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1641
In November 1641, the House of Commons debated a complaint they rather grandly entitled 'the Grand Remonstrance'. Drawn up by the Puritan MP John Pym and his allies, it was a searing condemnation of the policies of Charles I's government.
These amounted, the Remonstrance claimed, to an all-embracing Catholic conspiracy to subvert the religion and freedoms of England. The king himself, it was careful to point out, had only been the unwitting agent of the conspiracy. Nevertheless, his gullibility meant that he could never be trusted to choose his own advisers or command his own troops.
The creators of the Remonstrance also recommended restricting the power of the bishops and the reformation of the Church by a synod of Protestants. They also demanded that Parliament should have a say in the appointment of the king's ministers.
All 204 clauses of the Remonstrance – 'the evils under which we have now many years suffered' – were nominally addressed to the king. In fact, the document was a manifesto – for a constitutional revolution at the least, perhaps even for an armed revolt. It was also bitterly divisive and, after days of acrimonious debate, was passed by just 159 votes to 148 – a majority of only 11. Oliver Cromwell is said to have remarked that, if it hadn't passed, he would have sold all his possessions and gone to America.
The Remonstrance was presented to Charles on 1 December. He firmly rejected it, but made conciliatory noises to try to keep moderate MPs on the royalist side. But only a month later, his credibility was blown when he unsuccessfully attempted to arrest the five MPs he considered to be the ringleaders behind the Remonstrance.
Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution
www.constitution.org/eng/conpur043.htm
The complete text of the Grand Remonstrance.
Henrietta Maria: Charles I's indomitable queen by Alison Plowden (Sutton, 2001)
This study gives a clear picture of the period leading up to and including the Civil War. There is an examination of the queen's political influence (or lack of it) and the tensions and intrigues surrounding the various factions at court, and many long-held misconceptions are exploded.
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In 1483, Elizabeth Woodville and her children took sanctuary in the abbot's house in Westminster Abbey. A considerable amount of it remains today, including: the abbot's parlour, now known as the Jerusalem Chamber; the hall, now used for the Westminster King's Scholars; and the kitchen and butteries beyond. All this is now behind the present-day bookshop. It is not open to the public.
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