The search for settlement 1646-1649

Question 1

Negotiations with Charles I

Question 2

the role of Oliver Cromwell

Question 3

the Scots and the army

Question 4

the emergence and growth of radicalism

Question 5

the Leveller debate and the reaction to them

Question 6

the Second Civil
War

Question 7

religious issues

Question 8

Pride’s Purge

Question 9

the trial and execution of
Charles I

Question 10

Newcastle propostions

Answer 10

• July 1646
• parliament to control militia for 20 years, parliament to nominate 13 ministers, bishops etc abolished and presby church for three years, 58 royalists not to be pardoned
• presbyterians were behind the terms as it had to be agreeable to the Scots as Charles was under control of the Scots as a prisoner in Newcastle
• Charles’ response was to delay it - he strung out negotiations for a year, going back to parliament 3 times before rejecting them in May 1647. This was really in hopes that his enemies would divide further

Question 11

Heads of Proposals

Answer 11

• August 1647
• parliament to control militia for ten years, parliament every 2 years, royal family to be restored without personal constraints, no presby church bishops just cannot coerce, 7 royalists not to be pardoned
• issued to Charles by the army, which is why it didn’t ask for removal of episcopacy, just control over religion
• Charles rejected

Question 12

The Army Revolt 1647

Answer 12

-Feb/March - parliament planned for the army to be purged of Independent officers,12,400 soldiers to be sent to Ireland to suppress the Irish Rebellion and regiments that refused to go would be disbanded and not paid. Protesting soldiers would only be given 8 weeks arrears of pay when they were owed much more e.g. Cavalry owed 43 weeks’. By March the NMA was owed more than £3 million in unpaid wages
- infuriated by the soldiers’ petition, parliament issued the ‘Declaration of Dislike’ in March, branding the soldiers as enemies of the state and disturbers of the peace
- NMA responded by electing Agitators (two per regiment) in April whose demands included arrears of pay, freedom from conscription, freedom of worship, reform of the law and army pensions
- the army set up the Army Council, which consisted of senior commanders and Agitators to represent the views of all levels of the NMA
- 2 June 500 soldiers from the NMA, led by Cornet Joyce, seized Charles from Holdenby House and placed him in protective custody of the NMA at Newmarket.
- 8 June the Army Council presented the Solemne Engagement of the Army to parliament, which responded by ordering the NMA to disband
- July March on London to restore the army’s political representatives to parliament

Question 13

aftermath of the Army Revolt

Answer 13

• Army Council issued the Declaration of the Army on 14 June, which called for the Long Parliament to be purged and the impeachment of 11 leading Presbyterians.
• Holles and 11 other Presbyterians fled Parliament
• on 26 July protests in London in favour of the Presby MPs invaded parliament and led to the return of the Eleven Members
• in August it issued the Heads of Proposals, which the rank-and-file soldiers saw as too lenient

Question 14

main causes of the growth of radicalism

Answer 14

• Protestantism encouraged individual belief and personal relationship with god rather than established hierarchies. This led to establishment of illegal separatist communities
• The attack on bishops in 1640-2 led to a collapse on censorship, allowing a free press to develop and radical arguments to spread. 848 pamphlets in 1640 and 2,042 in 1641
• The victory of the parliamentarians in the first civil war encouraged the belief that god was on their side, causing separatist churches to flourish

Question 15

start of religious radicalism

Answer 15

• seven churches in the London Particular Baptists issued a joint Confession of Faith in 1643
• the first Congressional Church was founded in Hull in 1644. By 1646 there were six in Yorkshire alone
• they demanded the right to worship as they wanted without interference from the state, as argued by John Lilburne in his pamphlets

Question 16

development of the Levellers

Answer 16

• parliament arrested those who refused to participate in the Presbyterian Church, fuelling the desire for religious freedom. When they arrested Lilburne, he began to demand political reform as well, and illegal presses printed his writings from prison, with demands such as the rich paying more tax than the poor and everyone being entitled to a fair trial
• there were demonstrations of a few thousand in London and the ‘Remonstrance of Many Thousand Citizens’ was presented to the Commons in July 1646. When parliament rejected this, the Levellers looked for support in the army
• by mid-1647 the movement had established itself within the army, which caused Cromwell to regard Lilburne’s pamphlets as inciting a mutiny. When Cromwell deceived Lilburne, the Levellers demanded a gov accountable to the people
• the ‘Agreement of the People’, the Leveller manifesto was printed in November 1647.
• Leading figures of the Levellers include Lilburne, Walwyn, Overton, Sexby and Rainsborough
• Cromwell and Grandees disagreed with them over politics not religion

Question 17

Putney Debates

Answer 17

• 28 October to 8 November 1647
• Chaired by Cromwell, the Levellers e.g. Edward Sexby and Rainsborough debated the Grandees e.g. Henry Ireton
• a debate about politics/government: the Levellers argued that rights (including the right to vote) were natural and universal and did not depend on property or wealth, whereas Cromwell and Ireton argued that this would result in anarchy
• Cromwell stated that the Agreement of the People was something to further debate, but within weeks he went back on his word, removing Agitators from the Army Council, so it became the Council of Officers

Question 18

aftermath of Putney Debates

Answer 18

• Cromwell’s attempt to split up the Agitators led to Leveller regiments disobeying orders and inciting a mutiny at Corkbush Field
• army leaders responded by imposing martial law, arresting leaders and shooting one
• restoring army discipline was made more essential when Charles escaped to Newport

Question 19

impact of radicalism

Answer 19

• Made it harder to find a settlement with the King as it added another group whose demands wanted to be factored in
• The Levellers’ political and social ideas may have been contained as they only influenced a small number of people, but it was much more difficult to contain religious radicalism
• This religious radicalism spread to the government, arguing that whatever they did was justified by the will of god, bringing a revolutionary element to the attempts to find a settlement

Question 20

causes of the second civil war - social and economic

Answer 20

• resentment at the Assessment Tax to fund the NMA that was no longer needed as the country was not at war anymore. In some counties the level of tax in the 1640s was ten times that of Ship Money in the 1630s
• Parliament’s failure to restore traditional county government focused anger on the power of the county committees, which were run by men who were often of lower social standing than those who had traditionally run the counties. So the traditional county rulers resented their loss of status and would have welcomed a return to monarchical rule, even if the King’s powers were reduced. This was because monarchy was associated with order and tradition Moreover their functions and powers, such as arbitrary arrest, caused discontent.
• people of London had shifted their allegiance by the end of the first CW so they were 5:1 in favour of the King and against parliament

Question 21

causes of the second war - religious

Answer 21

• In 1644, parliament had passed an ordinance which limited religious festivals. In late 1647, the Kent County Committee issued an order emphasising that Christmas had been abolished and that shops were to be open as if it were a normal working day. In Canterbury, there were riots on Christmas Day with shouts of ‘Up with King Charles’. One soldier was assaulted, the mayor’s house attacked, and the city under the rioters’ control for several weeks. The County Committee had to use the militia to restore order and put the revels on trial. However, the jury would not convict them, which led to the rebels creating a petition
• Presbyterian practice of examining people to see if they were fit to receive communion provoked hostility in some areas
• Some ministers were removed, with 100 ejected in Somerset alone, caused dissent

Question 22

causes of the second civil war - Charles

Answer 22

• in November 1647 he escaped Hampton Court and tried to get to France via the Isle of Wight, where he was arrested and imprisoned again
• 26 December he signed the Engagement with the Scots, which gave him a military force that would invade England and restore him to the throne. In return, Presbyterianism would be established in England for a 3 year trial and the Independents would be suppressed
• Charles thought that it could bring parliament on his side as they had been allies with the Scots and because of the radicalisation of the army, but instead they allied with the army as both Charles and the Scots had betrayed them and God’s will
• parliament putting its support behind the army meant that a republican solution to the constitutional problem now became a possibly

Question 23

parliament’s response

Answer 23

• the Vote of No Addresses 17 January 1648 stated that parliament would make no further negotiations with the King
• the Windsor Prayer Meeting in April 1648 where the army declared that they would make Charles, the ‘man of blood’, pay for the blood he had spilled against God’s will. This marked a crucial shift in the army’s objective and self-perception - by overturning God’s verdict in the first civil war, Charles was going against God’s will by starting a second civil war. Therefore they became determined to affirm that earlier verdict and bring Charles to account

Question 24

revolt of the provinces and course of the war

Answer 24

• royalist uprisings in South Wales begun over issues of pay in March 1648 and they made contact with Charles soon after. Their 8,000 soldiers were suppressed by Cromwell by June
• Revolts in the King’s name in Kent again in May. Few days after the Navy defected
• Also revolts in Essex and Norfolk
• uprisings in Yorkshire in June-December 1648
• none of these uprisings were united and demanded different things: Dorset wanted complete restoration of the monarchy, whereas Kent, Essex and Norfolk wanted lower taxation and religious tolerance
• this, as well as the uprisings not being simultaneous, meant that the NMA could suppress the uprisings one by one
• on 17-19 August, the Scottish invasion ended at the Battle of Preston where Hamilton’s army was destroyed by Cromwell’s much smaller force of 9,000. The Scottish army disintegrated and the opponents of the Engagement in Scotland regained control.
• on 28 August Fairfax took Colchester after a bloody siege, bringing the war to an end

Question 25

aftermath of the second civil war

Answer 25

• the army’s victory made them absolutely convinced that God was on their side, so they saw themselves as objectively above Charles
• so Cromwell demanded vengeance on those who had conspired to start a second civil war and he blamed the victors of the First Civil War for showing too much leniency: the same mistakes would not be made again
• meanwhile parliament began to negotiate with Charles again: the day after the news of Cromwell’s victory at the battle of Preston was announced, 24 August, Parliament repealed the Vote of No Addresses

Question 26

Treaty of Newport

Answer 26

• September-November 1648
• Charles agreed to surrender the militia to parliament for 20 years and the appointment of state officials for 10 years
• but he was stubborn on the issue of religion, refusing to abandon Espiscopacy. His advisers told him he had no alternative but to allow the abolition of bishops, but Charles refused to swear the Solemn League and Covenant.
• Charles also sent secret instructions to Ormond (Ireland) about an alliance with Confederate Catholics in Ireland.
• On 27 October the Commons rejected the whole of Charles’ proposal, voting to prolong negotiations

Question 27

impact of Treaty of Newport

Answer 27

• angered the army as they had sacrificed their lives to defeat Charles a second time and parliament had again gone back to negotiating with the enemy, going against God’s providence
• so they saw it as time to act against parliament and Charles, and the only way to exact retribution on Charles was to purge parliament as it would always be soft on him
• 11 September 1648 the second Agreement of the People was presented to parliament after amassing signatories including about a third of all Londoners

Question 28

Army Remonstrance and Pride’s Purge

Answer 28

• on 20 November the Army Remonstrance was published, drafted by Henry Ireton. It articulated Charles’ guilt as a tyrannical ruler and equated him with those royalists who had already been executed
• after being adopted by the Council of Officers, it was presented to parliament but they ignored it, causing the army to re-enter London on 2 December
• 5 December, when the Commons voted 129 to 83 that Charles’ answers at Newport were satisfactory to continue with further negotiations, the officers decided to act
• 6 December, troops led by Colonel Pride were positioned at the entrance to the Commons where they arrested 45 MPs and secluded 186 others, while a further 86 withdrew in protest
• Cromwell’s failure to return in time for the purge may indicate that he was reluctant to be associated with unconstitutional force, or because he wanted to hide the fact that he supported the army’s actions

Question 29

impact of Pride’s Purge

Answer 29

• reduced the Commons to about 150 members that were all willing to bring the king to trial.
• They annulled the Treaty of Newport on 13 December

Question 30

Trial of King Charles

Answer 30

• 20 January 1649
• a show trial: Charles was not allowed to make defence
• lasted 5 days
• was technically illegal
• 135 commissioners had been named, of which 67 took their seats as judges on the last day. It took all of Cromwell’s powers of persuasion to cajole 59 of these to sign Charles’ death warrant
• some people just wanted Charles to die and one of his sons to take over as King, but others wanted full abolition of the monarchy
• Charles executed 30th January
• when he was executed, people wept and dipped their clothes in his blood, showing that they still believed in his divine right

Question 31

arguments for Charles’ execution

Answer 31

• Actions: Charles was a tyrant and had made the Kingdom shed blood rather than preserving peace
• religion: Charles was the anti-Christ and had lost his divine right as God’s will was against him
• attitudes: parliament had ran out of options for settlement as Charles was stubborn and refused every settlement
• politics: Charles would become a centre of dissidence for royalists, so it was the only way to end the conflict

Question 32

arguments against Charles’ execution

Answer 32

• no one had authority above the King, so no one could trial him
• so he could not commit treason against himself
• his power was hereditary, not elected by the people, so he was not responsible to the people

Question 33

The Four Bills

Answer 33

• issued to Charles by parliament on 24 December 1647
• parliament to control militia for 20 years
• parliament every 2 years
• no episcopacy

Question 34

role of Cromwell

Answer 34

• until 26 December 1648 he was still sending messages to Charles with new proposals. From then on he seemed to change his mind and commit to the trial of Charles