ABSTRACT
The Stuarts aspired to be absolute rulers in the vein of their Tudor predecessors, but this was not to be so. Instead, the last Stuart, Queen Anne, ruled as a constitutional monarch, her powers and authority limited by Parliament. The transition was rapid and violent. Royal resistance led to two revolutions in the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution. Charles II could look across the English Channel at the absolutism of the French King Louis XIV (1643–1715) and wish to be like him; but political, social and economic changes in England prevented this. Prosperity and Protestantism created broad opposition to absolute power and the seventeenth century saw the rise of parliamentary government. It is this ongoing tension that dominates the form and performance of royal events during the Stuart period. Whilst the Stuarts aspired for greater power, their reigns were characterised by negotiations and compromise as they inched closer and closer to sharing power. Whereas the Tudors were effective in managing royal events, the Stuarts were never so adept and suffered accordingly.
