During the same century which saw the triumph of absolutism and divine right in France, a successful struggle took place in England against the unlimited power of kings. Absolutism in England dated from the time of the Tudors. Henry VII humbled the nobles, while Henry VIII and Elizabeth brought the Church into dependence on the crown. [17] These three sovereigns were strong and forceful, but they were also excellent rulers and popular with the influential middle class in town and country. The Tudors gave England order and prosperity, if not political liberty.
PARLIAMENT UNDER THE TUDORS
The English Parliament in the thirteenth century had become a body representative of all classes of the people, and in the fourteenth century it had separated into the two houses of Lords and Commons. [18] Parliament enjoyed considerable authority at this time. The kings, who were in continual need of money, summoned it frequently, sought its advice upon important questions, and readily listened to its requests. The despotic Tudors, on the other hand, made Parliament their servant. Henry VII called it together on only five occasions during his reign; Henry VIII persuaded or frightened it into doing anything he pleased; and Elizabeth seldom consulted it. Parliament under the Tudors did not abandon its old claims to a share in the government, but it had little chance to exercise them.
JAMES I, KING, 1603-1625 A.D.
The death of Elizabeth in 1603 A.D. ended the Tudor dynasty and placed the Stuarts on the English throne in the person of James I. [19] England and Scotland were now joined in a personal union, though each country retained its own Parliament, laws, and state Church. The new king was well described by a contemporary as the "wisest fool in Christendom." He had a good mind and abundant learning, but throughout his reign he showed an utter inability to win either the esteem or the affection of his subjects. This was a misfortune, for the English had now grown weary of despotism and wanted more freedom. They were not prepared to tolerate in James, an alien, many things which they had overlooked in "Good Queen Bess."
JAMES I ON DIVINE RIGHT
One of the most fruitful sources of discord between James and the English people was his exalted conception of monarchy. The Tudors, indeed, claimed to rule by divine right, but James went further than they in arguing for divine hereditary right. Providence, James declared, had chosen the principle of heredity in order to fix the succession to the throne. This principle, being divine, lay beyond the power of man to alter. Whether the king was fit or unfit to rule, Parliament might not change the succession, depose a sovereign, or limit his authority in any way. James rather neatly summarized his views in a Latin epigram, a deo rex, a rege lex—"the king is from God and law is from the king."
[Illustration: GOLD COIN OF JAMES I.
The first coin to bear the legend "Great Britain".]
JAMES I AND PARLIAMENT
Naturally enough, the extreme pretensions of James encountered much opposition from Parliament. That body felt little sympathy for a ruler who proclaimed himself the source of all law. When James, always extravagant and a poor financier, came before it for money, Parliament insisted on its right to withhold supplies until grievances were redressed. James would not yield, and got along as best he could by levying customs duties, selling titles of nobility, and imposing excessive fines, in spite of the protests of Parliament. This situation continued to the end of the king's reign.