Editing Charles I of England (section)

==Heir apparent==
In 1613, Charles's sister [[Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia|Elizabeth]] married [[Frederick V, Elector Palatine]], and moved to [[Heidelberg]].{{sfn|Hibbert|1968|p=24}} In 1617, the [[Habsburg]] Archduke [[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand of Austria]], a [[Catholic]], was elected [[king of Bohemia]]. The next year, the [[Bohemian Revolt|Bohemians rebelled]], [[Defenestrations of Prague#The 1618 Defenestration of Prague|defenestrating the Catholic governors]]. In August 1619, the [[Bohemian Diet]] chose Frederick, who led the [[Protestant Union]], as their monarch, while Ferdinand was elected [[Holy Roman Emperor]] in the [[imperial election of 1619|imperial election]]. Frederick's acceptance of the Bohemian crown in defiance of the Emperor marked the beginning of the turmoil that would develop into the [[Thirty Years' War]]. The conflict, originally confined to Bohemia, spiralled into a wider European war, which the [[English Parliament]] and public quickly grew to see as a polarised continental struggle between Catholics and Protestants.<ref>{{harvnb|Hibbert|1968|p=49}}; {{harvnb|Howat|1974|pp=26–28}}.</ref> In 1620, King Frederick was defeated at the [[Battle of White Mountain]] near [[Prague]] and his hereditary lands in the [[Electoral Palatinate]] were [[Palatinate campaign|invaded by a Habsburg force]] from the [[Spanish Netherlands]].<ref>{{harvnb|Gregg|1981|p=63}}; {{harvnb|Howat|1974|pp=27–28}}; {{harvnb|Kenyon|1978|p=79}}.</ref> James, however, had been seeking marriage between Prince Charles and Ferdinand's niece, Infanta [[Maria Anna of Spain]], and began to see the [[Spanish match]] as a possible diplomatic means of achieving peace in Europe.<ref>{{harvnb|Cust|2005|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Hibbert|1968|pp=49–50}}.</ref>

Negotiation with Spain proved unpopular with both the public and James's court.{{sfn|Coward|2003|p=152}} The English Parliament was actively hostile towards Spain and Catholicism, and thus, when called by James in 1621, the members hoped for an enforcement of [[recusancy]] laws, a naval campaign against Spain, and a Protestant marriage for the Prince of Wales.<ref>{{harvnb|Gregg|1981|pp=67–68}}; {{harvnb|Hibbert|1968|pp=49–50}}.</ref> James's [[Lord Chancellor]], [[Francis Bacon]], was impeached before the [[House of Lords]] for corruption.{{sfn|Carlton|1995|p=31}} The [[Impeachment in the United Kingdom|impeachment]] was the first since 1459 without the King's official sanction in the form of a [[bill of attainder]]. The incident set an important precedent as the process of impeachment would later be used against Charles and his supporters [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham]], Archbishop [[William Laud]], and [[Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford]]. James insisted that the [[House of Commons of England|House of Commons]] be concerned exclusively with domestic affairs, while the members protested that they had the privilege of free speech within the Commons' walls, demanding war with Spain and a Protestant [[princess of Wales]].{{sfn|Cust|2005|p=8}} Like his father, Charles considered discussion of his marriage in the Commons impertinent and an infringement of his father's [[royal prerogative]].{{sfn|Cust|2005|pp=5–9}} In January 1622, James dissolved Parliament, angry at what he perceived as the members' impudence and intransigence.<ref>{{harvnb|Carlton|1995|p=33}}; {{harvnb|Gregg|1981|p=68}}.</ref>

[[File:Charles I (Prince of Wales).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Portrait of Charles as Prince of Wales after [[Daniel Mytens]], {{circa}} 1623]]

Charles and Buckingham, James's [[favourite]] and a man who had great influence over the prince,<ref>{{harvnb|Cust|2005|p=4}}; {{harvnb|Hibbert|1968|pp=30–32}}.</ref> travelled incognito to Spain in February 1623 to try to reach agreement on the long-pending Spanish match.<ref>{{harvnb|Carlton|1995|pp=34–38}}; {{harvnb|Cust|2005|pp=32–34}}; {{harvnb|Gregg|1981|pp=78–82}}; {{harvnb|Hughes-Hallett|2024|pp=239–329}}; {{harvnb|Quintrell|1993|p=11}}.</ref> The trip was an embarrassing failure.<ref>{{harvnb|Gregg|1981|pp=87–89}}; {{harvnb|Quintrell|1993|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Sharpe|1992|p=5}}.</ref> The ''[[infanta]]'' thought Charles little more than an infidel, and the Spanish at first demanded that he convert to Catholicism as a condition of the match.{{sfn|Gregg|1981|p=84}} They insisted on toleration of Catholics in England and the repeal of the [[English penal laws]], which Charles knew Parliament would not agree to, and that the ''infanta'' remain in Spain for a year after any wedding to ensure that England complied with all the treaty's terms.{{sfn|Gregg|1981|pp=85–87}} A personal quarrel erupted between Buckingham and [[Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares]], the Spanish chief minister, and so Charles conducted the ultimately futile negotiations personally.<ref>{{harvnb|Carlton|1995|pp=42–43}}; {{harvnb|Cust|2005|pp=34–35}}.</ref> When he returned to London in October, without a bride and to a rapturous and relieved public welcome,<ref>{{harvnb|Carlton|1995|p=46}}; {{harvnb|Cust|2005|p=31}}; {{harvnb|Gregg|1981|p=90}}; {{harvnb|Hibbert|1968|p=63}}; {{harvnb|Quintrell|1993|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Sharpe|1992|pp=5–6}}.</ref> he and Buckingham pushed the reluctant James to [[Anglo-Spanish War (1625–1630)|declare war on Spain]].<ref>{{harvnb|Carlton|1995|p=47}}; {{harvnb|Cust|2005|pp=36–38}}; {{harvnb|Gregg|1981|p=94}}; {{harvnb|Sharpe|1992|p=6}}.</ref>

With the encouragement of his Protestant advisers, James summoned the English Parliament in 1624 to request subsidies for a war. Charles and Buckingham supported the impeachment of the [[Lord Treasurer]], [[Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex]], who opposed war on grounds of cost and quickly fell in much the same manner Bacon had.{{sfn|Gregg|1981|pp=97–99}} James told Buckingham he was a fool, and presciently warned Charles that he would live to regret the revival of impeachment as a parliamentary tool.<ref>{{harvnb|Carlton|1995|p=52}}; {{harvnb|Gregg|1981|p=99}}; {{harvnb|Hibbert|1968|p=64}}.</ref> An underfunded makeshift army under [[Ernst von Mansfeld]] set off to recover the Palatinate, but it was so poorly provisioned that it never advanced beyond the Dutch coast.<ref>{{harvnb|Carlton|1995|p=56}}; {{harvnb|Gregg|1981|p=124}}; {{harvnb|Kenyon|1978|p=92}}; {{harvnb|Schama|2001|p=65}}.</ref>

By 1624, the increasingly ill James was finding it difficult to control Parliament. By the time of [[Death and funeral of James VI and I|his death]] in March 1625, Charles and Buckingham had already assumed ''de facto'' control of the kingdom.{{sfn|Trevelyan|1922|p=130}}