1. English Civil War Timeline
By Peter Ra

2. Cause 1 Charles did not rule according to the law
There were many causes to the civil war. One factor stood up a bit more than the others; Charles did not rule according to the law. Even as a king, Charles had rules to follow. Unfortunately, the foolish king had a mind set of “The Divine Right as King”. With this, he stole freedom of speech, money from the poor, and imprisoned anyone who went against him, disregarding their rights while the trial took place. Then, Charles eventually proceeded in 1628 to refuse to sign the Petition of Right with Parliament and dissolved the matter. He then went to rule for 11 years without Parliament. Now, Parliament did some questionable things that angered the king, but that didn’t mean Charles should’ve went as far he did. In 1642, Charles invaded the House of Commons with 400 soldiers and attempted to arrest five members of Parliament. This was the last insult the House of Commons was going to take, and so they prepared for the civil war. In a nutshell, the war took place because two sides did not agree. This shows the obvious influence of Charles not ruling accord to the law. I’m going to first make this clear, Parliament did NOT want to overthrow the king. They simply wanted him to rule according to the law. Charles stubbornness was what caused Parliament to take drastic measures to be in par with the King’s action. Overall, if Charles agreed to rule within the law, Parliament would not have had a problem and the civil war would have been avoided resulting in the direction of the chain reactions of events to be dismissed.
The Star Chamber, an English court dating back to the middle ages, where the rights for the defendant was dismissed while being prosecuted.

3. Cause 2 Charles Invades the House of Commons January 4 1642
In 1642, on January 4, Charles invades the House of Commons with 500 soldiers. The purpose of this event was to arrest 5 members to regain control. Now, this may have not have had as big of an impact as the last cause, but it proved to still have a considerable impact to help cause civil war. Going fourth with this resulted in 2 major things: 1. Charles establishes that he will no longer negotiable, and 2. Charles has intensified the situation. He has put himself into a hole where he would no longer be able to turn back. It was a declaration of war against the House of Commons. In other words, a establishment of a civil war was brought upon Parliament. If this event did not occur, he would have still had a chance to work things out with Parliament and avoid war, but Charles was too selfish with his actions. As a result of this event, civil war begins.
Lenthall kneels to Charles during the attempted arrest of the Five Members, painting by Charles West Cope in the Houses of Parliament

4. Component 1 Solemn League and Covenant September 25 1643
In this event, Parliament secures the alliance of the Presbyterian Scots. Scottish aid was only obtained because of the promise to submit England to Presbyterianism. In return, the House receives military powers from them. This event can also be debatable that it served as a turning point (though I lean towards the Battle of Naseby as a more suitable turning point). With the help of the Scots, it meant that Parliament would be now more likely to win the war. It served as a factor that shaped the course of events. I believe the chain reaction of the victories Parliament achieved started with the roots: the alliance. As a result of the loss of the future Battle of Naseby, it tells me that Parliament was a stronger army destined to win even before the battle began. Now this brings up another question. What would have occurred if the Royalists were the ones to first achieve the military support from the Scots? All in all, I believed this event served as a guiding stone for the future events that occur, which results in the victory of Parliament.
September
Title page of the Solemn League and Covenant.

5. Component 2 New Model Army January 6 1645
The New Model Army was also a very significant factor for the war. This event served to strengthen the army’s bond and banish the one’s who were against each other. It made an almost-Indestructible army that was loyal to Parliament. With this army, it lead to many victories, including the Battle of Naseby, which served as the turning point. Although this event might not be the “climax” of the war, it still served to be extremely important for the events leading to it. In other words, this army helped shape the course of the event. For say, imagine if the army was still filled with uncertain fighters, or even spies. It would have been dysfunctional and may have cost Parliament a defeat in the civil war. “If the roots aren’t strong, the tree will fall”.
The Souldiers Catechisme: rules, regulations and drill procedures of the New Model Army

6. Component 3 Battle of Naseby June 14 1645
The main component for the English Civil War was the Battle of Naseby. In this battle, the royalists face a crushing defeat against Parliament. The very fact that the royalist lose a large chunk of their army was very significant for shaping the course of the event. This caused Charles to lose a lot of military power; they couldn’t fight in par against Parliament anymore as a result. It also served as the turning point of the civil war. Despite Charles being unspeakably stubborn, he was not foolish enough to continue on fighting. Now, if the roles were reversed, and Parliament was the one who faced the defeat, it would have been very possible that Charles would have won the war.
Battle of Naseby, hand-coloured copper engraving by Dupuis 

7. Consequence 1 Army Purges Parliament December 1648
Moving on, one of the most significant consequences was when the army purges Parliament. On the December of 1648, army leaders and troops ban Royalist and Presbyterian members from entering the House of Common. Out of 500 members, the army finds only 56 members as reliable. These groups of individuals become known as the Rump Parliament. Now, after Cromwell struggles to get votes for the execution of Charles, Cromwell deems him guilty (which was illegal as a trial must occur before judgement is passed) and executes him. One fact that stuck with me was that, it was HARD for Cromwell to get the signatures. Even after Charles gets executed, the expressions of the ones who witnessed it showed that there were mixed feelings. This shows how much purging Parliament affected the outcome. As a side note, the Rump Parliament was made up of supporters of Cromwell. It shows that the fact Parliament was purged by the army caused a significant immediate impact. Now, would Charles have had mercy if Parliament was not purged? There were also long term effects. It helped completely delete the ruling style of “Divine Right as King”. As Charles was dead, it did not give any more chances for him to regain power resulting in the ruling style be in favour of parliament forever. Even though a form of this ruling style proceeded to live for a short period because of Cromwell, it was the chain reaction caused by the first event in which allowed Parliament to regain control and banish this style again later on. For once now, Parliament was the one with the most power. All of this started with only one event: army purging Parliament.
December 1648
Colonel Pride refusing admission to the Presbyterian members of the Long Parliament.

8. Consequence 2 Cromwell Becomes Lord Protector December 16 1653
An also significant consequence was when Cromwell became Lord protector. First there was the immediate affects after the war. After gaining the title as Lord Protector, Cromwell becomes very frustrated with Parliament’s greed and proceeds to dissolve Parliament. Furthermore, he then establishes a military dictatorship to govern England. Now Cromwell hated how Charles ruled, but what he was doing was exactly what Charles did. After England becomes a dictatorship, Cromwell decides to insert a variety of religious laws into the system. This all shows the extent of the impact. Moreover, there was also the significant long term effects. Soon after, Cromwell dies but because of his actions, it shook the rest of England. They wanted a change and so, they crown Charles's son as king (who was looked upon as a fugitive before) and transforms the country back to a newly developed monarchy. From there on, many things are changed to the ruling system. Overall, because of Cromwell, it helped form how England’s monarchy is ran today.
Cromwell refused to become King of England, ruling as Lord Protector