16. Slippery Slope

Charles I started his reign in just the way he'd go on with it, and in just the way his father James I/VI had ended his: by getting right up the noses of most of his subjects in Scotland as well as England, and falling apart big time with the Westminster Parliament.

Having failed with one attempt at a marriage with a Catholic Princess from Spain, he just organised himself a different one, with a Catholic Princess from France - Spain's deadliest enemy but just as Papist. He got into disputes with Parliament and Protestants generally about anti-Protestant, or even pro-Catholic action, and with Parliament specifically about taxation, since he could never raise enough for his needs without their authorisation, which he resented. In this neat way, he set up all the pieces for the painful clashes he'd face over the following years.

The illustration is a portrait of King Charles I, by Gerrit van Honthorst, oil on canvas, 1628
National Portrait Gallery, London, 4444

The music is Bach Partita #2c by J Bu.

Both image and music are licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/