1. The English Civil War and The Levellers
Lecture 2
The English Civil War and The Levellers

2. What happened?
The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649) wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the ‘Long Parliament’ The third (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the ‘Rump Parliament’
The Battle of Marston Moor 1644
Cromwell at Dunbar 1650

3. Key events
1628 Parliament issues Petition of Right . Charles I dissolves Parliament
1637 riots in Edinburgh over imposition of Book of Canons in Scottish Churches
1638 signing of National Covenant in Scotland

4. Scots invade Northern Britain
1639 Charles I goes into battle with Scots in Berwick. Treaty signed in Berwick
April 1640 Charles summons parliament (the ‘Short Parliament’) MPs, led by John Pym, use this as an opportunity to take control . King dissolves the Parliament after a few weeks
Scots invade Northern Britain
John Pym

5. November 1640 Charles is forced to summon parliament again - the ‘Long Parliament’
1640 Habeus Corpus Act - anyone imprisoned could apply for a writ of habeas corpus (legal reason for arrest)
May 1641 The Long Parliament then passes the Triennial Act, also known as the Dissolution Act

6. May 1641 The Protestation is signed Those who signed undertook to defend 'the true reformed religion', parliament, and the king's person, honour and estate
Late 1641 Protests in Ireland Massacre of around 2,000 Protestants in Ulster.
January 1642 Charles leads 80 armed men into the House of Commons to unsuccessfully arrest 5 men for treason. Charles is mobbed when he leaves – forcing him to flee London

7. April 1642 Charles is denied access to Hull, one of his great arsenals
October 1642 first battle of the civil war is fought in Edgehill between Parliamentarians and those loyal to King Charles I
May 1646 Charles is captured and imprisoned – marks end of first war

8. 1647 (and 1650) poor harvest
Summer 1648 second war starts with uprising by royal loyalists and invasion by Scots
August 1648 Battle of Preston. Victory by the troops of Cromwell over the Royalists and Scots - marks the end of the Second English Civil War

9. 30th January 1649 - The trial for treason and execution of Charles I

10. Third war sees ( ) Charles II raise armies against Cromwell, but is defeated, and Charles II exiled.
Charles escaping disguised as Jane Lane’s servant

11. The overall outcomes of the wars
The trial and execution of Charles I in 1649
The exile of his son, Charles II in 1651
The monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished
They were replaced with a republic, at first, the Commonwealth of England (1649–1653) and then the Protectorate under the personal rule of Oliver Cromwell (1653–1658)

12. The end of the monopoly of the Church of England on Christian worship in England
The wars established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without Parliament's consent (Note: the idea of Parliament as the ruling power of England was not legally established until the Glorious Revolution in 1688)
It claimed the lives of about 200,000 people.

13. Origins of the Civil Wars i. Charles I

14. ii. Religion in the period
Protestants:
The Lutherans
Calvinists
Anglicans
The Puritans
Catholics
Martin Luther
John Calvin
Archbishop Laud
Pope Urban VIII, pope

15. iii. Lack of Royal Revenue
iv. Conflict in Europe
v. Riots in Scotland – and War with the King

16. vi. Conflict in Ireland and its Impact

17. vii. Growth of the Middle Classes, Literacy and print viii
vii. Growth of the Middle Classes, Literacy and print viii. Life for the Poor
Eyewitness, January 1648:
‘The poor did gather in troops of ten, twenty, thirty on the roads and seized upon corn as it was carrying to market and divided it amongst themselves before the owners’ faces, telling them they could not starve.’

18. The Levellers

19. this activism was not simply that of isolated individuals
..this activism was not simply that of isolated individuals. It was the kind of political activity that required a degree of collective political organisation. In the densely packed streets of the walled city of London, in the artillery fields that lay beyond, in the gathered churches and in the ale houses and taverns, networks and oppositional currents formed within which the Leveller movement incubated. These networks were perhaps more widespread and more radical than some historians have accepted.’
John Rees, The Levellers’ Revolution, p. 335

20. ‘It was printing that brought John Lilburne and his supporters together in specifically organised relationships long before they became known as Levellers. John Lilburne, William Larner and Henry Hills, Richard Overton, Katherine and Samuel Chdley, Thomas Paine and William Walwyn were all active in this mileu.’
John Rees, The Levellers’ Revolution, p. 335

21. Historiography The Whig Interpretation Marxist Historians
Revisionist Historians
Post-revisionist
The role of literacy