The Royal Stuart Family
...ally died in 1925, he had left the country very weak and badly in debt. (Ross pg124-125) Charles I was not expecting to become king at all, until his older brother Henry died in 1612, leaving him to be the heir to the throne. He also inherited his father’s belief in the Divine Right of Kings. For eleven years he ruled without a parliament, giving royal privilege to the Courts. The dispute between Monarchy and parliament started a huge civil war. The biggest battle during this war was the Battle of Naseby. It took place on June 14th 1645 outside Naseby in Northamptonshire. The parliament army, which was led by Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax, was twice the size of Charles army. Their size advantage allowed them to win overwhelmingly against Charles I. In 1646 he finally surrendered to the Scots. He was then sent to trial where he refused to acknowledge the legality of the court. He was eventually found guilty, and was executed in January 30th 1649. (Fry pg69.) Charles II didn’t ascend the throne until he was invited back by parliament and the monarchy was restored in 1660. He is remembered as being very attractive. He was tall, with long black curly hair.(Fry K pg70) Charles II was also known as the “merry monarch” because he loved parties, music, and theater. He was very wasteful with money, which gave him many financial problems. He allied with France and England, which led to a war with the Dutch, and the attainment of present day New York (History on the Net ) He died at age 54 on February 6th, 1662. James II was the Brother of Charles II. His goal was to restore Catholicism, which did not make a lot of people happy. He made sure that Catholics had prominent jobs in the army, and in the government. In 1688 he wrote the Declaration of Indulgence which allowed everyone to practice their religions freely.(Buskin pg189) His wife Mary of Modena, had given birth to ten children all of whom had died during infancy. When she became pregnant again in 1688, everyone feared that she would give birth to a Catholic son, who would be the heir to the throne. When she did have a son people began to think that he wasn’t really her child. It was such a conflict that he was forced to leave the country.(Buskin pg190) When William of Orange took the throne he wanted to rule with his wife Mary who was the daughter of James II. (Fry pg72) She was not only his cousin but was also twelve years younger than him. Not everyone was too happy with this idea, but William refused to take the throne unless Mary was along with him.(Ross pg149) These monarchs had to accept a bill called The Declaration of Rights. It basically said that monarchs could not suspend or give out laws , levy taxes, or maintain an army without parliament’s permission. It also said that no one could be penalized without a trial, and that no Catholics could take Throne.(Buskin pg.190) In 1689 the Toleration Acts granted religious freedom to every religion, except Catholics and Unitarians. The Government decided to not persecute, imprison, or deport people for practicing certain religions. Needless to say the Catholics were very offended by this, causing an even greater division in Ireland. (Buskin pg189) Mary died from smallpox on December 28th, 1694 when she was thirty-two. Therefore William had to rule on his over for several years. In 1702 he finally died after being throne from horse while hunting at Hampton Court. (Buskin pg192) Since William and Mary never had children, the only person who could take the Throne was Mary’s cousin Anne. She was married to The Prince of Denmark, and had eighteen children none of which survived infancy. (Fry pg73) Anne had many health problems, and there was concern that if she died James II’s son would take the throne. Since parliament didn’t want another catholic monarch, they passed the Act of settlement in 1701 stating that in the event of Anne’s death, the throne would be passed to the nearest protestant relative. During this time the Spanish Empire was up for grabs. No one wanted Louis XIV’s grandson Philip to control that much land, which also included France. Therefore a couple months after Anne took the throne, England dec...