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Desperate for money to fight the Scots,
Charles I was forced to call a new parliament, the first for 11 years. At first, it looked as though Parliament might be prepared to put to one side their dislike
of the way Charles was running the country and grant him the money he needed. But it didn’t work out and Charles dismissed Parliament after only a month. Historians,
also wanting to report facts, call this the short parliament.
Meanwhile the Scots had arrived at the River Tyne, well into England. Charles sent his army up to meet them on the south bank of the river but the
Scots charged across and the English ran away. Charles was forced to agree to a humiliating truce. Now you may find this a bit weird as it would seem Charles was
invading himself and then signing a truce with himself but as I said earlier each country was a separate entity.
The Scottish army now stayed in England until their expenses were paid and so Charles had to summon Parliament again. Once again, instead of agreeing
to give him money, they spent time complaining about his policies. Many of the members of Parliament were Puritans and angry with him anyway. In those days,
Parliament was there to keep a check on Kings and make sure they governed fairly.
This new Parliament, which met in November 1640 eventually, lasted much longer and so those witty little historians call this the Long Parliament.
The King met with this Parliament but yet again although they could see him, members had not read what it said on the label about Kings. They had forgotten about
Divine Right.
Forward to 1642AD
