9. In 1629 Charles dissolved parliament and ruled without it for 11 years.
Although relations with parliament were helped by the murder of Buckingham in August 1628, the small matter of raising taxes remained. A stalemate over taxation in the next year’s session meant it achieved absolutely nothing, and Charles adjourned Parliament on 2nd March. Enraged MPs forcibly restrained the Speaker of the House of Commons to prevent the session ending, and read out a list of grievances about religious and financial policies to raucous cheers. Charles responded by imprisoning 9 MPs for their impertinence. Another big mistake: this only served to rally support for Parliament’s cause against the tyrannical crown.
Undeterred by growing cries of disgruntlement at his behaviour, Charles did not call Parliament again for 11 years, a period known as his ‘Personal Rule’ or ‘The Tyranny’. Relying on the advice of only two advisors, Charles levied heavy taxes and continued his policy of enforcing uniformity on the Church of England. This led to yet more MPs being arrested for refusing to pay unsanctioned taxes and inevitably celebrated by almost everyone outside the royal family. Most seriously, the new prayer book he instituted led to riots in Scotland and Charles declaring a ‘bishops’ war’ on the Scottish clergy.
