History UsefulNotes / EnglishCivilWar

* ''Podcast/{{Revolutions}}'': The very first season of this podcast by Creator/MikeDuncan is about this conflict, which he is quite explicit about regarding as an "English Revolution" or "British Revolution". On the whole, Season 1 of ''Revolutions'' is a good primer on this revolution, and Duncan (as is his wont) has made it easy to find his sources for listeners eager to read more.

Parliament, meanwhile, organized an army of its own under the command of the Earl of Essex. Before long, both sides had armies numbering in the tens of thousands and the inevitable first skirmish came between two sets of reconnoitering cavalry at Powick Bridge, near Worcester in the west Midlands, which was followed by the first full-scale battle, the Battle of Edgehill on 23 October. It was inconclusive, not least in part thanks to the indiscipline of the Royalist cavalry, charging off in pursuit of a fleeing foe rather than sticking around to make a difference on the battlefield.

Moreover, some commentators have noted that calling the conflict a "civil war" rather undersells the vast social and political changes it wrought across the kingdoms. Even though it did [[FullCircleRevolution end up with a Stuart monarch sitting on the throne of all three kingdoms]] with few ''official'' changes to the structure of government, the way the British peoples viewed themselves, their relationship with their governments, and their relationship with each other were indelibly changed. Thus while the principle of parliamentary supremacy was not formally established until 1688 -- fully 37 years after the end of the fighting and 28 years after the Restoration -- astute observers suspected from the very day in 1661 that Charles II was crowned at Westminster that the power of the monarchy had been fatally weakened, and that the (Protestant) British peoples had gained the confidence to assert civil, political, and social rights against the power of the Crown and the state. Moreover, the interrelated nature of the conflicts and causes of conflict increasingly led the (again, mainly Protestant) inhabitants of the British Isles to the suspicion that the fates of their peoples were thoroughly entwined with each other -- or perhaps more to the point, that everyone's fate was thoroughly entangled with the fate of England. As a result, some have argued the events are more accurately described as the English or British Revolution.

This new form of republic in which Cromwell ruled with the powers of a monarch with two houses of Parliament was stable but didn't last much longer than he did. Cromwell remained in power until his death in 1658, at which point his [[strike: little brother]] son, Richard, got the job of Lord Protector, and initially seemed secure in office with recognition from overseas and the approval of Parliament in early 1659. However, in the Spring of that year he clashed with the powerful army who quickly removed him[[note]]Although Richard was only in power nine months, he was very long-lived and only died in 1712, outliving several of his successors and only missing the establishment of the Hanoverian line, from which the current Queen is descended, by two years[[/note]], abolished the Protectorate and restored the Rump Parliament as sole government of the Commonwealth. Parliament found itself unable to control the powerful Army who started splitting into factions loyal to certain commanders and it looked rather like Britain was heading for total anarchy. It didn't help that the common people were heartily tired of Oliver Cromwell's puritanism - he had banned celebrating Christmas, encouraged witch-hunts and closed theaters - and that he had gotten involved in yet more wars, this time with the Netherlands and Spain.

He also tried to impose his own idea of what the Church of England should look like. The Church of England was in effect a compromise between Catholicism and Protestantism: its structure and ceremonies were essentially Catholic, with priests reporting to bishops and so on, just with the monarch in place of the Pope, but to the extent it had solid doctrines (a lot was left rather vague), they were Protestant. Protestant mind, Catholic body and clothing, basically. Charles, who was married to a Catholic (and so was suspected of having Catholic leanings himself), had turned the ritual up to eleven, and a lot of ordinary people (like Members of Parliament or [=MP=]s) were afraid that he was winding up for a full re-Catholicisation of the church.

Parliament was now divided on what to do next. Some supported the idea of trying the King (by now imprisoned on the Isle of Wight) for treason as he had made war on his own people. Others were horrified at this idea. Eventually, the New Model Army settled matters by marching on Parliament and taking over, arresting pro-Royalist 45 [=MPs=] and keeping another 145 out of the chamber in what is called Pride's Purge (after the Colonel who oversaw the operation). Those who were left - the ''Rump Parliament'' - were ordered to set up a court to try King Charles. He was found guilty and beheaded on 30 January 1649. The monarchy was then abolished and a Republic was set up, called the Commonwealth Of England, with a governing council leading the Rump Parliament. It also introduced England's first written constitution - the ''Instrument of Government''.

James II was exiled to France. His supporters, who disagreed with the idea of Parliamentary supremacy and what they saw a a blatant breaking of the legitimate line to the throne, became "Jacobites" and made [[UsefulNotes/HanoverStuartWars two serious attempts to restore the Stuarts in the 18th century]]. James II's descendants died out in exile in the early 19th century and the "claim" passed to a Sardinian King who did not acknowledge it, essentially extinguishing Jacobitism as a political force.[[note]]The current generally-recognised Stuart-descended claimant to the British throne is Franz, Duke of Bavaria, who according to a spokesman does not take any public position on his relationship to the House of Stuart.[[/note]]

The English Civil War, also known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms [[note]]No, ''not'' the [[UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu war]] retold by ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''. The three "kingdoms" in question are England, Scotland and Ireland ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Wales always gets shafted]])[[/note]], raged throughout the British Isles in the 1640s and 1650s, although its origins (and some of the fighting) went back further and the effects were ''very'' long-lasting. Think Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans. Cavaliers versus Roundheads. Families divided against themselves. The King beheaded. Witchfinders-General.

The English Civil War, also known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms [[note]]No, ''[[NamesTheSame not]]'' the [[UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu war]] retold by ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''. The three "kingdoms" in question are England, Scotland and Ireland ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Wales always gets shafted]])[[/note]], raged throughout the British Isles in the 1640s and 1650s, although its origins (and some of the fighting) went back further and the effects were ''very'' long-lasting. Think Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans. Cavaliers versus Roundheads. Families divided against themselves. The King beheaded. Witchfinders-General.

Back in England, the King reacted by having his men storm Parliament and try to arrest five of the most prominent [=MPs=] who were opposing him. When the Speaker of the House refused to co-operate, he realised that he'd lost the loyalty of the House of Commons and fled London.[[note]]As a result of this, the monarch is ''still'' banned from entering the Commons chamber, and the monarch's representative is only allowed to enter to invite the [=MPs=] to the King's[=/=]Queen's Speech (which is always held in the Lords' chamber) after having the door slammed in his face, after which he must knock on the door and be granted permission to come in. It's become one of those odd traditions Brits seem so fond of. The monarch's representative is titled as the Gentleman (or Lady) Usher of the Black Rod, and the position has generally been given to a retired senior military officer since the 1830s. Aside from these ceremonial roles, Black Rod essentially serves as the senior facilities manager for Westminster and the House of Lords.[[/note]]

It wasn't, however, until Charles tried to get the English church system -- and in particular impose episcopal church governance -- on Scotland that it all kicked off. The Church of Scotland, also known as 'the Kirk', was (and remains to this day) Reformed (i.e. thoroughly Protestant--and specifically Calvinist--in doctrine) and Presbyterian (i.e. run as a kind of federal republic, with elected boards running individual parishes and sending delegates to assemblies that ran the regional and national Church on a quasi-democratic basis), thanks in part to the influence of one John Knox, who had been a disciple of Calvin in Geneva. The Scots, many of whom signed the ''National Covenant'' which pledged to resist Charles's attempts to impose Catholicism on the Kirk, rose up against him in a conflict known as the '''Bishops' Wars''' and captured Newcastle. This put Charles in an odd position, whereby two countries of which he was king appeared to be at war with each other. He called Parliament to get them to vote him some money. Parliament took the opportunity to give him a good ticking-off, so he promptly dissolved it again a few weeks later - hence why it's called ''The Short Parliament''.

The English Civil War, also known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms [[note]]No, ''[[NamesTheSame not]]'' the war retold by ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''. The three "kingdoms" in question are England, Scotland and Ireland ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Wales always gets shafted]])[[/note]], raged throughout the British Isles in the 1640s and 1650s, although its origins (and some of the fighting) went back further and the effects were ''very'' long-lasting. Think Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans. Cavaliers versus Roundheads. Families divided against themselves. The King beheaded. Witchfinders-General.