User:Harrias/Oxford Parliament 1644
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The Oxford Parliament (also known as the King's Oxford Parliament or Mongrel Parliament) was the
In 1642, Charles fled London and declared war on parliament. He subsequently established himself in Oxford, where he attempted to set up an alternative administrative centre to London. In December 1643, he sent a summons to the members of the Long Parliament, offering a pardon to any who would meet in a new parliament in Oxford. During the early sitting of the parliament, it engaged in a war of words with prominent
Despite accepting the King's invitation, many of the MPs in Oxford were still wary of his plans, particularly in the areas of religion and Ireland, and were less pliable than Charles had hoped. The Oxford Parliament was adjourned for six months from April until October 1644, and when it returned the King had three of its peers arrested due to their insistence on calling for peace. Charles wearied of the parliament, which he described as "our mongrel parliament" in a letter to his wife, and adjourned it for the final time on 10 March 1645.
Background
Build-up to the Civil War
Throughout the reign of King Charles I, he had a fractious relationship with parliament. He called and dismissed three separate parliaments between 1625 and 1628, and then embarked on an eleven-year period of Personal Rule, during which he governed without parliament. In 1640, a severe lack of money to fund his wars led Charles to call parliament once again, but the Short Parliament only lasted three weeks before being dismissed. The King's financial situation worsened further, and in November 1640 the Long Parliament convened.[1] This new parliament was no more amenable towards Charles, and passed a series of Acts placing limits on the King.[2]
There was a growing worry within parliament, particularly amongst the more radical
Charles had maintained some support within parliament; the Grand Remonstrance had only passed by eleven votes,
Establishing Oxford as an alternative to London
After his declaration of war in Nottingham, Charles had settled in Oxford, which he established as the de facto Royalist capital of England. Alongside the royal court, a mint, law courts and the exchequer were set up in the city.[10] Charles felt that "there was too much honour done to those rebels at Westminster, by his mentioning them as part of the parliament," and wanted to dissolve the Long Parliament. When he approached Hyde about the matter, Hyde suggested that doing so would be counterproductive, as it would lead people to worry that if the King was willing to ignore the "Act against Dissolving the Long Parliament without its own Consent" passed with Royal assent in 1641, then he might also ignore other legislation.[11] He also pointed out that it was unlikely to stop parliament from meeting, and was more likely to draw people to parliament's cause.[12] Instead, Hyde hoped to find a moderate centre-ground between the two sides, and initially proposed inviting MPs to join the Royalists, offering a royal pardon and protection. A declaration was made in June 1643, and was open for ten days to all except 13 commoners and 5 peers.[9] Amongst those who defected were the Earl of Bedford and the Earl of Holland, but the pair were coldly received.[8]
Hyde developed the idea of inviting MPs to sit as a parliament in Oxford, aiming to demonstrate that defections from the Parliamentarian side to the Royalists would be better supported.[8] He also hoped that such a move would restrict the influence and legitimacy of the Westminster parliament, casting them as rebels allied with the invading Scots.[9]
Parliament
All members of the Long Parliament were summoned by King Charles to assemble for a session of Parliament to be held at Christ Church Hall, Oxford. Eighty-two peers, which was most of the House of Lords, and 175 commoners, which was about one-third of the House of Commons, heeded the summons and came. Sir Sampson Eure was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons.[13]
The Parliament met a number of times during the English Civil War and was seen by Charles as a way of raising revenue. However, some of the members defected back to Westminster because they did not like his alliance with Irish Catholics, and others argued strongly for a negotiated peace with the Long Parliament in Westminster Hall.
The first session lasted from 22 January 1644 until 16 April 1644. The second session was from 8 October 1644 until 10 March 1645.
Not much is known of its proceedings because all its records were burnt just before Oxford fell to Parliamentary forces in 1646.
Aftermath
See also
- List of Parliaments of England
- Oxford Parliament (1258)
- Oxford Parliament (1681)
References
- ^ Bleiberg & Soergel 2005, pp. 344–348.
- ^ "The Long Parliament". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ a b "The breakdown of 1641–2". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ Smith 1994, p. 171.
- ^ Bennett 2005, p. xii.
- ^ a b Congleton 2011, p. 314.
- ^ Hardacre 1956, p. 17.
- ^ a b c Seaward 2008.
- ^ a b c Hopper 2012, p. 45.
- ^ Chance et al. 1979.
- ^ Wormald 1989, p. 130.
- ^ Craik & Macfarlane 1841, p. 312.
- ^ 'Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714: Eade-Eyton', Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714: Abannan-Kyte (1891), pp. 440-479. Date accessed: 29 April 2011
Bibliography
- Bennett, Martyn (2005). The Civil Wars Experienced: Britain and Ireland, 1638–1661. London: ISBN 0-203-98180-4.
- Bleiberg, Edward; Soergel, Philip, eds. (2005). "The English Civil Wars". Arts and Humanities Through the Eras. Vol. 5: The Age of the Baroque and Enlightenment 1600–1800. ISBN 978-0-787-65697-3.
- Chance, Eleanor; Colvin, Christina; Cooper, Janet; Day, C. J. (1979). "Early Modern Oxford". A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4, the City of Oxford. London: Victoria County History. p. 74–180. ISBN 978-0-19722-714-5– via British History Online.
- Congleton, Roger D (2011). Perfecting Parliament: Constitutional Reform, Liberalism, and the Rise of Western Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-76460-5.
- OCLC 963597589.
- Hardacre, Paul H (1956). The Royalists during the Puritan Revolution. Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 978-94-017-4563-5.
- Hopper, Andrew (2012). Turncoats and Renegadoes: Changing Sides during the English Civil Wars. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-957585-5.
- Seaward, Paul (2008) [2004]. "Hyde, Edward, first earl of Clarendon". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14328. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Smith, David L (1994). Constitutional Royalism and the Search for Settlement, c.1640–1649. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-41056-8.
- Wormald, B. H. G. (1989) [1951]. Clarendon: Politics, History and Religion 1640–1660. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37084-1.