English Civil War Flashcards

Ireland's Impact on the Slide to War

Tudor and Stuart Concerns

• Ireland, being predominantly Catholic, was viewed with suspicion by the Tudor and early Stuart monarchs.
• They feared it could be used as a staging ground for invasion to reinstate a Catholic monarchy.

Plantation Policy

• Elizabeth I initiated a policy of sending Protestants to settle in Ulster, Northern Ireland.
• James I accelerated this by encouraging Scottish settlers to move to Ireland as well.
• Purpose:
  • To create a political balance against Catholics in the Irish Parliament.
  • To establish a military counterbalance to Catholics in the Irish army.
• These settlers received lands (plantations) confiscated from Catholic landowners.

Irish Catholic Noblemen and Plotting

• A group of Irish Catholic noblemen, including Fellem O'Neill, observed events in Scotland.
• Rumors of a plot to overthrow the Protestant Ulster plantation and restore Catholic nobility power emerged around February 1641.
• October 22 was the planned date for the uprising.
• Rebels quickly seized key strongholds: Chalmont, Mountjoy Castle, Tangerine, and Nuri.
• This action coincided with a widespread uprising against Protestant settlers in Ulster, leading to a bloodbath.
• The conflict engulfed Ireland for nearly a decade.

Timeline of Events (1646-1652)

• 1646-1647: Parliamentary regiment dispatched to Ireland to prevent Irish Royalists from aiding Charles.
• 1649 (Mid-August): Dublin garrison commander's surprise attack defeats Royalist and Confederate armies at Rathmines.
• 1649 (September 3-11): Cromwell besieges and storms Drogheda, resulting in a massacre.
• 1649 (October-November): Siege and storm of Wexford, followed by sieges in Southeast Ireland, including Waterford and Duncannon.
• Mutiny in the Irish army at Cork leads to much of Southeast Ireland being handed over to Cromwell.
• 1650 (May): Cromwell departs, and Ireton assumes command.
• 1650 (June): Ulster Irish forces defeated by New Model Army soldiers and British settlers.
• 1650 (October): Sieges of Limerick and Galway.
• 1650 (November): Ireton dies of plague.
• 1652: Surrender negotiated.

Key Chronology

• October 1641: Outbreak of the Irish Rebellion.
• November 1641: Charles returns from Scotland.
• December 1641: The Militia Bill.
• January 1642: Failed arrest of the Five Members.
• February 1642: Exclusion Bill.
• March 1642: Militia Ordinance.
• July 1642: The 19 Propositions; Parliament raises an army.
• August 1642: Charles raises his standard.

Key Profile: Fellem O'Neill (1603-1653)

• A powerful Irish Catholic landowner.
• Spent childhood under King James I's guardianship after his father and grandfather died fighting for the king in the 1608 rebellion.
• Opposed Charles I due to the policy of Protestant settlement in Ireland.

Reasons for the Irish Rebellion

Constitutional Reform

• Thomas Wentworth's recall to England in 1639 created a power vacuum in Irish government.
• Catholic noblemen sought constitutional reforms like those achieved by Scotland (1638-1641), but with a Catholic emphasis.
• The Long Parliament aimed to manage Ireland from Westminster, enforce anti-Catholic laws, and expand the plantation policy.
• Inspired by Scotland and fearing Presbyterian and Puritan strength, the plotters acted.

Vengeance

• The popular uprising was initially separate from the noblemen's plot.
• Catholics evicted by Ulster plantation settlers sought revenge.
• They were aided by soldiers returning from the Thirty Years' War.
• The number of Protestant settlers massacred remains debated, with estimates ranging from 2,000 to 200,000. Clarendon recorded 40,000.
• Catholic rebels committed war crimes.

Significance of the Irish Rebellion

• Reports from the rebellion radicalized the Long Parliament due to intense anti-Catholic sentiments in England.
• Accounts were likely distorted and exaggerated.
• Multiple witnesses confirmed an atrocity at the Bridge of Portadown.
• The news from Ireland caused anxiety in Westminster.

Trust and Leadership Concerns

• Parliament faced the issue of sending an army to Ireland but questioned whether King Charles I could be trusted to lead it.
• Fellem O'Neill claimed the king ordered him to rebel against the Westminster Parliament.
• A forged order supporting this claim emerged in November 1641, deepening divisions.

Additional Instruction and the Commons

• In early November, Pym introduced an additional instruction to the commissioners in Scotland.
• The Commons would assist in raising an army to subdue Ireland if the king agreed to appoint councilors approved by Parliament, or if Parliament could secure Ireland for themselves.
• The vote was close: 151 for, 110 against.

Key Profile: Sir Arthur Hazelrig (1601-1661)

• MP for Leicester in the Short and Long Parliaments.
• Supported the attainder of Strafford.
• One of the Five Members who escaped Charles's arrest attempt.
• A fervent Puritan.

The Militia Bill

• On December 7, 1641, Sir Arthur Hazelrig introduced the Militia Bill.
• This bill transferred the power to summon the militia from the king to parliament and gave parliament the ability to appoint army commanders.
• Charles criticized Parliament's "strange exorbitant power."
• Debates over the bill continued into February.

Attempted Arrest of the Five Members

• By the end of 1641, the king sought to reassert his authority.
• He was greeted by supportive crowds upon his return to London from Scotland in November 1641.
• Close votes in Parliament indicated support for the king.
• Petitions supporting the Episcopacy came from the counties.
• He secured command of the Tower of London by placing a royalist, Colonel Thomas Lunsford, in charge.

Impeachment Proceedings

• On December 29, the Lords accepted a Commons vote to impeach the bishops.
• This would exclude them from the House of Lords, weakening Charles's support.
• Parliament was galvanized by a petition campaign with 30,000 signatures supporting exclusion.

King's Response

• On January 3, 1642, Charles issued impeachment proceedings for treason against six members:
  • Commons: John Pym, John Hampden, Denzel Holles, Sir Arthur Hazelrig, William Strode.
  • Lords: Edward Montagu, Viscount Mandeville.
• On January 4, Charles marched to Westminster with 500 soldiers to arrest the five members of the Commons.
• He entered the Commons chamber, violating parliamentary privilege.
• He ordered Speaker William Lenthall to point out the MPs.
• Lenthall upheld parliamentary privilege and refused.
• The five members had already fled to safety in London.
• Charles responded, "I see that the birds have all flown."

Aftermath of Failed Arrest

• The London mob protested the king's action.
• Charles was escorted to safety but civic dignitaries were attacked.
• A rumor spread that the king was advancing on the city with 1,500 cavalrymen.
• The city prepared to defend itself.
• Charles moved his family to Hampton Court Palace and then dispatched them to Europe, relocating his court to York.

Consequences

• The failed arrest was disastrous for Charles.
• It showed his willingness to use force and disregard parliamentary privilege, revealing absolutist tendencies.
• His departure from London made negotiation with Parliament more difficult.
• A flood of petitions arrived in London, organized by the Commons and focused on religious grievances.
• Moderate royalists were shaken and new legislation followed, including the Exclusion Bill and the Militia Ordinance.

The Militia Ordinance

• Hazelrig's Militia Bill was replaced by the Militia Ordinance in February 1642.
• This transferred authority to appoint lord lieutenants and their deputies from the king to Parliament.
• Parliament put itself in command of the militia.
• The ordinance was enacted on March 5, 1642.
• Parliament proposed raising 400,000 in support of the militia using the old ship money mechanism.

Local Grievances and Allegiances

• The Buckinghamshire Rising in support of Hampden illustrates the split in the country.
• The Westminster-centered narrative of king against parliament is supported by voting records, parliamentary documentation, and rural archives.
• However, the picture across England was more complex.
• Families often split, supporting different sides.
• As Lucy Hutchinson wrote, civil war existed within each country.

Indicators of Local Allegiances

Religion

• Religion was a key predictor of allegiance.
• Parliamentary leaders and half the parliamentarians were strong Puritans, while one-third of the royalist gentry were Catholics (as identified by Lawrence Stone in Yorkshire).
• Catholics usually supported the king, Puritans supported parliament, and moderate Protestants were harder to categorize.

Geography

• Regions varied in support for each side.
• Puritanism was strongest in the South and East of England, especially in London and regional cities like Manchester and Bolton.
• The Lancashire gentry tended towards moderation and royalism.
• The king based his court in York, and the North and West tended towards royalism.
• Proximity to Ireland could lead to fear of an Irish Catholic invasion, altering geographical trends.

Employment

• Employment influenced allegiance.
• In Gloucestershire, the city corporation supported parliament.
• Local gentry forced tenant farmers to fight in royalist militia.
• Independent traders, artisans, and professionals had more freedom to choose sides, while those tied to local employment networks followed the lead of others.

Individual Rivalries

• Individuals sometimes sided based on personal circumstances.
• Sir John Hotham, pushed out of local power turned parliamentarian, then switched sides

Leadership

• Some regions were mobilized by the character and skill of key figures like Oliver Cromwell.

Neutralism

• Neutralism grew during 1642, as most people were forced to choose a side against their will.
• As Sir Thomas Norcliffe wrote to his wife, this dilemma was very typical of the time.
• Counties attempted to make neutrality pacts.
• Fear of the Thirty Years' War and social collapse drove neutralism.
• In some counties, royalist and parliamentary commissioners agreed not to raise forces.
• An attempt to raise royalist militia was repelled by armed men and women in South Molton, Devon.

The Slide to War

• From January 1642, conflict seemed increasingly likely.
• Active war preparation created its own momentum.
• King and Parliament failed to reach a settlement.
• Efforts to control the militia caused conflicts in the early summer.
• The king raised his standard in Nottingham in August, and the first battle took place in November at Edge Hill.

The Royal Standard

• The royal standard was the flag flown when the monarch was present.
• By unveiling his standard in Nottingham, the king was summoning loyal subjects to fight.

Attempts to Impose Royal Authority

• The general population began to divide into sides during the crucial months of 1641.

Reasons to Support the King

Fear of Disorder

• The prospect of civic, religious, or political disorder was terrifying.
• The king represented order and stability.
• There was a slight peak in popular disorder in the early 1640s.

Constitutional Royalism

• The breakdown of unity revealed by the Grand Remonstrance showed how parliamentary consensus was unstable.
• Constitutional royalism supported the institution of the monarch within traditional bounds.
• It gained momentum as opposition groups in parliament became more radical.

Religious Moderation

• There was greater uniformity on the parliamentarian side.
• Catholics and Laudians naturally supported the king, as did moderate Anglicans.

The Failure of Negotiations

• Parliament's last effort to contain the king was the 19 Propositions of June 1642.
• The propositions were radical and impossible for the king to approve.

Key content of the 19 Propositions for the king to consider:

• Parliament must give consent to royal appointments

• Parliament responsible for Royal children's education and marriages

• New stronger anti-Catholic legislation must be enacted

• The Anglican Church must be performed according to Parliament's direction

• That the five members must be cleared of all charges

• The king must also accept the militia ordinance and drop his use of commissions

• Expectedly, the king rejected the proposals, which was supported by a petition from Hartford

Military Preparations for War

• The passage of the Militia Ordinance in March opened a period of struggle over military command.
• The queen, in The Hague, tried to sell crown jewels to gain European royalty support.
• She was not very successful but potential buyers feared any purchases would be reclaimed by parliament or the king.

Actions taken by the king

• In April, the king went to Hull to requisition arms and ammunition.
• Sir John Hotham, appointed governor of Hull by parliament, refused to let the king enter without a warrant from parliament.
• A propaganda struggle ensued.
• Lord Strange tried to seize arms from the arsenal at Manchester but failed.
• Both sides issued orders to raise the militia.
• Parliament issued a formal order to raise the militia, which the king countermanded by invoking commissions of array.
• On July 12, parliament passed a resolution to raise a full army under the command of the Earl of Essex.

Key Profile: Robert Devereux, Third Earl of Essex (1591-1646)

• A leading Puritan nobleman, who worked closely with John Pym and prosecuted Stafford, and forewarned the five members of arrest.
• He saw military service in Europe during the Thirty Years' War so made the lieutenant general of the parliamentary army.

War Erupts

• On August 22, the king raised his standard in Nottingham, calling all loyal Englishmen and women to his cause starting the war from there.