I've been playing around with a few ideas about a timeline such that Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland turned out to be a pretty good King. Despite my initial concerns, this does not appear to require the intervention of ASB's. It should also diverge a fair bit from the excellent Henry IX thread.
The POD is in 1601 when Charles' older brother, Prince Henry Frederick, Duke of Rothsey and heir to the throne of Scotland suffered a tragic accident. Thrown from his horse, Henry landed badly and died almost immediately. This elevated the infant Charles to the position of heir, just as his father, James VI of Scotland was positioning himself to succeed his southern neighbour, Elizabeth of England.
Two years later, Elizabeth died and James rode south to claim his throne. As IOTL, Charles' health was not considered sufficient to the journey and he remained in Scotland, but ATL was left in the care of Sir George Lauder, Laird of the Bass and one of James' Privy Counsellors (and IOTL Henry Frederick's tutor). Although initially expected to join his father in 1604 this was put off more than a year after James quarrelled with Parliament, and then again after the unsuccessful Gunpowder Plot. Charles did not actually travel to London until 1610.
Having been essentially raised by a Member of the Scottish Parliament, Charles was considerably more sympathetic to them than his father, and transferred this to an extent to the English Parliament (such as he saw of it, the body having been dissolved in 1610 by James and only briefly reconvened in 1614). The long seperation between father and son had also left Charles outside the King's circle of favorites and the departure of his sister Elizabeth, a long time correspondent of Charles, for her marriage to Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate removed one of their common bridges.
The following year, James began extended negotiations towards marrying Charles to Maria Anna, Infanta of Spain. The match was doomed: Maria Anna did not favour it; Philip IV would not support it unless Charles converted to Catholicism; and, of course, it was desperately unpopular in England and Scotland. However, the possible financial advantages to James, and the fact that as long as the negotiations went on Spain could be sure James would not meddle in the developing Thirty Years War, kept them going. Charles, not wanting to further break from his father went along with the negotiations, although he recorded his reservations: 'no marriage, no matter how lucrative, could be worth losing the throne of England' he wrote to his sister in Bohemia.
In 1623, with his father's health failing, Charles travelled to Spain himself, determined either to complete arrangements or lay them forever to rest, perhaps in concious imitation of his father's dramatic rescue of Anne of Denmark, thirty-four years previous. He was accompanied by his father's favorite George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who was probably more concerned about cementing a relationship with the prince to secure his position when James eventually died. Arriving in Spain, Charles established that the entire marriage arrangement was hopeless and that he was facing what could very easily become the grip of a hostile King. Keeping his head, Charles managed to talk his way out of Spain, agreeing to a secret treaty to stay out of the wars in Germany, which was in any case his preference.
En route to Spain, Charles had met Henrietta Maria, the younger half-sister of Louis XIII. He had also gathered the impression (correctly) that France was not planning to involve themselves directly in the wars. This, to Charles, made a French marriage more palatable than one with Spain. He also blamed Buckingham, not for the Spanish marriage's failure, but that so much time and effort had been wasted on it. The English Parliament accepted the marriage somewhat reluctantly, although the Scots were more favourable, due to past ties with France. Before negotiations could be finished, James passed away in March 1625.
Charles married Henrietta Maria by proxy in May 1625, before calling his first English Parliament. His speech opening the Parliament sets out the principal policies he wishes to pursue: maintaining the peace that his three kingdoms have known through his father's reign; setting the finances of his respective governments in better order; and establishing clearly defined relationships between the three kingdoms. The implication of this was that Charles did not intend to follow the contentious policy of trying to unite England and Scotland into one Kingdom, but instead would maintain the status of a personal union. The reception to his speech was positive, but concerns were raised about his marriage to a Catholic: would Charles be relaxing restrictions on recusants (those not accepting communion with the Anglican Church)?
Somewhat theatrically, Charles produced a document, declaring it to be a bill he wished to place before Parliament to establish a single clear law on the succession to the throne of England and Wales. 'If it is pleasing to Parliament,' he offered, 'I shall add to this document that every monarch hereafter shall pledge to forswear on their part and for their heirs, the Roman Catholic Church.' The Bill being thus amended and read, it was passed by acclamation and Charles avoided answering the actual question that had been posed.
The following month Henrietta Maria arrived in England with a large and Roman Catholic retinue. Although married in Saint Augustine's Church, Canterbury, her religion made it impossible for her to be crowned alongside her husband, a ceremony scheduled for early the next year. In the meantime, Charles proposed to visit Scotland and if possible Ireland and for her to accompany him. Having persuaded her to take only a modest company with her, he left quiet orders that most of the rest be sent back to France once he and Henrietta Maria were out of Westminster. Unsurprisingly this led to a furious quarrel between the newly-weds when Henrietta Maria discovered the orders, but by this point her household had been expanded with Englishwomen and Scots, and as Charles made no further efforts to reduce her French companions, the matter was eventually dropped.
In Scotland, Charles left Henrietta Maria in Edinburgh while he convened the Scottish Estates at Scone and in a relatively modest ceremony was crowned King of Scotland. Presenting the Scots with the same Bill he had offered to the English Parliament, he asked them to endorse the same laws of succession. These were accepted, as was a proposal to establish a treaty with the Kingdoms of England and Ireland, abolishing taxes upon trade between the three Kingdoms. A request was made of Charles that he abolish the episcopial polity of the Church of Scotland in favour of a presbyterian arrangement, excluding bishops in favour of a general assembly. Charles expressed reservations but did not reject the proposal outright.
Charles and Henrietta Maria crossed the Irish Sea early in September 1625. Henrietta Maria almost immediately began to make inroads into the catholic populace and the simple fact that Charles had actually taken the time to visit Ireland raised his own reputation there considerably. Although no formal coronation took place here, Charles did summon the Irish Parliament who agreed readily to abolish barriers to trade with England and Scotland. They also approved the laws of succession (without the potentially inflamatory Roman Catholic clause) ensuring that the succession to the crowns of all three Kingdoms would now pass to the same individual. Concerned about the onset of winter, the royal couple left Dublin for Bristol after only three weeks and made a slow, almost triumphant procession to London over the next month. Their tour of Charles' kingdoms had proven most successful.
In February Charles was crowned King of England and Ireland in Westminster Abbey. Henrietta Maria, still offended over the removal of her French retainers, did not attend at all. Breaking two and a half centuries of tradition, he did not claim the title King of France. Although rumour had it that this was a concession made to Louis XIII during the marriage negotiations for Henrietta Maria, it is more likely to have been a peace offering to her, or simple refusal to claim an empty title. Either would have been characteristic of Charles I.
tbc.
The POD is in 1601 when Charles' older brother, Prince Henry Frederick, Duke of Rothsey and heir to the throne of Scotland suffered a tragic accident. Thrown from his horse, Henry landed badly and died almost immediately. This elevated the infant Charles to the position of heir, just as his father, James VI of Scotland was positioning himself to succeed his southern neighbour, Elizabeth of England.
Two years later, Elizabeth died and James rode south to claim his throne. As IOTL, Charles' health was not considered sufficient to the journey and he remained in Scotland, but ATL was left in the care of Sir George Lauder, Laird of the Bass and one of James' Privy Counsellors (and IOTL Henry Frederick's tutor). Although initially expected to join his father in 1604 this was put off more than a year after James quarrelled with Parliament, and then again after the unsuccessful Gunpowder Plot. Charles did not actually travel to London until 1610.
Having been essentially raised by a Member of the Scottish Parliament, Charles was considerably more sympathetic to them than his father, and transferred this to an extent to the English Parliament (such as he saw of it, the body having been dissolved in 1610 by James and only briefly reconvened in 1614). The long seperation between father and son had also left Charles outside the King's circle of favorites and the departure of his sister Elizabeth, a long time correspondent of Charles, for her marriage to Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate removed one of their common bridges.
The following year, James began extended negotiations towards marrying Charles to Maria Anna, Infanta of Spain. The match was doomed: Maria Anna did not favour it; Philip IV would not support it unless Charles converted to Catholicism; and, of course, it was desperately unpopular in England and Scotland. However, the possible financial advantages to James, and the fact that as long as the negotiations went on Spain could be sure James would not meddle in the developing Thirty Years War, kept them going. Charles, not wanting to further break from his father went along with the negotiations, although he recorded his reservations: 'no marriage, no matter how lucrative, could be worth losing the throne of England' he wrote to his sister in Bohemia.
In 1623, with his father's health failing, Charles travelled to Spain himself, determined either to complete arrangements or lay them forever to rest, perhaps in concious imitation of his father's dramatic rescue of Anne of Denmark, thirty-four years previous. He was accompanied by his father's favorite George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who was probably more concerned about cementing a relationship with the prince to secure his position when James eventually died. Arriving in Spain, Charles established that the entire marriage arrangement was hopeless and that he was facing what could very easily become the grip of a hostile King. Keeping his head, Charles managed to talk his way out of Spain, agreeing to a secret treaty to stay out of the wars in Germany, which was in any case his preference.
En route to Spain, Charles had met Henrietta Maria, the younger half-sister of Louis XIII. He had also gathered the impression (correctly) that France was not planning to involve themselves directly in the wars. This, to Charles, made a French marriage more palatable than one with Spain. He also blamed Buckingham, not for the Spanish marriage's failure, but that so much time and effort had been wasted on it. The English Parliament accepted the marriage somewhat reluctantly, although the Scots were more favourable, due to past ties with France. Before negotiations could be finished, James passed away in March 1625.
Charles married Henrietta Maria by proxy in May 1625, before calling his first English Parliament. His speech opening the Parliament sets out the principal policies he wishes to pursue: maintaining the peace that his three kingdoms have known through his father's reign; setting the finances of his respective governments in better order; and establishing clearly defined relationships between the three kingdoms. The implication of this was that Charles did not intend to follow the contentious policy of trying to unite England and Scotland into one Kingdom, but instead would maintain the status of a personal union. The reception to his speech was positive, but concerns were raised about his marriage to a Catholic: would Charles be relaxing restrictions on recusants (those not accepting communion with the Anglican Church)?
Somewhat theatrically, Charles produced a document, declaring it to be a bill he wished to place before Parliament to establish a single clear law on the succession to the throne of England and Wales. 'If it is pleasing to Parliament,' he offered, 'I shall add to this document that every monarch hereafter shall pledge to forswear on their part and for their heirs, the Roman Catholic Church.' The Bill being thus amended and read, it was passed by acclamation and Charles avoided answering the actual question that had been posed.
The following month Henrietta Maria arrived in England with a large and Roman Catholic retinue. Although married in Saint Augustine's Church, Canterbury, her religion made it impossible for her to be crowned alongside her husband, a ceremony scheduled for early the next year. In the meantime, Charles proposed to visit Scotland and if possible Ireland and for her to accompany him. Having persuaded her to take only a modest company with her, he left quiet orders that most of the rest be sent back to France once he and Henrietta Maria were out of Westminster. Unsurprisingly this led to a furious quarrel between the newly-weds when Henrietta Maria discovered the orders, but by this point her household had been expanded with Englishwomen and Scots, and as Charles made no further efforts to reduce her French companions, the matter was eventually dropped.
In Scotland, Charles left Henrietta Maria in Edinburgh while he convened the Scottish Estates at Scone and in a relatively modest ceremony was crowned King of Scotland. Presenting the Scots with the same Bill he had offered to the English Parliament, he asked them to endorse the same laws of succession. These were accepted, as was a proposal to establish a treaty with the Kingdoms of England and Ireland, abolishing taxes upon trade between the three Kingdoms. A request was made of Charles that he abolish the episcopial polity of the Church of Scotland in favour of a presbyterian arrangement, excluding bishops in favour of a general assembly. Charles expressed reservations but did not reject the proposal outright.
Charles and Henrietta Maria crossed the Irish Sea early in September 1625. Henrietta Maria almost immediately began to make inroads into the catholic populace and the simple fact that Charles had actually taken the time to visit Ireland raised his own reputation there considerably. Although no formal coronation took place here, Charles did summon the Irish Parliament who agreed readily to abolish barriers to trade with England and Scotland. They also approved the laws of succession (without the potentially inflamatory Roman Catholic clause) ensuring that the succession to the crowns of all three Kingdoms would now pass to the same individual. Concerned about the onset of winter, the royal couple left Dublin for Bristol after only three weeks and made a slow, almost triumphant procession to London over the next month. Their tour of Charles' kingdoms had proven most successful.
In February Charles was crowned King of England and Ireland in Westminster Abbey. Henrietta Maria, still offended over the removal of her French retainers, did not attend at all. Breaking two and a half centuries of tradition, he did not claim the title King of France. Although rumour had it that this was a concession made to Louis XIII during the marriage negotiations for Henrietta Maria, it is more likely to have been a peace offering to her, or simple refusal to claim an empty title. Either would have been characteristic of Charles I.
tbc.