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The English Civil War

Nottingham Castle

In 1625 James the First died and was succeeded by his son Charles the First. Half way through James's reign Parliament had come to realise the extent of its power over the king: the crown could only obtain money through taxation granted by Parliament. Sometimes Parliament would resist royal demands for taxes it knew would be unpopular. When Charles took the throne he came to the conclusion that Parliament was more trouble than it was worth. After a difficult relationship lasting ten years he simply stopped calling Parliament. Charles raised money through an old levy on port towns used to build ships in time of war. He extended this levy to all towns and cities across the country, and demanded the levy even in times of peace. The MP John Hampden mounted a legal challenge.

By 1640 crisis was looming. War with Scotland was hugely expensive, and there was trouble in Ireland. Charles needed more money than his levy could raise. Charles called Parliament, determined to win maximum amounts of money for minimum concessions. Parliament was equally determined not to grant anything until their grievances were heard. This was the Short Parliament, short because the king was not willing to listen to the torrent of criticism. But Charles still needed money, so he recalled Parliament later in 1640. This was to be the Long Parliament, the longest Parliament in English history. It was to remain sitting all through the troubles ahead, until 1660.

Parliament made demands and gave no money. In January 1642 the King lost patience and tried to have five senior parliamentarians arrested. But all five were forewarned and were not at Westminster when Charles arrived personally to arrest them. The King was humiliated. Parliament and the King now started to raise their forces, Charles the First raising his standard outside Nottingham Castle on August 22nd 1642. The war that followed divided communities and families. One Parliamentary general wrote to a friend on the Royalist side: "With what perfect hatred I look upon this war without an enemy. We are both upon the stage and must act the parts assigned us in this tragedy." The war itself was not nearly as polite as this letter might suggest.

Banqueting House

Slowly the tide turned against the Royalist forces, who were defeated at Marston Moor near York in July 1644, at Naseby in June 1645, and at Great Torrington in February 1646. Royalist resistance ceased by May 1646, and Charles decided to give himself up. Even after his surrender, however, Charles continued to ferment Royalist plots, and eventually he was taken from prison in Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight and put on trial in Westminster Hall. Ironically this period saw deep divisons amongst the parliamentarians. The New Model Army which had won the war was generally much more radical that the Parliament whose wishes it was meant to be serving. The Army was less inclined to religious toleration, less inclined to come to an agreement with the King, and more enthusiastic about wider voting rights and the end of the House of Lords. Parliament and the Army became opponents, and in 1848 Colonel Pride led a purge of Parliment, leaving only those MPs the Army considered acceptable. This was the Rump Parliament. Cromwell who owed his position to his career in the Army now almost ended up as a new Charles the First, battling with Parliament, and even entertaining the prospect of becoming king himself. The poet John Milton who worked for the government found himself reluctantly supporting an increasingy king-like Cromwell, since Cromwell was more inclined to religious toleration than Parliament. It was almost as if the old battles were being fought out again. Cromwell and Parliament were inclined to come to an accommodation with the King, but the Army acting independently imprisoned Charles in Hurst Castle in Dorset, and then in Carisbrooke Castle. Charles went on trial at Westminster Hall, and was executed in January 1649 in Whitehall, outside Banqueting House. There is a sad irony in the location of this execution. To get to the scaffold Charles walked thorough the grand hall at the Banqueting House. On the ceiling of this room was a huge painting by Peter Paul Rubens, which Charles had commissioned to portray the divine right of kings.

 

Corfe Castle, Dorset

 

The revolutionaries then thought the future had arrived. The past was something that deserved little respect, as demonstrated by their decision to wreck Corfe Castle in Dorset, and pull down the theatres, including Shakespeare's Globe. Windsor Castle, which stands today as a seemingly indissoluble link to the past, was only saved by a single vote in Parliament. And yet these revolutionaries were not the future. In time they too found their time had passed, Charles the Second returning to the throne in 1660. The revolutionaries were not the future, because history doesn't seem to work like that. History tends to go in circles as it rolls into the future. Even during the revolution itself, Cromwell the great leader of the move to abolish kingship almost became king himself. Perhaps Cromwell would have become king, if a flu epidemic in 1658 hadn't killed him.

 

 

Windsor Castle, saved by a single vote

While Cromwell lay on his death bed he was asked to nominate a successor, and he is supposed to have given the name of his son Richard, although there is some doubt about this. Richard turned out to be an unsuitable leader, and soon plans were in hand for the return of Charles the Second from exile. The monarchy was restored in 1660. The revolution seemed to be over, although in fact Charles the Second could be viewed as the last true king. The time of Parliament was still to come. Click on the Charles the Second link to learn more.