Charles the 1st biography of william e

British Broadcasting Corporation Home. Charles's popular older brother Henry, whom he adored, died in leaving Charles as heir, and in he became king. Three months after his accession he married Henrietta Maria of France. They had a happy marriage and left five surviving children. Charles's reign began with an unpopular friendship with George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who used his influence against the wishes of other nobility.

Buckingham was assassinated in There was ongoing tension with parliament over money - made worse by the costs of war abroad. In addition, Charles favoured a High Anglican form of worship, and his wife was Catholic - both made many of his subjects suspicious, particularly the Puritans. Charles dissolved parliament three times between and In , he dismissed parliament and resolved to rule alone.

This forced him to raise revenue by non-parliamentary means which made him increasingly unpopular. At the same time, there was a crackdown on Puritans and Catholics and many emigrated to the American colonies. Unrest in Scotland - because Charles attempted to force a new prayer book on the country - put an end to his personal rule.

He was forced to call parliament to obtain funds to fight the Scots.

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In November , tensions were raised even further with disagreements over who should command an army to suppress an uprising in Ireland. Charles attempted to have five members of parliament arrested and in August , raised the royal standard at Nottingham. Civil war began.