Following the debacle of the previous Parliament, when Parliament had refused the grant the King funds until their concerns about his favourite, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, had been addressed, it had proved difficult to prosecute the war with Spain. When Charles’s uncle, Christian IV of Denmark, was soundly defeated by Imperial forces at Lutter in August 1626 Charles needed funds urgently to go to Christian's aid. He therefore decided to bypass Parliament by levying a Forced Loan, which actually raised more money, some £243,000, than Parliament had been prepared to give him in exchange for Buckingham's impeachment. In the event the money raised by the levy, the raising of which so alienated Parliament and its supporters, was spent on preparing to wage war on France after relations with that hitherto friendly country had deteriorated. When the Duke of Buckingham wanted to take a fleet to raise the siege at La Rochelle and was prevented by financial restraints, Charles reluctantly accepted the need to call this 3rd Parliament.