England in the seventeenth century (1603-1702).

England in the 1^st half of the century. Elizabeth I never married and had no children. But her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, whom she had executed for treason in 1587, was the mother of James VI of Scotland. When Elizabeth died in 1603, the Scottish king also became king of England as James I. The two kingdoms kept their own laws and parliaments. A new national flag, the Union Flag, symbolized the union. This flag, which was adopted in 1606, combined the English flag of St. George with the Scottish flag of St. Andrew.

James I faced many difficulties. The Roman Catholics tried to regain the influence that it had had before Elizabeth I's reign. In 1605, a group of extremist Roman Catholics tried to kill James and the Members of Parliament. Their conspiracy is known as the Gunpowder Plot. The Puritans (strict Protestants) also opposed James I. They wished to reform the Church of England to remove the ritual practices that had remained in its services after its break with Rome.

Puritan members of Parliament continually sought religious changes unacceptable to James. Parliament also wanted a greater share in the government. James denied its requests, claiming divine right(authority direct from God).

English sailors made further voyages of discovery. William Baffin and Henry Hudson sailed into the frozen north of Canada, where several geographical features still bear their names. The first permanent English colony, Jamestown, in Virginia, was founded in 1607. Another successful English colony was established about 1612 on the island of Bermuda in the North Atlantic.

Plymouth, in Massachusetts, was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrim Fathers. The Pilgrim Fathers were English Puritans who sailed in the ship Mayflower to seek a place where they could worship freely.

After Charles I became king in 1625, the dispute between the Crown and Parliament worsened. In 1628, Parliament angered Charles by passing a Petition of Right. This laid down the areas of government in which Parliament sought control. From 1629 to 1640, Charles ruled without Parliament. He raised taxes in various ways, including some that many people thought illegal. He levied on all parts of the country a tax called ship money, ostensibly to pay for the rebuilding of the navy.

Charles supported the religious policy of William Laud, who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633. Laud punished clergymen who refused to use the official Prayer Book. This action caused many Puritans to follow the Pilgrim Fathers to North America.

In 1637, Charles and Laud attempted to make the Scottish Presbyterians use the Prayer Book. In 1638, thousands of Scots signed the Solemn League and Covenant, in which they promised to defend their religion. Charles sent an army into Scotland, but no fighting occurred. His ablest minister, the Earl of Strafford, then advised him to call a Parliament. This Parliament refused to grant Charles money, and he dismissed it immediately. It became known as the Short Parliament.

Charles raised another army, which was defeated by the Scots. He then called another Parliament, afterwards called the Long Parliament. This Parliament, led by the Puritan John Pym, continued to oppose Charles. It imprisoned and later executed both Strafford and Laud. It abolished the Court of Star Chamber, first set up by Henry VII and used by Charles against his opponents, and prohibited Charles from raising money without Parliament's permission. Charles reacted angrily to these moves, and in 1642, events moved rapidly towards the outbreak of the English Civil War in August.

The Civil War was fought between the Parliamentarians (supporters of Parliament) and the Royalists (supporters of Charles I). It proved an intensely bitter conflict that split communities and even families. Parliamentarians wished no harm to Charles. They merely wanted him to be reasonable and stop listening to bad advice from his counsellors. However, Charles would not betray his friends, and he let the war drag on. The decisive factor that brought his defeat was the rise of the New Model Army, a professional force that had as one of its commanders a Huntingdonshire landowner called Oliver Cromwell. Through the army's insistence, Charles was tried and executed in 1649.

Prince Charles, the son of King Charles I, had taken refuge in France in 1646. He returned to Britain to claim the monarchy. But Cromwell defeated him at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, and he fled abroad again.

The Commonwealth. After the execution of King Charles I, the monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished. A new kind of government called the Commonwealth was set up. Cromwell was the most powerful person in Britain because the army supported him. He wished to develop a new and permanent form of government. But he met much opposition. Cromwell suppressed a democratic group called the Levellers, and he used troops to dissolve the Long Parliament.

In 1653, the army set up a military dictatorship called the Protectorate. Cromwell became lord protector, but the House of Commons challenged his rule. In 1655, Cromwell dissolved Parliament, and for about a year, ruled through officers called major generals. Yet another Parliament, which was elected in 1656, was dissolved in 1658.

The Commonwealth government won successes overseas. It passed a Navigation Act in 1651, which ordered all imports to be carried in English ships or in ships of the country of origin. This brought war with the Dutch, who shipped goods for the commercial nations of the world. A war with Spain, about British rights to trade with Spanish colonies in America, lasted from 1655 to 1659. Jamaica was won from Spain and thereby became the first English colony to be taken in war. Cromwell's soldiers also carried on a ruthless campaign in Ireland.

Nevertheless, the Commonwealth remained unpopular with many people. The Puritans forbade people to use the Prayer Book. They also suppressed theatres, bear-baiting, and other amusements. People resented the army's rule and the heavy taxes imposed for its upkeep.

When Cromwell died in 1658, his son, Richard, became lord protector. But he soon resigned. General George Monk, military governor of Scotland, marched to London and recalled the Long Parliament. Parliament restored the monarchy, and Prince Charles returned to England to be crowned King Charles II in 1660.

The Restoration. Charles was a popular, pleasure-loving king. But Charles was also a man of culture and vision. Under his patronage, the Royal Society and Royal Observatory were founded, marking the beginning of modern science in Britain.

Charles II also helped to foster the more relaxed social atmosphere into which the country emerged after the restrictions of Puritanism were removed. London became a lively and colourful city. Theatres reopened. The first coffee houses appeared, and some of them developed into the first clubs. However, two successive disasters marred the gaiety: the Great Plague in 1665 and the Great Fire in 1666.

The reign of Charles II was a time of artistic, intellectual, and social development. More English colonies were established in North America. They included Pennsylvania, founded by the Quaker William Penn in 1682.

The state continued its hostility to Roman Catholics. In 1673, Parliament passed a Test Act, reserving official posts for members of the Church of England.

When Charles II died in 1685, James became king as James II. His Roman Catholicism caused a Protestant rising in the west to occur. The rebels wanted to depose James and make the Duke of Monmouth king. But Monmouth was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor and was later executed. James broke the law by appointing Roman Catholics to state and Church posts. He tried to win Puritan support by issuing a Declaration of Indulgence, ending discrimination against Roman Catholics and Puritans.

James had two Protestant daughters. Many members of Parliament felt that they could endure James, provided that one of his daughters succeeded him. But in 1688, James had a son, whom he planned to bring up as a Roman Catholic. This frightened some politicians. They invited the Dutch ruler William of Orange, husband of James II’s elder daughter, Mary, to invade Britain. William landed in Dorset and marched on London, where he was welcomed. James fled to France.

The Glorious Revolution. People called the events of 1688 the Glorious Revolution because the change of rulers came almost without bloodshed. Parliament made William and Mary joint rulers, as William III and Mary II. Parliament also passed the Bill of Rights, limiting royal power. This law forbade Roman Catholics to succeed to the throne and enforced frequent meetings of Parliament. Parliament also passed a Toleration Act, granting freedom of worship to Protestants outside the Church of England but not to Roman Catholics.

James led a rebellion against William in Ireland. But in 1690, William defeated James at the Battle of the Boyne. This event is still celebrated by Protestant Irish people nicknamed Orangemen (supporters of William of Orange). James fled back to France.

William IIIremained the ruler of the Netherlands. He sought to defend the Netherlands against France and enlisted England's support for an alliance called the League of Augsburg. The league fought France from 1689 to 1697 and saved the Netherlands. The English government's need for money in the war encouraged William Paterson to found the Bank of England in 1694. The Bank's subscribers lent the state 1,200,000 English pounds.

Mary II died in 1694, leaving William IIIno children to succeed him. In 1701, Parliament passed the Act of Settlement to ensure that future monarchs would be Protestants. According to the Act, if Mary's sister, Anne, had no surviving children at her death, the throne would pass to the Electress Sophia of Hanover, who was a granddaughter of James I, or to her heirs.

William died in 1702 and was succeeded by Anne.