It was a time of discontent throughout Europe. The Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands were still at war with the ruling Spanish Habsburgs. The French, under the orders of Cardinal Richelieu, formed an alliance with the Dutch. In Portugal, there was similar discontent against the ruling Habsburgs. They wanted their own monarchy restored after sixty years. Catalonia wanted to be Spanish, eastern Spain wanted independence. In England, the people, lead by disaffected Parliamentarians, who had not been called to sit for eleven years, began to take to the streets to complain against King Charles I Stuart and the laws imposed under his divine rule. The Scots rose-up against the imposition of the English bible, Bishops and the Book of Common Prayer. The Covenanters came south to fight. In Ireland, there were rumblings from the south against the imposition of Scots and Northern English settlers and plantation owners and the outlawing of the Catholic faith. But among the new, more prosperous merchant class, who were becoming landowners with titles, were the young, adventurous, fashion-conscious cavaliers, emulating their French counterparts, and taking advantage of the martial schools. Many hoped to become dashing musketeers of the French King or Richelieu's own guard. The poor youth, dispossessed and starving, found their own way of adventure, through outlawry and highway robbery. Then there were the New World colonies. They were open to all kinds of opportunities. There was a whole, new, changing world to make the most of.