英国资产阶级革命：英文讲义

The Rise of

Parliamnt in England

Significance

of

the

English

parlimentary

system

England

during

the

16th

and

17th

centuries

was

deve1oping the Parliamentary system of government, while on the continent,

especially in France, the trend was

toward

absolutism.

The

English

revolutions

of

the

17th

century

assured

the

supremacy

of

Parliament

over

the

Crown, and established a stable, yet flexible government. This development has had an immense influence on the

general

political

evolution

of

Europe.

English

Parliamentarians

represents

one

of

the

three

main

streams

of

historical influence that have gone into the making of modern democracy, the other two streams being the French

Revolution, and the rise of laissez faire Capitalism.

Part One

1)

Early Steps Toward Parliamentary Government

The germ of the Eng1ish Parliament is to be

found in the ancient Witen of the Anglo-Saxon Kings, an advisory council of the chief (literally, the wise) men of

the kingdom. After the Norman conquest (l066) the Witen was replaced by the Great Council, composed of all who

held

land

by

feudal

tenure

directly

from

the

king.

It

was

thus

originally

in

no

sense

an

elective

body

or

one

representative of the English people, but it served to form a tradition that government was a joint responsibility.

2)

Magna Carta

In 12l5, exasperated by the abuses of the worthless King John, a group of barons

rose in rebellion and, forced the king to sign the agreement called the Great Charter or Magna Carta which placed

restrictions on his Powers. Later generations undoubted1y read into the Magna Carta a great rnany guarantees of

civil liberty that were never in the minds of the thoroughly reactionary and self- interest seeking barons who drew it

up. Reinterpreted to suit changing times, the Magna Carta was appealed to in the 17th century as the great bulwark

of the rights of English- men. It served as a reminder that the subjects had once risen in arms against their monarch.

It furnished a basis for se1f-taxation. It was the most important landmark in the tradition of the supremacy of the

law as opposed to the king's arbiter will.

3)

Bgeninning of the representative parliamant

In the middle of the thirteenth century King John's

successor,

Henry

III,

aroused

great

opposition

by

his

subservience

to

the

financial

exactions

of

the

Pope.

Once

more the barons resisted and obtained substantial concessions. But the most interesting result of the contest was the

establishment

of

Parliament

as

an

elective

and

representative

body

containing

commoners

as

well

as

the

great

feudal 1ords. Early in the fourteenth century there was a formal separation of Parliament into two houses, Lords

and Commons.

4)

Progress

in

the

14th

and

15th

Centuries

Un1ike

analogous

representative

and

consultative

bodies on the continent, which seemed rudimentary, the English Parliament continued its development through the

14th and 15th centuries and became an indispensable arm of the government. It had the sole power of taxation and

its

consent

was

necessary

for

legislation.

Although

the

Tudor

sovereigns

in

the

sixteenth

century

established

a

nearly absolute monarch, they did it by managing and overawing Parliament rather than by suppressing it. The real

Powers of Parliament did not die but merely slept. Even Henry VIII, the most despotic and powerful of the Tudors,

did not rule by decree, as did kings and princes in continental countries.

Part Two

1) Stuarts and the revival of resistance

The death of Elizabeth, the last of the Tudors, and the accession

of James I in 1603 marks

the

beginning of a long period of friction between Parliament

and the Crown. Of the

1

many

factors

that

contributed

to

this

friction,

three

were

especial1y

conspicuous:

l

)

the

religious

controversy

between the growing sect of Puritans and the conservatives who wished to maintain the Episcopal establishment

and the forms and ritua1s that the English Church sti1l retained from Roman Catholicism, 2) the determination of

the

bourgeoisie

and

the

smal1

1andowners

to

resist

taxation

unless they

could

control

the

foreign

and

domestic

polices

of

the

government,

and

3)

the

personal

tactlessness

and

political

ineptitude

of

the

Stuart

kings

James

I,

Charles I, Charles II, and James II.

2)

James

I

and

parliament

When

James

attempted

to

lay

and

collect

taxes

himself

and

Parliament

protested, he dissolved Parliament. A further cause of annoyance to the monarch was by the Puritans, a wing of the

Church of England that wished to purify the Church of the doctrines and rituals that were still retained from the old

Catholicism. Many of them also favored a change in Church organization from the Episcopal (government of the

church

by

a

hierarchy

of

consecrated

bishops)

to

the

Presbyterian

(government

by

e1ders

selected

from

the

congregations). This group, the Puritans, whose strength was in the middle class, were troubled by the polices of

James I, and sough to combat him and his successors with the weapon of parliamentary traditions. The condolatory

Policy of James with Spain and the union of Scotland with England were opposed by the merchants.

3)

Parliament under Charles I

The beginning of the reign of Charles I (l625), James' successor, was

assiduous. He favored a war with Spain, and upon his marriage to Henrietta Maria, sister of Louis XIII of France,

he promised that no concession would be granted to Roman Catholics. But Charles I had also Noised Louis XIII

that he would grant concessions to Catholics in England. Par1iament granted Charles I money to carry on a war

with

Spain, but he

used the

money and

Pinheaded to ask for more

without showing any signs

of engaging in a

conflict with Spain. When the House of Commons refused further subsidies, he dissolved it.

The failure of the English fleet at Cadiz, the unsuccessful attempt to help the French Huguenots at the siege

of La Rochelle, and his inability to get money by forced loans so added to Charles difficu1ties that he was forced to

Call a new parliament. In return for the grant of subsidies, Charles signed the Petition of Right (1628) promising

not to 1evy taxes without consent of Par1iament, not to quarter so1diers in private houses, not to establish martial

law in times of peace, and not to order arbitrary imprisonment. Parliament asked more and more concessions and

finally Charles I once more dissolved Parliament (1629) and did not call another until l640.

During this

time

Charles tried every possible method of getting funds. The most

obnoxious way of raising

revenue was the levying of

He relaxed the restrictions on Catholics and reintroduced certain dogmas of the Catholic church into the Anglican.

In the meantime the Puritan movement was gaining Strength. Many advanced Protestants left the country and fled

to America.

The attempt of Charles I to interfere with the Presbyterian religion in Scotland aroused the Scotch, who swore

to defend their religion. They overthrew the King's bishops and revolted. Fai1ing to put down the rebellion, Charles

I called a Parliament (l640) but dissolved it when it failed to grant the necessary funds (Short Parliament). However,

he

immediate1y

had

to call

another

to

check

the

Scotch forces (Long

Parliament,

1640-1660)

By

this

last

deed

Charles admitted he could not rule without the help of Par1iament; divine-right monarchy had failed.

4)

Reforms of the Long Par1iament

The Long Parliament, confident that it had the upper hand,

proceeded to correct certain abuses before giving Charles the necessary subsidies to check the Scotch. John Pym,

John Hampden, and Oliver Cromwel1 were in control.

5)

Powers

of

parliament

increased

The

House

of

Commons

impeached

Chariest

minister,

Thomas Wentworth (Earl of Strafford) and Archbishop Laud, whose arbitrary church government during the period

of Char1es personal rule had aroused great resentment, and sent them to the Tower where they were later executed.

2