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• Charles I became King of England in 1625. He fell out with the English Parliament for several reasons.
• The disputes escalated into a civil war in 1642.
• After nearly seven years of war, Charles was defeated and put on trial for treason in 1649.
• After further conflict, the Civil Wars finally came to an end in 1651.

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Charles I became King of England in 1625 following the death of his father, James I. He married a French princess, Henrietta Maria. This caused concern among some MPs, who believed Charles had plans to make England a Catholic country again. England had been a Protestant country since the late 1500s, so this represented another big change after many years of religious upheaval.

Charles also believed in the Divine Right of Kings. This was the belief that he had been put in charge of the country by God, so therefore did not need assistance from Parliament in order to make decisions.

In 1625, one of Charles’ closest advisors, the Duke of Buckingham, led a failed naval battle against the Spanish at Cadiz. Charles refused to criticise Buckingham, which further angered some in Parliament.

In 1629, Parliament became increasingly critical of Charles’ decision making and policies. Charles decided to dissolve Parliament and rule without them. Parliament did not sit again until 1640.

Without Parliament, Charles was not allowed to raise new taxes. To get around this, Charles introduced ship money in 1634. This was extremely unpopular, as this tax had only ever been raised during times of war.

In 1633, Charles had appointed William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury. This was an unpopular appointment, as Laud had some controversial ideas. For example, he ordered churches to have stone altars, rather than wooden communion tables. Stone altars were a feature of Catholic churches, so this added to some people’s fears that Charles intended to make England a Catholic country again.

In 1637, Charles ordered the use of a new prayer book in Scotland, which angered Scottish Puritans. They believed that the Church needed to become more Protestant, and that the Church should be ‘purified’ of all traces of Catholic practice. People rioted when clergy used the prayer book in church services.

In 1640, angered by Charles' religious changes and interference, Scottish Covenanters invaded the north of England. Charles was in urgent need of money. He had to recall Parliament to try and raise some new taxes to fund an army.

Knowing that Charles was in desperate need of money to fight Scotland, Parliament placed heavy demands on him in return for their support. Parliament demanded the arrival of two of Charles’ most trusted advisors, Archbishop Laud and the Earl of Strafford.

Strafford had been Lord Deputy in Ireland, and the new Parliament attempted to impeach him on a range of different charges relating to his time there. Strafford was accused, for example, of offering to bring an Irish army over to England to fight the king’s opponents. Charles had to agree to meet with Parliament at least every 3 years.

In December 1641, Parliament narrowly voted in favour of the Grand Remonstrance. This was a list of demands for Charles to make further reforms. Even some MPs felt this went too far. Charles refused to agree to the Grand Remonstrance.

In January 1642, Charles went into the Houses of Parliament to try and arrest 5 MPs, but they had been warned of his arrival and escaped on the River Thames.

In August 1642, Charles grew tired of Parliament’s demands and raised his standard at Nottingham, to declare war on Parliament.

The war was fought between two armies:

• The Parliamentarians, or ‘Roundheads’. They were given this name because they had much shorter haircuts compared to the long, curly wigs worn by Charles and his supporters.
• The Royalists, or ‘Cavaliers’. This name comes from the French term chevalier, which refers to a knight who rides a horse. The Parliamentarians originally used this term as an insult to the Royalists, but they eventually began to use it to refer to themselves.

There was a split in the country, with people supporting both sides.

The Battle of Edgehill, 1642

The first time the Royalist and Parliamentary forces directly fought each other was at Edgehill, in Warwickshire. Neither side won a convincing victory. Both sides mainly had inexperienced soldiers, which made it difficult for anyone to win the war quickly.

1642 - 1645

Charles had some success in the first two years of the war, but the momentum changed when Parliament decided to form a more professional army. Thomas Fairfax became commander-in-chief of the troops and Cromwell was in charge of the cavalry.

The Battle of Naseby, 1645

By this time, the Parliamentarians has assembled the New Model Army. Thomas Fairfax led this new, professional army at Naseby. The Royalists were led by Charles and Prince Rupert.

Naseby was a decisive victory for Parliament. The Royalists lost over 5,000 men- either injured, killed or taken prisoner. Much of their equipment and weapons were also captured. The extent of the defeat meant Charles did not have the resources to put up effective resistance. Charles fled to seek support from the Scots, but was handed over to Parliament in exchange for £100,000 in January 1647.

Charles escaped from Hampton Court, where he was being held, in November 1647. He travelled back to Scotland. He won support from Scots who said that they would invade England with him, to help him regain the throne. In return for their support, Charles agreed to make religious reforms.

The invasion, along with uprisings from Royalist supporters in England, started in May 1648. By August they had all been defeated. Charles was captured again. He tried to negotiate a settlement with Parliament, but Oliver Cromwell was opposed to this. Charles was charged with treason and put on trial in January 1649. To find out more about Charles' trial, read this guide.

There were lots of examples of women being directly involved in the Civil Wars. Some women wore men’s clothing and armour so that they could join the fighting. A woman called Nan Ball was caught fighting for the Royalist army in 1642, apparently because she did not want to be separated from her husband. A law was drafted by Charles in 1643 to ban women from wearing men’s clothes and fighting for the Royalist army.

Women did not just fight in the War. Elizabeth Alkin was a nurse who treated injured Parliamentarian soldiers. However, she also acted as a spy, and passed information to Parliament. Constance Stringer was a spy, too, informing Parliament about who was fighting for Charles.

Play a History Detectives mission exploring how women's rights changed during the Wars.

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Watch this video to find out what primary sources can tell us about how the lives of ordinary people were impacted by the Civil Wars.

Play a History Detectives mission exploring who was affected by the Civil Wars.

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