The Routledge Companion to the Stuart Age, 1603-1714

John Wroughton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781136008702
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

Here is an invaluable, user-friendly and compact compendium packed with facts and figures on the seventeenth century – one of the most tumultuous and complex periods in British history.

From James I to Queen Anne, this Companion includes detailed information on political, religious and cultural developments as well as military activity, foreign affairs and colonial expansion.

Chronologies, biographies, documents, maps and genealogies, and an extensive bibliography navigate the reader through this fascinating and formative epoch as the book details the key events and themes of the era including:

• the English Civil War and its military campaigns
• the Gunpowder Plot, Catholic persecution and the influence of Puritanism
• imperial adventures in America, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean
• Scotland and the Act of Union, 1707
• the Irish Confederate wars and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
• the Great Fire of 1666 and the rebuilding of London
• biographies of key figures, including women, artists, architects, writers and scientists
• the Restoration and the revival of drama.

With complete lists of offices of state, an extensive glossary of key constitutional, political and religious terminology, and up-to-date thematic annotated bibliographies to aid further research, this student-friendly reference guide is essential for all those interested in the Stuart Age.

I
CHRONOLOGIES: DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

POLITICAL EVENTS

1603	Mar.	Queen Elizabeth I died; succeeded by James VI of Scotland as James I of England. Irish rebellion ended after surrender of Earl of Tyrone.
	Apr.	‘Millenary Petition’ presented to James by Puritan clergy on his journey from Scotland.
	May	Robert Cecil granted peerage (Lord Cecil of Essendon).
	June	Discovery of the Bye Plot to dethrone the king.
	July	Sir Walter Raleigh imprisoned in Tower for alleged involvement in the Main Plot to install James's cousin, Lady Arabella Stuart, on the throne.
	Nov.	Raleigh found guilty of treason, sentenced to death, but later reprieved.
1604	Jan.	Hampton Court Conference met.
	Mar.	First session of James I's first parliament (Mar.–July); debates on free trade and the union of England and Scotland; dispute over Buckinghamshire election and the Commons' right to resolve such disputes (the case of Goodwin v. Fortescue); ‘Form of Apology and Satisfaction’ drafted by a group of MPs, outlining their anxieties. Conference between Lords and Commons to discuss wardship and purveyance ended in stalemate.
	Oct.	James I proclaimed ‘King of Great Britain’.
1605	Apr.	Robert Cecil created Earl of Salisbury.
	Nov.	Second session of James I's first parliament (Nov.–May 1606). Gunpowder Plot to assassinate king and his ministers. Start of Great Farm of customs duties (i.e. the leasing out of the collection).
1606	Feb.	Execution of Gunpowder Plot conspirators.
	Apr.	Royal proclamation to establish a new Union flag. Three subsidies granted by parliament.
	Nov.	Third session of James I's first parliament (Nov.–July 1607); debates on the union with Scotland.
	Dec.	Bate's Case; by imprisoning John Bate for refusing to pay the imposition on currants, the judges confirmed the king's right to levy duties without parliament's consent.
1607	May	Rising in the Midlands against enclosures.
	Sept.	Flight of the Earl of Tyrone and others from Ireland with subsequent confiscation of lands in Ulster and plantation by English and Scots. Robert Carr, the king's favourite, knighted; Francis Bacon appointed Solicitor-General.
1608	May	Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, succeeded Thomas Sackville as Lord Treasurer; commenced survey of crown lands.
	July	Salisbury extended impositions to most imports (except food, munitions and ships' stores) in a new Book of Rates, thereby increasing crown revenue.
	Nov.	King agreed to reduce number of gifts of crown land. Commissioners appointed to supervise the plantation of Ulster. Calvin's Case (post nati) — Scots born after James I's accession were to be classed as English subjects also.
1609	Feb.	Chief Justice Coke in dispute with king over the dividing line between ecclesiastical and common law jurisdiction.
	May	Agreement by James not to dispose of further crown lands.
1610	Feb.	Fourth session of James I's first parliament (Feb.–July).
	June	Prince Henry created Prince of Wales.
	July	Commons petitioned the king against impositions in a Petition of Grievances (but these continued until 1641). Lady Arabella Stuart, a pretender to the throne, imprisoned for marrying the Earl of Hertford, another claimant.
	Oct.	Fifth session of James I's first parliament (Oct.–Dec.).
	Nov.	Negotiations broke down with parliament over ‘The Great Contract’, designed by Salisbury to grant the king regular taxation in return for his surrender of impositions and feudal rights.
1611	Feb.	Dissolution of James I's first parliament.
	Mar.	Robert Carr created Viscount Rochester.
	May	Baronetcies first created for sale. Negotiations commenced for marriage between Princess Elizabeth and Frederick, Elector Palatine (a Protestant); and between Prince Henry and the Spanish Infanta Anne (a Roman Catholic).
1612	May	Earl of Salisbury died; treasurership put temporarily into commission.
	Nov.	Prince Henry died. King renewed policy of granting monopolies.
1613	Feb.	Marriage of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick, Elector Palatine.
	May	Don Diego Sarmiento (later Count of Gondomar) reached London as Spanish ambassador.
	Sept.	Lady Francis Howard and the Earl of Essex divorced with the king's support. Sir Thomas Overbury, who had been imprisoned for opposing the divorce, died in the Tower.
	Nov.	Robert Carr created Earl of Somerset.
	Dec.	Marriage of Somerset to Lady Howard. Appointments — Sir Edward Coke as Chief Justice of the King's Bench; Sir Francis Bacon as Attorney-General.
1614	Mar.	Ralph Winwood, an opponent of Spain, appointed Secretary of State.
	Apr.	The ‘Addled Parliament’ met (Apr.–June) — debates over impositions.
	July	Appointments — Thomas Howard, Lord Suffolk, as Lord Treasurer; Earl of Somerset as Lord Chamberlain.
	Dec.	Suspension of the Merchant Adventurers' charter and cloth trade monopoly. The Cockayne Scheme commenced, prohibiting the export of undyed cloth. Possibility of a Spanish marriage for Prince Charles first discussed.
1615	Apr.	George Villiers, the king's new favourite, appointed as Gentleman of the Bedchamber.
	Sept.	Lady Arabella Stuart died in the Tower.
	Oct.	Somerset and his wife arrested on suspicion of murdering Overbury. Appointment of Lionel Cranfield as Surveyor-General of Customs.
1616	Mar.	Sir Walter Raleigh released from the Tower to mount a voyage to Guiana.
	May	Earl and Countess of Somerset found guilty of Overbury's murder.
	Aug.	George Villiers created Baron Whaddon and Viscount Villiers.
	Nov.	Prince Charles created Prince of Wales. Sir Edward Coke replaced as Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench by Sir Henry Montague, Viscount Brackley.
1617	Jan.	George Villiers created Earl of Buckingham.
	Mar.	Sir Francis Bacon created Keeper of the Great Seal. Death of Lord Chancellor Ellesmere.
	May	James I visited Scotland.
	June	Sir Walter Raleigh set sail for Guiana.
	Oct.	Death of Sir Ralph Winwood, Secretary of State. The Cockayne Sc...