Charles I, Civil War and the Restoration
Subject Knowledge: Summary
Subject Knowledge: Civil War, Charles' execution and England as a republic
Subject Knowledge: The Restoration of Charles II
Subject Knowledge: Religion- a return to Catholicism
Subject Knowledge: Foreign Policy- failed and costly wars
Subject Knowledge: Limiting the power of Parliament- abolition of Parliament and abuse of laws
Subject Knowledge: The Steps to War
Subject Knowledge: The Civil War
Subject Knowledge: The Execution of Charles I
Subject Knowledge: After Charles' execution
Subject Knowledge: The Political Poor
Subject Knowledge: Following the Restoration
Subject Knowledge: Interpretations
- Charles came to the throne in 1625. Relations between Charles I and Parliament gradually got worse. There were clashes about foreign policy and many Puritan Protestants disliked Charles' religious policy.
- Charles married a French Catholic against the wishes of Parliament. Charles revived old laws and taxes without the agreement of Parliament. When Parliament complained in 1629, he dismissed them.
- Until 1640, Charles ruled without a Parliament- this period is often referred to as the 'Eleven Years Tyranny'.
- War with Scotland forced Charles to recall Parliament. Instead of granting Charles money, Parliament sent him the Grant Remonstrance (1641). This was a list of 204 complaints about the way he was running the country. After Charles had tried and failed to arrest the five leaders of the Parliament, a civil war broke out.
Subject Knowledge: Civil War, Charles' execution and England as a republic
- Parliament had the support of the south-east of England, merchants, London and the navy. Charles' forces were gradually worn down. After Oliver Cromwell set up the New Model Army, Parliament won decisive victories at Marston Moor (1644) and Naseby (1645).
- Charles surrendered in 1646. He failed a second time to defeat Parliament during the Second Civil War in 1648. Parliament put him on trial for treason and he was executed in 1649.
- Historians in the past portrayed the Civil War as the time when Parliament defeated the power of the king. England was a republic for the next 11 years, ruled by Oliver Cromwell.
Subject Knowledge: The Restoration of Charles II
- The Civil War, however, achieved no permanent change in the balance of power between king and Parliament.
- in 1660, Charles II was restored to the throne and continued, as his father had done, trying to rule without Parliament.
Subject Knowledge: Religion- a return to Catholicism
- At the time the Catholic faith was feared by the crown. Remember Charles I's father James I, had been the target of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
- Charles I married Henrietta Maria, a Roman Catholic from France. Parliament feared this was a sign that he sympathised with Catholics and that she would influence his religious policy.
- The Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud, introduced Arminian reforms into the Church of England. Arminian practices are closer to Catholicism than other forms of Protestantism and include using candles and bowing at the name of Jesus.
- Many MPs were Puritans. They thought Charles wanted to make England Catholic again.
- Charles believed in the Divine Right of Kings. This is the idea that God had chosen him to be king and that Parliament had a less important role in government. Protestants believed that, like in their relationship in prayer with God, there was a closer dialogue between the ruler and the ruled.
Subject Knowledge: Foreign Policy- failed and costly wars
- An attack on Spain in 1625 failed.
- An attack on France in 1627 failed. In 1627, Charles sent a military force to France to support Hugenots (French Protestants). It failed and was also very expensive, losing Charles even more support at home.
Subject Knowledge: Limiting the power of Parliament- abolition of Parliament and abuse of laws
- People came to believe that Charles was undermining their liberties or rights.
- Charles used a private 'Court of the Star Chamber' to try and punish his opponents.
- When Parliament complained in 1629, he dismissed them. Until 1640, Charles ruled without a Parliament, a period known as the 'Eleven Years Tyranny'.
- Charles needed to raise money without Parliament so he used old laws such as Ship Money, which was a tax collected from coastal towns in the Middle Ages to pay for the navy. In 1635 Charles made inland counties pay it too.
- Charles also found a forgotten law that said that anyone earning more than £40 a year had to be a knight. In 1630 he started fining people who had not obeyed.
- The MP John Hampden refused to pay in 1637 and narrowly lost the subsequent court case, but his stand gathered support for the dissenters.
Subject Knowledge: The Steps to War
- An attempt to make the Scottish Church more like the Church of England caused a rebellion called the Bishops' War.
- Charles was forced to call the 'Long Parliament', because he needed money after the Bishops' War.
- Instead of granting Charles money, Parliament sent him the Grand Remonstrance- a list of 204 complaints about the way he was running the country.
- Charles tried to arrest 5 leading MPs who led the rebellion in Parliament. He failed, and they escaped.
- Parliament sent Charles the 19 Propositions. They wanted the power to appoint the king's ministers. and control the army and the judges.
- Charles declared war on Parliament.
Subject Knowledge: The Civil War
- The King's supporters: 'Cavaliers', the gentry of the northern and western areas, were Royalists and supported the king. At the start of the war Charles had better horsemen. Charles also used soldiers from Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Most of the Royalists were conservative Protestants or Catholic.
- Parliament's supporters: 'Roundheads', the merchants and traders of the south-east and London, supported Parliament. This gave Parliament much more money than the king. Parliament also controlled the navy. Many of the supporters were also Puritan.
- 1642: The battle of Edgehill was a confused draw. Charles advanced as far as Turnham Green, five miles from London, but when 24,000 Londoners turned out to fight him, he turned back.
- 1643: Charles tried another attack on London, but he was defeated at the Battle of Newbury.
- 1644: Parliament made an alliance with the Scottish 'Covenaters' (Protestants), and Oliver Cromwell and his 'Ironsides' joined the Parliamentary cavalry. Cromwell defeated a Royalist army at Marston Moor by attacking them at teatime.
- 1645: Parliament reorganised its armies into the 'New Model Army' led by Cromwell. Charles was decisively defeated at Naseby.
Subject Knowledge: The Execution of Charles I
- In 1646, Charles surrendered.
- In 1647, the army drew up the 'Heads of the Proposals', a list of suggestions for a settlement with Charles.
- In May 1648 Charles made a deal with the Scots and started a second civil war. After Cromwell had defeated Charles a second time- at the Battle of Preston in August 1648- Parliament put him on trial for treason.
- Charles was condemned as a 'tyrant, traitor, murderer and public enemy to the Commonwealth of England' and executed on 30th January 1649.
Subject Knowledge: After Charles' execution
- After Charles' execution England became a republic called the Commonwealth (1649-1660). At first Parliament ruled the country, but in 1653 Oliver Cromwell dismissed Parliament and ruled as Protector.
- The army became important. Under the Protectorate (1653-1660), England was governed by eleven Major- Generals - Cromwell's government was a military dictatorship.
- The Puritans became powerful. During the Protectorate, churches had to be plain, and dancing, the theatre, pubs, gambling, Maypoles and even Christmas were banned.
Subject Knowledge: The Political Poor
- The Levellers wanted to give ordinary men the vote. Cromwell crushed the movement.
- The Diggers thought everyone should own the land together. They set up a commune where everyone was equal. It was destroyed by a mob.
Subject Knowledge: Following the Restoration
- The Civil Wars, however, did not assure the power of Parliament or Protestantism.
- In 1660, after the return of the monarchy, Charles I was declared to be a saint by the Church of England.
- In 1660, the Protectorate collapsed, and Charles' son Charles II became king. This is called the Restoration.
- Charles II quarrelled with Parliament and may have been planning to turn England into a Catholic country.
- By the time Charles II died in 1685, it was by no means sure that Parliament or Protestantism in England were going to survive.
Subject Knowledge: Interpretations
- Traditionalist View: In the C19th, Whig historians saw the Civil War as one more step towards England becoming a successful Protestant democracy. They were opposed by Tory historians, who presented Charles as the defender of the Church of England, betrayed by his Parliament.
- Marxist View: Marxist historians believe that all history is a class war. They suggested that the Civil War was a war of the middle class merchants and tradesmen against the gentry. The conflict was not a 'civil war' but 'the English Revolution', because it was the time when the capitalist middle class seized power in England.
- Revisionist View: The Revisionists suggested that the Civil War was not the result of long-term developments at all. The Civil War flared up suddenly in 1642, when relations broke down between an incompetent king and the aggressive leaders of the Long Parliament.
- Recently, historians have pointed out that the Civil War was not the 'English Civil War' at all, but involved the whole of the British Isles.