England and Constitutional Confusion

"Remember, remember the fifth of November / the gunpowder, treason and plot, / I see of no reason why gunpowder treason / Should ever be forgot..." This traditional rhyme that commemorates Guy Fawkes and his failed 'Gunpowder Plot' reminds Britain every year of the political and domestic unrest that swept across their Nation during the 17^th Century. As the Scottish King James IV and I of England came to power declaring, "The state of the monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth... Kings are justly called Gods, for that they exercise a manner or resemblance of divine power upon earth" [1] he was met with a staunch resistance from an English parliament, led largely Sir Edward Coke, which strongly believed that "parliaments privileges in particular, derived from the common law, not from the king." [2] This difference of opinion in the origin of power eventually led to a constitutional crisis that included conflicts over parliamentary procedures, court proceedings and even religious practices.

James I unabashedly proclaims in his writings, the Basilikon Doron and The True Law of Free Monarchy, his views on royal authority and expounds on what he saw to be his duty to God as a divinely appointed monarch. James I firmly believed that he such as "David, was a worthy prince, and no man to be compared to him for his first deeds..."[3]. He held no qualms with disbanding parliament, and did just that. And, while he did have a good amount of people that supported him in his absolutists claims, such as Sir Robert Filmer, Sir Robert Cotton and Lionel Cranfield, others such as Sir John Selden, as demonstrated in the Five Knights Case, opposed his rule, arguing that the even the King couldn't supersede the write of Habeas Corpus. However, the Chief Justice ruled against Selden and the five imprisoned knights saying that "If in justice we ought to deliver you, we would do it; but...we cannot deliver you, but you must be remanded."[4]

With the death of James some hoped that perhaps Charles I would be less like his father and Parliament would once again become a more powerful and influential entity-those who knew Charles I however, knew better. Charles I actually took up right were his father left off and even took the crisis to a new level by completely dissolving parliament and instigating the personal rule of 1629-1640. He along with George Villers, Duke of Buckingham, and Archbishop William Laud also began what became know as the Beauty of Holiness. This was an effort to nationally formalize church services by requiring those partaking of the Eucharist to kneel, including singing and music in the service, and even included the "Declaration of Sports" which stated that "...recreation, such as dancing...archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or any other such harmless recreation..." [5] should be allowed on Sunday.

All of these things, those started by James I and then continued by Charles I contributed to the tension that enveloped the nation. The early Stewart King's inability to sympathize and compromise with the English ideas, beliefs, and views on the origin of power elicited various responses from the English people-rebellions, plots to kill the King, heated legal battles in the courts and parliament all of which eventually culminated in revolution and the execution of Charles I. The early Stewart kings became not "the wonder[s] of the world" as the translators of the King James Bible declared, but rather the scourge of the English parliament.

[1] James VI & I, "On the Divine Right of Kings," a speech to Parliament, 1609 at http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kjdivine.htm

[2] Bucholz, Robert and Newton Key, Early Modern England: 1485-1714 (Malden, Ma: Blackwell Publishing, 2004), 209-10.

[3] Sections 1 and 2 of the Notes to the Translators' Preface to the King James Bible (1611), § 6-10. at http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/pref1611.htm#s2

[4] The Case of the Five Knight, before the Court of King's Bench.," in Samuel Rawson Gardiner, ed., Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution 1625-1660, 3^rd ed., revised (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906), 57 at http://www.constiution.org/eng/conpur_.htm

[5] "The Declaration of Sports" in Samuel Rawson Gardiner, ed., Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution 1625-1660, 3^rd ed., revised (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906), 17 at http://www.constiution.org/eng/conpur017.htm

[6] "To the Most high and Mighty Prince James, by the Grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c." Traslators' Preface to the King James Bible (1611) at http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kjvpref.htm