be established. William of Orange, Protestant
husband of James's elder daughter, Mary (by James's first and Protestant wife,
Anne Hyde), was therefore welcomed when he invaded on 5 November 1688. The Army
and the Navy (disaffected despite James's investment in them) deserted to
William, and James fled to France.
James's attempt to regain the throne by taking a
French army to Ireland failed - he was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in
1690. James spent the rest of his life in exile in France, dying there in 1701.
WILLIAM III (1689-1702) AND MARY II (1689-94)
In 1689 Parliament declared that James had abdicated
by deserting his kingdom. William (reigned 1689-1702) and Mary (reigned
1689-94) were offered the
throne as joint monarchs. They accepted a Declaration of Rights (later a Bill),
drawn up by a Convention of Parliament, which limited the Sovereign's power,
reaffirmed Parliament's claim to control taxation and legislation, and provided
guarantees against the abuses of power which James II and the other Stuart
Kings had committed. The exclusion of James II and his heirs was extended to
exclude all Catholics from the throne, since 'it hath been found by experience
that it is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this protestant kingdom to be governed by a papist
prince'. The Sovereign was required in his coronation oath to swear to maintain
the Protestant religion.
The Bill was designed to ensure Parliament could
function free from royal interference. The Sovereign was forbidden from
suspending or dispensing with laws passed by Parliament, or imposing taxes
without Parliamentary consent. The Sovereign was not allowed to interfere with
elections or freedom of speech, and proceedings in Parliament were not to be
questioned in the courts or in any body outside Parliament itself. (This was
the basis of modern parliamentary privilege.) The Sovereign was required to
summon Parliament frequently (the Triennial Act of 1694 reinforced this by
requiring the regular summoning of Parliaments). Parliament tightened control
over the King's expenditure; the financial settlement reached with William and
Mary deliberately made them dependent upon Parliament, as one Member of
Parliament said, 'when princes have not needed money they have not needed us'.
Finally the King was forbidden to maintain a standing army in time of peace
without Parliament's consent.
The Bill of Rights added further defences of
individual rights. The King was forbidden to establish his own courts or to act
as a judge himself, and the courts were forbidden to impose excessive bail or
fines, or cruel and unusual punishments. However, the Sovereign could still
summon and dissolve Parliament, appoint and dismiss Ministers, veto legislation
and declare war.
The so-called 'Glorious Revolution' has been much
debated over the degree to which it was conservative or radical in character.
The result was a permanent shift in power; although the monarchy remained of
central importance, Parliament had become a permanent feature of political
life.
The Toleration Act of 1689 gave all non-conformists
except Roman Catholics freedom of worship, thus rewarding Protestant dissenters
for their refusal to side with James II.
After 1688 there was a rapid development of party, as
parliamentary sessions lengthened and the Triennial Act ensured frequent
general elections. Although the Tories had fully supported the Revolution, it
was the Whigs (traditional critics of the monarchy) who supported William and
consolidated their position. Recognising the advisability of selecting a
Ministry from the political party with the majority in the House of Commons,
William appointed a Ministry in 1696 which was drawn from the Whigs; known as
the Junto, it was regarded with suspicion by Members of Parliament as it met
separately, but it may be regarded as the forerunner of the modern Cabinet of
Ministers.
In 1697, Parliament decided to give an annual grant of
£700,000 to the King for life, as a contribution to the expenses of civil
government, which included judges' and ambassadors' salaries, as well as the
Royal Household's expenses.
The Bill of Rights had established the succession with
the heirs of Mary II, Anne and William III in that order, but by 1700 Mary had
died childless, Anne's only surviving child (out of 17 children), the Duke of
Gloucester, had died at the age of 11 and William was dying. The succession had
to be decided.
The Act of Settlement of 1701 was designed to secure
the Protestant succession to the throne, and to strengthen the guarantees for
ensuring parliamentary system of government. According to the Act, succession
to the throne went to Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover and James I's
granddaughter, and her Protestant heirs.
The Act also laid down the conditions under which
alone the Crown could be held. No Roman Catholic, nor anyone married to a Roman
Catholic, could hold the English Crown. The Sovereign now had to swear to
maintain the Church of England (and after 1707, the Church of Scotland). The Act
of Settlement not only addressed the dynastic and religious aspects of
succession, it also further restricted the powers and prerogatives of the
Crown.
Under the Act, parliamentary consent had to be given
for the Sovereign to engage in war or leave the country, and judges were to
hold office on good conduct and not at royal pleasure - thus establishing
judicial independence. The Act of Settlement reinforced the Bill of Rights, in
that it strengthened the principle that government was undertaken by the Sovereign
and his or her constitutional advisers (i.e. his or her Ministers), not by the
Sovereign and any personal advisers whom he or she happened to choose.
One of William's main reasons for accepting the throne
was to reinforce the struggle against Louis XIV. William's foreign policy was
dominated by the priority to contain French expansionism. England and the Dutch
joined the coalition against France during the Nine Years War. Although Louis
was forced to recognise William as King under the Treaty of Ryswick (1697),
William's policy of intervention in Europe was costly in terms of finance and
his popularity. The Bank of England, established in 1694 to raise money for the
war by borrowing, did not loosen the King's financial reliance on Parliament as
the national debt depended on parliamentary guarantees. William's Dutch
advisers were resented, and in 1699 his Dutch Blue Guards were forced to leave
the country.
Never of robust health, William died as a result of
complications from a fall whilst riding at Hampton Court in 1702.
ANNE (1702-14)
Anne, born in 1665, was the second daughter of James
II and Anne Hyde. She played no part in her father's reign, but sided with her
sister and brother-in-law (Mary II and William III) during the Glorious
Revolution. She married George, Prince of Denmark, but the pair failed to
produce a surviving heir. She died at 49 years of age, after a lifelong battle
with the blood disease porphyria.
The untimely death of William III nullified, in
effect, the Settlement Act of 1701: Anne was James' daughter through his
Protestant marriage, and therefore, presented no conflict with the act. Anne
refrained from politically antagonizing Parliament, but was compelled to attend
most Cabinet meetings to keep her half-brother, James the Old Pretender, under
heel. Anne was the last sovereign to veto an act of Parliament, as well as the
final Stuart monarch. The most significant constitutional act in her reign was
the Act of Union in 1707, which created Great Britain by finally fully uniting
England and Scotland (Ireland joined the Union in 1801).
The Stuart trait of relying on favorites was as
pronounced in Anne's reign as it had been in James I's reign. Anne's closest
confidant was Sarah Churchill, who exerted great influence over the king.
Sarah's husband was the Duke of Marlborough, who masterly led the English to
several victories in the War of Spanish Succession. Anne and Sarah were
virtually inseparable: no king's mistress had ever wielded the power granted to
the duchess, but Sarah became too confident in her position. She developed an
overbearing demeanor towards Anne, and berated the Queen in public. In the
meantime, Tory leaders had planted one Abigail Hill in the royal household to
capture Anne's need for sympathy and affection. As Anne increasingly turned to
Abigail, the question of succession rose again, pitting the Queen and the
Marlborough against each other in a heated debate. The relationship of Anne and
the Churchill's fell asunder. Marlborough, despite his war record, was
dismissed from public service and Sarah was shunned in favor of Abigail.
Many of the internal conflicts in English society were
simply the birth pains of the two-party system of government. The Whig and Tory
Parties, fully enfranchised by the last years of Anne's reign, fought for
control of Parliament and influence over the Queen. Anne was torn personally as
well as politically by the succession question: her Stuart upbringing compelled
her to choose as heir her half-brother, the Old Pretender and favorite of the
Tories, but she had already elected to side with Whigs when supporting Mary and
William over James II. In the end, Anne abided by the Act of Settlement, and
the Whigs paved the way for the succession of their candidate, George of
Hanover.
Anne's reign may be considered successful, but
somewhat lackluster in comparison to the rest of the Stuart line. 1066 and All
That, describes her with its usual tongue-in-cheek manner: "Finally the
Orange... was succeeded by the memorable dead queen, Anne. Queen Anne was
considered rather a remarkable woman and hence was usually referred to as Great
Anna, or Annus Mirabilis. The Queen had many favourites (all women), the most
memorable of whom were Sarah Jenkins and Mrs Smashems, who were the first wig
and the first Tory... the Whigs being the first to realize that the Queen had
been dead all the time chose George I as King."
THE HANOVERIANS
The Hanoverians came to power in difficult
circumstances that looked set to undermine the stability of British society.
The first of their Kings, George I, was only 52nd in line to the throne, but
the nearest Protestant according the Act of Settlement. Two descendants of
James II, the deposed Stuart King, threatened to take the throne and were
supported by a number of 'Jacobites' throughout the realm.
The Hanoverian period for all that, was remarkably
stable, not least because of the longevity of its Kings. From 1714 through to
1837, there were only five, one of whom, George III, remains the longest
reigning King in British History. The period was also one of political stability,
and the development of constitutional monarchy. For vast tracts of the
eighteenth century politics were dominated by the great Whig families, while
the early nineteenth century saw Tory domination. Britain's first 'Prime'
Minister, Robert Walpole, dates from this period, while income tax was
introduced. Towards the end of the reign, the Great Reform Act was passed,
which amongst other things widened the electorate.
It was in this period that Britain came to acquire
much of her overseas Empire, despite the loss of the American colonies, largely
through foreign conquest in the various wars of the century. At the end of the
Hanoverian period the British empire covered a third of the globe while the
theme of longevity was set to continue, as the longest reigning monarch in
British history, Queen Victoria, prepared to take the throne.
THE
HANOVERIANS
1714 - 1837
GEORGE
I = Sophia
Dorothea, dau. of Duke of Brunswick and Celle
(1714–1727)
GEORGE II =
Caroline, dau. of Margrave of
(1727–1760) Brandenburg-Anspach
Augusta
of = Frederick Lewis,
Saxe-Gotha-Altenberg Prince of Wales
GEORGE III = Sophia Charlotte of
(1760–1820) Mecklenburg-Strelitz
GEORGE IV
WILLIAM IV Edward, = Victoria
(1820–1830)
(1830–1837) Duke of Kent of
Saxe-Coburg
VICTORIA
(1837–1901)
GEORGE I (1714-27)
George I was born March 28, 1660, son of Ernest,
Elector of Hanover and Sophia, granddaughter of James I. He was raised in the
royal court of Hanover, a German province, and married Sophia, Princess of
Zelle, in 1682. The marriage produced one son (the future George II) and one
daughter (Sophia Dorothea, who married her cousin, Frederick William I, King of
Prussia). After ruling England for thirteen years, George I died of a stroke on
a journey to his beloved Hanover on October 11, 1727.
Ñòðàíèöû: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
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