| Conflict between King Charles I and the Royalists (also called
Cavaliers) on one side and the Parliamentarians (also called Roundheads)
under Oliver Cromwell on the other. Their differences centred initially
on the king's unconstitutional acts, but later became a struggle over
the relative powers of crown and Parliament. Hostilities began in 1642
and a series of Royalist defeats (at Marston Moor in 1644, and then at
Naseby in 1645) culminated in Charles's capture in 1647, and execution
in 1649. The war continued until the final defeat of Royalist forces at
Worcester in 1651. Cromwell then became Protector (ruler) from 1653
until his death in 1658. Causes Charles I became the king of Great
Britain and Ireland in 1625, and quickly became involved in a number of
disputes with Parliament over taxation. These led to the latter's
dissolution in 1629, after which Charles ruled absolutely for 11 years.
In 1639, however, war was declared with Scotland and, in 1640, Charles
called the Short Parliament in order to raise funds. His request for war
taxes was refused, and the Parliament was quickly dissolved, but, after
a second war with Scotland (known as the Second Bishop's War) began in
1640, and ended with the defeat of the English, Charles then called the
Long Parliament of 1640. This imprisoned Charles's deputy, Archbishop
Laud, declared extra- parliamentary taxation illegal, and voted that
Parliament could not be dissolved without its own assent. Charles tried
unsuccessfully to arrest the parliamentary leaders in January 1642, and
then fled north to Nottingham, where he declared war against Parliament
on 22 August.
First phase of the war The Royalist and Parliamentarian armies
first met at the Battle of Edgehill, South Warwickshire, in October
1642, which had no conclusive outcome. After this initial battle, a
series of victories followed for both sides, with the Royalists taking
control of most of Yorkshire after the Battle of Adwalton Moor in June
1643, while the Parliamentarians won the Battle of Marston Moor in July
1644. The main turning point in the war came with the formation of the
Parliamentarian New model Army in February 1645. The army was nationally
organized and regularly paid, was commanded by Thomas Cromwell and Sir
Thomas Fairfax, and won a resounding victory at the Battle of Naseby,
near Leicester, which brought the first stage of the war to an end in
June 1645.
Second phase of the war The Royalist army was disbanded in
1646 and King Charles took refuge with the Scottish army based in the
north of England, but was handed over as a prisoner to the
Parliamentarians in January 1647. During 1647, however, he was over as a
prisoner to the Parliamentarians in January 1647. During 1647, however,
he was kidnapped by the Roundhead army (which was increasingly at odds
with Parliament), and then escaped to the Isle of Wight, where he
negotiated with a Scottish group for assistance to continue the war.
Royalist rebellions and a further Scottish invasion of England in July
1648 followed, but both were suppressed, with Cromwell leading the New
Model Army to victory against the Scots at Preston in August 1648. King
Charles was tried for treason in January 1649, and was found guilty and
executed. During the period 1647-49 Cromwell faced additional opposition
from the Levellers, a democratic party with many supporters in
Cromwell's own army, who wanted to establish a republic, and argued for
religious tolerance and other social reforms. Cromwell's refusal to
implement their programme led to mutinies in the army (led by John
Lilburne), which were suppressed in 1649. In the same year England
became a Commonwealth, and more Royalist and Roman Catholic uprisings
broke out in Ireland. These were suppressed by Cromwell's forces, as was
a further Scottish rebellion of 1650, and the invasion of England by
Scottish forces led by Charles II, who had recently been crowned in
Scotland. Charles II then fled abroad, and in 1653 Cromwell dismissed
the Long Parliament, ended the Commonwealth, and became Protector of
England. He later dissolved the Parliament of 1654-55 and for some time
ruled the country as a military dictator, after which his last
Parliament offered him the throne. Cromwell declined, however, thinking
that this would be opposed by the army. Two years after Cromwell's death
an amnesty was declared for Charles II, and the monarchy was restored
with his coronation on 8 May 1660.
Places associated with the English Civil War in Somerset: Bridgwater
Bridgwater Castle
Nunney Taunton
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