There were three civil wars fought between 1642 and 1651 across Britain’s three kingdoms. Charles, married to Henrietta Maria, was increasingly distrusted because of his use of royal power, his economic policies and disagreement about religion.
There were many types of Christianity in Charles I’s realm from High Church groups such as the Arminians, favoured by Archbishop Laud, who supported vestments and altar railings and whose Book of Common Prayer laid out the form services should take. The archbishop believed in the ‘beauty of holiness’ and wanted lots of decoration. Many people saw Laud’s vision of the Church of England as almost Catholic in the form it took and it didn’t help that there were so many prominent Catholics at court including Henrietta Maria, Charles’ queen upon whom he relied for advice after the demise of his favourites.
For many people in England religion was related not only to faith but to national identity. It wasn’t that long since the Spanish Armada of 1588 or the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 – ‘Popish plots’ was examples of treachery.
In 1637 Puritan pamphleteers had their ears cropped and were branded for criticising Laud – which made him look rather cruel.
In 1638 the Scots revolted when Charles attempted to impose the Book of Common Prayer upon them.
Charles was forced to recall Parliament to raise funds to fight the Scots – parliament was sympathetic to the Puritans. The so called long parliaments lasted from 1640 to 1653. Recalled, and knowing that the king needed cash Parliament issued the Grand Remonstrance against the king in November 1641 and in June 1642 issued the Nineteen Propositions which was a bid to gain more power for themselves. By then the relationship between the monarch and his parliament was at breakdown. At the end of August, Charles raised his standard at Nottingham Castle and the country was at war.
Click on the pictures to open the links for more information about the books below. Diane Purkiss’s book provides an excellent account of the English civil war. I really enjoyed Michael Arnold’s Stryker series written against the backdrop of the turbulent 17th century.
