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.