The state of the monarchy in England has always been tumultuous and unstable. The reign of the house of Stuart was no different and followed the precedents of all the houses that came before them. Some of the issues that Charles faced during his reign were some that were already set in motion before he came to the thrown while other problems he himself had caused or aggravated. One of these problems that was carried over from his father’s reign was that of both James and Charles favorite George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. Popular opinion of king’s favorites have never been particularly high and the case of Buckingham was no exception. He gained his status at a young age during James’s reign and in the later years of his life became extremely …show more content…
This is extremely evident in Europe following the protestant reformation that had divided all of the continent. In England at this time most of the Catholics has been either rooted out or oppressed and the protestant remained unchallenged. This however didn’t mean that there was religious stability during Charles reign. Even before Charles came into power James had never liked the Protestants and had warned his son about them in the Basilikon Doron. Puritans were the purist faction of the protestant faith and did not like things like the cross at baptism, bowing at the name of Jesus, may festivities, and sports on the Sabbath. They saw themselves as the best of councilors of the king and tutors for the prince, solely performed god’s word, and loved preaching over praying. By everyone else they were seen as “She-Puritans and as non-conformist in a close stomacher that railed at the whore of Babylon for a beastly woman according to John Earle in “Character of a She-Puritan”. The most fervent of these Puritans moved to parliament to get more concessions and support for their ideals from the king. This came in the way of the “Nineteenth Proposal” with eighteen different supplications to the king. Most of the points made asked for the approbation of parliament on different matters that use to rest solely on the king. To this the king responded in an elaborate and