Short parliament

Short Parliament - the name given to the Parliament of England, which existed from April 13 to May 5, 1640 during the reign of King Charles I ; Parliament was named so because it existed for only three weeks.

After 11 years of trying to rule alone (1629-1640), Karl convened parliament in 1640 on the advice of Lord Wentworth, who had recently received the title of Earl of Strafford. First of all, he was forced to convene a parliament, later called Short, in order to receive money to finance the continuation of the armed confrontation with Scotland during the so-called Episcopal Wars . Like his predecessors, the new parliament paid more attention to the consideration of significant complaints caused by the actions of the royal administration, and various religious and international issues, rather than voting for the allocation of funds to the king, which would allow him to continue his war against Scottish covenants .

John Pym , a deputy from Tavistock, quickly became a central figure in parliamentary debate; his lengthy speech on April 17 expressed the House of Commons refusal to vote for subsidies if violations of the law by the royal administration were not considered. John Hampden , unlike him, was convincing in particulars: he was a member of nine committees. Karl’s proposal to stop levying taxes in the form of so-called “ ship money ” did not impress MPs. A stream of complaints regarding violations went to parliament from all over the country. Unhappy with the resumption of the debate, interrupted in 1629 and concerning the violation of parliamentary privileges through the arrests of members of parliament in 1629, and fearing the negative outcome of the planned debate over the worsening situation in Scotland, Karl dissolved Parliament on May 5, 1640, only three weeks after the meeting began . The successor to this parliament was the Long Parliament, convened by the king in November of that year.