1. The English Civil War

2. Overview Trigger Events Short & Long Parliament
Polarization of Factions
The War

3. Trigger Events

4. Its causes, course of events, and eventual settlement
The English Civil War
Its causes, course of events, and eventual settlement

5. Overview Background Developments Prior to James I
Conflict between King and Parliament
The accession of James I
Rising tensions under Charles II
The Long Parliament
The Civil War
The Interregnum
The Restoration of the Stuarts

6. Background
The War itself was fairly brief; fighting was pretty much confined to the period
the devastation was mild in comparison to the Thirty Years War
like the Thirty Years War it involved a tangle of religion and constitutional issues
unlike the Thirty Years War, it involved no foreign troops other than the Scottish, who would be formally incorporated into a single polity with the English in the early 18th century - the Act of Union (1707)
to understand the war, it is necessary to review the legal, socio-economic and religious developments that preceded the accession of James I in 1603

7. Developments Prior to James I
Rising influence of the House of Commons
Begins in the 14th century
The power of the purse
Impeachment of royal ministers
Rising influence of the gentry
Control of local politics
Increasing influence in Commons
The depletion of the nobility in the 15th century
16th century advances
Royal patronage
Overseas trade & intermingling with merchant class

8. Developments Prior to James I
The English legal traditions
Ecclesiastical Courts
Royal Courts aka “Prerogative Courts”
Star Chamber (used Roman Law)
Courts of High Commission (distribution of Ecclesiastical property)
several others
Common Law reflected medieval practices, such as jury trials
Reverence for ancient customs & traditions
Statutory laws versus legal holdings

9. Developments Prior to James I
The English Reformation
Begins as the most conservative Reformation in Europe
retains sacraments
retains episcopal structure
Increasing resentment toward vestiges of papism
Calls for purification and the emergence of Puritans
Puritanism spreads among the influential gentry

10. The Accession of James I (1603-25)
The debt legacy of Elizabeth
The ideology of absolutism
Unlimited royal authority
The relationship between the king and the law
Cultural animosity
James was a Scot
He had little appreciation of English Legal Tradition
He embraced absolutist principles that were contrary to Parliamentarian traditions

11. Conflict between King & Parliament
The impeachment of royal favorites
The opposition leader: Sir Edward Coke
Fierce advocate of English common law
His Institutes make him a legendary figure during his own lifetime
Conflict with James
Coke’s imprisonment
The legend lives on

12. Rising Tensions Under Charles I
The Petition of Right – Parliamentary demands
End of imprisonment without cause (habeas corpus)
No taxation without parliamentary consent
No martial law in peacetime
No billeting of troops forced upon citizens
Charles agrees in order to pass tax levies but then renegs
Parliamentary outrage ensues
Charles dissolves Parliamentary session

13. Rising Tensions Under Charles I (1625-49)
Demands for Ecclesiastical Reforms
Puritans call for presbyterial system
meanwhile James’ wife practices Catholicism
The ascendance of William Laud (late 1620s)
mild Calvinism; persecution of Puritans, who flee to N. America
revision of the prayer books
introduction of the new prayer book in Scotland (1637)
Religious Rebellion ensues
determined Scots vs. apathetic English
Charles convenes Parliament to obtain money to support troops

14. The Long Parliament Called in November 1640 and lasted 13 years
Opportunity to force political concession from the crown
Dissolution of royal courts
Writ of habeas corpus reaffirmed
Taxation without consent of parliament becomes illegal
Parliament must assemble at a minimum of once every three years
Impeachment and execution of Charles’ favorite advisor, the Earl of Stafford
The emergence of Oliver Cromwell as a leader
Attacks on the privileges of the Anglican Church
the imprisonment of Archbishop Laud

15. The Civil War ( )
Charles raises an army and declares parliamentary leaders to be traitors
Parliamentary forces win decisive victory in June 1645
Initially Parliament sought concession from the king but after two years of inconclusive negotiations, royalist forces resumed the war at Charles prodding
The Rump Parliament follows the defeat of Charles forces in 1648
early 1649 Charles declared a traitor and executed in London

16. The Interregnum ( )
Oliver Cromwell established himself as the leading general of parliamentary forces during the civil war
devout puritan
ardent parliamentarian
assumes control of the government in the early 1650s as Lord Protector; refuses the crown on several occasions
dies in 1658
Profusion of religious factions during the Interregnum
Levellers - salvation depended on the elimination of social hierarchy
Ranters - radical preachers; some thought they were God
Seekers - against religious sects; saw the end of the world approaching

17. The Restoration ( )
After a brief interlude of rule by Cromwell’s inept son, Parliament invites Charles II to accept the crown in 1660
Charles struggles with many of the same problems that plagued his father and grandfather but Parliament’s supremacy remains unquestioned
Charles was succeeded by his Catholic brother, James II, whose Catholicism made him highly unpopular
James II places Catholics in positions of authority
Shortly after the birth of a Catholic heir to the throne, Parliament began negotiations with William of Orange, a Dutch Protestant married to James eldest daughter, to replace James on the throne
The Glorious Revolution was a bloodless coup in 1688

18. Summary
Unlike the Thirty Years War, the armies of the English Civil War were not composed of mercenaries; for the most part political and religious convictions determined who would fight for the opposing sides; one indication of this phenomenon is the large number of women who volunteered to join the Parliamentarian armies
The war helped to institutionalize many constitutional principles, including the supremacy of Parliament and the inviolability of English Common Law
Although the restored Stuarts apparently embraced absolutist principles, the Glorious Revolution permanently ended the pretensions of English monarchs toward absolutism

20. James I Son of Mary Stuart Ruled England 1603-25
Wrote Concerning the Divine Right of Kings
His favorite, the Duke of Buckingham undermined his popularity
Engaged in ideological quarrel with Sir Edward Coke over prerogative courts

21. Charles I Maintained a lifelong devotion to the divine right of kings
Even his advocates considered him less than brilliant and lacking people skills
By Van Dyck, 1635

22. Archbishop William Laud 1633-45

23. Edward Coke,
Champion of Common Law against Stuarts’ support of royal prerogative
Author of the Petition of Right, 1628
Rival of Francis Bacon

25. Puritans & Other Calvinists Were especially numerous in Scotland by the 1630s

27. Archbishop William Laud 1633-45

28. The Book of Common Prayer ignited a rebellion that led to war

29. Reaction to the Book of Common Prayer 1637

30. English Civil War,
Actual fighting limited to

31. Oliver Cromwell,
Member of the gentry who had profited from the dissolution
Parliamentary leader of the New Model Army
Ardent Puritan but advocated religious toleration
Lord Protector,

32. Marston Moor, 1644

33. The New Model Army 1645 Encouraged the emergence of Levelling Social Theories

34. England experienced virtually no censorship during the 1640s and part of the 1650s Radical ideas proliferated

35. Execution of Charles I, Jan 1649

36. Cromwell Dissolves the Long Parliament 1649

37. Charles II, 1660-1685 The Merry Monarch

38. James Duke of York became King James in 1685

39. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 brought about a restricted monarchy in 1689