Charles I and the Road to Personal Rule

L. J. Reeve

Cambridge University Press, Oct 1, 2003 - History - 325 pages

This study of the character and policies of Charles I provides an analysis of the political crisis leading to his personal rule in England during the years before the civil wars. It fills a gap in the historical literature of the period by integrating ideological with political developments and English with international affairs. It is also a contribution to the wider European history of a critical phase of the Thirty Years War. The book offers a new way of understanding Charles by demonstrating how ill-suited his personality was to the workings of the political world. It also argues that Charles's innovatory rule created a new pattern of national politics deeply destructive in its effects. The book gives a gripping account of the king's willingness to pervert the due process of law in dealing with his political opponents, as well as investigating his failures in religious and foreign policy.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• Buckinghams England in crisis: 9
• The death of a Parliament: 58
• The aftermath: 99
• Government and justice: 118
• The king his court and its enemies: 172
• Foreign policy: 226
• Decision: 275
• The anatomy of a political transition: 292
• Bibliography: 297
• Index: 309

Bibliographic information

• Title: Charles I and the Road to Personal Rule; Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History
• Author: L. J. Reeve
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2003
• ISBN: 0521521335, 9780521521338
• Length: 325 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / Great Britain; History / Europe / Western