English Civil War - Part Two

Part 3- Beginning of the Republic

Oliver Cromwell

https://youtu.be/qBGHolXGi3A
https://youtu.be/lQcPUema9X4

It was during this time that a high ranking member of parliament began leading a newly organized Parliamentary army into battle. He was zealous and believed he was one of 'the elect' predestined from birth to receive God's love.

During battle against the King in Newbury, one of the Parliamentary generals kept his men from attacking, believing it to be too dangerous. Cromwell called him a traitor and convinced parliament to give him sole control of the parliamentary army.

It was during this time that the English government outlawed Christmas, believing that it was invented by the Pope and not biblical, it also encouraged drunkenness, promiscuity and gluttony. Instead they made it a somber day of fasting.

The Puritans also banned many books to the outrage of many. Yet others believed that England was "God's elect nation" favored above all others and needed to live up to his expectations.

Cromwell's New Model army was equally pious and disciplined. Cromwell organized a biblically inspired sober and purposeful army. They were well paid. Cromwell's own regiment considered themselves a marching church.

At this time, parliament also executed the highest ranking member of the church of England, Archbishop Laud for "false erroneous doctrines, and other sinister ways and means, he went about to subvert religion, established in this kingdom, and to set up popery and superstition in the church."

The King's army captured Leicester. The parliamentary army met them there and won a decisive victory. The Parliamentary forces killed 1,000 royalist soldiers, chased them 14 miles and ran through the royalist camp killing many of the women. Cromwell proclaimed the victory to be the 'hand of God, and to Him alone belongs the glory.'

The King retreated to the west Midlands, Hereford to Nottingham to Oxford were safe. His men rushed to reinforce Bristol but his cavalry were defeated by Cromwell.

As the parliament army won battles, behind them came the Puritan politicians. There were many witch hunts. After one victory, the Puritans executed 35 'witches' in one afternoon. Over 100 were executed that summer.

Bristol fell that September, page 286

The Royalists then lost Manchester and Liverpool. The final battle took place in Gloucestershire where the Caverliers surrendered in mass.

King Charles sought protection from the Scottish. Bottom of p287-288

Eventually, the King proved too stubborn and the Scottish lost patience. They agreed a deal of 400,000 British pounds and surrendered the King to them. Top of p290

After the War

The was now captured and so parliament made plans to disband the army. However, many of the soldiers had yet to be paid. They demanded payment but the harvest and the economy had been crippled by the war. Parliament were very reluctant to pay all the soldiers that had helped them defeat the king. When pressure continued parliament suggested that the soldiers demanding payment were traitors. The army and parliament grew to distrust one another and parliament suspected that the army may still try to align themselves with the king despite him being in custody.

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The king was rumored to be in contact with the Scottish, hoping that they'd come to his aid, standing by the age old belief in the divine right. A colonel in parliament barged into the king's living quarters and searched it for letters to the Scottish. The colonel searched the kings pockets. The king was outraged and hit the colonel at which point, the unthinkable happened and the colonel punched the king.

The king would continue to resist however he could. They would smuggle letters in and out inside the shoes of his servants. He tried climbing through the metal bars in his window and got stuck and had to be pulled back in.

There were many people who were upset with the treatment of the king and they protested in the streets. The Parliamentary army travelled to south Wales to put down an uprising. Another uprising began in Essex and Kent. The Scottish troops gathered at the border but by the time they crossed, the Parliamentary army had defeated the uprisings. In the south, a royalist supporting town of colchester was surrounded by the Parliamentary army and besieged for 11 weeks. The townspeople had no option but to eat cats, dogs, horses and rats. Once these were gone allegedly they turned to eating soap and candlesticks.

The Parliamentary army was now getting tired of playing whack a mole with these rebellions and blamed the king for his influence. The army became worried that parliament would try to negotiate with the king again and so one morning a commander stood outside parliament with some soldiers and arrested the members of parliament that they didn't like. Cromwell is reported to have said 'I was not aware of the plan, but now that it is done, I am glad of it."

Next, talk spread of the king rallying a royalist uprising in Ireland. The Parliamentary army had had enough. Now with control of parliament they were determined to charge the king with treason.

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In the court, the king didn't understand how he could be tried of treason when treason was conspiring against the king. He didn't understand that it had come to mean the people. The king continued to impose his authority. It had lost its power. He asked by what authority he had been called to trial. They replied, by the power of the people. The king replied, "England has never been an elective kingdom but a hereditary one for near a thousand years."

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https://youtu.be/zjxu1De8npY

1649- King Charles I executed - bottom of 309

Part 4- Cromwell holds onto power/ Ireland

Upon hearing the news, Ireland and Scotland proclaimed that the king's son, Charles II was now king. However, Charles II was in hiding in the Netherlands. Charles II was 19 years old.

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Parliament proceeded to sell the king's possessions and destroy all images of him. Famine and starvation were common in the land. People began to protest. A group of soldiers led a revolt and were quickly suppressed with 3 of the officers being shot.

Cromwell attempted to keep everyone calm by declaring "Be not offended at the manner of God's working, perhaps no other way was left."

One officer responded, "Cromwell will tear up and cry for forgiveness from God even while he is actively punching you in the gut."

Tensions mounted and parliament passed the treason act in which it made it treasonous to accuse 'the government of tyranny and treason' themselves. It was designed to subdue the growing criticism from pamphlets and newspapers. Any preacher who mentioned Charles or his son Charles would be deemed a 'delinquent'.

Ireland

Scotland and North Ireland still held support behind the sovereign and this worried parliament. Cromwell traveled to Ireland himself to subdue are uprising. Cromwell believed that God was on his side and marvelled at the good timing of his arrival. The Parliamentary navy had just won a big victory against the Irish royalists at sea.

Cromwell believed the Irish to be lesser that the English. He believed they were lesser in race and religion. Being Catholics he believed them to be fake Christians. He referred to them as "the barbarous and bloodthirsty Irish".

Cromwell commanded a force of 20,000. The royalist supporters defended a series of cities. They protected themselves behind tall city walls. Cromwell's army besieged the cities one by one killing anyone who held a weapon. Cromwell also ordered the killing of all Catholic priests and friars. The city of Wexford was ransacked. It's reported that 200 people were executed. Cromwell believed that if he could scare the Irish with bloodshed, then they would surrender faster. Instead it only served to make them stronger in their hatred.

Between 1650 and 1660 Oliver Cromwell even ordered the destruction of harps and organs. Harps were burned and harpers were forbidden to congregate. Harpers and minstrels, who once entertained kings, were reduced to traveling from place to place and begging for a living where they could. Harpers, however, were not the only Irish treated with such hostility. In an attempt to gain control of Ireland, laws were enacted by the English Crown making it illegal for the Irish to speak their language, own land, become educated and to marry. The penalty was death.

After 9 months, Cromwell returned to England as a hero.

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https://youtu.be/uonEk0EuVGU

Presbyterian = reformed branch of protestant christianity that focuses on the teachings of John Calvin.

Puritan = reformed branch of protestant christianity that focuses on the teachings of John Calvin... but were stricter. They didn't believe in freedom of religion and felt that Catholicism should be outlawed, Christmas was a pagan invention and playing cards should be illegal.

Puritan parliament also decided to destroy the culturally significant Shakespearean Globe theater. They burned it down believing the theater distracted from God. They also made adultery punishable by death. Catholic people had their land taken from them.

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On new years day 1651 Charles II was named king of Scotland.

Cromwell didn't like the idea of invading Scotland so he strategically let the north go undefended. Charles II took the bait and marched the Scottish army south to the reliably Royalist city of Worcester.

1651- Battle of Worcester

Cromwell approached Worcester from both ends of the river. Charles II watched the battle from the Cathedral roof. Churches in the area still have bullet holes in them even now, 400 years later. Royalist troops lost a key conflict at hilltop fort. He rushed down the Cathedral and ran through the empty streets. Crawling under an oxcart blocking the street, he hid in the cities hall before changing his clothes and sneaking out the city walls and through the nearby woodland. Cromwell and the royalist army attacked the city, burning homes. Despite the best efforts of the troops they couldn't find the King. For 42 days Charles II traveled south on foot disguised as a commoner. He had several allies who hid him along the way, many of the members of the Catholic church. On one occasion an unaware blacksmith expressed the opinion that once they find the king he should be hanged for bringing the Scottish troops into England. He made it to Brighton on the south coast and managed to cross undetected. He was a disheveled, dirty mess when he arrived in France. When asked if he'd ever return to Scotland he said he'd rather be hanged.

Cromwell returned to London once again as a hero. He was given a palace and a retirement. However, he and many in the army were unhappy with parliament. Parliament had grown comfortable and unambiguous. Cromwell didn't understand why God had helped him in battle but now had him obeying a lazy parliament. Friends of his shared their strong dissatisfaction with parliament. Many believed they had stalled the true meaning of the Revolution.

P325

Cromwell had effectively organized a second revolution. He became ruler by default as leader of the army. Cromwell and his trusted advisors decided to assemble a small parliament of hungry and ambitious individuals. However, these men were too zealous and extreme and tried making wide spread sweeping changes abolishing the laws and replacing them with the laws of Moses. Dishonoring your father and your mother, adultery, stealing and working on a sunday would be punishable by death.

The religious laws of the new government were too extreme and scared a lot of people. So the moderate members of parliament performed a coup while the radicals were in the chapel praying. They joined Cromwell in the house of parliament where he was waiting for them. They named Cromwell, Lord Protector of the British Republic. Everyone understood that Cromwell was now in charge. "Without the name of king, but with greater power and authority than had ever been exercised or claimed by a king." Cromwell lived in the palace. Kept some of the kings art and clothes. He stated that Parliment didn't control him but his "calling be from God." In a way this was to resurrect the divine right of king's for his own needs.

Some criticized Cromwell, others were just happy that peace had come again. However, not everyone liked the new system. There were many people who wanted the Monarchy back. They believed he was the rightful leader of Great Britain and God's representative on earth. Royalists still met in secret at various pubs. King Charles II wrote secret letters to them. They came up with a plot to assassinate Cromwell but this was intercepted by Cromwell's spies. The pub was raided and the leaders executed, one a catholic priest. 500 men were arrested and some sent as slaves to Barbados.

Cromwell became afraid of more assassination plots. He traveled with a flint gun at all times. Parliament debated Cromwell's position of power and it made him nervous. He asked them to sign an agreement to accept his authority. Most signed but some didn't. They still believed parliament should have more power, Cromwell no longer felt this way. He had always been frustrated in the constant debate and competing interests within parliament. So when they didn't all agree, some members petitioned a need for a militia controlled by parliament. Cromwell stamped out this idea by dissolving parliament altogether. The first protectorate government was over and Cromwell continued ruling alone.