The First English Revolution (called the English Civil War by British
historians) is also called the Great Rebellion. The events that happened
between 1642-1651 were the result of the Stuart monarchy government of
the Kingdom of England.
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The Civil War broke out in England due to the reign of Charles I.
Starting in 1603, only one king reigned over England, Wales, and
Scotland. However, Scotland and England were still two separate
kingdoms, each with its own Parliament.
Charles I, who ascended to the throne in 1625, wanted to achieve the
ambitions of his father, James Stuart, of unifying England, Scotland,
and Ireland under the same kingdom.
Charles’ aspirations worried some Englishmen who feared for their
rights. Charles, like his father, claimed the divine right of kings to rule
without impediment and did not accept the limits that tradition
imposed on the King of England.
In 1625, Charles controversially married the Catholic Henrietta Maria
of France, which upset the predominantly Protestant nation.
In 1640, Charles needed to impose new taxes to react to rebellions.
A new Parliament was convened, which took the opportunity to air
grievances over the king’s conduct. Charle I dissolved Parliament
after a few weeks (this is known as the Short Parliament).
Charles resumed the war in Scotland without further financial
resources. As such, he was forced to convene a new parliament in
November. The new parliament was even more hostile to Charles,
and it passed several laws to defend its rights against the royal
power.
Parliament forbade the King from dissolving it. From then on, the
King was advised on various ways to resolve the conflict. Charles I
opposed each proposition made to him by stating that they
threatened the royal institution and his divine right to rule as he
pleased. It was precisely for these reasons that the Civil War started.
This revolution ended with the execution of King Charles I on 30
January 1649, at Whitehall (near Westminster, in London). The
monarchy was abolished, and a republic, called the Commonwealth
of England, was established with Oliver Cromwell at its head.
Such a revolution in England and Europe was a crucial step in the
transformation of English royal power, which would gradually move
towards a constitutional monarchy.
When Elizabeth I died without heirs in 1603, the throne of England
and Ireland passed to her closest relative, James Stuart (who was
already king of Scotland under the name of James VI). He, therefore,
assumed the English crown with the name of James I of England. For
the first time, Anglican England, Catholic Ireland, and Calvinist
Scotland were united under the same sovereign.
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The reign of James (which lasted until 1625) was an age of strong
contrasts and divisions that affected all areas, especially religion.
Although the king was committed to supporting Anglicanism, he often
acted in favour of Catholicism. The Puritan movement, which was
especially popular amongst the upper classes, sought a more
orthodox Calvinist approach and wanted a model of society where
the individual was responsible for their faith and choices.
Following the reign of James I, the English throne passed to his son
Charles I. During this period, conflict between the king and
Parliament exploded mainly due to tax issues. His marriage to
Henrietta Maria, daughter of King Henry IV of France (a fervent
Catholic), as well as the appointment of William Laud to Archbishop
of Canterbury (1633), alienated the king from the Anglican majority,
which followed Calvinist ideas. Charles I, therefore, exacerbated the
divisions of the country over religion and the management of power.
In 1628, Parliament voted on the Petition of Right according to which
the king could not impose taxes without Parliamentary approval:
 not imprison a free man without a trial;
 not subject free men to special courts;
 not force freemen to lodge troops in their homes.
The king disputed these rights and established monarchical tribunals,
denying all free men to be judged by their peers, thus causing
significant tension between the people’s representatives and the
monarchy. Furthermore, although it was forbidden, Charles I was still
collecting taxes. In fact, among other things, he had imposed an
unpopular tax that maritime cities had to pay in times of war.
The king evaded the Petition of Right and extended the tax to all his
subjects. Since such a tax would have made sense only in times of
war, the king decided to take part in the conflict in Scotland to justify
his tax. Charles’ intention was that of conquering Ireland. However, to
do this, he needed an army. The Irish question became a problem
that set the stage for the English Revolution.
In 1629, Charles dissolved Parliament and started a personal
government. As a result, discontent grew. One of the contributing
factors that led the king to dissolve Parliament was the religious
question of continuing to support the Anglican church since Charles
proved hostile towards the religious tendencies of many of his
English and Scottish subjects. In 1628, a Puritan movement arose,
asking for a church very similar to the Scottish one. Faced with the
demand for a new social and economic order, Parliament was
dissolved again, and the King began an absolutist policy.
To avoid appearing in contradiction to his position on religious
matters, Charles wanted to impose the English religion on Calvinist
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Scotland. The Scots rejected this, however, and declared war on
Charles.
At that time, though, the army was stationed in Ireland, where
religious conflicts arose between Catholics and Calvinists. This
caused many problems for the English Crown. In fact, in 1641, a
revolt had broken out in Ireland wherein landowners, free men, and
Catholic peasants rose against the nascent class of English
Protestant settlers. Charles, therefore, was forced to give in and
tolerated the Presbyterian church in Scotland.
The king was forced to reconvene Parliament, among whose
members was John Pym, one of the most important figures of this
period. He took advantage of the situation to incite the Scottish
people to point their guns at the king. When the royal army returned
from Ireland, it fell under the command of John Pym (who became
“the other king”). Parliament, with the Grand Remonstrance,
approved 200 articles of the Magna Carta. Each article was directed
towards the Stuart family, especially the king.
In 1628, in order to support the Netherlands in their military expenses
against Spain, Charles I summoned Parliament. However, instead of
granting subsidies to the king, parliamentarians asked him to take
responsibility for all of his illegal actions. Charles was asked to sign
the Petition of Rights, with which it was decreed that every tax had to
be approved by Parliament, while other practices – such as forced
loans, obligatory recruitment, and unjustified arrests – were illegal.
For this reason, the king dissolved Parliament just a month later.
During the ten years of Parliament’s absence, Charles I, supported
by Archbishop of Canterbury William Laud and the Crown Council,
tried to raise money through the imposition of new taxes. He also
attempted to spread Anglicanism in Scotland, a country of Calvinist
faith, causing a revolt.
Charles I was forced to summon Parliament to ask for the approval of
further taxes necessary to form an army to deal with insurgents. This
happened on 13 April 1640 (Short Parliament), and Charles I tried to
obtain Parliament’s favour through the abolition of the Ship Money
tax.
Parliament, which was composed of 33% Puritan representatives,
responded by criticising Charles I’s policies and decreed the
suspension of subsidies. The king responded with the dissolution of
parliament on 5 May 1640.
The king tried to get rid of the parliamentarians who were most
hostile to him. However, through being warned in advance, they
managed to save themselves through the support of the people of
London, who were growing increasingly impatient with Charles I’s
attitude. Thus, a civil war broke out between monarchists and
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parliamentarians (nicknamed Roundheads by their opponents
because of their hairstyle compared to those of the king’s troops).
Initially, the monarchists prevailed, but after a short time, the situation
was reversed.
The desperate king tried to negotiate with the Scots, who arrested
him and sold him to parliamentarians. Charles I managed to escape,
however, and the war continued for another year. In the end,
Parliament won. The leader of the parliamentarians, Oliver Cromwell,
expelled the monarchists from parliament, the king was sentenced to
death, and the English or Commonwealth Republic was proclaimed.
Cromwell assumed leadership of the Commonwealth as Lord
Protector of the Kingdom.
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The first and second English civil wars happened between 1642–
1646 and 1648–1649, respectively.
The major battle fought during this time was the Battle of Edgehill on
23 October 1642. Both Charles I and Parliament’s armies had 60,000
to 70,000 men in the field.
Another battle fought in the earlier series of civil wars was the Battle
of Marston Moor on 2 July 1644. Charles I enforced 11,000 Royalist
infantry in this war but was eventually defeated by the overwhelming
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20,000 Parliament and Scottish infantry. This loss greatly frustrated
the king.
The Battle of Naseby occurred on 14 June 1645, and it was a turning
point for Cromwell and the anti-royalists because it brought a series
of successes for their side. On 5 May 1646, Charles I surrendered to
the Scots at Newark and was imprisoned by the army until 1648.
The third English civil war happened between 1649 and 1651. It
pitted the supporters of King Charles II, the son of Charles I, against
the supporters of the Rump Parliament. It ended with the victory of
Parliament in the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651.
The English civil wars resulted in the (1) trial and execution of
Charles I, (2) exile of Charles II, and (3) replacement of England’s
monarchy with the Commonwealth of England (1649–1653) and the
Protectorate (1653–1659) led by Oliver Cromwell. Ultimately, it
established the idea that an English monarch cannot govern without
the consent of Parliament. However, the ruling power of Parliament
was only formally established during the Glorious Revolution in 1688.