Sex, Violence, and Haughtiness:
The Stuart Kings’ Weakening of the Monarchy
It has been said that the glue that holds English society together is tradition. ... Her current circumstances are simply the result of repeated squabbling between Parliament and the monarchy. The Parliament won these disputes, and gained more power on account of the incompetence of the “Stuart Kings. ... Blinded to his overall inadequacy as a person, James I felt that he was a divine being chosen exclusively by God to rule over England saying, “the state of the monarchy is the supremest thing on Earth.” He, like the monarchs that would come after him was a strong believer in a concept known as the “Divine Right of Kings.” Taken somewhat from the Catholic Church’s concept of “Petrine Supremacy,” the Divine Right of Kings essentially stated that the monarch had unconditional power because God chose him personally. ... Stupidly, he agreed, and effectively “sold” off a large part of the monarchy’s power. ... In fact, Charles was quite inept at the monarchy. ... Puritan rule ended and the monarchy, ceremony, Anglican Church, and widespread leisure came back into popularity. ... Charles II was perhaps the best Stuart King, although he had some personal vices. ...
The shortest reign of the four Stuart Kings was that of James II, who ruled from 1685-1688. ... In many ways, he made the same mistakes as Charles I, enthusiastically supporting the Divine Right of Kings and constantly dismissing Parliament. ... As a result of the Stuart Kings behaviours, they did not enjoy nearly the same power as Elizabeth nearly one hundred years before. In 1689 the Divine Right of Kings was completely abolished with the passage of the English Bill of Rights that severely limits the power of the monarch.
Thanks to the Stuart Kings, the monarchy is no longer the powerful force that it was in Elizabethan times. ... The disagreements between the Stuart Kings and Parliament severely damaged the status of the monarchy. Although nearly all of the Stuart Kings disagreed with Parliament on the basis of religion, power, and money, the weakening of the royal power base was not merely ideological. The core issue in the conflict between the Stuart Kings and Parliament was the personal arrogance of the Stuart Kings. Instead of making decisions based on the welfare of England, James I, Charles I, Charles II, and James II decided with the reinforcement of the Divine Right of Kings that their welfare was the most important.
To link to this page, copy the following code to your site:
All Papers Are For Research And Reference Purposes Only!
You may not turn these papers in as your own! You must cite our web site as your source!
