The English Civil War: Causes
‘The English civil war started in 1642, primarily because of religious disagreements’. How far do you agree with this statement?
On 22 august 1642, Charles 1 declared war against hi enemies in parliament. This led to a civil war where 1 in 10 men died. In this essay I am going to explain the main causes of the civil war and then I am going to see how much I agree with the statement.
Charles got off to a bad start in 1625 when he married a French, catholic princess called Henrietta Maria. This was a very bad mistake as Charles and most of England were devoted members of the Church of England (Protestants). This was wrong as the princess could have changed the religion of England by persuading her husband and also she could have made her children catholic and they were heirs to the throne. One of the main religious reasons was that in 1633 Charles made William laud the archbishop of Canterbury. This was bad because he was a catholic and most of the people in England didn’t like that.
Another reason why Charles was not any good at sorting out religious problems was the Scottish rebellions. This was caused by Charles I making the Scottish use English prayer books. They did not like this as they were much more puritan than English people so they were unhappy about Charles changing their religion. This angered the Scots so much that they invaded England in 1639. As Charles was short of money to fight the Scots, he had to recall Parliament in 1640 as only they had the necessary money needed to fight a war and the required authority to collect extra money.
One of the more political reasons for the English civil war was the individual reign of Charles I of England. In 1629, Charles copied his father. He refused to let Parliament meet. Members of Parliament arrived at Westminster to find that the doors had been locked with large chains and padlocks. They were locked out for eleven years - a period they called the Eleven Years Tyranny. This was the period of his
On 22 august 1642, Charles 1 declared war against hi enemies in parliament. This led to a civil war where 1 in 10 men died. In this essay I am going to explain the main causes of the civil war and then I am going to see how much I agree with the statement.
Charles got off to a bad start in 1625 when he married a French, catholic princess called Henrietta Maria. This was a very bad mistake as Charles and most of England were devoted members of the Church of England (Protestants). This was wrong as the princess could have changed the religion of England by persuading her husband and also she could have made her children catholic and they were heirs to the throne. One of the main religious reasons was that in 1633 Charles made William laud the archbishop of Canterbury. This was bad because he was a catholic and most of the people in England didn’t like that.
Another reason why Charles was not any good at sorting out religious problems was the Scottish rebellions. This was caused by Charles I making the Scottish use English prayer books. They did not like this as they were much more puritan than English people so they were unhappy about Charles changing their religion. This angered the Scots so much that they invaded England in 1639. As Charles was short of money to fight the Scots, he had to recall Parliament in 1640 as only they had the necessary money needed to fight a war and the required authority to collect extra money.
One of the more political reasons for the English civil war was the individual reign of Charles I of England. In 1629, Charles copied his father. He refused to let Parliament meet. Members of Parliament arrived at Westminster to find that the doors had been locked with large chains and padlocks. They were locked out for eleven years - a period they called the Eleven Years Tyranny. This was the period of his