2. Reading.

The epoch of the Stuarts is a very significant period in the history of England. It’ s a bridge connecting the Middle Ages and the New Times. It was full of crutial political events both in the country and beyond its boundaries.

The English monarchs were always trying to join Scotland to England by making wars on it or marrying their children with the heirs to the Scottish Crown. But ironically the two countries were united after a long struggle under a Scottish royal dynasty. Scottish king James 6 was crowned James 1, King of England, in 1603 on the old coronation chair. For another hundred yeas the two countries had their own Parliaments and governments, but under the last of the Stuarts the union became complete.

Like Elisabeth, James1 tried to rule without Parliament as much as possible. He had a lot of disagreements with it over money and over its desire to play a bigger part on foreign policy.

His son Charles 1 had much more problems with it. The MPs wanted Charles to sign a document known as Petition of Rights which would give Parliament the right to control the national budget and the law. The king realised that it was the end of the unlimited power of the monarch and he dissolved Parliament. It should be mentioned that he managed to rule the country without Parliament successfully for nearly ten years: he got rid of corruption and dishonesty among officials; he made them work efficiently.

The religious situation was complicated too and gave much trouble to Charles 1. There were many people who found the Church of England too rich and complicated. They strove to make it more modest, or to purify it. Those people were called Puritans. Differences in religion made the people leave England and settle in the New World. There they hoped to have more freedom and build the world of brotherhood.

It was about at that time when a small ship called Mayflower crossed the stormy Atlantic with nearly a hundred passengers on board. The place where Pilgrim Fathers landed on the American soil now is marked in the town of Plymouth. And the American nation feels proud to be descended from the determined, God-fearing band of men and women who left everything in the Old World for the sake of freedom. And gradually the fringe of English-speaking colonies spread along the coast of North America to the Spanish Florida.

The Civil War

The colonisation of Ulster led to constant clashes between Irish Catholics and English Protestants who possessed good lands. In 1641 Ireland exploded in rebellion against the English settlers. In Ulster thousands of people were killed. Many MPs were afraid to give army to Charles to defeat the rebels because he married to a French Catholic. They thought he would use the army to dissolve Parliament again. A year later Charles tried to arrest some MPs in Parliament but he was not a success. He convinced Parliament and its supporters all over the country. London locked its gates against the king as Parliament’s influence was strong there. Charles had to move to Nottingham, where he gathered an army. So, the contradiction between Charles and Parliament grew into the Civil War.

The forces were not equal. Parliament was supported by the navy, most of the merchants and the population of London. They controlled the vital sources of wealth while the soldiers of the Royalists were unpaid. Several MPs commanded the Parliamentarian army during the war but the strongest of them was Oliver Cromwell.

He was a plane country gentleman, farming his rich meadows in Huntingdonshire. He got a brilliant education for his time, married at the age of 18 and had 8 children. He was an examplery father who brought up his daughters and sons. He was an excellent football player. At the age of 28 Cromwell started his political career when he was elected to represent his shire in Parliament. He initiated (promoted) a lot of important bills and won glory among MPs for his activities.

When the war started he was chosen the head of the Parliamentary army. He created a new ‘model’ army which turned into the first regular force , one of the finest ever seen. Cromwell trained his soldiers in complete obedience and taught them to fight for freedom in religion and government. His moto was ‘Trust in God and keep your powder dry’. Cromwell invited into his army educated men and turned them into brilliant soldiers.

In 1644, in the battle near the town of York the Parliamentary army won a victory and the king’s army was defeated. Cromwell captured the king but they didn’t know what to do with him because it was an entirely new situation. That time most of Parliament didn’t want to put king on trial. They decided to make an agreement with the king. Charles agreed, took chance to have time and gathered one more army to fight with Parliament. He was defeated again but that time was accused of treason, found guilty of starting war on his people and in 1649 Charles was executed.

Find words in the text that mean :

* a strong wish * an edge of smth. * to make introductory step * a period of time in history * to catch smb. or to arrest * a device providing connection between two parts

* a dividing line * persons holding positions in administration * to struggle or to make great effort

Match the verbs with the nouns