ENGLISH CIVIL WARS

( (164251), ) also called Great Rebellion, the fighting that took place in the British Isles between Parliamentarians and supporters of the monarchy. It was precipitated by the Bishops' War (1639, 1640) with Scotland, to finance which King Charles I was forced to summon Parliament (1640) after having governed England for 11 years without it. Tension between monarch and House of Commons steadily increased; after his unsuccessful attempt to arrest five members of Parliament (Jan. 4, 1642), Charles left London (January 10), and both sides prepared for war. Initially the opposing armies were of equal numbers (each about 13,000 men); the Royalists were superior in cavalry until the formation of Parliament's New Model Army (1645). However, Parliament's greater economic resources presaged the conflict's ultimate outcome. Whereas Royalist support came largely from Wales and from the North and West of England, Parliament held the richer South and East and controlled London, the majority of the ports, and the navy. Parliament was able to levy taxes, but for ready money the king was dependent on his supporters. The first phase of the wars lasted from 1642 to 1646. Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham in August 1642, and a number of inconclusive encounters followed. Although unchecked at Edgehill (Oct. 23, 1642), he abandoned an advance on London when confronted by a Parliamentary force at Turnham Green; he then withdrew to Oxford, which became his military headquarters. In 1643 the Royalists at Adwalton Moor (June 30) won control of almost all Yorkshire, while Parliament was victorious at Winceby (October 11) and took Lincoln; in the Southwest there were Royalist victories at Lansdown and Broadway Down (July), and Charles's nephew Prince Rupert captured Bristol. After the inconclusive first Battle of Newbury (September), both sides sought allies. Parliament in the Solemn League and Covenant bought Scottish military aid; the king made peace with the Irish (in rebellion since 1641), thereby freeing troops for deployment in Britain. Despite the Parliamentary victory at Marston Moor (July 2), the Royalist operations of 1644 were in general the more successful. A second Battle of Newbury (September 20) settled nothing. Only in 1645, after the formation of the New Model Army and its overwhelming victory at Naseby (June 14), did the war take a decisive turn. The last Royalist army was beaten at Langport (July 10), while in Scotland the marquess of Montrose was defeated at Philiphaugh (September 13). The Scots swept through the North of England, and Parliamentary forces through the Southwest; 1646 saw the final disbandment of Royalist troops and the surrender of Oxford. King Charles took refuge with the Scots, who handed him over as a prisoner to the Parliamentarians when they left England in January 1647. During 1647 Charles was first kidnapped by the army, which was increasingly at odds with Parliament, and then escaped, arriving by mischance in the Isle of Wight. There he negotiated with a Scottish group the secret Engagement (December 26), promising to establish Presbyterianism in England and suppress Independents in exchange for aid. This started the second phase of the wars, a series of Royalist rebellions, and a Scottish invasion (July 1648). All were defeated, and resentment at Charles's duplicity led to his trial and execution (January 1649). Fighting next broke out in Ireland, where Oliver Cromwell for the newly established Commonwealth suppressed (164950) a major uprising of Roman Catholics and Royalists. A Scottish rebellion under Montrose was crushed (April 1650), and Charles II then made terms with the Presbyterian Covenanters. Cromwell decisively defeated them at Dunbar (Sept. 3, 1650); but, unable to follow up his victory, he then allowed Charles, recently crowned in Scotland, to march deep into England. The utter rout of the Royalists at Worcester (Sept. 3, 1651) and Charles II's subsequent flight abroad effectively ended the civil wars. The civil wars caused comparatively little loss of life or destruction of property. Politically, their consequence was the establishment of the Commonwealth and Protectorate. In religion they fostered the English Nonconformist tradition; they also left the English with a profound distrust of standing armies.