Year 8 revision- Autumn Term- Assessment week 20th November

The Civil War and the Interregnum

The

Charles came to the throne in 1625. Relations between Charles I and Parliament gradually got worse until a Civil War Erupted in 1642. Long term causes of the Civil War included: Charles ‘character, Charles economic issues, the impact of his religious decisions and the problems he faced with Scotland. Until 1640, Charles ruled without a Parliament – the 'Eleven Years' Tyranny'. Ultimately these issues between Charles I and parliament are what caused tension between the two sides which eventually boiled over into conflict.

War with Scotland forced Charles to recall Parliament. Instead of granting Charles money, Parliament sent him the Grand Remonstrance (1641). This was a list of 204 complaints about the way he was running the country. After Charles had tried and failed to arrest the five leaders of the Parliament, a Civil War broke out, when Charles decided he would defeat parliament and force them to agree to his style of rule.

The English Civil War started in 1642 when Charles I raised his royal standard in Nottingham. The split between Charles and Parliament was such that neither side was willing to back down over the principles that they held and war was inevitable as a way in which all problems could be solved. There were only three major battles in the English Civil War – Edge Hill (1642) Marston Moor (1644) and (1645), most other battles that occurred were minor fights between small groups of Royalists and Parliamentarians. While it is difficult to give an exact breakdown of who supported who as there were regional variations, at a general level the nobility, landowners and Anglicans supported Charles I while those in the towns and cities supported Parliament. The , supporters of Charles, had the advantage at first due to better equipment and training. However this changed with the introduction of the . This new Model Army, led by , was better equipped, with better tactics, meaning that the had a better chance against the Cavaliers. In 1644, Charles lost control of the north of England as a result of a major defeat at the Battle of Marston Moor. The combined armies of Parliament and the Scots heavily defeated the Royalists. In June 1645, Cromwell’s New Model Army inflicted a fatal blow to the king’s army at the Battle of Naseby. Charles did not recover from this defeat and his cause was lost.

In 1646, Charles surrendered to the Scots rather than to Parliament. The Scots took advantage of Charles and sold him to Parliament for £400,000 in January 1647. The problem Parliament now had was what to do with Charles. The king actually helped in his own downfall. In November 1647, he escaped to Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight and in 1648 the short-lived second civil war broke out. The supporters of the king were defeated at Preston. All that Charles had proved to Parliament was that he could not be trusted. In January 1649 Charles was found guilty of declaring war against parliament and was executed on January 30th 1649.

Oliver Cromwell and the Interregnum- Why do Historians judge him differently?

Oliver Cromwell rose from the middle ranks of English society to be Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, the only non-royal ever to hold that position. He played a leading role in bringing Charles I to trial and to execution; he undertook the most complete and the most brutal military conquest ever undertaken by the English over their neighbours; he championed a degree of religious freedom otherwise unknown in England before the last one hundred years. He was - and remains - one of the most contentious figures in world history

Many people see Cromwell as a leading figure with many positive characteristics

Cromwell the War Hero

Many people at the time describe Cromwell as a Hero, for introducing the New Model Army and playing a major role at the victories against Charles Royalist forces. People saw Cromwell as the leading commander who defeated the King and there is evidence to suggest his leadership of the Cavalry at important battles such as Naseby helped the parliamentarians to victory.

Never took the crown, even when offered-

He always refused to be king, even when many MP’S and parliament wanted him to take the throne. Destroyed the power of the king – for which he is sometimes called the 'father of democracy', as he actually gave elected MP’S the chance to share their ideas on how the country should be run. He believed it should be on merit, not by social standing, which was a completely new idea that Cromwell introduced. This is why many refer to Cromwell as the ‘Father of Democracy’ as he started the democratic movement in the United Kingdom- where people have the right to vote for who they want to be in charge of them.

Cromwell allows Jewish people into England-

Cromwell allowed Jewish people to return to England, even though they had been previously expelled from England, showing that he could be religiously tolerant of others- a new step for a ruler.

Believed in Parliament representing the people –

He found a ‘Rump Parliament’ of MPs after the execution and was meant to rule in the interest of the people. Except they seemed determined to extend their rule indefinitely. Cromwell criticised them on the floor of the House of Commons for being self-serving and then his troops forcibly shut down Parliament. He replaced it with ‘the assembly of saints’, a nominated group of men he considered suitably puritan. But, when they too proved unsatisfactory, he had them removed as well. Through this he showed that he wanted parliament to truly serve the people.

Yet many historians reflect on Cromwell negative characteristics:

Massacre at Drogheda and Wexford-

There had been problems in Ireland since the Catholic Irish had rebelled and massacred about 4,000 Protestants, but Parliament put the figure nearer 200,000. So Cromwell – who thought Catholic beliefs were wrong – went to do a "great work against the barbarous and bloodthirsty Irish".

Cromwell captured Drogheda in September 1649. His troops massacred nearly 3,500 people, including 2,700 Royalist soldiers, all the men in the town with weapons and probably also some civilians, prisoners and priests. At the siege of Wexford in October 1649, 2,000 Irish soldiers and perhaps 1,500 civilians were killed. Many historians accuse Cromwell of giving land to Protestants and taking this from poor Catholics, killing civilians and transporting some Irish as slaves. Other historians say that he hanged soldiers who killed civilians and that Drogheda deserved to be punished as they did not surrender.

Punishment of the Scots-

When Charles II rose in Scotland to take his crown back Cromwell attempted to defeat the King. Cromwell finally engaged the new king at Worcester on 3 September 1651, and beat him killing 3,000 and taking 10,000 more prisoners. Many of the Scottish prisoners taken by Cromwell were sold into indentured labour in the West Indies and Virginia. People saw this as incredibly harsh.

Religious issues-

Being a puritan Cromwell believed in very strict practice, which he imposed on all of those within England, Wales and eventually Ireland. Catholicism was banned and those found to be catholic were punished. Puritan ideals, such as banning Christmas as this day was meant to be for prayer not celebrating, and restricting the sale of alcohol, as this prompted un-holy behaviour, meant that many people within the society did not like Cromwell’s reforms and changes.

Personality-

Many people see Cromwell as having many similar traits to Charles I. Liked to rule the country as singular figurehead, disbanded parliament when it was seen not to be working by force using the army and not listening to the views of many groups such as the levellers, even though they had helped him to power. This link between himself and Charles causes many to question if they were more similar than they had themselves thought. They also look to how Cromwell punished those who did not follow him as an example of his totalitarian, harsh style of rule which again had similarities of Charles I

End of Cromwell

His son Richard inherited the title of Lord Protector, but he could not control the army. So in 1660 Charles I’s son was restored to the throne. However the Restoration Settlement did not give back to the King financial control over the government and military. It was the start of the road to parliamentary democracy. This was Cromwell’s greatest legacy,

Questions- Answer these in full sentences

1. When did Cromwell take power?

2. When was Charles executed?

3. What was the New Model Army?

4. What did Cromwell do in the Civil War?

5. Why did Cromwell not take the Crown?

6. Cromwell was Puritan- What does that mean?

7. What happened at Drogheda?

8. Why did some not like Cromwell religious changes?

9. Why do some say Cromwell was similar to Charles

10. Why did Cromwell disband parliament?

11. What is your personal opinion on Cromwell?

P.E.E.L Paragraph- P.E.E.L Paragraph-Does Cromwell deserve to be remembered as a Great Leader- How far do you agree with this?

Introduction- How you could agree- How you could disagree- Your own opinion

______Interpretation- From each interpretation work out, what their opinion is and what you could use to back this point up

Interpretation How does this Historian What evidence could you use to view Oliver Cromwell? back this up Quote the evidence.

‘Cromwell’s attack at Drogheda This Historian views was barbaric to say the least, Cromwell as… many view it as a revenge on the attack of 1641’

The Historian quotes…

‘Without Cromwell it is doubtable Parliament would have won the Civil War’

‘Cromwell was similar in terms of personality to Charles’

Religious changed adopted by Cromwell suited very few in English society who were far more akin to the normal protestant practice’

‘Cromwell was the Father of Democracy’