The
Civil War
(1642-1649)
Major Issues Prior to Civil War
• Could the king govern without the consent of
Parliament or go against the wishes of Parliament?
• Would the form of the Anglican Church follow the
established hierarchical Episcopal form or acquire a
Presbyterian form?
– Episcopal form meant king, Archbishop of Canterbury,
and bishops of church determined Church doctrine and
practices (used in England).
– Presbyterian form allowed more freedom of conscience
and dissent among church members (used in Scotland).
Charles I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4b0G_auKCI
What manner of man was he?
Causes of the Civil War
• Charles tried to arrest several Puritans in Parliament but a
crowd of 4,000 came to Parliament’s defense
• In March 1642 Charles declared war against his opponents
in Parliament
• His army came from the nobility, rural country gentry, and
mercenaries.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FyQnEDt7eA&featur
e=related
Civil War
(1642-1649)
Royalists
(Cavaliers)
Parliamentarians
(Roundheads)
a
House of Lords
† House of Commons
a
N & W England
† S & E England
a
Aristocracy
† Puritans
a
Large landowners
† Merchants
a
Church officials
† Townspeople
a
More rural
† More urban
Playskool Version
of the English Civil War
• Called Roundheads for
their short haircuts.
Roundheads
• Cavaliers were horsemen.
This is reference
to the
Cavaliers
a
medieval knights who
fought for the king. 13,000
strong
Allegiance of
Members
of the
Long Parliament
(1640-1660)
• Oliver Cromwell, a fiercely Puritan Independent
and military leader of the Roundheads, eventually
led his New Model Army to victory in 1649
Oliver Cromwell [1599-1658]
† He wore…a plain cloth-suit, which seemed to have been made by
a poor tailor; his shirt
was plain, and not very clean; and I
remember a speck or two of
blood upon his collar…his face was
swollen and red, his voice sharp and
untunable, and his speech full of
passion. [Sir Philip Warwick,
a Royalist, 1640]
Charles Surrenders
• 1646 Charles surrenders.
• From 1646- 1649 Charles is transferred to different
prisons
• Lots of social unrest- food shortages, inflation, and
wounded soldiers unable to work.
• 1648 another Civil War broke out and Charles
encouraged his supporters to free him.
• Will there ever be freedom and peace if the king
lives?
Purge, 1648
† Cromwell purges the House of Commons of moderates [anyone
who isn’t anti-monarchy].
† The results is the “Rump” Parliament.
† What is the importance of this?
Trial of Charles for Treason
• Accused of claiming to rule by divine right: He who had been
“trusted with a limited power to govern.. Had conceived a
wicked design to.. Uphold in himself an unlimited and
tyrannical power to rule according to his will.”
The Execution of Charles I, 1649
“Cromwell lifting the
Coffin-lid and looking at
the body of Charles I”,
The Puritan Commonwealth [1649-1653]
† Cromwell rules with the Rump
Parliament.
† Constitutional Republic
 Created a constitution 
Instrument of Government
 An executive [Cromwell]
 A Council of State  annually
elected the committee of
Parliament.
 No monarch.
† Europe is appalled  other nations
don’t recognize it.
Three months after the
execution of the king,
Cromwell began to
suppress the radicals in
the revolutionary
movement.
First the New Model
Army officers and the
MPs of the Rump
united against the
common soldiers who
were Levellers.
Treatment of Minorities
Radical Religions and the Civil
War
The Execution of James Nayler, a Quaker
" …a numberless crew of locusts have sprung out of the
bottomless pit, assuming to themselves the names of Arians,
Arminians, Socinians, Antinomians, Anabaptists, Familists,
Antiscripturists, Antisabbatarians, Antitrinitarians, Libertines,
Erastians, Levellers, Mortalists, Millenaries, Enthusiasts,
Separatists, Semiseparatists, Quakers, and many more of the
same brood … No country from the foundation of the world
hath brought forth and brought up, so many monstrous births
as it [England] hath done."
• Levellers: Radical religious
revolutionaries; sought social &
political reforms—a more egalitarian
society
• Diggers: denied Parliament’s authority
and rejected private ownership of land
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWRpl2S9iwk
Rebels within a Rebellion: Levellers
† John Lilburne was their leader.
† One of the first libertarians in the
world.
† The Agreement of the People was their
political manifesto.
 Abolish corruption within
the Parliament &
judicial process.
 Toleration of
religious differences.
 Laws written in
the vernacular.
 Universal suffrage as
a “natural right.”
Rebels within a Rebellion: Diggers
† Agrarian “communists” led by Gerrard
Winstanley and William Everard  seen as
the “true Levellers.”
† With Charles I gone, they felt that land
should now be distributed to the poor.
† Food prices had reached record highs in the
1640s.
† They alarmed the Commonwealth
government and angered the local
landowners who wanted to claim confiscated
aristocratic lands for themselves.
Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament, 1653
“This House to Let”
“Come, come!. We have had enough of
this. I will put an end to your prating.
It is not fit that you should sit here any
longer! You have sat here too long here
for any good you have been doing
lately. You shall give this place to
better men! Call them in! Call them in!
(the musketeers). You call yourselves a
Parliament. You are no Parliament; I
say you are no Parliament! You are
whoremasters and drunkards, corrupt
and unjust men, how can you be a
Parliament for God’s People? Depart,
I say; and let us have done with you. In
the name of God, go! "
In Dec. 1653, the
military took the first
unconscious steps
toward restoring the
monarchy.
Oliver Cromwell
became the “Lord
Protector.”
The Protectorate [1653-1660]
† Cromwell tears up the ineffective Constitution.
† Dismisses the Rump Parliament and rules with the support of the
military.
 Declares martial law.
 Military dictator.
† Religious tolerance for all [esp. for Jews], except for Catholics.
† The Puritan-controlled gov’t sought to regulate the moral life of
England by commanding that people follow strict moral codes that
were enforced by the army.
† Crushes a rebellion in Scotland.
† Crushes a rebellion among the Catholics of Ireland  kills 40% of
all ethnic Irish!
Cromwell’s Conquest of Ireland, 1649
- 1653
The massacre at
Drogheda, 1649
Cromwell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWPbnWMpMiA&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL
Problems of Cromwell’s Government:
• No legal or divine authority
– There was no precedent for the title of “Lord
Protector”—Cromwell’s power rested in his
command of the army.
• Could not finance both state government and
fight wars
– The army was “a beast that has a great belly and
must be fed.”
Under Cromwell’s
governance, England
achieved true religious
tolerance for the first
time.
Episcopalians,
Catholics,
Presbyterians,
Congregationalists, and
even Jews could
worship freely.
Cromwell—Lord Protector or King??
† England longs for an end to martial law!
† Cromwell dies in 1658 and his son, Richard, takes over,
but is weak and lasts for only two years.
The Death of Cromwell, 1658
Cromwell’s death
mask
Cromwell’s son Richard
tried to succeed him, but
the realm began to slide
into anarchy:
•People refused to pay
taxes;
•Law courts ceased to
function;
•Radical religious groups
urged political equality!
Richard Cromwell
The
Restoration
(1660-1688)
Parliament could no more exist without the Crown than the
Crown without Parliament. This was the most important
lesson of the English Civil War!
King Charles II [r. 1660-1685]
a
1661  “Cavalier” Parliament [filled with Royalists]
 Disbanded the Puritan army.
 Pardoned most Puritan rebels.
 Restored the authority of the Church of England.
a
1662  Clarendon Code [Act of Uniformity]
 All clergy & church officials had to conform to the Anglican
Book of Common Prayer.
 Sought to drive all Puritans out of both political and religious
life
 It forbade “non-conformists” to worship publicly, teach their
faith, or attend English universities.
The Restoration of Charles II, 1660
"The shouting and joy
expressed by all was
past imagination"
(Samuel Pepy’s Diary)
Charles II in his
coronation robes
King Charles II [r. 1660-1685]
a
Had charm, poise, & political skills
[unlike his father!].
a
While in exile, Charles had agreed
to abide by Parliament’s decisions in
the post-war settlement
a
Restored the theaters and reopened
the pubs and brothels closed during
the Restoration.
a
Favored religious toleration.
a
Had secret Catholic sympathies.
a
Realized that he could not repeat the
mistakes his father had made.
The Great Fire of London, 1666
Old St. Paul’s
Cathedral
Destroyed 13,000
building and 87 churches
New St Paul’s
by Christopher
Wren
– Charles seemed to support Catholicism and drew
criticism from Whigs in Parliament
Granted freedom of worship to Catholics
– Made a deal with Louis XIV in 1670 whereby France
would give England money each year in exchange for
Charles relaxing restrictions on Catholics
– Charles dissolved Parliament when it passed a law
denying royal succession to Catholics (Charles’ brother,
James, was Catholic)
– He declared himself a Catholic on his deathbed
Charles’s Foreign Policy
The Secret Treaty of Dover, 1670
Louis XIV
"The King of England will make a public
profession of the Catholic faith, and will receive
the sum of two millions of crowns, to aid him in
this project, from the Most Christian King, in the
course of the next six months. The date of this
declaration is left absolutely to his own
pleasure….The two Kings will declare war against
the United Provinces.
Second Dutch War, 1665 - 1667
Battle of the Medway, 1667
King Charles II [r. 1660-1685]
a
1673  Test Act
 Parliament excluded all but Anglicans from civilian and
military positions.
[to the Anglican gentry, the Puritans were considered “radicals”
and the Catholics were seen as “traitors!”]
 excluded those unwilling to receive the sacrament of the
Church of England from voting, holding office, preaching,
teaching, attending universities, or assembling for meetings.
a
1679  Habeas Corpus Act
 Any unjustly imprisoned persons could obtain a writ of habeas
corpus compelling the govt. to explain why he had lost his
liberty.
James II (r. 1685-88)
–Inherited the throne at
age 55 from his
brother, Charles II.
–He sought to return
England to Catholicism
King James II [r. 1685-1688]
a
Was a bigoted convert to
Catholicism without any of
Charles II’s shrewdness or
ability to compromise.
a
Alienated even the Tories.
a
Provoked the revolution
that Charles II had
succeeded in avoiding!
King James II [r. 1685-1688]
a
Introduced Catholics into the
High Command of both the
army and navy.
a
Camped a standing army a few
miles outside of London.
a
Surrounded himself with
Catholic advisors & attacked
Anglican control of the
universities.
a
Claimed the power to suspend or dispense with Acts of
Parliament.
a
1687  Declaration of Liberty of Conscience
 He extended religious toleration without Parliament’s
approval or support.
The
Glorious
Revolution
1688
The “Glorious” Revolution: 1688
a
Whig & Tory leaders offered the throne jointly to
James II’s daughter Mary [raised a Protestant] & her husband,
William of Orange.
 He was a vigorous enemy of Louis XIV.
 He was seen as a champion of the Protestant cause.
English Bill of Rights [1689]
a
It settled all of the major
issues between King &
Parliament.
a
It served as a model for
the U. S. Bill of Rights.
a
It also formed a base for
the steady expansion of
civil liberties in the 18c
and early 19c in England.
English Bill of Rights [1689]
a
Main provisions:
1. The King could not suspend the operation of laws.
2. The King could not interfere with the ordinary course of justice.
3. No taxes levied or standard army maintained in peacetime without
Parliament’s consent.
4. Freedom of speech in Parliament.
5. Sessions of Parliament would be held frequently.
6. Subjects had the right of bail, petition, and freedom from excessive fines
and cruel and unusual punishment.
7. The monarch must be a Protestant.
8. Freedom from arbitrary arrest.
9. Censorship of the press was dropped.
10. Religious toleration.
Invitation from “the Immortal Seven”
We have great reason to believe, we shall be every day in a worse
condition than we are, and less able to defend ourselves, and therefore
we do earnestly wish we might be so happy as to find a remedy before it
be too late for us to contribute to our own deliverance...the people are so
generally dissatisfied with the present conduct of the government, in
relation to their religion, liberties and properties (all which have been
greatly invaded), and they are in such expectation of their prospects
being daily worse, that your Highness may be assured, there are nineteen
parts of twenty of the people throughout the kingdom, who are desirous
of a change; and who, we believe, would willingly contribute to it, if
they had such a protection to countenance their rising, as would secure
them from being destroyed.
—invitation by The Seven.