What Was The English Civil War?

When people in the United States hear the term Civil War they immediately think of the War Between the States of 1861-1865. In this war, southern states tried to establish their own union, separate from the United States of America. But there was another important civil war in history, the English Civil War.

This war occurred more than 200 years before the U.S. conflict. For 10 years, between 1641 and 1651, violent conflict between two groups, known as Royalists and Parliamentarians, kept the nation in a state of upheaval. During this time, there was considerable political maneuvering as well, between those who supported the king, Charles I, and those who supported the Parliament (sometimes known as the Rump Parliament). A major reason for the conflict was the action of this group on the issue of trying King Charles I for the crime of high treason. The parliament was called by the unusual name because it was composed of members who were left over after many members of the original parliament were purged.

The English Civil War was actually composed of three separate periods of conflict (1642-1646, 1648-1649 and 1649-1651). The latter conflict involved King Charles II. The war was considered over in 1651 when the side known by the name of Parliamentarians won the Battle of Worcester.

Charles I was tried and executed during the English Civil War. His son, Charles II was sent into exile. The ten-year conflict was the primary reason for the establishment of the Commonwealth of England. But this was replaced after approximately four years, with the well-known (some say infamous) Oliver Cromwell ruling the personal “protectorate.”

At this point in English history, there was some change in the status of the Church of England, which had a religious monopoly until the 1650s. The Protestant churches gained in favor during this time as well, especially in nearby Ireland. One of the key results of this long series of wars was the beginning of a tradition/political process in which the king or queen must have the consent of Parliament to make governmental decisions.

Steven Kries, in a lecture on the English Civil War, notes that the conflicts were about the needs of the middle class and also was a response to the Reformation (which focused on the differences and disagreements between the Catholic Church and the Protestant churches. Much of the upheaval had roots in the change from the House of Tudor to the House of Stuart. Elizabeth I was from the Tudors, while King James I was a Stuart.

As far back as 1629 there were serious disagreements with King Charles, who showed some support of Catholicism. The king effectively dissolved Parliament, which did not meet for more than a decade, according to Krieg’s lecture. Another factor that helped start the English Civil War was the uprising in Ireland against the English monarchy and English rule of Ireland. Charles was eventually called out in public as a tyrant and a murderer. The civil war was not too far in the future.

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