Perspective is a funny thing. Tricky. Charles I was never popular with Parliament. From the start, his autocratic approach was in direct conflict with the Parliamentarians. So, he dissolved Parliament for over a decade. To raise funds, he leaned on ancient and questionable taxes. Through Forced Loans and Ship Money, he managed to turn a lot of the people against him. What was the legality of these taxes? The question to ask is, was Charles the hero or the villain? Was he operating within the law or breaking it? From one of the illustrations we looked at, was he a "highwayman" or a "bastard"?

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