|
|
Article: English Civil War and Interregnum
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
ENGLISH CIVIL WAR AND INTERREGNUM
ENGLISH CIVIL WAR AND INTERREGNUM.
There was nothing inevitable about the armed conflict that broke out between King Charles I (ruled 1625
–
1649) and Parliament in 1642. That conflict was made possible in the first instance by the long-term weakness of the English monarchy. Lacking a standing army or a paid bureaucracy, the monarch was powerless to coerce his or her subjects. Without adequate income from legal sources, including parliamentary taxation, he or she lacked also financial power. The early Stuarts had attempted to augment their incomes by levying impositions (surcharges on existing customs duties), exacting forced loans, exploiting ...