Grand Remonstrance

The Grand Remonstrance was a document conceived and largely written by John Pym, john Hampden and George Digby and passed by Parliament on 22nd November 1641. The Grand Remonstrance summarised all of Parliament's opposition to Charles' foreign, financial, legal and religious policies, setting forth 204 separate points of objection and calling for the expulsion of all bishops from Parliament, a purge of officials, with Parliament having a right of veto over Crown appointments and an end to sale of land confiscated from Irish rebels. The document was careful not to make any direct accusation against the King himself, or any other named individual, instead blaming the state of affairs on a Roman Catholic conspiracy. The Grand Remonstrance split parliament as although many were opposed to Charles' church reforms they were also opposed to an overtly puritan church replacing the Anglican. to the The bill was only marginally approved by 159 to 148

See The Royalists and the Civil War and Origin of the English Civil War for more information