18. The emergence of Court and Country 'parties': causes, significance and consequences Flashcards
(18 cards)
Court Party
Consisted of courtiers who supported Charles and acted as clients of the monarch in parliament.
Causes of the Court and Country parties (4)
1) Started when the cabal was in power, cabal being a proto-court party
2) After its collapse in ‘74, Buckingham + Cooper had joined country
3) Country had started to organise around parliament in ‘73 - ‘74 with the Green Ribbon Club in 74, forming an opposition grouping
4) Danby exacerbating factionalism - used patronage through pensions and titles - totaling £300,000 to get MPs onside w/ C
5) By ‘74 there was a ‘hard core of opposition’ (those critical of gov policy) incl. William Coventry + Lord Cavendish - won 2 victories in C2 stopping the Dec. of Indulgence + abandoning the Dutch War (altho party disperses after Pment prorogued on Feb 24 ‘74)
6) By the 1st Exclusion Pment in ‘79 Shatesbury estimated abt 302 MPs were ‘worthy’ + ‘honest’ (anti-court) compared to only 158 in the old Pment
Aims of the Court party
Tolerate dissenters and catholics, strengthen ties with France, manipulate parliament through crown patronage
Key figures of the court party
Charles II, Danby, Duke of Ormonde
Key figures of the country party
Buckingham, Cooper, William Coventry
Aims of Country party (5)
1) Anti-catholic church
2) Defend international protestantism
3) Hostile to France
4) Distrusted government
5) Anti-Absolutist
Court Party attitude to Pment
Manipulated Pments via Crown patronage system - wanted it to become a body that merely supplied money to the Crown
Country Party attitude to Pment (2)
1) Distrusted the gov, believing it corrupt + wasteful
2) Anti-absolutist + wanted to defend the rights of Pment against the Crown prerogative
William Coventry (4)
Key opp politician:
1) prominent in the attack on Clarendon ‘67
2) imprisoned in the Tower of LND for challenging Buckingham’s caricature of him in the Play The Country Gentleman
3) abandoned court party + became instrumental in the attack on Danby
4) wouldn’t support exclusion + went into self-imposed political retirement after Pment’s dissolution in July ‘79
William Cavendish
1) Moved towards ‘country’ position in ’70s bc of fear of popery, the French + distrust of the Stuarts
2) made frequent Pmentary attacks on the cabal in ‘73 + ‘74
3) active role in the attempt to impeach Danby
4) moderate in relation to exclusion (actually voted against it in ‘79)
5) resigned (w/ others) from the Privy Council in ‘80
Role of Danby in creation of parties (4)
1) Secured the appointment of likeminded Anglican + Royalist gentlemen to offices in both LND + the localities
2) forced an alliance w/ the bishops to support the Church in general + persecute Catholics + dissenters in particular (helping create ‘country’ opp.) - abt. 700/9 000 ministers removed from the CofE when it was restored - keeps it more narrow
3) attempted to raise revenue through Cavalier Pment - appealed to their pride by offering court offices, pensions, secret service payments + favours to peers + MPs in return for votes (helps build a court ‘bloc’)
4) Seen to be provocative -tries to pass act that Pment can’t veto a King’s decision in Jan 1674
- Shaftesbury defeats this, Apr 1675 bc he thinks the King should be able to be held accountable
2 examples of how Danby attempted to build support for C2 through patronage (+ therefore build a ‘court bloc’)
1) By autumn of ‘75, Danby had given (Crown) pensions totaling £10k p.a to approx. 30 MPs
2) His agent Sir Wiseman drew up endless lists of MPs who may be persuaded to support the gov if approached personally
A Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend in the Country
Nov ‘75 - likely written by Shaftesbury + John Locke - argues there’s a conspiracy to impose absolutism by a ‘distinct party’ of ‘high episcopal’ men (bishops) + ‘Cavalier’ men through a standing army (30k strong, kept by C2 after France + Nether. signed Peace of Nijmegen ‘78) (attack on Danby)
An Account of the Growth of Popery and Arbitrary Gov
Dec 1671 - written by Andrew Marvell - argued there had been a ‘design’ to est. England ‘into an absolute tyranny + to convert the established Protestant religion into downright popery’
Dev. of the Tories (2)
Term used post-Exclusion (derived from court faction)
1) Key members: Roger North, Henry Hyde (2nd Earl of Clarendon)
2) Beliefs: Anti-Exclusionist, DRoKs, Civil authority comes from God, no right of resistance - even against tyranny, CofE + threat of radicalism from Dissenters, republicans + Pment
Dev. of the Whigs (2)
Term used post-Exclusion (derived from county faction)
1) Key figures: Shaftesbury, Sidney Godolphin
2) Beliefs: exclusionist, civil authority from people, right of resistance against tyranny - social contract theory (can be broken), threat of absolutism linked to Catholicism, Pment representative of people + protector of Protestantism, liberty, more favourable towards religious tolerance + dissent
Shaftesbury declared ‘there is no prince, that ever governed w/o nobility or an army; (if you have neither) … the monarchy cannot long support, or keep itself from tumbling into a democratically republic’ - Whig belief: King needs Pment to survive
Development of absolutist political theory/thought (3)
Robert Filmer published (absolutist) Patriarcha in ‘80, defending the King’s ‘natural power’ against the ‘unnatural liberty of the people’, through influence of Archbishop Sancroft:
1) refuted political authority coming from people’s consent (originally free)
2) claimed all royal-patriarchial authority descended from Adam - King’s power divinely instituted
3) declared people had no right to representation (in Pment)
^ justifies hereditary, absolute monarchy (as enshrined by Tories)
Development of anti-absolutism political theory/thought (2)
John Locke rebuts Filmer’s Patriarchia in Treatise of Two Government - published ‘89 (anonymously):
1) develops social contract theory (political authority is a construct based on consent + equality of individuals)
2) argues Filmer’s thesis would lead to ‘slavery + absurdity’ undermining individual liberty
^ forms basis of Whig’s fundamental beliefs (e.g. sovereignty of the people)
