T HE relations between England and foreign countries during
the seventeenth century are peculiar in that their impor-
tance does not consist so much in their influence upon
Europe as in their repercussions at home. Except for a brief but
dramatic period under Cromwell, English diplomacy and Eng-
lish arms were singularly futile, and it would be difficult to
name any event of the first rank in European history, during
the reigns of James I and Charles I, which was determined by
English intervention. Nevertheless the reaction upon domestic
policies of the foreign policy pursued by the early Stuarts was
so outstanding that it justifies separate treatment, even though
a certain amount of repetition of the subject-matter of other
chapters is inevitable from time to time.

Until the seventeenth century control of foreign policy in
England had rested exclusively in the hands of the sovereign1
and had been little influenced directly by either parliament or
people. Elizabeth had been able to abstain from active inter-
vention in the Netherlands for a decade after the more venture-
some of her subjects had demanded war with Spain, and her
successful defence of the realm against the Armada had set the
seal of popular approval upon her policy. Although in some
other respects there were signs that the country was getting
tired of an attitude of passive acquiescence in whatever its ruler
did, there is no indication that parliament or any considerable
body of public opinion wished to dictate foreign policy in the
sixteenth century. James I therefore had some basis in history
for his view that the direction of English foreign relations was
the especial prerogative of the Crown. He regarded any criti-
cism as the highest presumption in a subject, and was quick to
rebuke the commons in 1621 when they made their first serious
attempt to influence foreign policy. Apart from the changed
attitude, in general, of parliament towards the king, there were
three main reasons why it was improbable that there would be

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