Charles I of England - Second Bishops' War

Second Bishops' War

Charles collectively summoned both English and Irish parliaments in the early months of 1640. In March 1640, the Irish Parliament duly voted in a subsidy of £180,000 with the promise to raise an army 9,000 strong by the end of May. However, in the English General Election in March, court candidates fared badly, and Charles's dealings with the English Parliament in April quickly reached stalemate. Northumberland and Strafford together attempted to reach a compromise whereby the king would agree to forfeit Ship Money in exchange for £650,000 (although the coming war was estimated at around £1 million). Nevertheless, this alone was insufficient to produce consensus in the Commons. The Parliamentarians' calls for further reforms were ignored by Charles, who still maintained the support of the House of Lords. Despite the protests of Northumberland, Parliament was dissolved in May 1640, less than a month after it assembled, thus causing it to be known as the "Short Parliament".

By this stage Thomas Wentworth, created Earl of Strafford and elevated to Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in January 1640, had emerged as Charles's right hand man and together with Laud, pursued a policy of 'Thorough' in support of absolute monarchy. Although originally a major critic of the king, Strafford defected to royal service in 1628 (due in part to Buckingham's persuasion), and had since emerged as the most capable of Charles's ministers. Having trained up a large army in Ireland in support of the king and seriously weakened the authority of the Irish Parliament, particularly those members of parliament belonging to the Old English, Strafford had been instrumental in obtaining an independent source of both royal revenue and forces within the three kingdoms. As the Scottish Parliament declared itself capable of governing without the king's consent and, in September 1640, moved into Northumberland under the leadership of Montrose, Strafford was sent north to command the English forces following Northumberland's illness. The Scottish soldiery, many of whom were veterans of the Thirty Years' War, had far greater morale and training compared to their English counterparts, and met virtually no resistance until reaching Newcastle where, at the Battle of Newburn, Newcastle upon Tyne – and hence England's coal supply – fell into the hands of the Covenanter forces. At this critical juncture, the English host based at York was unable to mount a counterattack because Strafford was incapacitated by a combination of gout and dysentery.

On 24 September Charles took the unusual step of summoning the magnum concilium, the ancient council of all the Peers of the Realm, who were considered the King's hereditary counsellors, who recommended making peace with the Scots and the recalling of Parliament. A cessation of arms, although not a final settlement, was agreed in the humiliating Treaty of Ripon, signed October 1640. The treaty stated that the Scots would continue to occupy Northumberland and Durham and be paid £850 per day, until peace was restored and the English Parliament recalled (which would be required to raise sufficient funds to pay the Scottish forces).

Consequently, in November Charles summoned what was later to become known as the Long Parliament. Of the 493 MPs of the Commons, 399 were opposed to the king, and Charles could count on only 94 for support.