Charles was as reluctant to assent to the Petition as King John was to affix his seal to the Magna Charta; but he was at length forced to give sanction to it by the use of the usual formula, "Let it be law as desired" (1628).
Charles rules without Parliament (1629–1640).—It soon became evident that Charles was utterly insincere when he put his name to the Petition of Right. He immediately violated its provisions in attempting to raise money by forbidden taxes and loans. For eleven years he ruled without Parliament, thus changing the government of England from a government by king, lords, and commons, to what was in effect an absolute and irresponsible monarchy, like that of France or Spain.
As is always the case under such circumstances, there were enough persons ready to aid the king in his schemes of usurpation. Prominent among his unscrupulous agents were his ministers Thomas Wentworth (Earl of Strafford) and William Laud. Wentworth devoted himself to establishing the royal despotism in civil matters; while Laud, who was made Archbishop of Canterbury, busied himself chiefly with exalting above all human interference the king's prerogatives in religious affairs as the supreme head of the English Church.
All these high-handed and tyrannical proceedings of Charles and his agents were enforced by certain courts that had been wrested from their original purpose and moulded into instruments of despotism. These were known as the Council of the North, the Star Chamber, and the High Commission Court.[1] All of these courts sat without jury, and being composed of the creatures of the king, were of course his subservient instruments. Their decisions were unjust and arbitrary; their punishments, harsh and cruel.
- ↑ The first was a tribunal established by Henry VIII., and was now employed by Wentworth as an instrument for enforcing the king's despotic authority in the turbulent northern counties of England. The Star Chamber was a court of somewhat obscure origin, which at this time dealt chiefly with criminal cases affecting the government, such as riot, libel, and conspiracy. The High Commission Court was a tribunal of forty-four commissioners, created in Elizabeth's reign to enforce the acts of Supremacy and Uniformity.
