English Civil War

Introduction

The wars inextricably mingled with and formed part of a linked series of conflicts and civil wars between 1639 and 1651 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, which at that time shared a monarch but formed distinct countries with otherwise separate political structures. Those recent historians who aim to have a unified overview (rather than treating parts of the other conflicts as background to the English Civil War) sometimes call these linked conflicts the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Some have also described them as the "British Civil Wars", but this terminology can mislead: the three kingdoms did not become a single political entity until the Act of Union between the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), in 1800.

The wars led to the trial and execution of Charles I, the exile of his son Charles II, and the replacement of the English monarchy with the Commonwealth of England (1649–1653) and then with a Protectorate (1653–1659): the personal rule of Oliver Cromwell. The monopoly of the Church of England on Christian worship in England came to an end, and the victors consolidated the already-established Protestant aristocracy in Ireland. Constitutionally, the wars established a precedent that British monarchs could not govern without the consent of Parliament.

Unlike other civil wars in England which focused on who ruled, this war also concerned itself with the manner of governing the British isles. Accordingly, historians also refer to the English Civil War as the English Revolution and (especially in 17th century Royalist circles) as the Great Rebellion.

The King's aspirations

Charles I in 1631, by Daniel Mytens.Contemporaries must have found it unthinkable that a civil war could result from the events taking place. War broke out less than forty years after the death of the popular Elizabeth I in 1603. At the accession of Charles I, England and Scotland had both experienced relative peace, both internally and in their relations with each other, for as long as anyone could remember. Charles hoped to unite the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland into a new single kingdom, fulfilling the dream of his father, James I of England (James VI of Scotland). Many English Parliamentarians had suspicions regarding such a move because they feared that setting up a new kingdom might destroy the old English traditions which had bound the English monarchy. As Charles shared his father's position on the power of the crown (James had described kings as "little Gods on Earth", chosen by God to rule in accordance with a doctrine called the "Divine Right of Kings"), the suspicions of the Parliamentarians had some justification.

Although pious and with little personal ambition, Charles demanded outright loyalty in return for "just rule". He considered any questioning of his orders as, at best, insulting. This latter trait, and a series of events, seemingly minor on their own, led to a serious break between Charles and his English Parliament, and eventually to war.

Parliament in the English constitutional framework

Before the fighting, the Parliament of England did not have a permanent role in the English system of government, instead functioning as a temporary advisory committee — summoned by the monarch whenever the Crown required additional tax revenue, and subject to dissolution by the monarch at any time. Because responsibility for collecting taxes lay in the hands of the gentry, the English kings needed the help of that stratum of society in order to ensure the smooth collection of that revenue. If the gentry were to refuse to collect the King's taxes, he would lack the authority to compel them. Parliaments allowed representatives of the gentry to meet, confer and send policy-proposals to the monarch in the form of Bills. These representatives did not, however, have any means of forcing their will upon the king — except by withholding the financial means he required to execute his plans.

Mounting concerns

Henrietta Maria, painted by Peter Lely, 1660.One of the first events to cause concern about Charles I came with his marriage to a French Roman Catholic princess, Henrietta Maria. The marriage occurred in 1625, right after Charles came to the throne. For many of his subjects, Charles's marriage made him a possible "Papist", which gave them cause for concern.

Charles also wanted to join in on the conflicts being fought in Europe. This alone might not have caused a problem, except that Charles had placed his own 'favourite', George Villiers, in command. Parliament decided to support the war-effort only on the condition of the potential recall of Buckingham if his performance did not meet expectations. The Parliament of 1625 then granted the king the right to collect customs duties for only a year at a time and not, (as tradionally) for his entire reign. After a failed raid into France, Parliament dismissed Buckingham in 1626.

Petition of Right

Having dissolved Parliament, and unable to raise money without it, the king assembled a new one in 1628. The elected members included Oliver Cromwell. The new Parliament drew up the Petition of Right in 1628, and Charles accepted it as a concession in order to get his subsidy. Amongst other things the Petition referred to the Magna Carta.

However, Charles wanted to rule without Parliament, and this required him to devise new means of raising extraordinary revenue. The revival of ship money became one of the most controversial of these policies.

But Parliament had not approved the tax, and a number of prominent men refused to pay it on these grounds. Reprisals against William Prynne and John Hampden (fined after losing their case 7 to 5 for refusing to pay ship money and for making a stand against the legality of the tax) aroused widespread indignation.

The Eleven Years' Tyranny and the rebellion in Scotland

Charles I managed to avoid calling a Parliament for a decade. Depending upon one's political affiliation, this time was known either as the "Eleven Years' Tyranny" or "Charles' Personal Rule". This policy broke down when he was involved in a series of wars against his Scottish subjects, the Bishops' Wars of 1639 and 1640.

Charles believed in a sacramental version of the Church of England, called High Anglicanism, with a theology based upon Arminianism, a belief shared by his main political advisor, Archbishop William Laud. Laud was appointed by Charles as the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633 and started a series of reforms in the Church to make it more ceremonial, starting with the replacement of the wooden communion tables with stone altars.

Puritans accused Laud of trying to reintroduce Catholicism, and when they complained, Laud had them arrested. In 1637 John Bastwick, Henry Burton and William Prynne had their ears cut off for writing pamphlets attacking Laud's views—a rare penalty for gentlemen to suffer, and one that aroused anger.

As part of Charles' plan to have one uniform High Anglican church across all three kingdoms, he forced the English Common Prayer Book upon Scotland. Scottish Presbyterians reacted explosively when it was introduced in the spring of 1638 with riots started in Edinburgh by Jenny Geddes leading to the National Covenant, that sought to purge bishops from the Church of Scotland altogether. Charles took a year to raise an army, and sent it north in 1639 to end the rebellion. After a disastrous skirmish he decided to seek a truce, the Pacification of Berwick, and was humiliated by being forced to agree not only not to interfere with religion in Scotland, but to pay the Scottish war expenses as well.

Local grievances

In the summer of 1642, these national troubles helped to polarize opinion, ending indecision about which side to support or what action to take. Opposition to Charles also arose owing to many local grievances. For example, the livelihoods of thousands of people were negatively affected by the imposition of drainage schemes in The Fens after the King awarded a number of drainage contracts. The King was regarded by many as worse than insensitive and this was important in bringing a large part of eastern England into Parliament’s camp. This sentiment brought with it people like the Earl of Manchester and Oliver Cromwell, each a notable wartime adversary of the King. Conversely, one of the leading drainage contractors, the Earl of Lindsey, was to die fighting for the King at the Battle of Edge Hill.

Recall of Parliament

Charles needed to suppress the rebellion in his northern realm—he was insufficiently funded, however, and was forced to seek money from a recalled Parliament in 1640. Parliament took this appeal for money as an opportunity to discuss grievances against the Crown; moreover, they were opposed to the military option. Charles took exception to this lèse-majesté and dismissed the Parliament. The name "the Short Parliament" was derived from this summary dismissal. Without Parliament's support, Charles attacked Scotland again and was comprehensively defeated; the Scots, seizing the moment, took Northumberland and Durham.

Meanwhile, another of Charles's chief advisers, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Viscount Wentworth, had risen to the role of Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1632 and brought in much needed revenue for Charles by persuading the Irish Catholic gentry to pay new taxes in return for promised religious concessions. In 1639, he had been recalled to England and in 1640, was created Earl of Strafford, as Charles attempted to have him work his magic again in Scotland. This time he was not so lucky, and the English forces fled the field in their second encounter with the Scots in 1640. Almost the entirety of Northern England was occupied, and Charles was forced to pay £850 per day to keep the Scots from advancing. If he did not, they would "take" the money by pillaging and burning the cities and towns of Northern England.

The Long Parliament

Charles was obliged to summon Parliament in November 1640; this was the "Long Parliament." Parliament took the opportunity to raise their concerns, refusing to be dismissed. Under the leadership of John Pym and John Hampden, a law was passed which stated that Parliament should be reformed every three years. Other laws passed by the Long Parliament made it illegal for the king to impose his own taxes, and later, gave members control over the king's ministers.

In early 1641 Strafford was arrested and sent to the Tower of London, charged with treason. John Pym made the claim that Wentworth's statements of readiness to campaign against "the kingdom" were in fact directed at England itself. The case could not be proven, so the House of Commons, led by John Pym and Henry Vane, resorted to a Bill of Attainder. Unlike treason, attainder required not only the burden of proof, but also the king's signature. Charles, still incensed over the Common's handling of Buckingham, refused. Wentworth himself, hoping to head off the war he saw looming, wrote to the king and asked him to reconsider. Thomas Wentworth was executed in May, 1641.

Instead of saving the country from war, Wentworth's sacrifice in fact doomed it to one. Within months, the Irish Catholics, fearing a resurgence of Protestant power, struck first, and the entire country soon descended into chaos. Rumours circulated that the Irish were being supported by the king, and Puritan members of the Commons were soon agitating that this was the sort of thing Charles had in store for all of them.

In early January, 1642 Charles attempted to arrest five members of the House of Commons on a charge of treason. This attempt failed. When the troops marched into Parliament, Charles asked William Lenthall, the Speaker, where the five were. Lenthall replied "May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House [of Commons] is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here". In other words, the Speaker proclaimed himself a servant of Parliament, rather than of the King.

• Aberdeen, 13 September 1644
• First Siege of Basing House
• Tadcaster and Bradford
• The Siege of Chester and Battle of Rowton Heath
• Cropredy Bridge
• Battle of the Dunes
• Siege of Gloucester
• Second Siege of Hull
• Battle of Langport
• The Relief of Newark
  

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