English Civil Wars 1642-51 Flashcards
(7 cards)
How did religion cause the English Civil wars?
The biggest division between the two parties in the war was their differing religious views as Charles I was a fierce catholic who had clear views on how he thought the church should be as he wanted churches to be beautiful and decorated with pictures and stained glass windows, he also wanted to have the same prayer book and churches in England and Scotland. Charles would not tolerate any dissent and demanded obedience.
Many disagreed with this viewpoint especially the puritans who were appalled with the changes Charles introduced. They wanted churches to be simple and boring and used powerful propaganda to scare fellow Protestants into fighting the catholics.
How did political ideologies cause English civil wars?
Parliament had been growing more and more influential since henry VIII’s reign and whilst they never really challenged the monarch they came to expect consultation on key issues and that the monarch would listen to their views.
However Charles I disagreed with this as he believed in the divine right of kings which meant he had been put on the throne by god himself. So he dictated the religious policy and demanding obedience, and when MP’s in 1628 openly challenged him, he dismissed parliament and did not call it again until 1640. Anyone who criticised the king could be arrested, imprisoned and tortured.
During the war new political ideas began to form which challenged the authority of the king and parliament.
How did the English civil wars divide the nation?
1: Taking sides,
As Charles and parliament clashed in 1642, people began to choose sides and the divisions were very bitter as the huge group of royalists in London, which was under parliaments control, were intimidated, imprisoned or forced to leave, a lot of the smaller battles were fought in smaller towns and counties without either parties involvement.
2: Raising armies,
Both Charles and parliament ordered people of the country to join their armies (similarly to Elizabeth’s style of recruitment) with local gentry calling and training the militia.
3: Paying for the war effort,
Both sides heavily taxed the people to pay for their war effort. In areas controlled by parliament people had pay to taxes, the assessment and the excise. In royalist areas Charles imposed a tax called the contribution. In many counties people received tax demands from both sides.
How was the civil wars fought 1642-1651?
1: Battles,
There were 22 official battles fought in England and Scotland during the civil wars, one major battle at Marston Moor involved around 40,000 men. As warfare had evolved so much war would be terrifying for the soldiers especially with the increase of gun, cannon and musket usage. There was still lots of cavalry charges and hand to hand combat using swords and pikes.
2: Skirmishes,
These were unorganised small scale battles which often happened when the two sides ran into each other unexpectedly or to gain control of a position, food and resources. These were a constant fear for civilians as they could take place out of nowhere.
3: Sieges and sackings,
There were still many fortified Manor House’s and castles in England during the wars and these places controlled important roads and rivers which made them a clear target for both sides. If they fell they would be sacked meaning anything of value would be taken or destroyed and all inhabitants would be imprisoned or killed. One key sacking was in Colchester in the second civil war which was notorious for its savagery and high civilian death rate. Other notable sieges include Basing house and Carlisle (where people inside resorted to eating rats and dogs due to food shortages as it dragged on for 8 months.
Case study: Siege of basing house.
Basing house was situated in a strongly royalist area, and it’s owner was a royalist with a garrison of hundreds of troops.
Stage 1: November 1643,
7,000 parliamentarians under sir william Waller attempted a direct assault of the house, after three failed attempts and heavy losses Waller retreated.
Stage 2: early 1644,
Parliamentarians tried to secretly negotiate with the temporary commander Paulet about surrendering, but they were discovered and paulet was tried for treason.
Stage 3: June 1644
Parliamentarians set out a siege to prevent royalists getting in or out the house to try and starve them into submission, this was broke on September 22nd when a royalist army broke through parliamentary lines and restocked the garrison, the siege was restarted but by November with a disease filled force threatened by another royalist army they withdrew.
Stage 4: October 1645
With the war now going badly for the king, Cromwell joined a new parliamentary force besieging the house, he brought his own men and guns and the defences were quickly broke and on the 14th of October they had successfully stormed the house killing about 100 members of the garrison including 10 priests and looted and wrecked the house.
Aftermath:
The house was badly burned during the siege and what remained was demolished and through the two years 2000 parliamentarians were killed and 100 royalists.
How did the English civil wars cause physical destruction?
All of the wars were fought on home soil which caused mass destruction, and there was 180,000 soldier and civilians casualties around 3.6% of the population at the time fae more than World War One which was notoriously deadly which killed 2.6% of the British population.
1: Free quarter,
There was a huge number of troops during the wars who needed a place to sleep, eat, replenish their stocks and feed their horse. They also needed to be paid on top, so the free quarter law was imposed whereby a soldier could force a civilian to provide them shelter and food without payment, many soldiers also looted homes, if anyone resisted or were suspected of supporting the other side there houses could be burnt down and destroyed.
2: Destruction of Scotland,
Despite escaping most of the destruction of the first civil war Scotland faced Cromwells new model army in the second civil war and 3000 troops were killed with 10,000 arrested over the next years Cromwell ruthlessly stomped out any royalist support in Scotland causing major damage
3: Devastation in Ireland,
Royalists had recruited many Irish troops which built the anti Irish and catholic discrimination in Protestants and when Cromwell led his troops to crush the Irish rebellion in 1649 his methods were brutal and historians estimate around 40% of the population died in the 1640’s due to war, disease and hunger and around 12,000 were sold into carribean slavery.
What was the social and psychological impact of the English civil wars?
1: A country without a king,
For most Christian people the monarch was closer to god than a regular human being so even a poor ruler like Charles was highly respected and seeing him challenged was very shocking for them and his 2 year imprisonment was seen as sacrilegious and many found his death hugely traumatic and fainted at his execution. Following Charles death the country was officially without a king until 1660 but in reality Cromwell was king in all but title and after his death his son Richard miserably failed in leading the country and Charles exiled son was restored as King Charles II.
2: New ideologies,
Before the civil wars England had strict censorship laws and harsh punishments for breaking them but once the war broke out censorship couldn’t be enforced so new political groups emerged.
A) The levellers wanted a more equal society with religious freedom and the vote for all men.
B) The Diggers wanted to get rid of all forms of authority (including monarch and parliament) so they could rule themselves.
C) The Quakers rejected the needs for churches and bishops or any kind of religious authority.
Many found these groups threatening and they were eventually banned.
3: Rule by parliament,
Before the wars parliament had growing power but it couldn’t formally overrule the king/queen but following Charles’s execution parliament was the official ruler of England wales Ireland and Scotland. For most people this rule meant heavy taxes and strict control of their lives causing a desire for the return of the monarchy.
4: Rise of the army,
In 1645 parliament passed the self-denying ordinance which meant MP’s who were also army commanders had to resign from one of the positions. This did help to create a professional and effective army but successful army leader wanted to become more involved in political matters and Oliver Cromwell who was an army commander became an exception. People disliked the armies involvments in politics and built a level of mistrust between parliament and the army.
5: Social change and local authority,
For most civilians the local vicar or landowner held the authority and were often magistrates handling law issued and collecting taxes but during the wars royalists and parliamentarians introduced county committees which undermined the authority of local landowners and was bitterly unpopular.
