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Charles I (1625-49) inherited a fairly run-down state when he became King of Great Britain and Ireland on his father\'s death in 1625. Friction between the throne and Parliament began almost at once. The Parliaments of 1625 and 1626 refused to grant funds to the King without redress for their grievances. Charles responded to these demands by dissolving the parliaments and ordering a forced loan.
In 1628, Charles was desperate for funds and was forced to call a third parliament. This parliament presented him with the Petition of Right - a bill that declared forced loans, imprisonment without trial and martial law illegal. Charles accepted this bill but, in 1629, after criticism of his illegal taxation and support of the Arminians in the church, he dissolved parliament and imprisoned its leaders. For eleven years, Charles ruled without parliament - a period described as \'the Eleven Years\' Tyranny\'.
Charles\'s advisers, Strafford and Laud, with the support of the Star Chamber, suppressed opposition by persecuting the Puritans. In 1640, with Scotland already in revolt, the Short Parliament was summoned but it refused to grant money until grievances were redressed. It was speedily dissolved. As Scots forces advanced into England and forced their own terms on Charles, the Long Parliament (beginning in November 1640) rebelled and declared extra-Parliamentary taxation illegal, the Star Chamber abolished and that Parliament could not be dissolved without its own consent. Laud and other ministers were imprisoned, and Strafford condemned to death.
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