It's back to England. Yippee!! If you'll remember, Elizabeth I just died off and guess what? We're out of Tudors now! But–remember Henry VIII had a sister (Margaret Tudor) who married the king of Scotland (James IV). They had James V whose daughter was Mary Stuart who would have been Queen instead of Elizabeth if everyone was Catholic! Mary Stuart a.k.a. Mary, Queen of Scots had a son who was king of Scotland (James VI of Scotland) by this time. In 1603 (upon Elizabeth's death), he also became James I of England. So, he is both James VI of Scotland and James I of England. The English didn't really care just so there was a smooth transition of power and no civil wars! James blew his popularity. First, he's a foreigner. (Can't trust them, you know!) He didn't look like a king. He had a stumbling gait. His mouth didn't fit right so he drooled a lot. He lacked practicality. He was named by those not near and dear to him as "the wisest fool in Christendom." He was very pleased to get out of Scotland (it's not the French Riviera!). He wasn't liked by the Presbyterians of Scotland whom he considered a bunch of hot-eyed fanatics (which they may have been). There was a plot November 5, 1605, to blow him up along with Parliament (called the Gunpowder Plot–this day is celebrated annually as Guy Fawkes Day–Guy Fawkes was the man who was going to light the fuse). The Calvinists in England were Puritans (wanted to purify the doctrine). But since James had had bad experiences with the Calvinists in Scotland (Presbyterians!), he cracked down on al religious minorities and the Puritans escaped to the USA. James I likes Anglicanism (not fanatical) better, so he sticks to Elizabeth's established religion. This settles the religion question for the time being. It has lasted two reigns, so they are stuck with Anglicanism.
James was not used to English ways He wasn't used to trials or people (i.e. peasants) having rights. He thought kings were above the law (Divine Right of Kings–kings get their right to rule from God and only God can take it from them!). He thought rebellion against a king was never justified. If you were living under a cruddy king, it must be cuz God was punishing you. This idea was out of practice in England for a long time before James ever got there. If you remember, Parliament was just waiting for Elizabeth to die to glom onto more power. So they wouldn't pass taxes without James giving up some stuff. The only impressive thing James did was cause a new translation of the Bible in 1611 (you've heard of the King James Version of the Bible?–it's the one that people always want to hear at Christmas cuz it sounds so neat–full of thee's and thou's but at least more modern than what they had.). The language is Shakespearean. Shakespeare did most of his writing during James I's reign.
James died off in 1625 and next came his second son, Charles I. James I's elder son, Henry, had died before this. Charles I was handsome, industrious, and impractical. It didn't help matters than he had just married the French princess, Henrietta Maria (who was Roman Catholic), which made the English Protestants more than a little nervous. He didn't understand England (he also was in Scotland as a kid). Parliament was lying in wait for him. Parliament wanted control of foreign policy, control of royal marriages, and control of the religion. The king refused these powers so Parliament wouldn't pass taxes. There is a firm rule in England: No taxes can be passed without Parliament's ok. The king disbanded Parliament and didn't call them into session for 11 years. In the 1630's, Charles I was trying to make Scotland more like England and tried to force the Anglican religion on them (a less fanatical religion!!). Scotland was rebelling and invading England. Charles called Parliament twice in 1640 (the Short Parliament from April to May followed by the Long Parliament later in the year) to obtain money to use against Scotland and Parliament still wouldn't give him the money even though it was embarrassing to be invaded by Scotland. Beginning in 1640 with the calling of the Long Parliament, there was a Civil War between Charles I and Parliament about who was going to run the country. The conservatives tended to support the king and the middle class supported Parliament. Nobody paid any attention to the lower class. The North and West were conservative; the South and East were liberal. The liberals had London, more people, more money, and the navy. The king won the 1st battle cuz he had the best army but he didn't march to London.
Oliver Cromwell was on Parliament's side. He was a Puritan, member of Parliament, and a farmer type. He'd never fought in any war before but he noticed that the king had better cavalry. He asked permission to go home and raise a cavalry unit at his own expense (hard to refuse). He picked religious fanatical horsemen who thought the king was evil (not just wrong, but EVIL). Cromwell gave them sermons before battle to really get them going. They won the next battle. (You should have seen them go into battle, glaring at the other side led by the devil, i.e. Charles I, probably singing "Onward Christian Soldiers.") The army of the liberals kept getting more fanatical. They got pistols, too. Cromwell becomes the general and never loses a battle.
Cromwell won and captured the king. Parliament used to be Anglican (majority–they were nobles and left Parliament to support the king), Presbyterians, and Puritans. The Anglicans lost their jobs when they lost the civil war. The Puritans and Presbyterians don't really get along because the Puritans want independent churches. The king drives a wedge between these two factions and gets the Scottish all upset again. The king tried to bribe the Presbyterians to give him back his power and then he'd make everyone Presbyterian. Charles I went to Scotland, raised troops and started the war all over again. This time it was the Presbyterians and Scotland versus the Puritans in England. After Cromwell won again, the king was charged with treason and beheaded in 1649. Europe was in shock over the beheading of a monarch!
Ireland was revolting during the Civil War. They were backwards and always lost. The Irish aren't human beings to the English. Cromwell went to Ireland to "pacify" them. There are certain rules of warfare: if the wall of a walled town is breeched it is the moral obligation of the attacking army to send someone into the town to ask if they will surrender. Towns should surrender in this case. If the towns refuse, every killing is really the town's fault. If the town won't surrender, the call of "No Quarter" goes out, which means they take no prisoners and kill everyone. Cromwell slaughtered 2 towns who wouldn't surrender. The Irish never let the English forget this! They even saved rubble from the two towns to remember the slaughters by. If mad, the Irish will often say, "The curse of Cromwell on you!" Now the Irish hate the English even more than they did at the beginning of this revolt.
England was weak in foreign policy and trade cuz the civil war took up their time. The English have colonies which trade tobacco. The English had been distracted, so the Dutch had taken over trade with the English colonies with a carrying trade. Since the English didn't have time, the Dutch offered to carry goods back and forth for a small fee. It violated mercantilism but the English said ok. But when the English started pulling everything together again, they wanted their trade and the colonies back. Cromwell passed the 1st Navigation Act which stated that English goods had to be carried on English ships with English crews. Since the English colonies were English, after all, this legislation included them. You might remember this all from American History. Anyway, the Dutch declared war and lost–they didn't have the stuff to take on England.
So, now what's the government? The Anglicans and Presbyterians were gone from Parliament. It was called the Rump Parliament (only old Puritans left). Army dispelled the Rump Parliament. Now, what should they do? There are still mostly Anglicans in England, who would vote out the Puritans who just won the war and pass anti-Puritan laws (not very friendly!). Everybody thought Jesus was coming again. There were a lot of odd little sects at this time. The Diggers were planting potatoes in the name of Jesus. Fifth Monarchists thought that Charles I was the Fifth Monarch so Jesus would be coming back soon. Somebody came up with the idea of the Nominated Parliament. Every Puritan church should nominate somebody for Parliament, and of course, since the most known and trusted person in a church is the minister, the ministers were nominated to Parliament. The ministers are more fanatical than anyone and won't budge at all. They thought their job was to get ready for the 2nd Coming of Christ. They didn't get anything done except sitting around and praying and passing religious laws. Really bad form of government. The Nominated Parliament was also known as the Little Parliament or Barebone's Parliament (a derisive nickname it acquired–one of the parliament's members was named Praisegod Barebone). They were dispelled in December of 1653 (they had only been in existence since April of that year). Cromwell refused the crown but accepted the title of Lord Protector of England (i.e. dictator). He died in 1658. Actually, he was a good man. He raised the greatest cavalry. He didn't persecute Catholics which would have been very easy to do during this time period. He was practical but he was forced to deal with the Puritans who were always too fanatical. There was a wild storm the night of Oliver Cromwell's death. After his death, they tried to follow his son Richard, but Richard was basically a farmer type and couldn't cope with leading a nation. Richard was known as "Tumble-Down Dick." In general, the government during the time period from 1649 to 1660 was called the Commonwealth. Everyone realizes that Richard is not going to work. Oliver Cromwell was special and really hard to replace. Now, they realize that they need a king to make the government go. They finally ask the son of the former king to rule in 1660, even though they are pretty sure he is going to persecute the Puritans, etc. for killing his father.