The Treaty of Uxbridge was a significant but abortive negotiation in early 1645 to try to end the First English Civil War.

Background

Parliament drew up 27 articles in November 1644 and presented them to Charles I of England at Oxford.[1] Much input into these Propositions of Uxbridge was from Archibald Johnston.[2] The conditions were very assertive, with Presbyterianism to be established south of the border, and Parliament to take control of all military matters.[3]

Charles had decided that the military situation was turning in his favour, after the Second Battle of Lostwithiel, Second Battle of Newbury and consequent relief of Donnington Castle, and the campaign of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose in Scotland. Montrose's victory at the Battle of Inverlochy was during the conference. His incentive to compromise was thereby reduced, but the same was true of the Parliamentary side, with its growing confidence in the New Model Army.[4]

Proposals

Samuel Rawson Gardiner (1829–1902) summarized Parliament's demands (formatting added):

  1. exclusion from seats in the House of Lords of Peers created [after May 1642] unless with the consent of Parliament (§ 19)
  2. permanent submission of appointments of officers and judges to the approbation of Parliament (§ 20)
  3. education and marriage of the King's children being placed under Parliamentary control (§ 21)
  4. the right of declaring peace and war might only be exercised with the assent of Parliament (§ 23)
  5. a permanent body of Commissioners ... in combination with ... Scottish Commissioners to control all military forces in both kingdoms (§ 17)
  6. long lists ... of the names of those Royalists who were to be subjected to divers penalties [including execution for treason], and whole categories of unnamed persons were added, the [Parliamentary] expenses of the war being laid upon these Royalist delinquents (§ 14)
  7. religion in England ... to be brought to the nearest possible uniformity with that of Scotland (§ 5)
  8. the King himself was to swear and sign the Solemn League and Covenant (§ 2)

Such demands can only have been made with the object of trampling upon the King's feelings as well as upon his political authority, and it would have been far more reasonable to ask his consent to an act of abdication than to such articles as these. Charles's counter-demands of January 21, 1645 (No. 62, p. 286), are conceived in a far more reasonable spirit:

  1. the Constitution should be accepted as it had stood at the end of August, 1641
  2. the Common Prayer Book should be preserved from 'scorn and violence,'
  3. a Bill should 'be framed for the ease of tender consciences.' [i.e., religious tolerance (for Protestants)]

The King's offer afforded at least an admirable basis for negotiation.[1]

Proceedings

The two sides lodged in Uxbridge, the Royalists on the south side and the Parliamentarians in the north. Christopher Love preached a sermon, strongly against the Royalists, and he was rebuked by Parliament. The meetings were arranged in the house of Sir John Bennet.[5]

The negotiations, which proved fruitless, went on from 29 January to 22 February. The King offered only to rein in the powers of the episcopate in religious matters, and to give Parliament some control of the militia, limited to a time period of three years.[6]

Attendance

Royalists

Parliamentarians

Scottish

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Gardiner, Samuel Rawson. The Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution, 1625-1660 – via OpenLibrary.org.
  2. ↑ "Archibald Johnston". nndb.com.
  3. ↑ "Charles I, King of Great Britain and Ireland (1600-49)". 1902encyclopedia.com.
  4. ↑ Stephen C. Manganiello, The Concise Encyclopedia of the Revolutions and Wars of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1639-1660 (2004), p. 550.
  5. ↑ "Political history". british-history.ac.uk.
  6. ↑ "TABLE OF CONTENTS". uni-mannheim.de.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Rushworth, John (1721) [orig. before 1690]. "Historical Collections: The treaty at Uxbridge, 1645". In Browne, D (ed.). Historical Collections of Private Passages of State: Volume 5, 1642-45. London. pp. 787–843. Retrieved 20 May 2020 – via British History Online. {{cite book}}: External link in |via= (help)
  8. ↑ "UK Government Web Archive".
  9. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ashburnham, John" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 729.
  10. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Capel, Arthur Capel, Baron" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 248–249.
  11. ↑ Hooper, Richard (1890). "Hammond, Henry" . In Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney (eds.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  12. ↑ "Biography of Sir Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon". british-civil-wars.co.uk.
  13. ↑ Hutton, William Holden (1897). "Sheldon, Gilbert" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 52. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  14. 1 2 "The Uxbridge Treaty, 1645". british-civil-wars.co.uk.
  15. ↑ Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1888). "Earle, Erasmus" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 16. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  16. ↑ Porter, Bertha (1890). "Hardy, Nathaniel" . In Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney (eds.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  17. ↑ "Biography of Denzil Holles". british-civil-wars.co.uk.
  18. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Marshall, Stephen" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 772.
  19. ↑ Hamilton, John Andrew (1893). "Prideaux, Edmond" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 36. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 350, 351.
  20. ↑ "Biography of John Thurloe". british-civil-wars.co.uk.
  21. ↑ "revrichardvines". ancestry.com.
  22. ↑ Carlyle, Edward Irving (1899). "Wenman, Thomas (1596-1665)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 60. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  23. ↑ "Biography of John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun". british-civil-wars.co.uk.
  24. ↑ "Biography of Alexander Henderson". british-civil-wars.co.uk.
  25. ↑ Yorke, Philip Chesney (1911). "Lauderdale, John Maitland, Duke of" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 279–280.
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