To What Extent Was 1637 A Turning Point In The Personal Rule of Charles 1?
...es as it shows he was starting to lose support and loyalty of the judiciary. Also by enforcing the levy and other taxes he was losing the support of voters and common people. Without the support of people and the judiciary Charles would have a difficult time ruling. Charles was a firm believer in his religion and it was because of his firm belief in his faith that he made his “greatest error”. It was also this that was to end his personal rule and force him into recalling parliament. Charles had little understanding of Scottish politics, unlike his father, and instead of talking to the Scottish Privy Council he only spoke to a few Scots living in London. When James, Charles’ father, suggested a set liturgy a fierce opposition was aroused making the scheme impossible. Charles was less tactful than his father. In 1637 he tried to force an English Prayer Book, he did this without informing the Scottish Parliament or the Assembly of the Kirk. The Scottish people were infuriated not only by the book but also by the way it was imposed upon them. When the Scottish council withdrew the book Charles did not agree with this and insisted that the book continued being used. A rebellion began in Scotland, the covenanters were fighting to defend their faith and Charles had no hesitation in using military action to end such a rebellion. However Charles did not have support from the nobility of the militia. This saw Charles having to sign the Treaty of Berwick in 1939. This was a turning point in Charles’ personal rule as he was not in control of the situation. He was politically isolated; London merchants refused to lend him money and others were encouraging the Scots to intervene in England. Charles was unaware of the loss of support and so was determined to reassert his authority. Charles was advised to call Parliament and in doing so was hoping that traditional anti-Scottish feeling would enable him to rally support. But this did not work and proved that this was too late, this was shown by the number of MPs who assembled in 1640. Charles may have become aware of people becoming in touch with the Scots which led him to dissolve Parliament once again. So 1637 was another turning point in Charles’ 11 year personal rule as it led him re call Parliament in order to sort out the situation, but then to discover that they were hostile towards him and for him to dissolve them again. He managed to do this in such a short space of time that they earned the name, Short Parliament. However that was not to be the last time that Charles re called Parliament he then had to re call them as the problem in Scotland had not gone away. However the Parliament were still very hostile an...