The English Civil War and Puritan revolution was a very bloody and terrible time for England, Scotland, and Ireland. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the civil war began. Some scholars suggest that the war began the moment King Charles I married his catholic wife Henrietta from France; others suggest it started the moment Charles entered into Parliament in January 1642 to arrest five members of Parliament. The war officially began in October 1642 at Edgehill where Charles was defeated which set off a series of battles and political power struggles between Parliament, the King, and the religious leaders in England, Scotland, and Ireland. The reason for such turbulent times was the ideas that led certain actors to promote and engage in the various actions that were taken at that time. To understand what caused one of the bloodiest and trying times in English history, one must examine the religious and political ideas that sparked the Civil War and Puritan Revolution.

            To begin, it is important to first understand the ideas that King Charles I believed about himself and his kinghood, especially his religious ideas. The Oxford Dictionary of World History says that “Charles was a man of strong religious conviction…”1 Many of the ideas that Charles had about himself and his office were driven by his religious radicalism. James I of England, father of Charles I, believed in the divine right of kings, stating in a speech to parliament in 1610 in which he states, “Kings are justly called gods, for that they exercise a manner or resemblance of divine power.”2 “He [James I] asserted his political legitimacy by decreeing that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority; not the will of his people, the aristocracy or any other estate of the realm, including Parliament.”3 This idea heavily influenced Charles’ belief about his own kinghood and would later impact his negotiations with Parliament. Charles believed that everyone had to obey him because he only had to obey God’s law.4 This led to actions such as dismissing Parliament in 1629 and unilaterally levying heavy taxes such as ship money. The heavy taxes and punishment imposed for not paying the ship money would eventually be one of the catalysts for the downfall of Charles’ government. It was Charles’ extreme religious beliefs that led to his failed political ideas.

            Charles’ marriage to a Catholic and the religious reforms he implemented early in his kingship led to ideas that he was trying to make the Church of England more papist. In 1633, Charles appointed a controversial William Laud to Archbishop of Canterbury. Laud immediately began making changes to the Church that the Scots saw as invasive to their way of practicing Christianity. For example, in 1637, the Scots organized demonstrations known as the Edinburgh prayer book riots. Charles threatened “to treat organised resistance to his religious policy in Scotland as treasonable.”5 The Scottish responded by stating a series of ideas in a national covenant such as, “…we abhor and detest all contrary religion and doctrine, but chiefly all kinds of papistry in general…”6 The Scots believed Charles was attempting to make the churches Catholic again and they heavily resented it. To the Scots, the idea of defending the “true religion” was to prevent the church from becoming Catholic.7 Through Scottish propaganda, this idea spread into England as far south of London.8 This friction between the Scots and Charles’ government led to the Scots uprising in rebellion which Charles, without Parliamentary aid, went to Scotland to squash. Charles’ religious reforms led the Scots to the religious and political idea of taking up arms against the government.

            Charles’ idea that his kingship was divine was most prominent in the 1640s. By September 1640, Charles recalled Parliament because of an increased need to raise money for an army to defeat a Scottish rebellion that invaded England. Charles’ religious idea about kingship led the new Long Parliament to propose a series of political ideas in what became known as petitions such as the “seldom Calling, and suddain dissolutions of Parliaments, without the redress of your Subjects Grievances.”9 After attempting to arrest five members of Parliament in 1642, Charles fled London in fear. Both sides raised armies and expected to fight. Many members of Parliament wanted Charles to remain king, however, after several political blunders, bolstered up by bad political and religious ideas, some Puritans did not want Charles to remain king.

After Charles was defeated and imprisoned by the Scots in May 1646, sentiment to purge the king grew.10 In 1647, the Levellers, a loud group of radicals bent on purging the king, created a “blueprint for a written constitution of England.”11 The Agreement of the People was a new radical political idea that would completely change the system of government for the English. This new idea had support from radicals from the New Model Army as well as civilian Levellers. Although the Agreement of the People didn’t take hold it planted a seed, an idea, that the people could rule themselves. This was a radical and seminal idea for the English. Some, such as Colonel Pride, felt that Parliament was not doing enough to oust Charles. In December 1648, Pride went into Parliament and arrested or ousted any member that would not put Charles on trial for treason. By the end of January, Charles was executed because of his failed political and religious ideas that had three kingdoms at war with each other. In the midst of his failed ideas, other radical ideas, such as self-rule, became mainstream in England. Although that idea was short-lived with the rule of Cromwell, the idea still had consequences when Charles II regained the crown. In fact, the idea of self-rule and religious freedom continued all the way until the American Revolution over one hundred years later.

Ultimately, the English Civil War and Puritan Revolution was not all about Charles I. Admittedly, there were many actors that helped to perpetuate bad and failed ideas such as Laud, yet other ideas, such as self-rule, took hold and convinced people, such as Pride, to purge and kill their king. Ideas are what drove the English Civil War. Ideas, both good and bad, by many different actors, created one of the bloodiest decades in English history.

 

 

Notes

1.  Edmund Wright, Dictionary of World History, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 128.

 

2.  John Simkin, “The Divine Right of Kings,” Spartacus Educational, 1997, https://spartacus-educational.com/STUdivine.htm.

 

3.  Victoria Masson, “The Origins & Causes of the English Civil War,” Historic UK, accessed February 24, 2021, https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Origins-of-the-English-Civil-War/.

 

4.  “The National Archives | Civil War | What Kind of King Was Charles I? | Key People & Events,” www.nationalarchives.gov.uk, accessed February 24, 2021, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/civilwar/g2/key/.

 

5.  Keith Lindley, The English Civil War and Revolution: A Sourcebook (Oxon: Routledge, 1998) p.46.

 

6.  Keith Lindley, The English Civil War and Revolution: A Sourcebook, p.47.

 

7.  Keith Lindley, p. 49.

 

8.  Keith Lindley, p. 50.

 

9.  “Learning Curve Education Service Workshops Key Stage 3 Learning Curve,” The National Archives UK (The National Archives UK), accessed February 24, 2021, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/education/civilwarpack.pdf.

 

10.  “The National Archives | Civil War | Why Did Britain Become a Republic? | Key People & Events,” www.nationalarchives.gov.uk, accessed February 24, 2021, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/civilwar/g5/key/.

 

11.  Keith Lindley, The English Civil War and Revolution: A Sourcebook (Oxon: Routledge, 1998) p.148.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

“Learning Curve Education Service Workshops Key Stage 3 Learning Curve.” The National Archives UK. The National Archives UK. Accessed February 24, 2021. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/education/civilwarpack.pdf.

 

Lindley, Keith. The English Civil War and Revolution: A Sourcebook. Oxon: Routledge, 1998.

 

Masson, Victoria. “The Origins & Causes of the English Civil War.” Historic UK. Accessed February 24, 2021. https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Origins-of-the-English-Civil-War/.

 

Simkin, John. “The Divine Right of Kings.” Spartacus Educational, 1997. https://spartacus-educational.com/STUdivine.htm.

 

“The National Archives | Civil War | What Kind of King Was Charles I? | Key People & Events.” www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Accessed February 24, 2021. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/civilwar/g2/key/.

 

“The National Archives | Civil War | Why Did Britain Become a Republic? | Key People & Events.” www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Accessed February 24, 2021. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/civilwar/g5/key/.

 

Wright, Edmund. Dictionary of World History. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

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