English Civil War Eu4
Fought 1642-1651, the English Civil War saw King Charles I battle Parliament for control of the English government. The war began as a result of a conflict over the power of the monarchy and the rights of Parliament. During the early phases of the war, the Parliamentarians expected to retain Charles as king, but with expanded powers for Parliament. Though the Royalists won early victories, the Parliamentarians ultimately triumphed. As the conflict progressed, Charles was executed and a republic formed.
Known as the the Commonwealth of England, this state later became the Protectorate under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell. Though Charles II was invited to take the throne in 1660, Parliament's victory established the precedent that the monarch could not rule without the consent of Parliament and placed the nation on the path towards a formal parliamentary monarchy. Ascending to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1625, Charles I believed in the divine right of kings which stated that his right to rule came from God rather than any earthly authority. This led him to frequently clash with Parliament as their approval was needed for raising funds. Dissolving Parliament on several occasions, he was angered by its attacks on his ministers and reluctance to provide him with money. In 1629, Charles elected to stop calling Parliaments and began funding his rule through outdated taxes such as ship money and various fines.
The official opening of the National Civil War Centre is on Sunday 3 May 2015. There is a massive event going on all around the town with hundreds of re-enactors over 5 static sites, including inside the museum plus the Castle, Market Square, Riverside Park and the Queen's Sconce. Here are some facts about the English Civil War. The English Civil War was a series of battles fought between the Royalists or Cavaliers, and the Parliamentarians, also known as Roundheads. It took place between 1642 and 1651. The Parliamentarian soldiers were known as Roundheads as many of them had short hair from being in. Full list of English Civil War Sites and Battlefields. Beyond the most famous battle sites of the English Civil War, there’s many similar places to visit, including York City Walls, Broxmouth Park and Arundel Castle to name but a few.
This approach angered the population and nobles. This period became known as the personal rule of Charles I as well as the Eleven Years' Tyranny. Consistently short of funds, the king found that policy was frequently determined by the state of the nation's finances. 1638, Charles encountered difficulty when he attempted to impose a new Book of Prayer on the Church of Scotland. This action touched off the Bishops' Wars and led the Scots to document their grievances in the National Covenant. Assembling an ill-trained force of around 20,000 men, Charles marched north in the spring of 1639.
Reaching Berwick on the Scottish border, he encamped and soon entered into negotiations with with the Scots. This resulted in the Treaty of Berwick which temporarily defused the situation. Concerned that Scotland was intriguing with France and chronically short on funds, Charles was compelled to call a Parliament in 1640.
Known as the Short Parliament, he dissolved it in less than a month after its leaders criticized his policies. Renewing hostilities with Scotland, Charles' forces were defeated by the Scots, who captured Durham and Northumberland.
Occupying these lands, they demanded £850 per day to halt their advance. With the situation in the north critical and still needing money, Charles recalled Parliament that fall. Reconvening in November, Parliament immediately began introducing reforms including a need for regular parliaments and prohibiting the king from dissolving the body without the members' consent.
The situation worsened when Parliament ordered the Earl of Strafford, a close advisor of the king, executed for treason. In January 1642, an angry Charles marched on Parliament with 400 men to arrest five members. Failing, he withdrew to Oxford. Through the summer of 1642, Charles and Parliament negotiated while all levels of society began to align in support of either side. While rural communities typically favored the king, the Royal Navy and many cities aligned themselves with Parliament.
On August 22, Charles raised his banner at Nottingham and commenced building an army. These efforts were matched by Parliament who was assembling a force under the leadership of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex. Unable to come to any resolution, the two sides clashed at the Battle of Edgehill in October. Largely indecisive, the campaign ultimately resulted in Charles withdrawing to his wartime capital at Oxford. The next year saw Royalist forces secure much of Yorkshire as well as win a string of victories in western England. In September, Parliamentarian forces, led by the Earl of Essex, succeeded in forcing Charles to abandon the siege of Gloucester and won a victory at Newbury. As the fighting progressed, both sides found reinforcements as Charles freed troops by making peace in Ireland while Parliament allied with Scotland.
Dubbed the Solemn League and Covenant, the alliance between Parliament and Scotland saw a Scottish Covenanter army under the Earl of Leven enter northern England to reinforce Parliamentarian forces. Though Sir William Waller was beaten by Charles at Cropredy Bridge in June 1644, Parliamentarian and Covenanter forces won a key victory at the Battle of Marston Moor the following month. A key figure in the triumph was cavalryman Oliver Cromwell. Having gained the upper hand, the Parliamentarians formed the professional New Model Army in 1645 and passed the Self-denying Ordinance which prohibited its military commanders from holding a seat in Parliament. Led by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Cromwell, this force routed Charles at the that June and scored another victory at in July. Though he attempted to rebuild his forces, Charles' situation declined and in April 1646 he was forced to flee from the Siege of Oxford.
Riding north, he surrendered to the Scots at Southwell who later turned him over to Parliament. With Charles defeated, the victorious parties sought to establish a new government.
In each case, they felt that the king's participation was critical. Playing the various groups off one another, Charles signed an agreement with the Scots, known as the Engagement, by which they would invade England on his behalf in exchange for the establishment of Presbyterianism in that realm. Initially supported by Royalist revolts, the Scots were ultimately defeated at Preston by Cromwell and John Lambert in August and the rebellions put down through actions such as Fairfax's Siege of Colchester. Angered by Charles' betrayal, the army marched on Parliament and purged those who still favored an association with the king.
The remaining members, known as the Rump Parliament, ordered Charles tried for treason. Found guilty, Charles was beheaded on January 30, 1649. In the wake of the king's execution, Cromwell sailed for Ireland to eliminate resistance there which had been directed by the Duke of Ormonde.
Glorious Revolution
With the assistance of Admiral Robert Blake, Cromwell landed and won bloody victories at Drogheda and Wexford that fall. The following June saw the late king's son, Charles II, arrive in Scotland where he allied with the Covenanters. This forced Cromwell to leave Ireland and he was soon campaigning in Scotland. Though he triumphed at Dunbar and Inverkeithing, he allowed Charles II's army to move south into England in 1651.
Pursuing, Cromwell brought the Royalists to battle on September 3 at Worcester. Defeated, Charles II escaped to France where he remained in exile.
With the final defeat of Royalist forces in 1651, power passed to the republican government of the Commonwealth of England. This remained in place until 1653, when Cromwell assumed power as Lord Protector. Effectively ruling as a dictator until his death in 1658, he was replaced by his son Richard.
Lacking the support of the army, his rule was brief and the Commonwealth returned in 1659 with the re-installation of the Rump Parliament. The following year, with the government in shambles, General George Monck, who had been serving as Governor of Scotland, invited Charles II to return and take power. He accepted and by the Declaration of Breda offered pardons for acts committed during the wars, respect for property rights, and religious toleration. With Parliament's consent, he arrived in May 1660 and was crowned the following year on April 23.
13NATIONAL CIVIL WAR CENTER/SAM KIRKBYBoth politically and geographically, the English Civil War (1642-51) shaped the country we know today. Nine years of fighting followed by a Commonwealth government meant no English monarchy could ever regain the absolute power rulers once enjoyed. The Divine Right of Kings had been severed with the head of Charles I, and the rest of the world took note.Hundreds of American colonists remembered their ticket to the New World was not one-way and returned to fight, mainly for the Parliamentarians.
They may have regretted their choice at the Restoration when, contrary to promises, the new King Charles II’s spies chased the Puritans back across the Atlantic, but the values both sides had fought for lingered long in the soul. 13PAUL LINDUS From the River Trent, the intact curtain wall of Newark Castle belies the castle’s destruction in the Civil War./captionEngland itself changed, as the demolition job begun by Henry VIII with the monasteries and religious institutions was finished in the secular world by Oliver Cromwell, determined to prevent future rebellion. Castles, walled towns and fortified houses were systematically razed to the ground and the land reshaped to a new world order.The Midlands saw some of the fiercest fighting, not least because they were geographically right in the middle. Strategically important, on the cross of the Great North Road and the Fosse Way, Newark suffered three separate sieges between 1642 and 1646. The town has never forgotten the months of depravation, the devastating loss of life or the humiliating sting of defeat. Defiant even after receiving orders from the captured king to surrender, the mayor declared it was better to “Trust in God and sally forth.” It’s still the town’s motto.
Newark was the obvious choice for England’s first museum dedicated to telling the story from bloody start to bloodier finish. 13NATIONAL CIVIL WAR CENTER/SAM KIRKBY Bright, airy displays showcase artifacts of daily life in the war years as well as of the battles and soldiers that fought them./captionTHE NATIONAL CIVIL WAR CENTRE is housed in a fascinating building spanning five centuries: a 1529 Tudor core, Georgian schoolhouse, Victorian additions and modern glass carapace. The storytelling, however, is pure 21 st century.The artifacts are given room to breathe.
There is minimal text on the wall with optional “digging deeper” information paddles, where visitors can read more if they choose. The almost-obligatory armor-and-musket displays are supplemented by fascinating items showing how ordinary life continued as best it could. 13SANDRA LAWRENCE So, just how did they keep those white clothes clean?/captionAlthough the main items remain on permanent display, the center is keeping much of its powder dry for the moment, bringing out ammunition from its vast armory of stored objects with changing exhibitions focusing on different aspects of the war.
The next exhibition, on Civil War medicine, with precision bone-saws, instruments for removing musket balls and a self-propelled wheelchair will show the ingenuity spawned by necessity—even if the shocking, hand-shaped branding iron for deserters demonstrates a different kind of creativity.Museum shops don’t usually merit mention, but this one goes above and beyond the call of duty. No tourist tat here. From traditional slipware pottery in authentic 17 th-century designs through horn drinking vessels to bread baked to Civil War recipes, everything has been specially produced or sourced.
You can even choose sides via your real ale. A nice Cavalier Golden Ale, perhaps? Maybe a Roundhead Bitter? Or a good old Puritan Stout? Each comes with its own feather for your cap. The center opened with a vast, 900-soul-strong reenactment of the taking of Newark. Over two days visitors experienced the terror of standing inside bombarded battlements, while the deafening cannon fire shook the very walls.
The sight of exhausted Cavaliers lowering the red flag of defence and marching their surrender to Parliamentarians impressed by the dignity of their enemies was oddly moving, and it looks to become a regular event. 13PAUL LINDUS Just as in the 17th century, laying siege to Newark Castle proved so popular that it looks to become a regular event./captionFOLLOW THE HISTORY FURTHER in Newark on the new National Civil War Trail. That allows you to point your mobile device at plaques around town to see more of those excellent short films, each pertaining to the site where you’re standing. They are stunning, but not for everyone, due to the amount of memory you need to download the data.
For those traveling without smart phones, the trail is available as a free map.Newark is compact. The castle is a five-minute walk from the railway station, and the marketplace with most of the historic buildings nearby. The black and white, half-timbered Governor’s House is now a bakery and the glorious panels of the Old White Hart a few doors away house a building society, but both have been immaculately restored. The Old White Hart still boasts a little row of pastel-shaded figurines along its walls.Down the road, the Prince Rupert, built in 1452, was originally a merchant’s house, but had been an alehouse known as the Woolpack for 60 years when war broke out.
It was used as billeting for soldiers, and a door in the cellar indicates a nowlost underground tunnel to the castle. Today the Prince Rupert, named for the king’s wayward nephew, is a cozy, rambling hostelry that manages to be both bright and snug, serving decent pub-grub, real ale and bonhomie.The Charles I Coffee House should, by rights, be the Queen Henrietta Maria Coffee House. Charles’ loyal queen dined there during a long visit to the town. It’s in the shadow of handsome St. Mary Magdalene church, whose spire, the highest in Nottinghamshire, still has a visible hole under one window where it was hit by a musket ball. 13SANDRA LAWRENCECromwell ordered Newark’s citizens to demolish the castle, now a striking shell.
It is, however, far more complete than, say, Nottingham’s razed fortress. After months of siege, the exhausted town was further ravaged, this time by bubonic plague. Townsfolk were too sick to wield sledgehammers and no outlying villager was going anywhere near a plague town. Much of the great wall still stands proud, albeit dented by cannon balls and blackened by gunpowder.The new trail only covers Newark, but the Civil War laughed at boundaries. Southwell is an absolute must on any visit to the area. The graceful Minster town is best known today as the birthplace of the Bramley apple.
Southwell is, however, a key place to experience history up close and very personal. It’s possible to sleep in the very room where King Charles I spent his last night as a free man. The ancient, half-timbered Kings Arms was already 500 years old, and Charles the 10th monarch to sleep there. He had met with Scottish commissioners in the room downstairs, and believed he had finally secured sanctuary.
Eu4 Age Of Revolution
The following morning, however, the Scots betrayed the king, handing him over to the Parliamentarians for a massive ransom.The inn was renamed The Saracen’s Head after the sword that, allegedly, executed the king. If the bedroom is unoccupied and you ask nicely, you may be able to see the extremely rare Elizabethan wall painting Charles would have stared at that final night, only discovered in 1986 when whitewash was removed for a planned refurbishment.The ruined Archbishops Palace, where the doomed Cardinal Wolsey spent his last summer before avoiding execution by Henry VIII by dying on his way back to London, is particularly beautiful. Soft, lush gardens and sweet sounds from the chorister school form a stark contrast with the grand state chamber upstairs where Charles was taken on his capture.Southwell Minster itself is both grand and somehow homely, and a walk around the surrounding streets yields sumptuous Georgian architecture that belies the town’s troubled past.The classic children’s history book 1066 And All That boils the English Civil War down to two sides: Right but Rotten, Wrong but Romantic. It’s a neat idea, but does nothing to unpack reality. Three hundred and seventy years ago, brother fought brother in a fundamental clash of ideologies.
The Civil War Trail poses a question—which side would you have chosen? BEYOND THE TRAILNOTTINGHAM CASTLEParliamentarians destroyed all but the vast labyrinth of cellars in the cliff below the original medieval castle. The present Ducal Mansion was built shortly after the restoration, but gutted by fire in 1831 by rioting residents. It is now the city’s museum.YE OLDE SALUTATION INNUsed as a base to recruit soldiers for both sides of the war, Ye Olde Salutation was briefly known as the Soldier and Citizen during the Commonwealth. Before its rebuild in 1240, the original alehouse was known as The Archangel Gabriel Salutes the Virgin Mary.