User:Harrias/Oxford Parliament 1644

The Oxford Parliament (also known as the King's Oxford Parliament or Mongrel Parliament) was the parliament assembled by King Charles I during the First English Civil War. Charles summoned all the members of the standing English parliament to meet in Oxford, in order to challenge the legitimacy of the Long Parliament in Westminster. The parliament met for the first time on 22 January 1644 and sat until 10 March 1645, intended as an instrument of the Royalist war campaign. Around a third of the Members of Parliament (MPs) accepted the invitation to Oxford, where the Commons met in the Divinity School, part of the University of Oxford. The Lords, of whom a majority turned out, met in the attached Convocation House.

In 1642, Charles fled London and declared war on parliament. He subsequently established himself in Oxford, where he attempted to set up an alternative administrative centre to London. In December 1643, he sent a summons to the members of the Long Parliament, offering a pardon to any who would meet in a new parliament in Oxford. During the early sitting of the parliament, it engaged in a war of words with prominent Parliamentarians such as the Earl of Essex, but achieved little. Contrary to the wishes of King Charles, the Oxford Parliament attempted to enter peace negotiations with the Long Parliament, but these overtures were rejected as the Long Parliament did not view its Oxford counterpart as legitimate.

Despite accepting the King's invitation, many of the MPs in Oxford were still wary of his plans, particularly in the areas of religion and Ireland, and were less pliable than Charles had hoped. The Oxford Parliament was adjourned for six months from April until October 1644, and when it returned the King had three of its peers arrested due to their insistence on calling for peace. Charles wearied of the parliament, which he described as "our mongrel parliament" in a letter to his wife, and adjourned it for the final time on 10 March 1645.

Build-up to the Civil War
Throughout the reign of King Charles I, he had a fractious relationship with parliament. He called and dismissed three separate parliaments between 1625 and 1628, and then embarked on an eleven-year period of Personal Rule, during which he governed without parliament. In 1640, a severe lack of money to fund his wars led Charles to call parliament once again, but the Short Parliament only lasted three weeks before being dismissed. The King's financial situation worsened further, and in November 1640 the Long Parliament convened. This new parliament was no more amenable towards Charles, and passed a series of Acts placing limits on the King.

There was a growing worry within parliament, particularly amongst the more radical Puritans, that Charles was trying to reintroduce Catholicism into England. As a result, in late 1641, the King was presented with the Grand Remonstrance, a list of grievances and demands. Charles rejected the demands, and early the following year entered the House of Commons to attempt to arrest five Members of Parliament (MPs), but they were not present. The King subsequently fled London, and both sides began preparing for military conflict. In June 1642, Charles issued a proclamation stating that he wished to remain involved with parliament, and that they "be adjourned to another place which may be thought convenient, where His Majestie will be present." The First English Civil War formally began in August 1642, when Charles raised his royal standard in Nottingham and declared the Earl of Essex, and by extension Parliament, traitors.

Charles had maintained some support within parliament; the Grand Remonstrance had only passed by eleven votes, and the House of Lords in particular was reluctant to limit the powers of the King too much. At the start of the civil war, over 50 members of the Commons were expelled from parliament for siding with the Royalist cause, and altogether parliament roughly halved in size. Amongst those MPs expelled was Edward Hyde, who was one of the King's principal advisers. Hyde joined the Privy Council in early 1643, and became prominent among the voices suggesting a peaceful, political solution to the conflict. In October 1642, the Earl of Essex invited Royalist MPs to return to Westminster where they would be welcomed back, though they would have to accept the censure of the House.

Establishing Oxford as an alternative to London
After his declaration of war in Nottingham, Charles had settled in Oxford, which he established as the de facto Royalist capital of England. Alongside the royal court, a mint, law courts and the exchequer were set up in the city. Charles felt that "there was too much honour done to those rebels at Westminster, by his mentioning them as part of the parliament," and wanted to dissolve the Long Parliament. When he approached Hyde about the matter, Hyde suggested that doing so would be counterproductive, as it would lead people to worry that if the King was willing to ignore the "Act against Dissolving the Long Parliament without its own Consent" passed with Royal assent in 1641, then he might also ignore other legislation. He also pointed out that it was unlikely to stop parliament from meeting, and was more likely to draw people to parliament's cause. Instead, Hyde hoped to find a moderate centre-ground between the two sides, and initially proposed inviting MPs to join the Royalists, offering a royal pardon and protection. A declaration was made in June 1643, and was open for ten days to all except 13 commoners and 5 peers. Amongst those who defected were the Earl of Bedford and the Earl of Holland, but the pair were coldly received.

Hyde developed the idea of inviting MPs to sit as a parliament in Oxford, aiming to demonstrate that defections from the Parliamentarian side to the Royalists would be better supported. He also hoped that such a move would restrict the influence and legitimacy of the Westminster parliament, casting them as rebels allied with the invading Scots.

Parliament
All members of the Long Parliament were summoned by King Charles to assemble for a session of Parliament to be held at Christ Church Hall, Oxford. Eighty-two peers, which was most of the House of Lords, and 175 commoners, which was about one-third of the House of Commons, heeded the summons and came. Sir Sampson Eure was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons.

The Parliament met a number of times during the English Civil War and was seen by Charles as a way of raising revenue. However, some of the members defected back to Westminster because they did not like his alliance with Irish Catholics, and others argued strongly for a negotiated peace with the Long Parliament in Westminster Hall.

The first session lasted from 22 January 1644 until 16 April 1644. The second session was from 8 October 1644 until 10 March 1645.

Not much is known of its proceedings because all its records were burnt just before Oxford fell to Parliamentary forces in 1646.