CHARLES VS PARLIAMENT DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION SS 9 total: 15 marks

Instructions: Read the documents below carefully and answer the questions which follow about Charles I and the English Civil War.

Document A

“The Lords and Commons do therefore humbly pray your most excellent majesty that no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan or benevolence, tax or such like charge without common consent by act if Parliament…”

Petition of Right, 1628

Document B

“Your king is your cause, your quarrel and your captain. The foe is in sight. The best encouragement I can give you is that, come life or death, your king will bear you company, and ever keep this field, this place and this day’s service in his grateful remembrance.”

King Charles addresses his troops before the Battle of Edgehill, the opening engagement of the Civil War, 25 October 1642.

Document C

“The remaining Rump Parliament passed an act, establishing a court to try Charles, that ‘man of blood’ for high treason and ‘other offenses against the kingdom’.”

The Kings and Queens of England, Ian Crofton, 2006

Document D

“By what authority am I here? I mean lawful authority, for there are many unlawful authorities in the world – thieves and robbers by the highways. Remember, I am your lawful king.”

Charles I, when asked by the court to plead guilty or not guilty, 1649

Document E

“That the court, being satisfied that he, Charles Stuart, was guilty of the crimes of which he had been accused, did judge him tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the good people of the nation, to be put to death by the severing of his heard from his body.”

The announcement of Parliament’s verdict at the trial of the king, 1649

Document-Based Questions

1. Which of the documents above is a secondary source? Explain why. (2)

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2. Explain to what extent the point of view (bias) in Document A differs from that in Documents C and D? (4)

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3. Explain how Documents A and C are related? (3)

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4. Using the documents provided and any other knowledge you may have of the English Civil War, identify why Parliament and the King’s forces went to war and why Parliament decided to execute King Charles I. (6)

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