1642 - 1649 Flashcards
October 1642
Battle of Edgehill - a draw
Royalist weaknesses
1) Charles not a good leader
2) HM arrived with troops from Holland but little impact
3) Cessation Treaty with the Irish, paved the way for them to help, but they arrived in bits and pieces and were easily defeated
4) Lost control of most of the ports, so couldn’t get further help from abroad
5) His base was Oxford not London, meant his supply routes (mainly from Wales) were stretched
6) Feud’s between his commanders
7) Money from traditional levels soon ran out - he had to raise an excise tax
Parliamentary strengths
1) Parliament controlled London - printing presses in particular helped them spread propaganda
2) They had the strongest militia - London trained bands = 20,000 by 1643. They were highly trained and funded since the 1930s and were drilled like professional soldiers.
3) Controlling London gave Parl access to funds and loans from the city of London merchants
4) Political legitimacy came from the control of Parliament itself. They could administer various government departments.
5) Parl controlled the navy and most ports
6) They controlled the south and east which were the richest areas - they were able to raise money from taxes
7) The political leadership was stable until the death of Pym
July 1644
Parliament won the Battle of Marston Moor with Scottish help
Oct 1644 Second Battle of Newbury
Failed to achieve victory despite a larger army
Self-denying Ordinance 1644
All ministers and Lords had to resign their commands, to remove commanders who had performed badly. it was revised in 1645 to allow some MPs to be reappointed, including Cromwell.
Feb 1645
Ordinance passed creating the New Model army
NMA
21,000 men, well paid, promotions on merit, deeply religious fighting in the name of God, same uniform, strict discipline, and intelligence department.
July 1645
Battle of Naseby - Parliamentary victory.
May 1646
Charles surrenders to the Scots
Popular radicals
Levellers, Fifth monarchists, Ranters and the Diggers
The Newcastle propositions
Parliament offered Charles a settlement.
- Parl would nominate key officers of state
- Parl would control the militia for 20 years
- Bishops would be abolished and a Presby church would be created for 3 years
- Charles had to sign a covenant
- King’s treaty with the Irish would be annulled and the war would start again
- 58 Royalists would be exempt from pardon and punished for the involvement in the Civil War
Charles handed to the English
Scots realised Charles wouldn’t agree to a fully Presbyterian Church of England.
Parl angry when they found out Charles had been negotiating with the Scots since 1646
Charles seemed not to agree anything, he was sold to the English.
Scots left England in January 1647.
Charles’ response to the Newcastle propositions
He delayed for AGES…
He acknowledged a willingness to:
- surrender the military for 10 years (not 20)
- an experiment with Presbyterianism for 5 years, as long as the CofE would eventually be restored
- He would not agree to changing the governance of the church
May 1647
Agreed to a modified version of the propositions but only because he was negotiating with the Scots to regain his throne.
