CARLOS I, king of ENGLAND and SCOTLAND. — B. 19 Nov. 1600 at Dunfermline, d. 30 Jan. 1649 at London, son of JAMES I and of ANNE of Denmark. In 1625, having become king, he married HENRIETTA MARIA, sister of LOUIS XIII of France. In a secret article, annexed to the marriage treaty, C. undertook to guarantee Catholics freedom of worship, at least in private; but the fear of the strong opposing party, which wished the existing laws of persecution against papists to be enforced, and the resolve to avoid any rapprochement with Rome and the Pope, led him to make adaptations and concessions which also made martyrs. The true importance of the marriage was above all political in character. By it Richelieu removed the threat of a Spanish-English alliance opposed to the French reconquest of the Valtellina, while on the English side hopes were entertained of the restoration of the Elector Palatine, related to C. After the wedding profound differences arose between C. and his wife, the king refusing to accord any protection to Catholics. On the pretext of proselytism carried on in favour of the Catholic Church by the suite of HENRIETTA, C. expelled from the kingdom the members of her suite. The result was war with France: C. tried to aid the Huguenots besieged at La Rochelle, but all attempts failed. Meanwhile war necessities required considerable financial resources (C. was also at war with Spain and subsidizing CHRISTIAN IV of Denmark, his maternal uncle) which the king procured, since they had been refused by Parliament, by arbitrary agreements. After peace had been concluded with France and Spain (1629 and 1630), C. continued on this unconstitutional path. In 1637 he alienated the Scots by anti-Presbyterian measures, which finally openly rebelled against him. After the death of the duke of Buckingham (1628), C. was reconciled with the queen and on several occasions gave proof of understanding for the Catholics of the realm, though always refusing to convert. The king’s violation of parliamentary immunities led in 1642 to civil war, in which the strong personality of OLIVER CROMWELL was revealed. C. was defeated and condemned to death.
CARLO I, RE D'INGHILTERRA E DI SCOZIA
BIBL.: S. R. Gardiner, s. V. in Dictionary of National Biography, IV, pp. 67-84. On Catholicism in England under the reign of C. see A. J. Destombes, La persécution religieuse en Angleterre sous Élisabeth et les premiers Stuarts, III, I, III, 1883. On relations with the Holy See, besides vols. XII, XIII, XIV of Pastor cf. especially G. Albion, Charles I and the Court of Rome, London 1935.