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112-733: Long before the English Civil War there already existed what the English Marxist historian , Christopher Hill , calls a "lower-class heretical culture" in England. The cornerstones of this culture were anti-clericalism and a strong emphasis on Biblical study, but specific doctrines had "an uncanny persistence": millenarianism , mortalism , anti-Trinitarianism and a rejection of predestination . Such ideas became "commonplace to seventeenth-century Baptists, Seekers, early Quakers and other radical groupings which took part in

224-560: A Roman Catholic French princess, Henrietta Maria . Parliament refused to assign him the traditional right to collect customs duties for his entire reign, deciding instead to grant it only on a provisional basis and negotiate with him. Charles, meanwhile, decided to send an expeditionary force to relieve the French Huguenots , whom French royal troops held besieged in La Rochelle . Such military support for Protestants on

336-472: A rebellion in 1641 , which developed into ethnic conflict with Protestant settlers. The Irish Catholic Confederation , formed to control the rebellion, held most of Ireland in the ensuing war against the Royalists, Parliamentarians, and Covenanters. Although all three agreed on the need to quell the rebellion, none trusted the other two with control of an army raised to do so. In August 1642, failure to break

448-591: A broad spectrum of ideas. Seekers after the Legates were Puritan but not Calvinist . Some contemporary historians, though accepting their zeal in desiring a "godly society", doubt whether the English Puritans during the English Revolution were as committed to religious liberty and pluralism as traditional histories have suggested. However, historian John Coffey’s recent work has emphasised

560-807: A campaign against the Scots, they refused. They then declared themselves to be permanently in session— the Long Parliament —and soon presented Charles with a long list of civil and religious grievances requiring his remedy before they would approve any new legislation. During the English Civil War, the English overseas possessions became highly involved. In the Channel Islands, the island of Jersey and Castle Cornet in Guernsey supported

672-478: A charge of treason. The members had learned that he was coming and escaped. Charles not only failed to arrest them but turned more people against him. In the summer of 1642, these national troubles helped to polarise opinion, ending indecision about which side to support or what action to take. Opposition to Charles also arose from many local grievances. For example, imposed drainage schemes in The Fens disrupted

784-451: A court case, attainder did not require a legal burden of proof to be met, but it did require the king's approval. Charles, however, guaranteed Strafford that he would not sign the attainder, without which the bill could not be passed. Furthermore, the Lords opposed the severity of a death sentence on Strafford. Yet increased tensions and a plot in the army to support Strafford began to sway

896-480: A practical means of compelling them. From the thirteenth century, monarchs ordered the election of representatives to sit in the House of Commons , with most voters being the owners of property, although in some potwalloper boroughs every male householder could vote. When assembled along with the House of Lords , these elected representatives formed a Parliament. So the concept of Parliaments allowed representatives of

1008-654: A purely civil state. Such a demand was in sharp contrast to the ambitions of magisterial Protestantism held by the Calvinist majority. Nevertheless, in common with other Dissenters, the Seekers believed that the Roman Church corrupted itself and, through its common heritage, the Church of England as well. Only Christ himself could establish the "true" Church. However, there were a number of beliefs and practices that made

1120-614: A resurgence of Protestant power, struck first , and all Ireland soon descended into chaos. Rumours circulated that the King supported the Irish, and Puritan members of the Commons soon started murmuring that this exemplified the fate that Charles had in store for them all. On 4 January 1642, Charles, followed by 400 soldiers, entered the House of Commons and attempted to arrest five members on

1232-572: A single kingdom. Many English Parliamentarians were suspicious of such a move, fearing that such a new kingdom might destroy old English traditions that had bound the English monarchy. Because James had described kings as "little gods on Earth", chosen by God to rule in accordance with the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings , and Charles shared his father's position, the suspicions of the Parliamentarians had some justification. At

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1344-482: A tactic learned while fighting in the Dutch army, where cavalry would charge at full speed into the opponent's infantry, firing their pistols just before impact. However, with Oliver Cromwell and the introduction of the more disciplined New Model Army , a group of disciplined pike men would stand its ground, which could have a devastating effect. The Royalist cavalry had a tendency to chase down individual targets after

1456-759: The English Civil War , while others have labelled them the British Civil Wars . After 1541, monarchs of England styled their Irish territory as a Kingdom —replacing the Lordship of Ireland —and ruled there with the assistance of a separate Irish Parliament . Also, with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 , Henry VIII integrated Wales more closely into the Kingdom of England . Scotland,

1568-585: The Bishops' Wars . Charles shared his father's belief in the Divine Right of Kings , and his persistent assertion of this standard seriously disrupted relations between the Crown and the English Parliament. The Church of England remained dominant, but a powerful Puritan minority, represented by about one third of Parliament, began to assert themselves; their religious precepts had much in common with

1680-662: The Covenanter Scots . Royalist defeat in the 1648 Second English Civil War resulted in the execution of Charles I in January 1649, and establishment of the Commonwealth of England . In 1650, Charles II was crowned King of Scotland, in return for agreeing to create a Presbyterian church in both England and Scotland. The subsequent Anglo-Scottish War ended with Parliamentarian victory at Worcester on 3 September 1651. Both Ireland and Scotland were incorporated into

1792-586: The Earl of Lindsey , was to die fighting for the King at the Battle of Edgehill . In early January 1642, a few days after failing to capture five members of the House of Commons, Charles feared for the safety of his family and retinue and left the London area for the north country. Further frequent negotiations by letter between the King and the Long Parliament, through to early summer, proved fruitless. On 1 June 1642

1904-705: The English Lords and Commons approved a list of proposals known as the Nineteen Propositions . In these demands, the Parliament sought a larger share of power in the governance of the kingdom. Before the end of the month the King rejected the Propositions. As the summer progressed, cities and towns declared their sympathies for one faction or the other: for example, the garrison of Portsmouth commanded by Sir George Goring declared for

2016-760: The First English Civil War and the Second English Civil War . The Anglo-Scottish War of 1650 to 1652 is sometimes referred to as the Third English Civil War. While the conflicts in the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland had similarities, each had their own specific issues and objectives. The First English Civil War was fought primarily over the correct balance of power between Parliament and Charles I . It ended in June 1646 with Royalist defeat and

2128-508: The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland would continue to run the church. The personal union of the three kingdoms under one monarch came about when King James VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth I to the English throne in 1603, when he also became King James I of England and of Ireland. In 1625, Charles I succeeded his father and marked three main concerns regarding England and Wales: how to fund his government, how to reform

2240-586: The Magnum Concilium (the House of Lords , but without the Commons , so not a Parliament), Charles finally bowed to pressure and summoned another English Parliament in November 1640. The new Parliament proved even more hostile to Charles than its predecessor. It immediately began to discuss grievances against him and his government, with Pym and Hampden (of ship money fame) in the lead. They took

2352-728: The Privy Council of Scotland and controlling the Parliament of Scotland through the Lords of the Articles . He constrained the authority of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and stopped it from meeting, then increased the number of bishops in the Church of Scotland . In 1618, he held a General Assembly and pushed through Five Articles of Episcopalian practices, which were widely boycotted. After his death in 1625, James

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2464-530: The Scottish Civil War . There, the Royalists gained a series of victories in 1644–1645, but were crushed after the main Covenanter armies returned to Scotland upon the end of the first English Civil War. The Scots handed Charles over to the English and returned to Scotland, the English Parliament having paid them a large sum for their expenses in the English campaign. After his surrender, Charles

2576-576: The Thirty Years' War which began in 1618 and concluded in 1648. The war was of unprecedented scale for the English. During the campaign seasons, 120,000 to 150,000 soldiers would be in the field, a higher proportion of the population than were fighting in Germany in the Thirty Years' War . The main battle tactic came to be known as pike and shot infantry. The two sides would line up opposite one another, with infantry brigades of musketeers in

2688-471: The Tonnage and Poundage Act 1640 . On 3 May, Parliament decreed The Protestation , attacking the 'wicked counsels' of Charles's government, whereby those who signed the petition undertook to defend 'the true reformed religion', Parliament, and the king's person, honour and estate. Throughout May, the House of Commons launched several bills attacking bishops and Episcopalianism in general, each time defeated in

2800-496: The regicide of Charles I. Royalists dug up Cromwell's corpse and performed a posthumous execution . The religiously and politically motivated individuals held responsible for the wars suffered harsh repression. Scotland and Ireland regained their Parliaments, some Irish retrieved confiscated lands, and the New Model Army was disbanded. However, the issues which had caused the wars—religion, the powers of Parliament vis-á-vis

2912-476: The "Eleven Years' Tyranny". During this period, Charles's policies were determined by his lack of money. First and foremost, to avoid Parliament, the King needed to avoid war. Charles made peace with France and Spain, effectively ending England's involvement in the Thirty Years' War . However, that in itself was far from enough to balance the Crown's finances. Unable to raise revenue without Parliament and unwilling to convene it, Charles resorted to other means. One

3024-429: The "Great Rebellion". Some historians, notably Marxists such as Christopher Hill (1912–2003), favoured the term " English Revolution ". Each side had a geographical stronghold, such that minority elements were silenced or fled. The Royalist areas included the countryside, the shires, the cathedral city of Oxford, and the less economically developed areas of northern and western England. Parliament's strengths spanned

3136-869: The 1639 to 1640 Bishops' Wars , the First and Second English Civil Wars , the Irish Confederate Wars , the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and the Anglo-Scottish War of 1650–1652. They resulted in the execution of Charles I , the abolition of monarchy , and founding of the Commonwealth of England , a unitary state which controlled the British Isles until the Stuart Restoration in 1660. Political and religious conflict between Charles I and his opponents dated to

3248-620: The 1650–1652 Anglo-Scottish war . Under Oliver Cromwell , the Commonwealth conquered Ireland and most Irish Catholic lands were seized . The British Isles became a united republic ruled by Cromwell and dominated by the army. There were sporadic uprisings until the monarchy was restored in 1660. The term Wars of the Three Kingdoms first appears in A Brief Chronicle of all the Chief Actions so fatally Falling out in

3360-772: The Army, which began the Second English Civil War . The New Model Army vanquished the English Royalists and Parliamentarians, as well as their Scottish Engager allies. On account of his secret machinations with the Scottish Engagers, Charles was charged with treason against England. Subsequently, the Grandees and their civilian supporters failed to reconcile with the king or the Puritan majority in Parliament. The Grandees acted, and soldiers were used to purge

3472-437: The Church more ceremonial, replacing the wooden communion tables with stone altars. Puritans accused Laud of reintroducing Catholicism, and when they complained he 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 , and one that aroused anger. Moreover, the Church authorities revived statutes from

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3584-672: The Church. In the spring of 1639, King Charles I accompanied his forces to the Scottish border to end the rebellion known as the Bishops' War , but after an inconclusive campaign, he accepted the offered Scottish truce: the Pacification of Berwick . This truce proved temporary, and a second war followed in mid-1640. A Scots army defeated Charles's forces in the north, then captured Newcastle . Charles eventually agreed not to interfere in Scotland's religion. Charles needed to suppress

3696-515: The Commonwealth, and Britain became a unitary state until the Stuart Restoration in 1660. The term English Civil War appears most often in the singular, but historians often divide the conflict into two or three separate wars. These were not restricted to England alone, as Wales (having been annexed into the Kingdom of England ) was affected by the same political instabilities. The conflicts also involved wars with Scotland and Ireland and civil wars within them. Some historians have favoured

3808-665: The Continent potentially alleviated concerns about the King's marriage to a Catholic. However, Charles's insistence on giving command of the English force to his unpopular royal favourite George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham , undermined that support. Unfortunately for Charles and Buckingham, the relief expedition proved a fiasco (1627), and Parliament, already hostile to Buckingham for his monopoly on royal patronage , opened impeachment proceedings against him. Charles responded by dissolving Parliament. This saved Buckingham but confirmed

3920-834: The Crown was rewarded after the 1660 Restoration of the Monarchy when Charles II dubbed it the Old Dominion . Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Ireland (proclaimed such in 1541 but only fully conquered for the Crown in 1603), tensions had also begun to mount. Thomas Wentworth , Charles I's Lord Deputy of Ireland , angered Catholics by enforcing new taxes while denying them full rights as subjects; he further antagonised wealthy Irish Catholics by repeated initiatives to confiscate and transfer their lands to English colonists. Conditions became explosive in 1639 when Wentworth offered Irish Catholics some reforms in return for their raising and funding an Irish army (led by Protestant officers) to put down

4032-746: The Crown. Bermuda's Independent Puritans were expelled, settling the Bahamas under William Sayle as the Eleutheran Adventurers . Parliament passed An Act for prohibiting Trade with the Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda and Antego in October, 1650 that prohibited all trade with the rebellious colonies of Barbados, Antigua, Bermuda, and Virginia, and granting permission to English privateers to seize any ships belonging to merchants, including foreigners, who traded with those colonies. Far to

4144-599: The Elder , a member of the King's Privy Council, who refused to confirm it in Parliament out of loyalty to Charles. On 10 April 1641, Pym's case collapsed, but Pym made a direct appeal to the Younger Vane to produce a copy of the notes from the King's Privy Council, discovered by the Younger Vane and secretly turned over to Pym, to the great anguish of the Elder Vane. These notes contained evidence that Strafford had told

4256-705: The English Book of Common Prayer to Scotland in the middle of 1637. This was violently resisted. A riot broke out in Edinburgh, which may have been started in St Giles' Cathedral , according to legend, by Jenny Geddes . In February 1638, the Scots formulated their objections to royal policy in the National Covenant . This document took the form of a "loyal protest", rejecting all innovations not first tested by free Parliaments and General Assemblies of

4368-709: The English Puritans and Scottish Covenanters opposed the changes Charles tried to impose on the Protestant state churches of England and Scotland . In Ireland, the only one with a Catholic majority, the Irish Confederates wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination , greater self-governance, and a reversal of land grants to Protestant settlers . The conflicts began with the Bishops' Wars of 1639–1640, when Scottish Covenanters who opposed Charles' religious reforms gained control of Scotland and briefly occupied northern England. Irish Catholics launched

4480-414: The English Parliament of those who opposed the Army. The resultant Rump Parliament of the Long Parliament then passed enabling legislation for putting Charles I on trial for treason . He was found guilty of treason against the English commons and was executed on 30 January 1649. After the execution of King Charles I the Rump Parliament passed a series of acts declaring that England was a republic; that

4592-434: The English Parliament, but as this body never held real powers, representation was ineffective. When Cromwell died in 1658 the Commonwealth fell apart—but without major violence. Historians record that adroit politicians of the time, especially George Monck , prevailed over the looming crisis; Monck in particular was deemed the victor sine sanguine, i.e., "without blood" , of the Restoration crisis. And in 1660, Charles II

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4704-408: The English and Scottish Parliaments, a small group of Irish conspirators launched the Irish Rebellion of 1641 , ostensibly in support of the "King's Rights". The uprising featured widespread violent assaults on Protestant communities in Ireland, both Anglican and dissenter Protestants in Ulster whose practice was similar to the Scottish Kirk. In England and Scotland, rumours spread that the killings had

4816-412: The House of Commons—without the House of Lords—would sit as the legislature; and that a Council of State would act as the executive power. In the other two kingdoms the execution of Charles caused the warring parties to unite, and they recognised Charles II as king of Great Britain, France and Ireland. To deal with the threat to the English Commonwealth posed by the two kingdoms (Ireland and Scotland),

4928-443: The Interregnum, the New Model Army occupied Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland, the new government confiscated almost all lands belonging to Irish Catholics as punishment for the rebellion of 1641; harsh Penal Laws also restricted this community. Thousands of Parliamentarian soldiers settled in Ireland on confiscated lands. The Commonwealth abolished the Parliaments of Ireland and Scotland. In theory, these countries had representation in

5040-405: The Irish Catholic gentry to pay new taxes in return for promised religious concessions. In 1639, Charles had recalled Wentworth to England and in 1640 made him Earl of Strafford, attempting to have him achieve similar results in Scotland. This time he proved less successful and the English forces fled the field at their second encounter with the Scots in 1640. Almost the whole of Northern England

5152-522: The King in 1638. The fines imposed on people who refused to pay ship money and standing out against its illegality aroused widespread indignation. During his "Personal Rule", Charles aroused most antagonism through his religious measures. He believed in High Anglicanism , a sacramental version of the Church of England , theologically based upon Arminianism , a creed shared with his main political adviser, Archbishop William Laud . In 1633, Charles appointed Laud Archbishop of Canterbury and started making

5264-496: The King until a surrender with honour in December 1651. Although the newer, Puritan settlements in North America, notably Massachusetts , were dominated by Parliamentarians, the older colonies to the south sided with the Crown. Friction between Royalists, most of whom were Anglican, and Puritans in Maryland came to a head in the Battle of the Severn . The Virginia Company's settlements, Bermuda and Virginia , as well as Antigua and Barbados , were conspicuous in their loyalty to

5376-435: The King's ministers. Finally, the Parliament passed a law forbidding the King to dissolve it without its consent, even if the three years were up. These laws equated to a tremendous increase in Parliamentary power. Ever since, this Parliament has been known as the Long Parliament . However, Parliament did attempt to avert conflict by requiring all adults to sign The Protestation , an oath of allegiance to Charles. Early in

5488-433: The King, but when Charles tried to acquire arms from Kingston upon Hull , the weaponry depository used in the previous Scottish campaigns, Sir John Hotham , the military governor appointed by Parliament in January, refused to let Charles enter the town, and when Charles returned with more men later, Hotham drove them off . Charles issued a warrant for Hotham's arrest as a traitor but was powerless to enforce it. Throughout

5600-403: The King, "Sir, you have done your duty, and your subjects have failed in theirs; and therefore you are absolved from the rules of government, and may supply yourself by extraordinary ways; you have an army in Ireland, with which you may reduce the kingdom." Pym immediately launched a Bill of Attainder stating Strafford's guilt and demanding that he be put to death. Unlike a guilty verdict in

5712-455: The Kirk —and Mary, Queen of Scots , a Catholic, was forced to abdicate in favour of her son James VI of Scotland . James grew up under a regency disputed between Catholic and Protestant factions; when he took power, he aspired to be a "universal King", favouring the English Episcopalian system of bishops appointed by the king. In 1584, he introduced bishops into the Church of Scotland, but met with vigorous opposition, and he had to concede that

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5824-416: The Long Parliament, the house overwhelmingly accused Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford , of high treason and other crimes and misdemeanors. Henry Vane the Younger supplied evidence of Strafford's claimed improper use of the army in Ireland, alleging that he had encouraged the King to use his Ireland-raised forces to threaten England into compliance. This evidence was obtained from Vane's father, Henry Vane

5936-411: The Lord Protector. When Cromwell died in 1658, control of the Commonwealth became unstable. In early 1660, General George Monck , commanding English occupation forces in Scotland, ordered his troops from the Coldstream barracks, marched them south into England, and seized control of London by February 1660. There he accumulated allies and agreements among the English and London establishments, including

6048-413: The Lords. Charles and his Parliament hoped that the execution of Strafford and the Protestation would end the drift towards war, but in fact, they encouraged it. Charles and his supporters continued to resent Parliament's demands, and Parliamentarians continued to suspect Charles of wanting to impose episcopalianism and unfettered royal rule by military force. Within months, the Irish Catholics, fearing

6160-411: The North, Bermuda's regiment of Militia and its coastal batteries prepared to resist an invasion that never came. Built-up inside the natural defence of a nearly impassable barrier reef, to fend off the might of Spain, these defences would have been a formidable obstacle for the Parliamentary fleet sent in 1651 under the command of Admiral Sir George Ayscue to subdue the trans-Atlantic colonies, but after

6272-502: The Parliament after only a few weeks; hence its name, "the Short Parliament ". Without Parliament's support, Charles attacked Scotland again, breaking the truce at Berwick, and suffered comprehensive defeat. The Scots went on to invade England, occupying 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

6384-539: The Presbyterian Scots. The English Parliament and the king had repeated disputes over taxation, military expenditure, and the role of the Parliament in government. While James I had held much the same opinions as his son regarding Royal Prerogatives , he usually had enough discretion and charisma to persuade Parliamentarians to accept his thinking. Charles had no such skill and, faced with multiple crises during 1639–1642, he failed to prevent his kingdoms from sliding into civil war. When Charles approached Parliament to pay for

6496-429: The Royalists and a Covenanter faction called the Engagers . The Parliamentarian New Model Army then purged England's parliament of those who wanted to continue negotiations with the king. The resulting Rump Parliament approved his execution in January 1649 and founded the republican Commonwealth of England . In the Treaty of Breda , the Scots agreed to restore Charles II to the English throne, but were defeated in

6608-456: The Rump Parliament first appointed Cromwell to invade and subdue Ireland. In August 1649, he landed an English army at Rathmines shortly after the Siege of Dublin was abandoned by the Royalists following the Battle of Rathmines . Then, in late May 1650, Cromwell left one army to continue the Irish conquest and returned to England and to take command of a second English army which preemptively invaded Scotland . On 3 September 1650, he defeated

6720-400: The Scottish Kirk were opposed by most Scots, who supported a Presbyterian system of governance led by a General Assembly, and in individual churches by ministers and committees of elders . The 1638 National Covenant pledged to oppose such imposed "innovations". Signatories were known as Covenanters . In Ireland, alienated by Church of England domination and frightened by the rhetoric of

6832-416: The Scottish Covenanters at the Battle of Dunbar , and his forces then occupied Edinburgh and Scotland south of the River Forth . Cromwell was advancing the bulk of his army over the Forth towards Stirling ; when Charles II, commanding a Scottish Royalist army, stole a march on the English commander and invaded England from his base in Scotland. Cromwell divided his forces, leaving part in Scotland to complete

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6944-438: The Scottish rebellion. The idea of an Irish Catholic army enforcing what many saw as already tyrannical government horrified both the Scottish and the English Parliaments, which in response threatened to invade Ireland. Charles' initial failure to end the Bishops' Wars of 1639 and 1640 quickly persuaded the antagonists that force could serve them better than negotiation. The imposition of Bishops and other Anglican practices to

7056-441: The Seekers distinctive from the large number of nonconformist dissenting groups that emerged around the time of the Commonwealth of England . Most significant was their form of collective worship; the Seekers held meetings free of all Church ritual and in silence, mindful of direct inspiration and guidance. Seekers anticipated aspects of Quakerism and a significant number of them became Quakers and many remaining Seekers attended

7168-412: The ability and authority to collect and remit the most meaningful forms of taxation then available at the local level. So, if the king wanted to ensure smooth revenue collection, he needed the gentry's cooperation. For all of the Crown's legal authority, its resources were limited by any modern standard to the extent that if the gentry refused to collect the king's taxes on a national scale, the Crown lacked

7280-446: The centre. These carried matchlock muskets, an inaccurate weapon which nevertheless could be lethal at a range of up to 300 yards. Musketeers would assemble three rows deep, the first kneeling, second crouching, and third standing. At times, troops divided into two groups, allowing one to reload while the other fired. Among the musketeers were pike men, carrying pikes of 12 feet (4 m) to 18 feet (5.5 m) long, whose main purpose

7392-418: The centuries de facto powers of enough significance that monarchs could not simply ignore them indefinitely. For a monarch, Parliament's most indispensable power was its ability to raise tax revenues far in excess of all other sources of revenue at the Crown's disposal. By the 17th century, Parliament's tax-raising powers had come to be derived from the fact that the gentry was the only stratum of society with

7504-551: The changes that ultimately would shape modern Britain but, in the short term, these conflicts in fact resolved little for the kingdoms and peoples. The English Commonwealth did achieve a notable compromise between the monarchy and republic which survived destabilising problems for nearly the next two hundred years. In practice, Oliver Cromwell exercised political power through his control over Parliament's military forces, but his legal position—and provisions for his succession—remained unclear, even after he became Lord Protector . None of

7616-457: The church, and how to limit the English Parliament's interference in his rule. At that time, he showed little interest in his other two kingdoms, Scotland and Ireland. James VI remained Protestant, taking care to maintain his hopes of succession to the English throne. He duly became James I of England in 1603 and moved to London. James concentrated on dealing with the English court and Parliament , running Scotland through written instructions to

7728-401: The conquest there, then led the rest south in pursuit of Charles II. The Royalist army failed to gather much support from English Royalists as it moved south into England; so, instead of heading directly towards London and certain defeat, Charles aimed for Worcester hoping that Wales and the West and Midlands of England would rise against the Commonwealth. This did not happen and, one year to

7840-408: The contribution of a minority of radical Protestants who steadfastly sought toleration for so-called heresy , blasphemy , Catholicism , non-Christian religions, and even atheism . This minority included the Seekers, as well as the General Baptists . Their collective witness demanded the church to be an entirely voluntary, non-coercive community able to evangelise in a pluralistic society governed by

7952-407: The day after the Battle of Dunbar, the New Model Army and the English militia regiments vanquished the last Royalist army of the English Civil War at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. It was the last and most decisive battle in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Having defeated all organised opposition, the Grandees of the Parliamentary New Model Army and their civilian supporters dominated

8064-432: The early years of his reign. While the vast majority supported the institution of monarchy, they disagreed on who held ultimate authority. Royalists generally argued political and religious bodies were subordinate to the king, while most of their Parliamentarian opponents backed a limited form of constitutional monarchy . This was worsened by differences over religion and religious freedom . Reformed Protestants such as

8176-595: The fall of Barbados, the Bermudians made a separate peace that respected the internal status quo. The Parliament of Bermuda avoided the Parliament of England's fate during The Protectorate , becoming one of the oldest continuous legislatures in the world. Virginia's population swelled with Cavaliers during and after the English Civil War. Even so, Virginia Puritan Richard Bennett was made Governor answering to Cromwell in 1652, followed by two more nominal "Commonwealth Governors". The loyalty of Virginia's Cavaliers to

8288-690: The financial muscle of the City of London . On 5 May 1646, at Southwell, Charles I surrendered to the Scottish army besieging Newark-on-Trent . What remained of the English and Welsh Royalist armies and garrisons, surrendered piecemeal over the next few months. Meanwhile, the rebellious Irish Catholics formed their own government— Confederate Ireland —intending to help the Royalists in return for religious toleration and political autonomy. Troops from England and Scotland fought in Ireland, and Irish Confederate troops mounted an expedition to Scotland in 1644 , sparking

8400-716: The first personal union of the Scottish and English kingdoms . As King of Scots, James had become accustomed to Scotland's weak parliamentary tradition since assuming control of the Scottish government in 1583, so that upon assuming power south of the border, the new King of England was affronted by the constraints the English Parliament attempted to place on him in exchange for money. Consequently, James's personal extravagance, which resulted in him being perennially short of money, meant that he had to resort to extra-parliamentary sources of income. Moreover, increasing inflation during this period meant that even though Parliament

8512-482: The free-for-all discussions of the English Revolution ." The Seekers were not an organised religious group in any way that would be recognised today (not a religious cult or denomination ), but informal and localised. Membership in a local Seekers assembly did not preclude membership in another sect. Indeed, Seekers shunned creeds (see nondenominational Christianity ) and each assembly tended to embrace

8624-540: The funeral of George Fox . A contemporary and unsympathetic author, Richard Baxter , claimed that they had merged with the "Vanists" or followers of Henry Vane the Younger . Often when "heretics" were faced with being burnt at the stake they retracted, retaining their beliefs in a less public way. The Legates were exceptional. Thomas died in Newgate Prison after being arrested for his preaching and Bartholomew

8736-459: The impression that Charles wanted to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny of his ministers. Having dissolved Parliament and unable to raise money without it, the king assembled a new one in 1628. (The elected members included Oliver Cromwell , John Hampden , and Edward Coke .) The new Parliament drew up a Petition of Right , which Charles accepted as a concession to obtain his subsidy. The Petition made reference to Magna Carta , but did not grant him

8848-679: The industrial centres, ports, and economically advanced regions of southern and eastern England, including the remaining cathedral cities (except York, Chester, Worcester). Lacey Baldwin Smith says, "the words populous, rich, and rebellious seemed to go hand in hand". Many officers and veteran soldiers had fought in European wars, notably the Eighty Years' War between the Spanish and the Dutch, which began in 1568, as well as earlier phases of

8960-436: The initial charge, leaving their forces scattered and tired, whereas Cromwell's cavalry was slower but better disciplined. Trained to operate as a single unit, it went on to win many decisive victories. The English Civil War broke out in 1642, less than 40 years after the death of Queen Elizabeth I . Elizabeth had been succeeded by her first cousin twice-removed , King James VI of Scotland , as James I of England, creating

9072-452: The issue. On 21 April, the Commons passed the Bill (204 in favour, 59 opposed, and 250 abstained), and the Lords acquiesced. Charles, still incensed over the Commons' handling of Buckingham, refused his assent. Strafford himself, hoping to head off the war he saw looming, wrote to the king and asked him to reconsider. Charles, fearing for the safety of his family, signed on 10 May. Strafford

9184-623: The king failed to issue a proper summons, the members could assemble on their own. This act also forbade ship money without Parliament's consent, fines in distraint of knighthood, and forced loans. Monopolies were cut back sharply, the courts of the Star Chamber and High Commission abolished by the Habeas Corpus Act 1640 , and the Triennial Act respectively. All remaining forms of taxation were legalised and regulated by

9296-554: The king in custody. However, victory exposed Parliamentarian divisions over the nature of the political settlement. The vast majority went to war in 1642 to assert Parliament's right to participate in government, not abolish the monarchy, which meant Charles' refusal to make concessions led to a stalemate. Concern over the political influence of radicals within the New Model Army like Oliver Cromwell led to an alliance between moderate Parliamentarians and Royalists, supported by

9408-468: The king's sanction, which, for many, foreshadowed their own fate if the king's Irish troops landed in Britain. Thus the English Parliament refused to pay for a royal army to put down the rebellion in Ireland; instead Parliament decided to raise its own armed forces. The king did likewise, rallying those Royalists (some of them members of Parliament) who believed their fortunes were best served by loyalty to

9520-408: The king. The English Civil War ignited in 1642. Scottish Covenanters (as Presbyterians there called themselves) joined forces with the English Parliament in late 1643 and played a major role in the ultimate Parliamentary victory. Over the course of more than two years, the king's forces were ground down by the efficiency of those of Parliament, including the New Model Army , backed as they were by

9632-483: The livelihood of thousands after the King awarded a number of drainage contracts. Many saw the King as indifferent to public welfare, and this played a role in bringing much of eastern England into the Parliamentarian camp. This sentiment brought with it such people as the Earl of Manchester and Oliver Cromwell , each a notable wartime adversary of the King. Conversely, one of the leading drainage contractors,

9744-543: The newly constituted Convention Parliament , to which he was elected a member. Monck, first a Royalist campaigner, then a Parliamentary soldier, now contrived the Restoration of the monarchy. Monck arranged that the Convention Parliament would invite Charles II to return as king of the three realms—which was done by act of Parliament on 1 May 1660. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms prefigured many of

9856-425: The opportunity presented by the King's troubles to force various reforming measures – including many with strong "anti- Papist " themes – upon him. The members passed a law stating that a new Parliament would convene at least once every three years – without the King's summons if need be. Other laws passed making it illegal for the king to impose taxes without Parliamentary consent and later gave Parliament control over

9968-489: The policy of coastal counties and inland ports such as London paying ship money in times of need, but it had not been applied to inland counties before. Authorities had ignored it for centuries, and many saw it as yet another extra-Parliamentary, illegal tax, which prompted some prominent men to refuse to pay it. Charles issued a writ against John Hampden for his failure to pay, and although five judges including Sir George Croke supported Hampden, seven judges found in favour of

10080-542: The politics of all three nations for the next nine years (see Interregnum (1649–1660) ). As for England, the Rump Parliament had already decreed it was a republic and a Commonwealth . Ireland and Scotland were now subjugated and ruled by military governors, and constituent representatives from both nations were seated in the Rump Parliament of the Protectorate , where they were dominated by Oliver Cromwell ,

10192-471: The property-owning class to meet, primarily, at least from the point of view of the monarch, to sanction whatever taxes the monarch wished to collect. In the process, the representatives could debate and enact statutes , or acts . However, Parliament lacked the power to force its will upon the monarch; its only leverage was the threat of withholding the financial means required to implement his plans. Many concerns were raised over Charles's marriage in 1625 to

10304-438: The rebellion in Scotland but had insufficient funds to do so. He needed to seek money from a newly elected English Parliament in 1640. Its majority faction, led by John Pym , used this appeal for money as a chance to discuss grievances against the Crown and oppose the idea of an English invasion of Scotland. Charles took exception to this lèse-majesté (offense against the ruler) and, after negotiations went nowhere, dissolved

10416-458: The resulting political deadlock sparked the First English Civil War , which pitted Royalists against both the Parliamentarians and their Covenanter allies in England and Wales. The war in England ended when Charles surrendered to the Scots in 1646, but divisions among his opponents and his refusal to make significant political concessions caused a renewed outbreak of fighting in 1648. In the Second English Civil War , Parliamentarians again defeated

10528-450: The right of tonnage and poundage , which Charles had been collecting without Parliamentary authorisation since 1625. Several more active members of the opposition were imprisoned, which caused outrage; one, John Eliot , subsequently died in prison and came to be seen as a martyr for the rights of Parliament. Charles avoided calling a Parliament for the next decade, a period known as the " personal rule of Charles I ", or by its critics as

10640-534: The several constitutions proposed during this period was achieved. Thus the Commonwealth and Protectorate of the Parliamentarians—the wars' victors—left no significant new form of government in place after their time. Still, in the long term, two abiding legacies of British democracy were established during this period: English Protestants experienced religious freedom during the Interregnum , but there

10752-586: The summer, tensions rose and there was brawling in several places, the first death from the conflict taking place in Manchester . Wars of the Three Kingdoms English Parliamentarian victory The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England , Scotland and Ireland , then separate entities in a personal union under Charles I . They include

10864-512: The term The British Civil Wars . From the Restoration to the 19th century, the common phrase for the civil wars was "the rebellion" or "the great rebellion". The wars spanning all four countries are known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms . In the early 19th century, Sir Walter Scott referred to it as "The Great Civil War". The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica called the series of conflicts

10976-613: The third separate kingdom, was governed by the House of Stuart . By means of the English Reformation , King Henry VIII made himself head of the Protestant Church of England and outlawed Catholicism in England and Wales . In the course of the 16th century, Protestantism became intimately associated with national identity in England; Catholicism had come to be seen as the national enemy, particularly as it

11088-655: The three Kingdoms by James Heath, published in 1662, but historian Ian Gentles argues "there is no stable, agreed title for the events....which have been variously labelled the Great Rebellion, the Puritan Revolution, the English Civil War, the English Revolution and… the Wars of the Three Kingdoms." It is generally used by modern historians who see the conflicts in each state as driven by overlapping but often distinct issues, rather than as mere background to

11200-417: The time of Elizabeth I about church attendance and fined Puritans for not attending Anglican services. The end of Charles's independent governance came when he attempted to apply the same religious policies in Scotland. The Church of Scotland , reluctantly episcopal in structure, had independent traditions. Charles wanted one uniform Church throughout Britain and introduced a new, High Anglican version of

11312-419: The time, the Parliament of England did not have a large permanent role in the English system of government. Instead, it functioned as a temporary advisory committee and was summoned only if and when the monarch saw fit. Once summoned, a Parliament's continued existence was at the King's pleasure since it was subject to dissolution by him at any time. Yet in spite of this limited role, Parliament had acquired over

11424-628: Was approached by the Scots, the Presbyterians in the English Parliament, and the Grandees of the New Model Army, all attempting to reach an accommodation with him and among themselves which would achieve peace while preserving the crown. But now, a breach between the New Model Army and Parliament widened day by day, until the Puritans in Parliament, with allies among the Scots and the remaining Royalists, saw themselves strong enough to challenge

11536-639: Was beheaded two days later. In the meantime, both Parliament and the King agreed to an independent investigation into the king's involvement in Strafford's plot. The Long Parliament then passed the Triennial Act 1640 , also known as the Dissolution Act, in May 1641, to which royal assent was readily granted. The Triennial Act required Parliament to be summoned at least once in three years. When

11648-402: Was burnt for heresy in 1612. English Civil War Parliamentarian victory 1643 1644 1645 1646 England The English Civil War was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Royalists and Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms , the struggle consisted of

11760-546: Was embodied in the rivals France and Spain . Catholicism, however, remained the religion of most people in Ireland and for many Irish it was a symbol of native resistance to the Tudor conquest of Ireland . In the Kingdom of Scotland , the Protestant Reformation was a popular movement led by John Knox . The Scottish Parliament legislated for a national Presbyterian church—namely the Church of Scotland or

11872-425: Was granting the King the same nominal value of subsidy, the income was actually worth less. This extravagance was tempered by James's peaceful disposition, so that by the succession of his son Charles I in 1625 the two kingdoms had both experienced relative peace, internally and in their relations with each other. Charles followed his father's dream in hoping to unite the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland into

11984-472: Was none for English Catholics. During the term of their control, the Puritan partisans abolished the Church of England and the House of Lords . Cromwell denounced the Rump Parliament and dissolved it by force, but he failed to establish an acceptable alternative. Nor did he and his supporters move in the direction of popular democracy, as the more radical Parliamentarians (the Levellers ) wanted. During

12096-567: Was occupied and Charles forced to pay £850 per day to keep the Scots from advancing. Had he not done so they would have pillaged and burnt the cities and towns of Northern England. All this put Charles in a desperate financial state. As King of Scots, he had to find money to pay the Scottish army in England; as King of England, he had to find money to pay and equip an English army to defend England. His means of raising English revenue without an English Parliament fell critically short of achieving this. Against this backdrop, and according to advice from

12208-521: Was restored as king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Under the English Restoration the political system returned to the prewar constitutional position. Although Charles II's Declaration of Breda in April 1660 had offered reconciliation and promised a general pardon for crimes committed during the English Civil War, the new régime executed or imprisoned for life those directly involved in

12320-606: Was succeeded by his son Charles I, who was crowned in Holyrood Palace , Edinburgh , in 1633, with full Anglican rites. Charles was less skillful and restrained than his father; his attempts to enforce Anglican practices in the Church of Scotland created opposition which reached a flashpoint when he introduced the Anglican Book of Common Prayer . His confrontation with the Scots came to a head in 1639, when he tried and failed to coerce Scotland by military means during

12432-423: Was to protect the musketeers from cavalry charges. Positioned on each side of the infantry were cavalry, with a right wing led by the lieutenant-general and left by the commissary general . Its main aim was to rout the opponents' cavalry, then turn and overpower their infantry. The Royalist cavaliers' skill and speed on horseback led to many early victories. Prince Rupert , commanding the king's cavalry, used

12544-550: Was to revive conventions, often outdated. For example, a failure to attend and receive knighthood at Charles's coronation became a finable offence with the fine paid to the Crown. The King also tried to raise revenue through ship money , demanding in 1634–1636 that the inland English counties pay a tax for the Royal Navy to counter the threat of privateers and pirates in the English Channel. Established law supported

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