English Civil War

Constitutionalism

The political philosophy that a state's government is bound by laws, limiting its power.

Republicanism

A political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic, where the head of state is not a monarch but typically an elected representative.

James Stuart - James I

King of England and Ireland (1603-1625) and King James VI of Scotland (1567-1625). He united the crowns and was a strong proponent of the Divine Right of Kings.

Absolutist belief in Divine Right

The political doctrine that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from God.

Charles I

King of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1625-1649); his conflicts with Parliament over finance and religion led to the English Civil War and his eventual execution.

English Civil War

A series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians ('Roundheads') and Royalists ('Cavaliers') over the manner of England's governance, primarily concerning religious freedom and the King's power.

Puritans

A group of English Reformed Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to 'purify' the Church of England from its Roman Catholic practices.

William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury

Advisor to King Charles I; his insistence on imposing high-church Anglican practices and suppressing Puritanism was a major cause of the religious strife and Scottish rebellion.

Book of Common Prayer introduced to Scotland - Scottish Rebellion

Laud and Charles I attempted to impose this revised Anglican liturgical book on the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, triggering the Bishops' Wars and the start of the wider crisis that became the English Civil War.

Long Parliament (1640-1660)

Summoned by Charles I to raise money for the Scottish wars; it refused to be dissolved and enacted laws limiting royal power, becoming a primary power center against the King.

Irish Rebellion

A major uprising in Ireland that began in 1641, stemming from religious tensions and desire for native rule.

New Model Army

Parliament's professional standing army, established in 1645, known for its discipline and religious zeal.

Oliver Cromwell

A Puritan military and political leader who rose to prominence as a commander of the New Model Army and became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth.

Rump Parliament

The portion of the Long Parliament remaining after Pride's Purge in 1648, which voted to execute Charles I and established the Commonwealth.

Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan - 'Social Contract'

Hobbes's 1651 political treatise arguing that life without government is 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,' and that citizens must enter a social contract to give up some freedoms to a powerful, absolute sovereign.

Commonwealth of England / The Republic

The period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later with Ireland and Scotland, were ruled as a republic following the execution of Charles I.

The Protectorate - Lord Protector

The period (1653-1659) when the Commonwealth was ruled under a written constitution by a Lord Protector, a position held by Oliver Cromwell and then briefly by his son Richard.

The Restoration of 1660

The re-establishment of the monarchy in England, Scotland, and Ireland, when Charles II returned from exile and was crowned King.

Test Act of 1673

A series of English penal laws that imposed religious restrictions on public office holders, requiring them to swear oaths against the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.

Charles II

King of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1660-1685) after the Restoration, known for navigating a complex political and religious landscape.

James II

King of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1685-1688), the Catholic younger brother of Charles II. His attempts to grant religious tolerance to Catholics and Dissenters led to his deposition.

Mary II

Protestant daughter of James II, invited by Parliament to take the throne, leading to the Glorious Revolution.

William III

Son-in-law of James II, invited by Parliament to take the throne, leading to the Glorious Revolution.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688

The mostly bloodless overthrow of King James II by a union of English Parliamentarians and William of Orange. It established Parliament's supremacy over the monarchy.

Bill of Rights

An act passed by the English Parliament in 1689 that declared the rights and liberties of the subjects and settled the succession, fundamentally limiting the powers of the monarch and establishing rights like freedom of speech in Parliament.

John Locke - Second Treatise of Civil Government

Locke's 1689 philosophical work that justified the Glorious Revolution. It argued that government is legitimate only if it has the consent of the governed and protects the people's Natural Rights.

Natural Rights

Fundamental rights that Locke argued every individual possesses, given by nature or God, and which government cannot legitimately take away.

House of Stuart

The European royal house that originated in Scotland. They ruled the Kingdom of Scotland from 1371 and the Kingdoms of England and Ireland from 1603 until 1714.

James VI of Scotland / James I of England

The same person, highlighting the union of the Scottish and English crowns under one monarch in 1603.

King James Version of the Bible - 1611

The English translation of the Christian Bible authorized by King James I, which became the standard English Bible for centuries.

Book of Sports

A declaration issued by James I (1618) and reissued by Charles I (1633) that listed sports and recreations permissible on Sundays.

Puritan "Separatists"

A radical faction of Puritans who believed the Church of England was so corrupt that they had to completely separate from it.

Duke of Buckingham - Buckingham Palace

George Villiers, a favorite and influential advisor to both James I and Charles I, whose assassination in 1628 deepened the rift between King and Parliament.

Gun Powder Plot - Guy Fawkes

A failed attempt in 1605 by Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, to blow up the Houses of Parliament and assassinate King James I and the Protestant aristocracy.

Petition of Right

A 1628 major English constitutional document that set out specific liberties of the subject that the King is forbidden to infringe.

John Hampden, John Pym

Key Parliamentarian leaders who strongly opposed Charles I's policies, particularly his attempts to raise taxes without Parliament's approval.

Puritans in Parliament

Members of Parliament who held Puritan beliefs. Their influence grew significantly and they spearheaded the opposition to the King's religious and political policies.

Short Parliament (1640)

A Parliament summoned by Charles I to raise funds for the Bishops' Wars against the Scots, which sat for only three weeks before being dissolved.

Gentry

The class of wealthy English landowners who were not part of the nobility but were socially prominent.

Roundheads vs. Cavaliers

The nicknames given to the two opposing sides in the English Civil War: Roundheads were Parliamentarians and Cavaliers were Royalists.

Pride's Purge

An event in 1648 where soldiers under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all members who were not supportive of the King's trial.

James, Old Pretender

James Francis Edward Stuart, the son of James II, who was the Catholic claimant to the English and Scottish thrones after his father was deposed.