Short Parliament

Short Parliament, (April 13–May 5, 1640), parliament summoned by Charles I of England, the first to be summoned for 11 years, since 1629, and the prelude to the Long Parliament. Determined to impose the Anglican liturgy on the Scots, Charles sent an army northward in the first of the so-called Bishops’ Wars. The campaign was abortive, and Charles then called a new parliament to grant the subsidies that he desperately needed for a second campaign. Parliament, led by such men as John Pym, balked, citing numerous grievances over the previous decade, including the crown’s questionable collection of a tax known as ship money. Moreover, it set May 7 as the date for a debate on the Scottish question, a debate that was apt to lead to a petition against the war. Charles thereupon dissolved Parliament on May 5. The dissolution further weakened Charles’s position and strengthened the will of the Scots, who invaded England in the second Bishops’ War. The result was the Long Parliament (q.v.).