Short parliament

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As Short Parliament ( English Short Parliament ) in 1640, the King is Charles I convened by England English Parliament referred, which met during the period 13 April to 5 May 1640 for just three weeks.

With the convocation of the short parliament, an eleven-year period came to an end in which Charles I tried to rule without a parliament. Progressive circles have also referred to this period as an eleven year period of tyranny. Charles I had not, however, touched the legitimate rights of parliament, but merely tried to regulate his government in such a way that he would not have required the consent of parliament, particularly when levying new taxes. The Presbyterian uprisings that took place in Scotland - actually the homeland of the Stuart rulers - led to such a drastic crisis in royal financial resources that the king finally tried again to persuade Parliament to increase its subsidies .

When the elected MPs arrived at Westminster Abbey in April 1640 , however, they showed little inclination to comply with Karl's wishes for a swift grant of subsidies. Like the mostly unsuccessful parliaments of the 1620s, the members of the lower house first insisted on discussing questions of religious policy and foreign affairs, in which, according to Charles I, they should not interfere at all. Under the impression that an understanding seemed impossible, Charles I dissolved parliament on May 5, 1640.

However, he should not be able to organize a longer period of rule without parliamentary participation. In the same year, Charles I had to convene a new parliament in view of the problems of his government, which, in contrast to the short parliament, was to go down in history as the long parliament .

literature

  • Ansgar Nünning : The Soul of the Commonwealth. Political discourse and the self-image of the English parliament in the run-up to the Puritan Revolution. In: Norbert Fintzsch, Hermann Wellenreuther (ed.): Liberalitas. Festschrift for Erich Angermann. Transatlantic Historical Studies, Vol. 1. Steiner, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-515-05656-4 , pp. 125-148.
  • Mark A. Kishlansky: A Lesson in Loyalty. Charles I and the Short Parliament. In: Jason McElligott, David L. Smith (Eds.): Royalists and Royalism During the English Civil Wars. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-87007-8 , pp. 16-42 ( Critical review by Jasmin L. Johnson on H-Net ).