The English Civil War

Question 1

Cause 1 of the English civil war?

Answer 1

Government:
- Charles I’s attacks on Parliament’s authority
- Charles I’s promotion of favourites
- Charles I’s extortion of money

Question 2

Charles I’s attacks on Parliament’s authority

Answer 2

• Charles believed in the ‘divine rights of Kings’
• He believed he could rule as he pleased because he was appointed by God
• Parliament believed they had the right to advise the king and restrain any perceived excess
• Charles shut down Parliament and ruled without it for 11 years (1629-40)
• In 1642 he even burst into parliament and tried to arrest the five leading MPs who had been criticising him most openly

Question 3

Charles I’s promotion of favourites

Answer 3

• Charles appointed, and refused to dismiss unpopular advisers
• Duke of Buckingham: a man who had previously upset parliament under the reign of James I
• Earl of Strafford: Supported the notion of divine right, failed to stop rebellion in Ireland

Question 4

Charles I’s extortion of money

Answer 4

• Charles repeatedly collected revenue without parliaments permission
• 1626: first loans on rich supporters
• 1634: ship, even though there was no war that required new ships
• 1635: ship money from Ireland, even though it should only have been from coastal regions, many refused to pay up such as John Hampden

Question 5

Cause 2 of the English civil war?

Answer 5

Religion:
- Charles I’s changes to religious practice

Question 6

Charles I’s changes to religious practice

Answer 6

• Many MPs were puritans (extreme Protestants)
• Charles took measures that upset them

He:
- married Henrietta Maria, who was a French catholic
- In 1633, appointed William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury who re-introduced Catholic stylings to the church and persecuted Puritans
- Charles then tried to impose the new ‘Laudian’ changes (e.g new prayer book) Scotland but the Scots rejected them and invaded England in response
- He was suspected of supporting a Catholic rebellion in Ireland

Question 7

Method 1 of the English civil war?

Answer 7

Communication:
- 1628, petition of right
- 1641, grand remonstrance
- 1642, nineteen propositions

Question 8

1628, petition of right

Answer 8

In response to the forced loans of 1626, Edward Coke drafted this list of complaints which was inspired by Magna Carta

Question 9

1641, grand remonstrance

Answer 9

In response to Charles’s 11 years of ‘personal rule’ parliament issued this list of demands once it was reopened

Question 10

1642, nineteen propositions

Answer 10

In response to Charles attempted arrest on the five members, parliament issued this list of (increasingly extreme) demands

Question 11

Method 2 of the English civil war?

Answer 11

War:
- first civil war (1642-46)
- second civil war (1648-49)

Question 12

First civil war, (1642-46)

Answer 12

1642, (oct): battle of Edgehill (stalemate)
1644, (July): battle of Marston Moor (victory for parliament)
1645, (June): battle of Naseby (victory for parliament)

Question 13

Second civil war (1648-49)

Answer 13

1648, (aug): battle of Preston (victory for parliament)

The conflict only ended when Charles was put on trial, found guilty of treason against the nation and executed in January 1649.

England was subsequently turned into a republic (known at the time as the Commonwealth)

Question 14

Method 3 of the English civil war?

Answer 14

Government:
- monarchy abolished (Oliver Cromwell)

Question 15

Monarchy abolished (Oliver Cromwell)

Answer 15

Once Charles had been tried and executed, Oliver Cromwell and his supporters went about overthrowing the royal system of government and establishing a Republic in England for the very first time

• The monarchy was abolished and Oliver Cromwell came to power
• He tried to work with Parliament but shut it down like Charles had done
• He was appointed ‘Lord Protector’ in 1653 and ruled as a dictator for five years
• He and his major generals imposed a strict Puritan regime on the people
• When offered the crown in 1657, he rejected it

Question 16

Extra : radicalism during the civil war:

Answer 16

• The new model army wanted to overthrow Charles’s regime
• The level is wanted to be designed in England after the war was won
• The diggers wanted wholly new society

Question 17

The new model army wanted to overthrow Charles‘s regime

Answer 17

Set up by Oliver Cromwell in 1645:
- Believed it was fighting against Charles’s political villainy
- There was a rule book about how to fight effectively to defeat Charles’s tyranny
- Training was intense
- Promotion was based on merit ( experience/skill) not class
-Believed it was fighting against Charles’s religious villainy
- It was nicknamed God’s army
- Each regiment had a minister
- believed it had a role in shaping how England should be governed after Charles is removed
- Held the Putney debates in 1647

Question 18

The levellers wanted to help redesigning England after the war was won

Answer 18

High ranking member: Thomas Rainsborough
Most influential member : John Lilburne
Wanted:
- annual Parliaments
- The law to apply equally to all members of society, including the king
Dominated the Putney debates of 1647
- discuss what future England should have
- published an ‘agreement of the people’ laying out their ideas

Concerned at the radicalism, Cromwell arrested many and banned the meetings

Question 19

The diggers wanted a wholly new society

Answer 19

Wanted:
- An end to private ownership of property
- Everyone to revert to an agrarian lifestyle, farming the land

The message was much like that of John Ball, 300 years earlier during the peasants revolt

Question 20

Short term significance of the English civil war?

Answer 20

Colossal:
- firstly, it was a blatant rejection of Royal authority
- Secondly, it led to our first and only Republic

Question 21

Firstly, it was a blatant rejection of Royal authority (explain)

Answer 21

For centuries Kings of England had drawn much of their authority from the perceived sanctity of their position (that God appointed them) leading to the development of the ‘divine right of kings’

Charles was challenged, defeated, and executed by men who claimed that they themselves should have a say in running the country because it was they, not him, who truly represented the people

Gods long-established order had been destroyed

Question 22

Secondly, it led to our first and only Republic (explain)

Answer 22

The monarchy was abolished and Oliver Cromwell came to power, he ruled without parliament and was appointed Lord protector, ruling as a dictator for five years

A strict Puritan regime was imposed on the English people and when offered the crown in 1657 Cromwell rejected it

The English Civil War was uniquely significant to our history in radically challenging and completely overthrowing the notion of royal authority

Question 23

Long term significance of the English civil war?

Answer 23

Colossal:
- firstly, it’s encouraged later monarch to rule more consensually
- Secondly, it became an inspirational symbol to later movements

Question 24

Firstly, it encouraged later monarchs to rule more consensually

Answer 24

Charles II how to issue the declaration of Breda in 1660 promising parliamentary freedoms before he was accepted as king

William III and Mary issued the Bill of Rights in 1689 promising parliamentary freedoms in return for having been given the throne in place of James II

Question 25

Secondly, it became an inspirational symbol to later movements

Answer 25

In the mid 1700s for example many of the colonists in North America were starting to become agitated with British rule Tales of how Charles had been overthrown and disposed of excited many American radicals The written works contributed to the American revolution The English Civil War then had an enormous significant effect on the development of royal authority and democracy both here in Britain and elsewhere around the world