WesternCivilization全英文西 (63).pdf
7.2 English Revolution1.English RevolutionFrom the Marxist view of the history,the English Revolution is a revolution from 1640 to 1660 in Britain.It was a bourgeois revolution in which theEnglish feudalism was destroyed by a bourgeois class,and the Revolution was a pivotal event in the transition from feudalism to capitalism andfrom a feudal state to a capitalist state in Britain.2.The Elizabethan Era is the period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I(15581603).Elizabeth I was the daughterof Henry VIII and she was the last monarch of the Tudor Dynasty.She never married and was childless,sometime called The Virgin Queen.Historians often depict The Elizabethan era as the golden age in English history.English Renaissance reached its peak marked by the dramas ofWilliam Shakespeare(1564-1616).Francis Bacon(1561-1626),the famous philosopher also lived in this time.Elizabeth I suppressed the revoltof Ireland,defeated Spanish Armada.All of these inspired national pride in England.3.BritanniaDuring the Elizabethan era Britannia came to be viewed as a personification of Britain until today it is still a British cultural icon.Britannia is afemale warrior carrying a trident and wearing a helmet,personifying the Great Britain.The lion is also a symbol of the Great Britain4.James I 1603-1625In 1603 Elizabeth the Virgin Queen died,her cousin James I succeeded her.James was King of Scotland as James VI from 1567 and King ofEngland and Ireland as James I from 1603 until his death in 1625.The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states,withtheir own parliaments,judiciaries,and laws,though both were ruled by James in personal union.James I was the first king of England from theHouse of Stuart.This house ruled the British Isles and its growing empire until the death of Queen Anne in 1714,Except for the period of theCommonwealth from 1649 to 1660.During Jamess reign,British colonization of the Americas began.James wrote an essay of political theoryThe True Law of Free Monarchies which set out the doctrine of the divine right of kings.He argued the monarchies were created by God torule,kings are higher beings than other men,and they were Gods representatives on earth.5.Charles I 1625-1649.The next king was son of James I,Charles I,king of England,Scotland,and Ireland from 1625 until his execution in1649.Charles failed to aid Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years War.And he married a Roman Catholic Henrietta Maria,thedaughter of Henry IV,King of France.All these generated mistrust of Protestant denominations such as the English Puritans and ScottishCovenanters,who thought Charles was too Catholic.Puritans demanded the abolition of the Catholic hierarchy of archbishops and bishops in theChurch of England.Charles appointed William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury and started making the Church of England more ceremonial,thewooden communion tables were replaced by stone altars.Many Puritans were arrested for their accusing this change as reintroducing Catholicism.When the new prayer books created by William Laud were brought into Scotland,it was refused.In St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh someonethrew a stool at the head of the Dean of Edinburgh,people screamed Popery.Soon Scottish revolted.By the end of 1640 a Scottish armyinvaded England.Charles needed to suppress the rebellion in Scotland.He needed to collect money from his subjects but that need the agreementof the Parliament.So,he summoned Parliament.6.The long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660.When the parliament was summoned,the members had littleurgency to levy taxes;they were actually hostile to Charles.They passed laws which stated that a new Parliament should convene at least onceevery three years without the Kings summons,it is illegal for the king to impose taxes and dissolve parliament without Parliamentary consent.7.Civil War started in 1642Charles lost patience;he declared the leaders of parliament rebels and traitors.On 4 January 1642,accompanied by armed soldiers he entered theEnglish House of Commons to arrest the Five Members but they were not there.Parliament army quickly seized London,and Charles fled.Thecivil war started.The English Civil War(16421651)was a series of armed conflicts between Parliamentarians and Royalists.Parliamentarianssupported the parliament and they were called Roundheads from the Puritans cropping their hair short.The wealthier Royalist supported the kingand they were called Cavaliers,they have long hair.8.Execution of Charles IAfter three years war,in 1645 the parliament army commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell defeated the Royalist army at TheBattle of Naseby.The king was captured,bishops were abolished,and a Presbyterian church was established.In 1647 parliament soldierskidnapped the king and demanded to be paid.Charles encouraged his supporters to resume the war.The parliament army easily defeated them.In1648 Parliament army purged the parliament,45 members were arrested and 146 were refused to enter,only 75 left.This parliament of 75members was called the Rump Parliament.Rump is the rear end of animal,used here means remnant,the left members.The Rump parliamentvoted to bring the king to trial for treason.On 30 January 1649,Charles was beheaded.England was declared to be a commonwealth governedby the Rump Parliament9.Charless beheading10.Commonwealth 1649-1660111.Oliver CromwellOliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader.In 1653 He dissolved the Rump Parliament and served as Lord Protector of theCommonwealth of England,Scotland,and Ireland from 1653 until his death in 1658.He ruled with a free elected Parliament and an administrativebody called council of state.He was a devout Puritan.He refused to be a new king and tried to build a government in which fundamental authorityresided in Parliament.He died in 1658 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.His son Richard Cromwell succeeded as a new Lord Protector,butRichard was not capable to rule.In 1659 the army again intervened.Parliament was dissolved,the monarchy was restored.Charles Is son wascrowned as Charles II in 1660.Oliver Cromwells corpse was dug up,hung in chains,and beheaded.11.The Glorious Revolution 1688Charles II ruled from 1660 to 1685.Charles Is another son King James II succeeded.He was a declared Catholic;Catholics were promoted tobe the top leader of the army and government.Jamess religion and his pro-France policy caused increasing opposition from members of leadingpolitical circles.They negotiated with Dutch stadtholder William III,Prince of Orange,who was Jamess nephew and husband of Jamess daughterMary Stuart.Stadtholder in Dutch means a state leader.In 1688 William landed in England with a small force,James fled to France.William andMary were crowned King and Queen of England.This event was called the Glorious Revolution,sometime called the Bloodless Revolution.William III and Mary II reigned together for five years.William reigned after Marys death in 1694 until 1702.12.In 1689 parliament passed the Declaration of Right which detailed the wrongs committed by James II,and specify the security ofproperty and other rights that all citizens of England should be entitled to and that all English monarchs should abide by.This document restated thefundamental principles of Constitutional monarchy.Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of statewithin the guidelines of a constitution.In the same year the toleration Act also passed,it granted religious freedom to all groups of Protestant.Nowin England Absolut Monarchy became Constitutional Monarchy.Parliament became a permanent part of civil government and the fundamentalauthority resided in Parliament.13.Key Words:The Elizabethan Era,Charles I,Oliver Cromwell,the Glorious Revolution,Constitutional Monarchy.2
