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The Eleven Year Tyranny was a period of political unrest in England lasting from 1629 to 1640. This was started because King Charles I thought he did not need Parliament to rule his country. Charles’ problem stemmed from personal hubris; he felt that God had chosen him to lead a nation and that he needed absolutism to rule efficiently. This can be linked to Paradise Lost as Satan felt that he was better than God and that he should rule Heaven.
In 1628, Parliament passed the Petition of Right, which limited the amount that the king can spend. This meant that the King needed the consent from parliament before spending any funds for unusual causes. King Charles I believed that this violated God’s decision to make him the King, and that Parliament was just trying to secure more power for themselves. This distaste for each other continued to fester as the separation between the King and Parliament grew. On March 2, 1629 King Charles I dissolved Parliament, and then had them arrested and labeled as traitors to the crown. With this dismissal he assumed all rights to military action and to make any policies that he wanted to. The advantage for the King for this dismissal was that he now had excess funding to go toward his military, instead of funding Parliament. This gave him an edge in public approval because he increased military support in Germany for the War. To the uneducated commoners of England, this was seen as unforeseen prosperity during war. Conversely, things were actually getting worse because the majority of the King’s decisions were failures. This eventually caused political unrest in England.
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- Personal Rule.
- Prorogation.
