h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

See - subtle as page three of the Sun, me

Keep up the good work in Peer Review, Happy - you're doing a fantastic job. And I'm not exactly one to preach on the subject of not being overbearing, am I?

Lucinda - very concerned with the number of motes in other people's eyes

To those who puruse 'Readers Wifes' page 3 of the sun is very subtle

OK, thanks. I should be getting on with finishing this article then, shouldn't I?

*Alex puts on non-existant glasses, sits down at non-existant writing table and tries to concentrate*

-Alex

Oh, I don't know... There *are* about 180000 researchers around here now... But yes, I spotted the main thrust of your post.

The "novel" feel has to be one of the reasons I enjoy writing about this particular period of history, rather than Henry VII, who was just plain boring.

-Alex.




DISCALIMER: Please could anyone who is an expert in Henry VII not come forward and announce that he is not boring, because despite the number of users in h2g2, I may just have a heart attack.

(why not do Richard III for your next one, shouldn't be any contreversy there )

Right, update time again. Take a look at the latest version of the entry. In this one, I've tried to include all the key causes without overloading the reader with facts. I eventually decided that I didn't really need to go into too much detail over Parliament, so I've left it pretty much as it was.

Charles' Personality
so what happened to Charles elder brother ?


Parliament
Pym, the leader of the MPs,
change to
Pym, the leader of the (majority) county faction MPs



Overall, a lot better, I would in an ideal world like to see the 'Parliament' section expanded to cover what happened because as I have indicated before what happened there was the direct cause of the war.

if you want I could put something together about Parliment for you to work with, but not until the weekend after next.

Updates:
* Explaination of the death of Henry.
* Slight modification to Parliament section.

Your offer of writing an addition to the Parliament is generous, HappyDude, and if you're willing to do so, I'd be more than glad to include it in the article, and credit you as a researcher.

-Alex.

looks good apart from the parliment section, which still needs expsansion in my opinion, give me a bit of time (week or so) & i'll post something for you on that.

Just a quick reminder - have you completed the Parliament section for the article? I'd really like to try and get this article finished sometime soon...

sorry wasnt well, almost finished

Well I'm impressed with it. Nice to see you've included the international picture. It gives it more of a feeling of the miriad of plots and problems that were going on at the time. Don't know enough, beyond my little bit, which you look to have got right, but I think it is very good. I commend this to the house.

Okay, thanks for keeping me up-to-date.

Glad you like it, Dr Munchkin. The article's almost finished now - I reckon it'll be done once the bit from HappyDude is put in place.

:: hunched over books, scribbling feverishly ::

try working with this

ParliamentMain Sources for this section are The English Civil War by Robert Aston ISBN 1 85799 184 2, Fidelity & Fortitude by Martin Hazell ISBN 0 946525 36 6, The Oxford Illustrated History of The British Monarchy by John Cannon and Ralph Griffiths ISBN 0 19 289328 9.
The Short ParliamentThe Short Parliament sat from 13 April, 1640, to 5 May, 1640.
When Parliament was summoned in April 1640, Charles had governed for 11 years without a Parliament, while this certainly went against the spirit of the English constitution it was most defiantly within the Kings prerogative to do this. Charles felt forced to call a parliament when the Scots rebelled, putting an army into the field to deal with the Scots put a heavy drain on the royal finances so Charles needed to levy a tax, which he could only do with the consent of Parliament.

When Parliament met the gentry from the counties used the occasion to vent there frustration with Harbottle Grimston & John Pym leading a catalogue of complaints. Three weeks latter Charles dissolved Parliament blaming, "the malicious cunning of some few seditious affected men".

The war with the Scots did not fair well for Charles, but he did eventually reach an agreement with them at a cost of £850 a day.

The Long ParliamentThe Long Parliament sat from 3 November, 1640, for 13 years, until Oliver Cromwell suppressed it. Researchers should note that it was not formally dismissed until 1660, after the Restoration.

In order to pay this & get funds for a final settlement Charles had to summon another Parliament. This time Charles could not afford to dismiss Parliament until he got what he wanted, this gave Parliament an important card to play in what was to come.

Therefore, when Parliament met in November 1640, it was with a mood of constitutional reform.
493 MP's were elected, of these
340 were anti Court (the 'county' faction)
64 were for the Court (supporters of the King)
59 were of an unknown disposition
17 were disabled from sitting (these were mainly of the 'court camp')
with the remainder probably being 'court' men.

Parliament pinned the blame for what went wrong on the Kings advisors rather than Charles himself, sending both Stratford & Laud to the Tower. Charles also tried to heal the rift by signing Stratford's death warrant & passing a bill that allowed for Parliament not to be dissolved without its own consent and a bill making 'ship money' illegal and other bills that taken together demolished the framework of prerogative government.

When in 1641 the Irish rebelled, it raised an almost insolvable problem, who would command the Army King or Parliament? John Pym tried to take the initiative for Parliament by issuing the Grand Remonstrance and a Militia bill. Charles responded by trying to arrest five Parliamentary leaders (including Pym), this misfired on Charles & he was forced to retire from London.

The rest as they say is 'History'.

I expect you will want to tweek it slightly to make it fit with you style.

Sorry it took so long.

you covered a lot of what I put in above in your laste re-write so just pick & choose what you want.

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'Peer Review' to 'English Civil War, Causes Of'.

This thread has been moved out of the Peer Review Forum because your entry has now been recommended for the Edited Guide.

You can find out what will happen to your entry here: http://www.h2g2.com/SubEditors-Process

Congratulations!

Thanks, Happy! I've updated the article, and added you as a researcher. I've also written an email off in reply to the one I got informing me of the recommendation, to make sure they edit the updated version.

Thanks to everyone who helped the article along!