Hibbert, Christopher. Charles I: A Life of Religion, War and Treason - Book Report/Review Example

Hibbert, Christopher. Charles I: A Life of Religion, War and Treason. New York:  Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Print.” Hibbert Christopher’s book offers insight on the life of Charles I. The book takes a specific direction and shows how patriotic Charles was and how he was committed to his religion. The book also expounds on how his principal lead to him being accused of treason. The book tells the story of Charles from the moment he was born. It also talks about what he went through during his childhood, and how events in his life that shaped him to become a leader. It also elaborates more on how the people who were in his life shaped him to becoming a leader in England. The book talks about how he started the civil war, which was the main reason for his execution. This book is dedicated in showing his accomplishments and bad deeds that led him to be executed. Charles I: A Life of Religion, War and Treason by Christopher Hibbert This book talks about the life of Charles and his position in the history of England. The book starts by introducing the childhood life of Charles, and how events from his childhood, changed him to become the leader of England and Scotland. Nobody ever thought that he would accomplish a lot during his time as a leader. Charles is very instrumental in the history of England; this is because he was the one who started the English civil war in 1642. The role that he played in the civil war led to him being charged with treason and he was later on executed up on being found guilty. The civil war touches a lot on the history of England because it was the start of the monarchy revolution the in England. In addition, it was the event that catapulted England into religious, economical and political independence. The success that England enjoys can be attributed to the civil war. Charles grew under the mentorship of the Duke of Buckingham who taught him how to be courageous and influential. He also taught him to be more aggressive in the speeches he wrote and while addressing the public, because this was the only way that they could respect him. Due to the influence of the Duke, Charles became a well-known person in the political elite of England and this contributed to his political success in England. The Duke introduced Charles to all the important people that would latter on contribute to his success. To strengthen the ties between Spain and England, a marriage was organized between Charles and Henrietta. Henrietta was one of the loyal ladies of Spain and the marriage between her and Charles lasted until Charles was executed. Charles was very stubborn in his leadership and his stubbornness rubbed people the wrong way. Because of this stubbornness, he went to war with his parliament and the Scot Amy bringing the end to monarchy. After the war, it was agreed that they would be ruled through the commonwealth. This lasted until the monarchy was restored in 1660, leading to the separation of England and Scotland. In writing this book, the author tries to shed light on the civil war in England and the person responsible for it. The author focuses on the main character who is Charles I and talks about his life and the people who shaped him to being the man he was. The story teaches us that the challenges that a person encounters while growing up does not determine who he will become in the future. This is illustrated well in the development of the concept in the story. The author says that when Charles I was born nobody knew that he would rise and become a great man. He over came every impossible situation in his life to become a fearless and determined leader of Scott and England. The author concentrates a lot on the events in the life of Charles I that shaped him to become one of the most influential leaders at that time. Many, who followed Charles I did so because of his strong religious beliefs (Hibbert 76). He was ready to defend his religious beliefs at all cost even if it meant him going to war with anyone who opposed him. In the book, Charles I is described as a meticulous and honorable leader. Though he was stubborn, he was good when making regarding other issues apart from religion. In matters that touched on religion Charles failed miserably because he thought that there was no church grater than the Catholic Church. He was also reserved politically and left most political decisions to the parliament or his advisors because to him what mattered was the church. From the time he became a leader, people always criticized his style of leadership because of the laxity that he expressed in issues touching on governance. In the coming days he would win the favour of his subjects with his religious beliefs. This covered the mistakes that he made while conducting government matters on deciding on political issues. Charles I was. He never considered others while making decisions affecting the leadership of the country. This mode of leadership raised eyebrows with the parliament and other governing institutions. However, because of his determination and charisma, his subjects trusted him in managing the country. Many Protestants believed that there was a plot by the government to make England an all-catholic religion, because Charles was a strong catholic and didn’t allow other denominations freedom of worship. They also thought that the plot was aimed at the destruction of the people’s liberties and Charles I even tried to introduce a prayer book in Scotland in 1637 as a way of imposing on the freedom of worship. . The book was welcomed with furious resistance from people who believed in other religions. The introduction of the prayer book came at the time when other believers in England felt that the administration was trying to limit their freedom of worship. Charles I tried to silence the Scots, but he failed miserably, which forced him to convene an English parliament in 1640 to strategies on how he would quell the unrest in Scotland. The convening of the parliament was aimed to come up with policies that he would use to govern the Scotland. When the sittings of the parliament began, Charles I was accosted by accusations and complaints about his policies. Most of the members felt that he had very poor policies that impeded on the rights of freedom of worship. They felt that he was trying to compel them to accept his religion regardless of their opinions. At the time of the political unrest everyone thought that he had no one to support him in his endeavors, however, there were those members who thought that the church did not need reforms. Another group thought that the church needed a lot of reforms and that every one had a right to worship. Those who were religious traditionalists became alarmed and concerned that many people wanted the church to change. Also the rebellious group wanted political reforms that place Charles between a rock and a hard place. There were political unrest and other religions with Protestants wanting to break the dominant catholic religion. Irish Catholics killed many Protestants in 1641, in a blood bath that was aimed at Protestants who were residing in England and Scotland. This event angered the two sides escalating the already tense situation. This continued for a while and there was a rebellion against the Catholics that in turn caused tension in England. There was no political or religious compromise in sight for this conflict and Charles I could not convince his parliament on his policies. Cracks started emerging in England threatening to split into two the once united country because Charles could not convince the parliament on his policies. The split between the parliament and Charles was so intense that none of the camps were willing to compromise and this meant that war was the only solution. This divided the country into two groups. One of the groups supported the parliament and the other supported Charles I and the two groups were ready to go to war. This was referred to as the classic ingredients for a civil war and when the war started, it did not go on continuously. This is because there was no one to command the army and the time that took to organize and arrange for supplies was long. The roads were bad and sometimes were rendered useless by bad weather. This made it hard for the soldiers to move during the winter. During the battles, Charles lost most of northern England to the combined Amy of the Scott and the parliament. Charles I surrendered to the Scott in 1646. He wanted to take the advantage that the relation between the Scott and the parliament was weak. He thought that he would find a way to manoeuvre through this weak relationship and get away Scott free. A special law had to be written to accommodate the case since there had never been a trial involving a king before. He was tried by a bench of 135 judges who found him guilty of treason and sentenced him to death. Only 68 out of the 135 judge showed up for the trial. The others did not want to be associated with the trial. Works cited Hibbert, Christopher. Charles I: A Life of Religion, War and Treason. New York:  Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Print. Read More