Episode 460: The Bishops War

Any attempt to curb his power he considered to be treachery, and he believed that if he made any compromise or accommodation, he would be fatally weakened in his position. In response, the Commissioners, again who are basically the government of Scotland back in Edinburgh, representing all the petitioners, drew up a national covenant in which the precepts of the former Scottish

religion were re established. Among its declarations was one that the innovations of the New Prayer Book quote do sensibly tend to the re establishing of the Popish religion and tyranny, and to the subversion and ruin of the true Reformed religion and our liberties, laws and estates end quote. The people in truth were not rebelling against the King per se, but at the alliance of secular and religious authority that, at least in their minds, he had come to represent.

Now the people of Scotland took their lead from the inhabitants of Edinburgh and signed the Covenant in the hundreds of thousands, declaring that they would rather die than accept the new liturgy. Many of the orthodox Scottish bishops fled to England. The response to all of this across Europe was mixed. Richelieu back in France, was inclined to support and even aid the Scottish rebels, on the grounds that

trouble for the English king was always welcome. In turn, Charles did not wish the world to believe that his authority had been spurned by some of his subjects, especially because all his life he feared looking weak. When the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland met in Glasgow Cathedral toward the end of November, the bishops were charged with violating the boundaries of their proper authority. The voting, of course, went very much against the orders and wishes

of the King. For the next three weeks, the delegates assembled there revised the whole form of the Scottish faith which have been imposed upon them. That or jeep was banned and abolished. The bishops who had been in charge of doing that were excommunicated, and the King's writ of law no longer ran in Scotland. As a consequence, the preparations for war on both sides intensified. The Lord's Lieutenant of counties were ordered to organize and exercise their local

militias in readiness for combat. The leaders of the Scots in turn divided their country into seven military regions from which recruits would be taken. The commissioners also requested that the Scottish mercenaries fighting for the cause of Protestantism in Germany should come home to fight in this war. Truly, the clouds of rebellion and war had begun to gather. At the beginning of sixteen thirty nine, King Charles sent out a summons for the soldiers of the Kingdom of

England to meet him at York. The peers of the Realm were ordered to appear in person, together with their retinues, all of which befetted their status. It didn't go well. The men for example, raised from Herefordshire, attacked and wounded their officers, betore returning to their towns and villages. Other conscripts proceeded to pillage the hamlets through which they passed. They tore down hated enclosures and parceled up previously common land.

They set fire to the jails and freed the prisoners, many of whom had been detained for refusing to pay local royal taxes. They attacked the undergraduates of Oxford University, and the more precise of them attacked the altars and communion rails of the churches. They were, as one Royalist commander, Lord Conway put it, quote more fit for Bedlam or bridewell end quote than the King's service. Even many of the peers of the realm refused to show up. Many

pleaded sickness. They realized if the king lost, their lands and even their lives might not be spared by the Scots, and if he won and Charles became supreme, their liberties would be further at risk. Many believed that the war was being fought on behalf of the Episcopal church and lawd and that his principal aim was to restore the bishops to their authority in Scotland, and so the war became known as the Bellum episcopal or the Bishop's War,

and all the more hated because of it. Yet, truly, the war was all the more hated because it was a break with the past. For the last almost ten years England had been at peace. Things had gone well for the nation during this period of personal rule. Now it was all coming crashing down. And it was the resentment of this, perhaps more than anything else, that would add fuel to the fire of everything that's going to come afterwards. And the long period of peace also meant

that basically the instruments of war had long been degraded. Swords, muskets, pikes, these were all tarnished, broken in disuse. Horses, in fact, those for war were in short supply. Now Charles went ahead anyway, and at the end of March sixteen thirty nine, the king rode into York to meet his army. Here he was graciously pleased to watch his cavaliers on their horses. The cavaliers were now a recognizable body of officers attached

to the King's cause. Some of them were already professional soldiers who had served in European wars, while others were the sons of gentlemen in search of martial glory. Many of them, however, would earn a reputation as perhaps brave men, but foolish ones, certainly anti Puritan bullies, given to heavy

consumption of alcohol and gambling. Now the king seems to have presumed, as the historian Clarendon put in his History of the Rebellion, that the calling together of the peers of the realm with their retinues meant that quote the glory of such a visible appearance of the whole nobility would at once terrify and reduce the Scots end quote. But if Charles's assumption was all he needed to do was show up with his army and the Scots would capitulate.

In that presumption, he was very very wrong. Now it was the talk of the city, and seems to have generally been agreed in York that the peers had now become martyrs to the King's will. Maybe Charles didn't understand the gravity of the situation, but those who were about to fight on his behalf they certainly did. On May the first, Charles and his army advanced to Durham, his envoys to Scotland, and now the commander of his ships, the Marquis of Hamilton, wrote to him that quote, your

Majesty's affairs are in a desperate condition. The enraged people here run to the height of rebellion and walk with a blind obedience, as by their traitorous leaders they are commanded. You will find it a work of great difficulty and a vast expense to curb them by force, their power being greater, their combination being stronger than can be imagined. End quote. The Marquis of Hamilton, who was actually himself a Scot, declared of Scotland quote next to hell, I

hate this land. End quote. Now, of course, the problem with all of this is that Charles couldn't afford a difficult war. In fact, Charles couldn't afford a war of any magnitude, and by the end of May, before his troops had practically even breached the Scottish border, the Treasurer announced that the revenue of the Realm had been entirely exhausted. Charles hadn't even fought a battle, and he was out of money. And the Scots, well, they were already on

the move. They had a formidable army assembled. At the beginning of June, the Scots set up arm camp at Kelso on the Scottish border. The King ordered the Earl of Holland to march three thousand men to the north and drive them out. Holland advanced, and he was about to order a charge when a cloud of dust could be seen approaching very quickly. This was taken as evidence of a larger Scottish army approaching, and so the English retreated in order. But the fiasco turned out to be

a double blow to the English forces. They had not only been humiliated by the Scots, but the Scottish Lord General Alexander Leslie, seemed to know in advance the movement of Holland's men. This suggests strongly that the English had at least one traitor in their mists. On June the fifth, Alexander Leslie arrived on the border the head of an army of twelve thousand men, camped about eleven miles from

the King's position. The King was at this point in no position to fight this Scottish army, and he had to bide time to prepare more fully for the war to come. The Scots, in turn, were reluctant to invade England. They feared that if they did so, they would simply arouse the nation and turn the people against them, who seemed to be honestly on their side. At this point, Parliament could be called if England was invaded, and then certainly the King would get everything that he wanted. It

could be a hard fight. So the conditions were honestly right on both sides for a truce and potentially at least a brief treaty. On June eleventh, six commissioners from the Scots and six commissioners from the King sat down together at Berwick in the tent of the Earl of Arundel, Charles himself eventually joining them. Now, at this point they agreed to a treaty, but it's often been written of this treaty that nobody meant what he said or said

what he meant. The treaty was merely a paper piece, and within six months the antagonists were preparing for a greater conflict. The First Bishop's War, a war without a single set piece battle, had technically come to an end. Charles the First had hoped to lead a glittering army to victory, but had instead been forced to come to terms with a people that had, to all intents and purposes,

become a separate nation beyond his power to command. So he disbanded the army now that he had assembled, without thinking of any of his commanders or how to properly disband its men. Its commanders had undergone the sacrifice of bringing up their men, without giving any honors to their faithful followers. The Earl of Essex, one of the great nobles whom the King distrusted, was dismissed without a word. Soon enough, he would become one of the principal opponents

of the king in the civil war to come. Meanwhile, the propaganda war continued. The Scottish Covenanters proclaimed that in maintaining their own rights, they were also fighting for English liberties. They insinuated that the proscription or exclusion of their religion would ineffably lead to the destruction of the cause of Puritanism also in England, and there were many who agreed with them. The king had also lost authority on the

high seas. In the autumn of sixteen thirty nine, a Spanish fleet had been discovered at the Channel by a Dutch squadron and after a hot pursuit, took refuge in the Downs off the coast of Kent. Charles offered for a large sum to take the Spaniards under his protection and convey them to the coast of Flanders, but the Dutch were unwilling to give up the chase, and with reinforcements, they attacked the Spanish vessels and sank many of them.

The English fleet, under the command of Viceroy Admiral Pennington, merely looked on as the security of the home waters of England was thoroughly violated by two different countries. The sea road to Dover was known as quote the King of England's Imperial Chamber, but the king had failed to

protect it. The paralysis of Charles was a part of a much wider problem of foreign policy, where because Charles had no money and was now preoccupied by the problem of Scotland, he was obliged to just try to play one party off against the other in the hope of something working out. France, Holland and Spain had to be appeased equally, and there was only so long that Charles could pull off this dance before they realized the Emperor

has no clothes. On the twenty seventh of July, just before he left Berwick, Charles had summoned an emissary sent by Sir Thomas Wentworth from Ireland. They held a long and secret conversation on matters that the King would not confide to paper. Wentworth had already told the King that he should conclude an armistice and postpone any attack upon the Scots until he was quite certain that he could

defeat them. Charles now merely sent the message to the Lord Deputy saying, quote, come when you will, and you shall be welcome end quote. The King was already scheming. Wentworth urged Charles to take the affairs of Scotland into his own hands, and in addition, to call Parliament in order to be supplied with funds. The King, of course distrusted and even despised the members of Parliament, but Wentworth believed that he could organize a court party which would

be able to out maneuver any opposition. If the Members of Common did not grant his demands in the face of obvious danger from the Scots, then the world would know who to blame. Now. As a consequence, at the end of sixteen thirty nine, two important things happen. Parliament was summoned and Wentworth was named the Earl of Stratford,

which is how I referred him from now on. The King's councilors believed that the newly elected Parliament, shocked by what had happened in Scotland, would rally around the King. Now in this election for Parliament, only sixty two of the parliamentary elections were contested. Other candidates were selected by the principal landowners in the county and by the municipal corporations of the towns and cities, which shows you that

there was some expectation that parliament would be planned. Still, unfortunately, the outcomes from these elections were not positive. It has been estimated that of the sixty or so candidates nominated or supported by the Court faction, only fourteen were successful. It'd be fair to say, however, that the majority of

those elected were not partisan in any obvious sense. They were individuals who came to Westminster with a sense of local complaints, and who, when congregated together, might find that they had grievances in common. That was the most that could be expected. Preparations for another war against Scotland were actually already afoot. It was intended to press into service thirty thousand foot soldiers from counties south of the Umber River,

the northern counties having given service in the last war. Meanwhile, the Covenanters were equally active in Scotland, where a call to arms was about to be issued. It did not seem possible that war could be avoided, and so the newly elected Parliament opened on April thirteenth, sixteen forty, in an era of great excitement. A bill had already been prepared with all the relevant measures in place, and it was only necessary for Parliament to pass it and the

war with Scotland would begin. It was declared that then and only then, after they had passed the essential bill, would the grievances of the individual members of Parliament be discussed. Unfortunately, Parliament had a different plan. On the first day of the session, the Earl of Northumberland wrote that quote there,

and we're talking about members of Parliament. Jealousies and suspicions appear on every occasion, and I fear they will not readily be persuaded to believe the fair and gracious comments and promises made to them by the king end quote. And so it was on April seventeenth that a member of Parliament stood really for the first major time, to speak on the nature of parliamentary authority. His name was John him he's going to be important in our story

from here on out, so don't forget his name. He declared that quote, the powers of Parliament are to the body politic as the rational faculties of the soul to man end quote. On the twenty first of April, the King summoned both houses of Parliament to Whitehall and demanded

the financial subsidies be granted to him. Two days later, the Commons went into committee and requested a conference with the Lords on the grounds that quote, until the liberties of the House and Kingdom are cleared, they knew not whether they had anything to give or know end quote.

Charles was furious at this clear act of defiance. On May the first, the Commons decided by a large majority to call before them at cleric, who had stated that the King had the authority to make laws without parliament. This was considered by Charles's court yet another act of insubordination. On the following day, the Kingdom manned an immediate answer to his request for money, he was met with yet

again more prevarication. On May the fourth, Charles sent another message in which he agreed to give up the collection of ship money in the future in return for twelve subsidies amounting to approximately eight hundred and fifty thousand pounds. The Committee of the Commons again broke up without reaching

any definitive conclusions. One of the royal councilors, Sir Henry Vane, told the King that there was no hope that they would quote give one penny and now here I want to quote directly from Peter Aykroyd in his book Rebellion Quote. It had become apparent, at least to the court party, that the Commons had no real desire to support the King's war against Scotland. It might even have supposed that

they were leaning towards the Scottish covenanters. The King had asked for supplies five times, and five times had been rebuffed. He had twice appeared in person, to no palpable effect. He had tried to negotiate, but his offers had been rejected with silence. He had pressed for speed in their decisions, with the possibility of an immediate invasion from the north,

but Parliament had been dilatory and evasive end quote. Now, Rumors reached the King at this point that a petition was being drawn up by Parliament at the influence of John Pim asking him to come to terms with the Scots, and so he summoned the Speaker of Parliament and forbid him to take his place on the following day, thus avoiding the possibility of any debate, because you can't debate

without the speaker in his chair. He then hurried to the lords and on May the fifth summarily dissolve parliament. This has become known in history as the stillborn, or more often short Parliament. One newly elected member of Parliament, Edward Hyde, who would later become known as Lord Clarendon, was furious. He supported the King, but he just didn't

know what the future would hold for him. He wrote later that one of the leaders of the parliamentary revolt all over Sinjin, bid him be of good comfort, for things would have to get worse before they got better. But there was another member of Parliament there that day that's worth reflecting on. For the first time this man came into the House of Parliament that same year, Sir Philip Warwick wrote of him, quote, I perceived a gentleman

whom I knew not very ordinarily appareled. For it was plain cloth suit that seemed to have been made by an ill country tailor. His linen was plaid and not very clean. I remember a speck or two of blood upon the little band, which was not much larger than his collar. His hat was without a hat band. His stature was of good size, his swords stuck close to his side, his countenance swollen and reddish, his voice sharp

and untuneable, his eloquence full of fervor. Quote. The young man who is described here in this image is a young man named Oliver Cromwell. You're going to want to

remember that name too. On the afternoon of the Disillusion, the King's Council met, in which the newly ennobled Earl of Stratford, according to notes taken at the time, advise the King to quote go on with a vigorous war as you first designed, loosed and absolved from all rules of government, being reduced to the extreme necessities, everything is to be done that power must admit end quote, And he reminded him quote, you have an army in Ireland

you may employ here to reduce this kingdom. End quote. The Earl of Stratford is going to come to regret that, because it was left unclear as to which kingdom he was talking about, England or Scotland. Now, many in London elsewhere were ready to condemn the king and his counselors principle among them, of course, Stratford and the Archbishop Loud.

On the seventh of May, two days after the disillusion of Parliament, the Lord Mayor of London and his Aldermen were summoned before the Council in order to provide the King with a forced loan of two hundred thousand pounds. If they refused, they were to return three days later with a list of the wealthiest Londoners who could then furnish the funds. On May tenth, they came back with no list, and ultimately the King did not execute the

four aldermen, but did commit them to prison. This added more fuel to the fire that was about to break out on the streets. A force of five hundred people attempted on the night of May eleventh to storm the Archbishop's palace. The protesters were often driven off, but it was the beginning, not the end of the confrontations. The anger against the archbishop was augmented by the deliberations of

a convocation going on at the same time. It turns out, of course, this body of high clergy also met always met at the time of Parliament, but on this occasion it wasn't dissolved after the abrupt conclusion of the short session. It continued to meet, granted a subsidy to the King, and announced seventeen new canons that exalted the sovereign's power. It was ordered that four times each year the clergy should preach to their congregation on the theme of divine

right of kings. It was further declared that all of the clergy must take an oath to maintain both the doctrine and discipline of the Church, and not to allow any alteration in its government by archbishops, bishop's deans, anyone's. This became known derisively as the etc Oath. How could clerics obey a ruling of which the contents were so uncertain without the assent of Parliament? In any case, everyone

believed that these decrees were simply illegal. When the Chancellor of the Bishop of London entered one church to exact the oath with a great mace carried before him. Passerby stopped him with the words quotes I cared nothing for you nor for your art to choke. The Scots heard

of the news in England, and they were ecstatic. A parliament met in Edinburgh, its members now believing that the people of England were no longer inclined to support their king, and so they passed into law a number of acts without royal assent. It was, in essence a declaration of war. Yet what could Charles do. He had formed no fresh army, and the troops still courted at Newcastle after the last conflict were untrained and impoverished. Once more, the king demanded

ship money from London. The sheriffs went from house to house to exact the tax, but crazily, and this is true, only one man in all of the city of London agreed to pay it. Schemes for loans that they might get from France and from the bankers at Genoa ultimately came to nothing. The laborers and craftsmen of England were again pressed into service in the King's army for a

cause about which they knew or cared very little. News of the disorder came from most of the southern counties, and one of the first open mutinies broke out in Warwickshire. Some of the men of Devon, stopping at Wellington, murdered a Roman Catholic lieutenant who refused to accompany them to church.

When all of these unlikely and unwilling recruits finally arrived in North Yorkshire, their commander described them as the quote arch naves of the country, and so rather inauspiciously began the Second Bishops War.