Welcome to Unit AS 1: England 1603–1649
Welcome to your study notes for CCEA History AS Unit 1: Historical Investigations and Interpretations (Option 2: England 1603–1649)! Over this course, you will investigate one of the most dramatic periods in British history: a time when a king fought his own parliament, religious arguments tore communities apart, and England eventually did the unthinkable—put its own monarch on trial and executed him.
History at A Level is not about memorising endless lists of dates; it is about understanding why people acted the way they did, evaluating historical sources, and comparing different interpretations by historians. Don't worry if the politics or religious factions feel overwhelming at first—we will break down every single topic into bite-sized, easy-to-understand chunks with step-by-step guides, memory tricks, and exam tips.
Your AS 1 Exam at a Glance:
• Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes (60 marks total).
• Question 1 (Essay): A choice between 1(a) or 1(b) testing your historical knowledge and explanation skills (AO1).
• Question 2(a) (Primary Source Utility): You evaluate how useful a primary source is for an investigation using content, historical context, and provenance (author, date, purpose, tone) (AO2).
• Question 2(b) (Historical Interpretations): You compare two modern historians' arguments and judge which is more convincing using your own contextual knowledge (AO3 & AO1).
Chapter 1: James I and the Challenge of Rule (1603–1625)
1. King, Divine Right, and Parliament
When Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603 without children, King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne, becoming James I of England. James was experienced, intelligent, and loved theological debate, but he held a very high view of his royal authority.
The Core Belief: The Divine Right of Kings
James believed monarchs were appointed directly by God and were accountable only to God. He laid out these ideas in his writings, such as The Trew Law of Free Monarchies (1598) and Basilikon Doron. In his view, the Royal Prerogative gave him ultimate control over foreign policy, religion, and the calling of Parliament.
The Friction with Parliament:
Members of Parliament (MPs) did not want to overthrow the King, but they believed Parliament had ancient, protected rights known as Parliamentary Privileges (such as freedom of speech and freedom from arrest). When James suggested that their privileges existed only because of royal grace, clashes broke out:
• The Form of Apology and Satisfaction / Apology of the Commons (1604): MPs asserted that their privileges were a right, not a royal gift.
• The Protestation of 1621: MPs recorded their right to discuss foreign policy and royal marriages. James was so furious that he sent for the Commons Journal and physically tore the page out with his own hands before dissolving Parliament.
Everyday Analogy: Think of the relationship between James and Parliament like a joint household budget. James thought he was the sole parent who made all the final house rules, while Parliament thought of themselves as equal co-tenants whose agreement was legally required before any bills could be paid.
2. Financial Pressures and Strategies
James inherited a Crown debt of approximately £420,000 from Elizabeth I. Crown revenue was outdated, inflation was rising, and James was notoriously extravagant with court spending and gifts for his favourites.
Key Financial Measures & Clashes:
• Impositions & Bate’s Case (1606): John Bate refused to pay a royal duty on imported currants. The Court of Exchequer ruled in favour of the Crown, confirming the King's prerogative right to place extra customs duties (impositions) on trade.
• The Book of Rates (1608): Issued by Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, this updated and standardized customs duties across hundreds of goods to raise steady income.
• The Great Contract (1610): Salisbury proposed a major structural deal: Parliament would give the King a fixed annual grant of £200,000. In exchange, the King would surrender feudal dues (like wardship and purveyance). The plan failed because MPs feared giving the King financial independence, and James felt £200,000 was insufficient.
• Selling Titles & Monopolies: The Crown raised quick cash by selling crown lands and creating a new hereditary title, the Baronet (from 1611), sold to wealthy gentlemen.
• The Cockayne Project (1614): A disastrous plan by Alderman Cockayne to finish and dye raw English cloth at home before exporting it. The Dutch boycotted English finished cloth, trade collapsed, and the Crown lost massive customs revenue.
• Lionel Cranfield (Earl of Middlesex): Brought in later in James's reign, Cranfield successfully eliminated waste and cut royal household expenses.
3. Religious Divisions and Policies
England in 1603 was divided between three main groups: the Anglican Church of England (the broad middle ground), Puritans (strict Protestants who wanted to remove all Catholic traditions), and Catholics (who faced legal fines called recusancy fines).
Managing the Puritans:
• The Millenary Petition (1603): Presented by moderate Puritans asking for reforms in Church ceremony (e.g., ending the use of wedding rings and the sign of the cross in baptism).
• The Hampton Court Conference (1604): James debated Puritan representatives. When Puritans suggested replacing bishops with a Scottish-style presbyterian system, James snapped: "No Bishop, No King" (believing that getting rid of bishops would undermine his own royal hierarchy). However, he agreed to commission a fresh, single English translation of the scriptures: the famous King James Bible (published in 1611).
• Bancroft’s Canons (1604): Archbishop Richard Bancroft enforced strict conformity to the Anglican prayer book; clergy who refused were removed.
Managing the Catholics:
• The Gunpowder Plot (5 November 1605): Catholic conspirators led by Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up Parliament and the King. The plot failed, prompting strict public anti-Catholicism and the introduction of the 1606 Oath of Allegiance, requiring Catholics to renounce the Pope's authority to depose monarchs.
4. Foreign Policy and Court Favourites
James saw himself as a peacemaker (Rex Pacificus). In 1604, he ended the long war with Catholic Spain by signing the Treaty of London.
The Spanish Match and European Crisis:
When the Thirty Years' War broke out in Europe in 1618, James sought to resolve tensions through diplomacy and pursued the Spanish Match (a planned marriage between his son, Prince Charles, and the Spanish Infanta). MPs strongly disliked the idea of a Catholic Spanish Queen, contributing to the friction that led to the 1621 Protestation.
The Influence of Favourites:
James relied heavily on charismatic male courtiers, lavishing them with titles, monopolies, and influence:
• Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset: Fell from grace after the Overbury poisoning scandal.
• George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham: Rose rapidly to become the most powerful political figure in the Kingdom, dominating royal patronage in both James's and Charles's courts.
Key Takeaways for Chapter 1
• James I firmly believed in the Divine Right of Kings, clashing with MPs over Parliamentary privilege (e.g. 1604 Apology, 1621 Protestation).
• Structural debt and lavish court spending caused constant financial friction (Bate's Case, Failed Great Contract 1610).
• James was pragmatic in religion: he maintained bishops ("No Bishop, No King"), commissioned the 1611 King James Bible, and handled anti-Catholic pressure after the 1605 Gunpowder Plot.
Chapter 2: Charles I, Constitutional Conflict, and Personal Rule (1625–1640)
1. Early Parliaments and Breakdown (1625–1629)
Charles I succeeded his father in 1625. Unlike James, Charles was reserved, deeply uncommunicative, and viewed any political disagreement as personal treason. He was also fiercely loyal to the Duke of Buckingham.
The Path to Breakdown (1625–1629):
• Tonnage and Poundage (1625): Parliament broke tradition by granting Charles the right to collect customs duties (Tonnage and Poundage) for only one year rather than for life, aiming to force regular parliaments. Charles continued collecting it anyway.
• Foreign Disasters: Buckingham led disastrous naval expeditions to Cadiz (1625) against Spain and La Rochelle (1627) in support of French Huguenots. Both expeditions failed terribly, wasting money and lives.
• The Forced Loan (1626) and Five Knights' Case (1627): To fund war without Parliament, Charles demanded an illegal Forced Loan. Five knights (including Thomas Darnel) refused to pay and were imprisoned. When they claimed Habeas Corpus (the right to know the charges against them), royal judges ruled the King had a special prerogative right to imprison without trial in emergencies.
• The Petition of Right (1628): Drafted by Sir Edward Coke, Parliament forced Charles to accept four key principles in return for subsidies: no non-parliamentary taxation, no arbitrary imprisonment without trial, no billeting of troops on civilians, and no martial law in peacetime.
• Assassination of Buckingham (August 1628): John Felton assassinated Buckingham in Portsmouth. The public rejoiced, deeply offending Charles and widening the emotional gap between King and subjects.
• The Three Resolutions (March 1629): MPs led by Sir John Eliot held Speaker John Finch down in his chair so he could not dissolve the session while they shouted three resolutions condemning Arminianism and non-parliamentary taxation. Charles dissolved Parliament the next day and began eleven years of personal governance without calling Parliament.
2. The Personal Rule / "Eleven Years' Tyranny" (1629–1640)
During the Personal Rule, Charles ruled without calling a single parliament. While royal supporters viewed it as an era of peace, order, and efficient government (the policy of "Thorough" pursued alongside Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford), critics referred to it as the "Eleven Years' Tyranny".
How Charles Raised Money Without Parliament:
• Ship Money (1634–1640): Traditionally a tax paid only by coastal towns in wartime to fund the navy. Charles introduced it across the country and extended it to inland counties in 1635 as a regular annual tax during peacetime. In 1637, John Hampden refused to pay; the judges ruled narrowly in the King's favour (7 to 5), but the case turned public opinion heavily against royal taxation.
• Distraint of Knighthood: Fining landowners with estates worth over £40 a year who had failed to present themselves at Charles's coronation to be knighted.
• Forest Laws: Fining landowners whose estates had encroached on ancient royal forest boundaries mapped centuries earlier.
• Monopolies: Charles bypassed the law against individual monopolies by granting them to corporations, such as the widely mocked monopoly on "Popish Soap".
3. Religious Policy: William Laud and Arminianism
In 1633, Charles appointed William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury. Charles and Laud championed Arminianism—a strand of Anglicanism that favoured ornate ceremony, music, vestments, and hierarchy, which strict Puritans regarded as dangerously close to Roman Catholicism.
Laudian Innovations:
• Altar Policy: Moving the wooden communion table from the centre of the church to the east end, raising it on steps, and enclosing it behind altar rails.
• Suppressing Puritanism: Laud dissolved the Feoffees for Impropriations (a Puritan organisation that raised money to hire Puritan preachers).
• Star Chamber Punishments (1637): Three Puritan writers—William Prynne, Henry Burton, and John Bastwick—were convicted of seditious libel against bishops. They were fined, had their ears cropped, and were imprisoned for life, turning them into public martyrs.
4. The Scottish Crisis: The Trigger for War
Personal Rule did not collapse because of English opposition; it collapsed because Charles tried to force religious uniformity onto Scotland.
• The 1637 Prayer Book: Charles imposed a new Anglican-style Book of Common Prayer on Presbyterian Scotland. A riot broke out in St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh.
• The National Covenant (1638): Scottish nobles and clergy signed a pledge to defend their Presbyterian Kirk to the death.
• The Bishops' Wars (1639–1640): Charles marched north without an effective army and was easily outmatched by the Covenanters.
• Treaty of Ripon (October 1640): Charles was forced to pay the Scottish army £850 a day while they occupied northern England. Charles had completely run out of money and had no choice but to summon an English Parliament.
Key Takeaways for Chapter 2
• Conflict in 1625–1629 centered on Buckingham's foreign failures, the Forced Loan (Five Knights' Case), and the Petition of Right (1628).
• During Personal Rule (1629–1640), Charles funded his crown via Ship Money (opposed by John Hampden), Distraint of Knighthood, and Forest Laws.
• William Laud’s reforms (altar rails, Arminianism) provoked Puritan outrage (Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick).
• The Scottish Prayer Book riot (1637) led to the National Covenant, the Bishops' Wars, and the Treaty of Ripon, which forced Charles to call Parliament.
Chapter 3: Outbreak of Civil War, Conflict, and Regicide (1640–1649)
1. The Breakdown of Peace (1640–1642)
• The Short Parliament (April–May 1640): Lasted only three weeks. Charles demanded money for the Scottish war, but MPs insisted on discussing their grievances first. Charles dissolved it in anger.
• The Long Parliament (November 1640 onwards): Led by John Pym, MPs seized control of the agenda:
• Passed the Triennial Act (1641) (requiring Parliament to meet at least once every three years).
• Passed the Act against Dissolution (stipulating Parliament could not be dissolved without its own consent).
• Abolished the prerogative courts: the Court of Star Chamber and the Court of High Commission.
• Declared Ship Money and non-parliamentary taxation illegal.
• Executed the King's chief minister, the Earl of Strafford (May 1641), using an Act of Attainder (declaring him guilty by parliamentary vote rather than a court trial).
How Parliament Divided into Two Sides:
• The Root and Branch Petition (1640–1641): Demanded the abolition of bishops. Moderate MPs felt this went too far.
• The Irish Rebellion (October 1641): Catholics rose up in Ireland, sparking wild rumours of massacres of Protestants. Both King and Parliament agreed an army was needed, but Parliament did not trust Charles to command it.
• The Grand Remonstrance (November 1641): A long catalogue of Charles’s misdeeds since 1625. It passed by only 11 votes, showing that Parliament was splitting into Royalists (led by moderates like Edward Hyde) and Parliamentarians.
• The Attempt on the Five Members (January 1642): Charles entered the House of Commons with armed guards to arrest five leading MPs (including John Pym and John Hampden). They had already fled. Charles had breached parliamentary privilege in the most direct manner possible.
• Outbreak of War: Parliament issued the Nineteen Propositions (June 1642), demanding complete control over the army, church, and royal appointments. Charles refused, and on 22 August 1642, he raised the royal standard at Nottingham.
2. The First English Civil War (1642–1646)
• Battle of Edgehill (1642): An indecisive first major clash; Charles failed to take London.
• The Solemn League and Covenant (1643): Parliament formed a military alliance with the Scots in exchange for promising to reform English religion along Presbyterian lines.
• Battle of Marston Moor (1644): Major Parliamentarian and Scottish victory, securing control of the North.
• The Self-Denying Ordinance & New Model Army (1645): Parliament passed the Self-Denying Ordinance, requiring MPs to resign their military commands (with Oliver Cromwell granted an exemption). They created the New Model Army, a professional, regularly paid force led by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.
• Battle of Naseby (1645): The New Model Army crushed the main royalist force.
• Surrender (1646): Charles fled and surrendered to the Scots at Newark, ending the First Civil War.
3. Failed Settlements and the Second Civil War (1646–1648)
Between 1646 and 1648, various factions tried to negotiate with Charles, but the King sought to exploit divisions between Parliament, the Army, and the Scots:
• The Newcastle Propositions (1646): Offered by Parliament; demanded Presbyterian church reform and parliamentary control of the militia for 20 years. Charles delayed.
• The Heads of Proposals (1647): Offered by the Army Grandees (Fairfax and Cromwell); more moderate towards the King's prerogative and religious tolerance for Protestants, but Charles still refused.
• The Putney Debates (1647): Inside the New Model Army, radical soldiers influenced by the Levellers debated the Agreement of the People, demanding universal male suffrage and legal equality.
• The Engagement (December 1647) & The Second Civil War (1648): Charles made a secret pact with the Scots (the Engagement), promising to introduce Presbyterianism in England for 3 years in return for an army. Royalist uprisings broke out in England. Cromwell crushed the Scottish-Royalist invasion at the Battle of Preston (1648).
4. Pride's Purge and Regicide (1648–1649)
The Second Civil War convinced the Army that Charles had committed treason against his own people by causing unnecessary bloodshed after God had already judged against him. The Army Remonstrance denounced Charles as "that man of blood".
• Pride’s Purge (December 1648): Colonel Thomas Pride stationed troops outside Parliament and arrested or excluded moderate MPs who still wished to negotiate with the King. The remaining radical minority became known as the Rump Parliament.
• The Trial of Charles I (January 1649): The Rump Parliament established a High Court of Justice (presided over by John Bradshaw). Charles refused to enter a plea, arguing that no court on earth had the constitutional right to judge its King.
• The Execution (30 January 1649): Charles I was beheaded on a scaffold outside the Banqueting House at Whitehall. Monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished, and England was declared a Commonwealth.
Key Takeaways for Chapter 3
• The Long Parliament (1640) dismantled instruments of Personal Rule (Star Chamber, Ship Money) and executed Strafford (1641).
• Parliament divided over religious radicalism (Root and Branch) and the Grand Remonstrance, leading to the formation of a Royalist party.
• Military victory went to Parliament due to the Scottish alliance (Solemn League and Covenant, 1643) and the disciplined New Model Army (Naseby, 1645).
• Charles's secret deal with the Scots (The Engagement, 1647) provoked the Second Civil War, leading to Pride's Purge and his execution in January 1649.
Chapter 4: AS 1 Exam Technique & Pitfalls
How to Master Question 2(a): Primary Source Utility
In Question 2(a), you are given one primary source (Source 1 / Source A) and asked to assess its utility (how useful it is) for a specific historical inquiry.
Step-by-Step Approach for 2(a):
1. Content & Knowledge: Explain what the source says. Back up or challenge its claims using precise facts from your own historical knowledge.
2. Provenance Analysis: Evaluate WHO wrote it, WHEN, WHY (purpose), and in what TONE.
3. Utility Judgement: Remember that even a biased, exaggerated, or one-sided source is highly useful to a historian because it reveals the genuine attitudes, fears, or propaganda of that specific person or faction at that moment in time!
How to Master Question 2(b): Comparing Historical Interpretations
In Question 2(b), you are given two extracts from modern historians (Interpretation A and Interpretation B) offering contrasting viewpoints on an issue (e.g., whether financial or religious grievances caused the Civil War).
The #1 Critical Pitfall to Avoid:
NEVER treat modern historians' interpretations as if they were primary sources! Do NOT write: "Historian Coward is biased because he was not there in 1642" or "This interpretation is unreliable because it was written in 2002." Modern historians use evidence and scholarship. Your job is to compare their substantive historical arguments and use your own contextual knowledge to argue which interpretation is more convincing.
Step-by-Step Approach for 2(b):
1. Identify the Core Argument: Summarise the central thesis of Interpretation A and Interpretation B in your own words.
2. Support Interpretation A with Knowledge: Bring in specific historical facts, dates, and events that support Interpretation A's claims.
3. Support Interpretation B with Knowledge: Bring in specific historical facts, dates, and events that support Interpretation B's claims.
4. Weigh & Conclude: Directly compare the two arguments and explain clearly why one interpretation provides a more convincing or balanced explanation of the period.
Quick Reference Timeline (1603–1649)
• 1603: James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England; Millenary Petition.
• 1604: Hampton Court Conference ("No Bishop, No King"); Treaty of London.
• 1605: Gunpowder Plot.
• 1606: Bate's Case on Impositions.
• 1610: Failure of Salisbury's Great Contract.
• 1611: Publication of the King James Bible; introduction of Baronetcies.
• 1621: Parliament issues the Protestation; James tears it from the journal.
• 1625: Death of James I; accession of Charles I; 1-year grant of Tonnage & Poundage.
• 1627: Five Knights' Case (Darnel’s Case).
• 1628: Petition of Right; assassination of the Duke of Buckingham.
• 1629: Three Resolutions; Charles dissolves Parliament and begins Personal Rule.
• 1633: William Laud appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 1635: Ship Money extended to inland English counties.
• 1637: John Hampden's Ship Money trial; punishment of Prynne, Burton, Bastwick; Scottish Prayer Book riots.
• 1638: Scottish National Covenant signed.
• 1639–1640: Bishops' Wars; Treaty of Ripon.
• 1640: Short Parliament (April); Long Parliament meets (November).
• 1641: Execution of Strafford (May); Irish Rebellion (October); Grand Remonstrance (November).
• 1642: Attempt on Five Members (January); Nineteen Propositions (June); Charles raises royal standard at Nottingham (August) – Civil War begins.
• 1643: Solemn League and Covenant with Scots.
• 1645: Formation of the New Model Army; Battle of Naseby.
• 1646: Charles surrenders to the Scots at Newark.
• 1647: Heads of Proposals; Putney Debates; Charles signs the Engagement with the Scots.
• 1648: Second Civil War; Battle of Preston; Army Remonstrance; Pride’s Purge.
• 1649: Trial and execution of Charles I (30 January).