The Stuarts: A Bloody Reign - Episode 2

Good morning, we will continue with the Stuart Dynasty and will continue with King Charles I.  King Charles was a king who disappointed everyone.  He was a man who was not meant to be king, he had an older brother who died young.  Sir Richard Winn was his best friend and accompanied him on a disastrous trip to Spain.
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Nobody wanted him to marry a Catholic Princess.  However, Prince Charles would end up marrying a Catholic Princess anyway: Henrietta Maria.  Henrietta Maria had a job: she would bring England back to the Catholic faith.  She was a zealously Catholic Queen and flaunted it.  She refused to even take part in the coronation because of the Protestant connections.  Both sides had strong religious biases.  Someone would have needed to back down and the politicians would not be the ones.  There were going to be conflicts in the future because of this. 

Henrietta Maria and Charles both were devoted to the arts.  Richard Winn would sign off on the art purchases and was Queen Henrietta Maria’s treasurer.  Richard Winn would sign off on her purchases and would often pay for artworks himself using his funds from his estate.  He prepared the King for when his portraits were painted.  Charles brought art and culture to England.  He collected Titian and enjoyed the works of the high Renaissance.  Charles was an ordinary-looking man and needed art to show him as a grand man.  Artists elevated King Charles I into a Christlike figure.

However, King Charles I, had the same challenges as his father.  He butted heads with Parliament.  This tension would lead to bloodshed in England.  Only Parliament had the power to levy taxes.  King Charles I needed to raise funds for war in Spain.  However, the tenuous relationship with Parliament would attempt to put a stop to that.  King Charles also relied on the Duke of Buckingham, his father’s former favorite.  So, King Charles I, intervened in the 30 Years’ War and engaged in piracy.  However, this was a disaster and the Duke of Buckingham was assassinated.  This shocked the country.

King Charles continued to try to find ways around raising funds.  He leaned onto the ship money.  Ship money was raised in times of war.  This time King Charles would extend that tax beyond wartime and would spread it inland.  This would cause a divide between the brothers of the Winn family.  The Stuarts never had enough money and would use anything to raise money for the Crown.  However, this was a disaster for the Stuarts.  It would lead to the belief that Charles I was an absolute monarch.

King Charles also came under attack for his religious sympathies.  He was accused of harboring secret Catholic sympathies and a series of religious laws caused the Scots to rebel.  Charles was eventually forced to recall Parliament.  Parliament passed laws to prevent King Charles from ruling alone ever again.  King Charles was unhappy with the changes in the law.  However, tensions continued to rise, especially in Ireland.  King Charles was a man who did not have tact.  Charles’ wife was censored.  It would only be a matter of time before the English Civil War would begin.

Charles Spencer’s participation in this documentary was fascinating and I would like to see him in future documentaries.  I also liked how Henrietta Maria’s Catholicism was mentioned and how that had an impact on the start of the English Civil War.

This episode flowed a lot better, even though Kate does have a quick narration.  This would be one episode I would show in the classroom.  I hope that the next episode will be better.