The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point between 1639 and 1653, while around 4% of the total population died from war-related causes. These figures illustrate the widespread impact of the conflict on society, and the bitterness it engendered as a result.
Conflict over the role of Parliament and religious practice dated from the accession of James VI and I in 1603. These tensions culminated in the imposition of Personal Rule in 1629 by his son, Charles I, who recalled Parliament in April and November 1640. He hoped by doing so to obtain funding that would enable him to reverse his defeat by Scots Covenanters in the Bishops' Wars, but in return Parliament demanded a greater share in government than he was willing to concede.
In its early stages, the vast majority on both sides supported the institution of monarchy, but disagreed on who held ultimate authority. Royalists generally argued both Parliament and the Church of England were subordinate to the king, while most of their Parliamentarian opponents claimed his supremacy did not extend to religion, and wanted a form of constitutional monarchy. When it came to choosing sides, however, individual choices were heavily influenced by religious belief or personal loyalty. Horrified at the devastation inflicted on Europe by the Thirty Years War, many tried to remain neutral, or took up arms with great reluctance.
When fighting began in August 1642, both sides believed it would be settled by a single battle, but it soon became clear this was not the case. Royalist successes in 1643 led to an alliance between Parliament and the Scots, who won a series of battles in 1644, the most significant being the Battle of Marston Moor. Alleged failures to exploit these successes led Parliament in February 1645 to set up the New Model Army, the first centrally funded and professional military force in England, whose success at Naseby in June 1645 proved decisive. The war ended with victory for the Parliamentarian alliance in June 1646 and Charles in custody. However, his refusal to agree to concessions, combined with divisions among his opponents, led to the Second English Civil War in 1648, followed by his execution in January 1649.
Overview
The First English Civil War forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, fought in England and Wales, along with the separate kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland. Others include the 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars, 1641 to 1653 Irish Confederate Wars, 1648 Second English Civil War, 1649 to 1653 Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, and 1650 to 1652 Anglo-Scottish War, previously known as the Third English Civil War. The First and Second English Civil Wars are sometimes grouped together as the 1642 to 1648 English Civil War.
The underlying cause of the war in England was a long-running struggle for political and religious control between the monarchy and Parliament that began when James VI and I became king in 1603. The issues re-surfaced after the 1660 Stuart Restoration, and were arguably only resolved by the 1688 Glorious Revolution. American historians like Kevin Phillips have identified many similarities between the principles at stake in 1642, and those leading to the American Revolution.
Royalist or Parliamentarian
A simple division of the opposing parties into Royalist Cavaliers and Parliamentarian Roundheads is a perspective now accepted as outdated, but one which arguably still informs modern perceptions. In reality, individual motives for choosing a side were complex, and many either remained neutral, or participated with extreme reluctance, while others fought on both sides at different points. Historian Tim Harris suggests that by 1640, most agreed Personal Rule had usurped the role of Parliament. It was only the submission of the Grand Remonstrance in late 1641 that led moderates like Edward Hyde to create a Royalist political faction, arguing Parliament was going too far the other way.
Both sides claimed they were seeking to restore the "ancient constitution". For the vast majority of Parliamentarians, and even some Royalists, Stuart concepts of the divine right of kings and absolutism introduced by James VI and I in 1603 were "innovations" that had undermined "traditional" English freedoms and rights. However, not everyone agreed on the exact nature of these "rights", or if restoring them was even desirable, which led to divisions within Parliament as the war progressed.
Most Parliamentarians went to war in 1642 not to depose the king but regulate his powers, while only a tiny minority sought to abolish the monarchy altogether. John Pym, Parliamentarian leader in the Commons, was one of the few who believed removing Charles might be the only option, since experience showed the king would not keep commitments he considered forced on him. This went back to his annulment of the Petition of Right in 1628, and more recently during the Bishops Wars, when he agreed peace terms in 1639 while planning another military campaign in 1640. In addition, he and his wife Henrietta Maria openly told foreign ambassadors any concessions to Parliament would be retrieved by force.
Charles' credibility mattered because regardless of religion, the vast majority in all three kingdoms believed a 'well-ordered' monarchy was divinely mandated. His opponents argued if the king would neither obey his own laws, nor keep his promises, it presented a fundamental threat to the state which required either forcing him to do so, or deposing him. Where they disagreed was what 'well-ordered' meant, particularly in terms of the role of Parliament, and control of the church. Both issues were linked, because in the 17th century 'true religion' and 'good government' were seen as mutually dependent. In general, most Royalists supported a Church of England governed by bishops, appointed by, and answerable to, the king, while many Parliamentarians advocated a Calvinist system of church leadership, without bishops or royal influence.
While "Roundhead" is often viewed as interchangeable with "Puritan", this term applies to anyone who wanted to "purify" the Church of England of "Papist" practices, and thus covers a wide range of views. Although the majority supported Parliament, some prominent Puritans like Sir William Savile backed Charles out of personal loyalty. Conversely, many Royalists objected to Laudianism, and opposed the appointment of Catholics to senior positions, while attempts to integrate Irish Catholic troops in 1643 caused some regiments to mutiny. Parliamentarians were divided between Presbyterians like Pym who wanted to reform the Church of England, and religious Independents who rejected any form of established church and wanted it abolished. They included Congregationalists like Cromwell and Baptists, who were especially well represented in the New Model Army.
Later in the war, a middle party emerged within Parliament known as "Independent Royalists", who were generally religious radicals but social conservatives, led by William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, his son Nathaniel Fiennes, and Nathaniel Rich. They were distinguished from Royalists in believing Charles had to be defeated militarily, and from moderate Presbyterians by their opposition to state-mandated religion. After Parliament's victory in 1646, this group supported the Treaty of Newport, and a "balanced" political solution that would leave Charles on the throne. Its members avoided participation in his trial and execution, although they did not speak against it.
While Puritans were the most visible in opposing Laudian reforms and demanding the removal of bishops from the Church of England, their objections were shared by many Royalists, such as George Morley and Sir Edmund Verney. One reason was that bishops held a variety of non-religious roles which impacted all levels of society. They acted as state censors, who were able to ban sermons and writings, while ordinary people could be tried by church courts for crimes including blasphemy, heresy, fornication and other 'sins of the flesh', as well as matrimonial or inheritance disputes. As members of the House of Lords, bishops often blocked legislation opposed by the Crown; their ousting from Parliament by the Clergy Act 1640 was a major step on the road to war, since it meant Charles could no longer prevent passage of legislation that he opposed.
Their removal temporarily ended censorship, and especially in London led to an explosion in the printing of pamphlets, books and sermons, many advocating radical religious and political ideas. Even before 1642, such radicalism concerned conservative Parliamentarians like Denzil Holles. As the war progressed, both they and their Scottish Covenanter allies came to see the Independents and New Model Army as more dangerous than the Royalists and formed the "Peace Party", seeking a negotiated end to the fighting. An alliance between Royalists and these two groups led to the Second English Civil War in 1648.
Lastly, in 1642 England and Wales were part of a highly structured, socially conservative and peaceful society. The devastation caused by the Thirty Years War in Europe meant many wanted to avoid conflict at any cost, although it has been suggested military experience was more common within English society than often assumed. Choice of sides was often driven by personal relationships or loyalties, and in the early stages there were numerous examples of armed neutrality, or local truces, designed to force the two sides to negotiate.
1642
The winter of 1641 to 1642 saw many towns strengthen their defences, and purchase weapons, although not necessarily due to fears of civil war. Lurid details of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 meant many were more concerned by reports of a planned Catholic invasion. Although both Parliament and Charles supported raising troops to suppress the rising, alleged Royalist conspiracies to use them against Parliament meant neither trusted the other with their control. When Charles left London after failing to arrest the Five Members in January 1642, he handed Parliament control of the largest city, port and commercial centre in England, its biggest weapons store in the Tower of London, and best equipped local militia, or trained bands.
Founded in 1572, these were organised by county, controlled by lord-lieutenants appointed by the king, and constituted the only permanent military force in the country. The muster roll of February 1638 shows wide variations in size, equipment and training; Yorkshire had the largest, with 12,000 men, followed by London with 8,000, later increased to 20,000. Many of the biggest and best equipped were in areas controlled by Parliament, while those in Royalist counties like Shropshire or Glamorgan had fewer than 500 men each.
In March 1642, Parliament approved the Militia Ordinance, claiming control of the trained bands; Charles responded with his own Commissions of Array. More important than the men were the local arsenals, with Parliament holding the two largest in London, and Hull. These belonged to the local community, who often resisted attempts to remove them, by either side. In Royalist Cheshire, the towns of Nantwich, Knutsford and Chester declared a state of armed neutrality, and excluded both parties.
Ports provided access to internal and external waterways, the primary method of moving bulk supplies until the advent of railways in the 19th century. Most of the Royal Navy remained loyal to Parliament, allowing them to protect the trade routes vital to the London merchant community, block Royalist imports and resupply isolated Parliamentarian garrisons. It also made other countries wary of antagonising one of the strongest navies in Europe by providing support to their opponents. By September, Parliament controlled every major port in England apart from Newcastle, which prevented Royalist areas in Wales and South West and North East England from supporting each other. When Charles sent Queen Henrietta Maria to the Hague in February 1642 to purchase weapons, the lack of a secure port delayed her return until February 1643, and even then, she narrowly escaped capture.
On 1 June 1642, Parliament approved the Nineteen Propositions, granting them control over the militia, ministerial appointments, and the Royal household, including the education and marriage of his children. These were presented to Charles at Newmarket, who angrily rejected them without further discussion. He was later persuaded to issue a more conciliatory answer, primarily to blame what now seemed an inevitable military conflict on Pym and his followers. Drafted by Hyde, this has been seen as the origin of "mixed" or constitutional monarchy, although it is doubtful Charles was being sincere.
Both sides expected the war to be settled by a single battle. For the Royalists, this meant capturing London; for Parliament, 'rescuing' the king from his 'evil counsellors'. After failing to capture Hull in July, Charles left York for Nottingham, chosen for its proximity to Royalist areas in the Midlands and Northern Wales. Particularly in the early stages of the conflict, locally raised troops were reluctant to serve outside their own county, and most of those recruited in Yorkshire refused to accompany him. On 22 August, Charles formally declared war on Parliamentarian 'rebels', but by early September his army still numbered less than 2,500, with much of England hoping to remain neutral.
In contrast, financing from the London mercantile community and weapons from the Tower enabled Parliament to recruit and equip an army of 20,000, commanded by the Presbyterian Earl of Essex, who left London on 3 September for Northampton. Charles relocated to Shrewsbury, further away from London but a key Royalist recruitment centre throughout the war. When Essex learned of this, he marched on Worcester, where the first major encounter of the war took place at Powick Bridge on 23 September. A relatively minor Royalist victory, it established the reputation of Prince Rupert, whose cavalry gained a psychological edge over their Parliamentarian opponents.