1648 - Political Events

Political Events

Parliament renounces its allegiance to Charles I January 15 following revelations of a secret treaty signed by Charles with the Scots 20 days earlier promising to abolish episcopacy and restore Presbyterianism (see 1647). Independents in Parliament expel Puritan William Prynne, who has written pamphlets calling for a national Puritan Church controlled by the king. Leveller John Wildman is imprisoned from January to August for attacking Oliver Cromwell and Henry Ireton in his pamphlet "Putney Projects" and for joining with John Lilburne in agitating for the abolition of the monarchy and the House of Lords. Parliamentary commissioners negotiate with Charles at Newport on the Isle of Wight from April to November, but a second English Civil War begins meanwhile along with an Anglo-Scottish war as Royalists battle Roundheads and Presbyterians battle Independents. Prince Rupert, now 28, assumes command of the small Royalist fleet and preys on English shipping, but the parliamentary admiral Robert Blake, 49, chases him from Kinsale, County Cork, to Lisbon and thence into the Mediterranean (see 1652).

A Scottish army invades England under the command of James, 1st duke of Hamilton, now 43, and meets with defeat at the hands of Oliver Cromwell and John Lambert in the Battle of Preston that rages in Lancashire from August 17 to 19. Although the Scottish-Royalist army has 16,000 infantry and 3,600 cavalry (some sources say the total is 24,000) against Cromwell's 6,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry, Hamilton's forces are strung out over miles of road. Cromwell's casualties are light, whereas the ineffectual Hamilton loses about 1,000 killed. Some 4,000 of his men are taken prisoner in the fighting, and more are killed and captured after they take to their heels. Hamilton escapes but surrenders at Uttoxeter and is taken prisoner (see 1649). Parliamentary soldier Thomas Rainborow is mortally wounded at Doncaster, Yorkshire, October 29. The army seizes Charles I December 1, parliamentary soldier Thomas Pride stands at the entrance of Parliament December 6 and 7, forcibly arresting or expelling 96 Presbyterian members (140 by some accounts; the incident will be remembered as "Pride's Purge"), and the remaining "Rump" Parliament of some 60 members votes December 13 that Charles be brought to trial. Sir Arthur Hesilrige has helped to lead Cromwell's army and last year was appointed governor of Newcastle, but he refuses to serve on the court that tries the king. The 18-year-old Prince of Wales flees to France and is soon accompanied by followers who include, notably, the parliamentarian Edward Hyde, 39, earl of Clarendon. Sir Thomas Fairfax has, like many others, hoped for a limited monarchy; he is dismayed when his soldiers purge Parliament and refuses to sit on a commission set up by Henry Ireton and others to judge the king. Ireton has written a "Remonstrance of the Army" establishing the ideological foundation for an attack on the monarchy (see 1649).

A French civil war begins in the spring as a parliamentary uprising to defend the independence of magistrates against the "foreign" rule of the regent Anne of Austria and her Italian-born chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin. The revolt is called the Fronde (French for sling) because stones are shot into the windows of Cardinal Mazarin in protest against the arrest of the aged magistrate Pierre Broussel (children play a game called the fronde in the streets of Paris, slinging stones in defiance of the law). Seeking to put a constitutional limit on the monarchy, a judicial assembly meets from June 30 to July 12 and draws up a list of 27 proposals for reform (e.g., approval of all new taxes by the Parlement, tax reductions, an end to arbitrary imprisonment, and abolition of the intendants who serve in the provinces as officials of the central government). The bishop coadjutor Jean François Paul de Gondi, 35, sides with the insurgents in hopes of becoming prime minister, and Mazarin's government grudgingly agrees July 31 to many of the demands. Broussel is released; he suggests a proclamation urging Parisians to lay down their arms, but the mob wants to get rid of Mazarin. The court takes refuge at Rueil and the Great Condé, now 27, is recalled to put down the Fronde, having just gained a great victory over the Spanish at Lens. Two outspoken parlemantaires are arrested August 26, but the Paris mob forces their release August 28 (see 1649).

A rebellion against Polish rule in the Ukraine begins under the leadership of Cossack chief Bogdan Chmielnicki, 53, a petty nobleman who was formerly chief of the Cossacks at Czyhryn but was forced to flee in December of last year after a dispute with the region's Polish governor. He has found refuge in the fortress of the Zaporzhian Cossacks on the Dnieper River, recruits Crimean Tatars to his cause, and marches against the Poles in April, gaining popular support from peasants, townspeople, and clergymen as he achieves victories that embolden the people to rise against their oppressors.

Muscovites rebel in May against corruption and taxes. The young czar Aleksei Mikhailovich responds by having some corrupt officials arrested and executed, but the revolt spreads to other cities (see human rights [serfdom], 1649).

Poland's Wladislaw IV dies suddenly at Merecz May 20 at age 55 after a 16-year reign in which he has tried to repair the damage wrought by his bigoted late father, Sigismund. The rebel forces of Bogdan Chmielnicki defeat two armies sent to suppress his uprising, his followers invade Poland, and they seize Lwów in October. Wladislaw IV's 39-year-old Jesuit brother is elected to succeed him in November (he will reign until 1668 as Jan II Casimir) and Chmielnicki returns to the central Ukraine, but resentment of Polish rule continues in the Ukraine (see 1649).

Transylvania's György Rákóczi I dies at Sárospatak, Hungary, October 11 at age 55 after a reign of nearly 18 years and is succeeded by his 27-year-old son, who will reign until his death in 1660 as György Rákóczi II, continuing his father's policy of seeking alliances with the powerful governors (hospodars) of Moldavia to the east and Walachia to the south (see 1656).

Europe's Thirty Years' War ends October 24 in the Peace of Westphalia, whose treaties are guaranteed by France and Sweden. The long war leaves the German states destitute. Mercenary troops from Bohemia, Denmark, France, Spain, Sweden, and the German states themselves have destroyed roughly 18,000 villages, 1,500 towns, and 2,000 castles.

The Treaty of Münster recognizes the independence of the Dutch Republic of the United Provinces.

The Janissaries at Constantinople dethrone the sultan Ibrahim August 8 following the lifting of the Ottoman siege of Candia. Ibrahim is strangled by his executioner August 18 and replaced by his eldest son, a 9-year-old boy who will reign until 1687 as Mehmed IV. His paternal grandmother, the sultana Kösem, continues to control the government (see 1651).

China's Manchu prince Dorgon is given the title imperial father regent and leads a campaign against a rebellious general in Shanxi (Shansi) Province (see 1646).

A Dutch war fleet under the command of Abel Tasman engages a Spanish fleet in the Philippines. Tasman led a trading fleet to Siam last year but will soon leave the service of the Dutch East India Company.

Dutch forces in the West Indies take St. Martin and rename it St. Maarten (see Stuyvesant, 1647).

Portuguese forces commanded by the Brazilian landowner Salvador de Sá regain Luanda August 10, defeating a Dutch garrison of 200 despite support from Nzinga, queen of Ndongo and Matambma.