Dynastic Marriage Diplomacy, Parliamentary Conflict, Peace and War, 1621–1629

Abstract

Some of the more successful historical writing on the early Stuart period deals with an apparent rise of parliamentary influence over and against the court. But it can equally well be argued that the 1620s saw a failure of parliaments as the crown’s dynastic strategy eventually took precedence over the concerns of, especially, Protestant-minded representatives of the people. The conflict between the two modes of doing politics can be picked up from the reactions caused by, for example, the brief period when it seemed that the prince of Wales might marry a Spanish infanta. That conflict was not resolved by the Anglo-French dynastic marriage treaty of 1625. After the death of James I, Charles found himself at war with Spain and, then, briefly with France as well. Domestic politics was convulsed by the perceived corruption of the Caroline court, dominated by the ubiquitous favourite, the duke of Buckingham.