Foundations of the Civil War

• DIVIDED PARLIAMENT


  Parliament had secured itself a ‘constitutional revolution’ by summer 1641 and personal rule had been dismantled. Some MPs were more radical than others, particularly in religious issues. This made parliament divided.
• CHARLES’ OPINIONS ON THIS

  Charles saw this as a good thing because he thought he may be able to take advantage of it. However, it made tasks longer to deal with
• PYM

  Pym was a Juntu, meaning a 17th century political faction. He emerged as the leader of opposition to Charles in the House of Commons and was supported by Hampden and St John. By 1641 over half the privy council had been imprisoned, exiled or disgraced
• POINT OF NO RETURN

  After the execution of Stafford, the king wanted revenge on MPs that had forced him to kill Stafford. This created more tension
• CHARLES AND SCOTLAND

  In 1641 Charles travelled to Scotland. He agreed to a settlement regarding the Scottish Church and agreed to withdraw Laudian reforms. He also agreed to the establishment of the Presbyterian church with the withdrawal of the Scottish army from north England. Parliament believed this was a bad idea
• CHARLES COULDN’T BE TRUSTED

  • Parliament feared that Charles might raise a Scottish army to march South on them. Charles did create a Scottish Royalist Party
• OCT 1641 – THE ARMY PLOT

  • A royalist plot was discovered, led by Charles’ ally Graham to kidnap Scottish nobles. However, the plot was found out and created more tension.
• JUNE 1639


  Scottish Rebellion
• OCT 1641


  Irish Rebellion
• AUG 1642


  English Rebellion
• IRISH REBELLION

  OCT 1641
• Irish Rebellion


  • The old Irish and old English were united over Catholicism and the threat of protestants
  • Some protestant English politicians became radical due to fear of Catholicism
  • Attempt to get control of the English administration in Ireland and force concessions for Catholics
• Between 3,000 to 12,000 died in protestant massacres
• There was fear another Army Plot would happen
• Parliament was conflicted on how to respond
• The rebellion further radicalised the Puritan faction in parliament because to them it was evidence of the Popish plot
• The rebellion created questions about who should have control over armed forces, the king or parliament?
• The Irish Rebellion further divided parliament
• The Irish Rebellion contributed to the converting constitutional crisis in England
• BREAKDOWN OF RELATIONS 1640-41

  Most MPs wanted their grievances addressed from the start of parliament, few wanted war. In 1640 most MPs were loosely against the abuses of Personal Rule
• EARL OF BEDFORD’S SCHEME 1641


  Tried to reform Crown finances by bridging the gap between crown and parliament by: abolishing of financial and political aspects of personal rule and returning to Elizabethan protestant church and separate financial agreement. Charles was reluctant to accept and Bedford’s death made this harder.
• REACTIONS IN SCOTLAND 1641


  Many felt that radicals in the Covenanting alliance had gone too far. In 1640 the Earl of Montrose and 17 other Scottish nobles signed the Cumbernauld Band stating a desire to defend the king. This caused division in Scotland. Charles tried to use this to his advantage by abolishing episcopacy in Scotland and the Scottish reforms to date. 
• THE “INCIDENT” OCT 1641


  When Charles was in Scotland there was a royalist plot to kidnap Scottish Covenanters. This destroyed Charles’ hopes of gaining further support in Scotland as he was linked to this plot. He was forced to appoint opponents to key posts.
• Wentworth

  The person most likely to make Charles an absolutist, parliament were prepared to make him a scapegoat
• Wentworth

  • Loyal to Charles and had become his main advisor
  • Supported Charles' desire to renew the war against Scots, parliament wanted to make peace
  • Took a heavy-handed approach in handling Ireland
• Challenging the king

  There was risk of punishment, it was easier to blame councillors
• Bill of Attainder 1641


  1. In November 1640 parliament wanted to impeach Wentworth

  2. Wentworth defending himself well, resulting in the bill

  3. Some like Warwick fully supported the bill while others like Bedford were more cautious

  4. In Feb 1641, the Scots declared that they would not make peace unless there was no bishops in Scotland and Wentworth was dead

  5. Charles I made tension worse when in April 1641 he ordered officers to return to their commands with the English army in the north, this was seen as a plan to use the army against parliament

  6. The Army Plot spurred the commons to pass the bill

  7. Wentworth was executed in May 1641