The Eleven Years Tyranny refers to the period from 1629 to 1640, when King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland ruled without recourse to Parliament. He was entitled to do this under the Royal Prerogative, but his actions caused discontent among those who provided the ruling classes.
Charles had already dissolved Parliament three times by 1628. After the murder of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who was in charge of Charles' foreign policy, Parliament began to criticise the king more harshly than before. As a result Charles declared that he would now rule alone.
The term is indicative of the partisan nature of activities at the time, which would eventually result in the English Civil War.
