Behemoth (book) - Part Three: The English Civil War, Rise of Cromwell, and Execution of Charles I

Part Three: The English Civil War, Rise of Cromwell, and Execution of Charles I

The discussion again continues after a break and now turns to the matter of the Civil war itself. The student is concerned about what he sees as the inability of Charles I to stand up to the Parliament due to his overall lack of resources as Parliament has taken control of much of the necessary material to fight a war. The master reminds the student that the officers on the side of the crown were all well experienced men and that this was an advantage that the Parliamentarians did not have. As for money, neither side had much on hand. Some of the forces supporting the king took future credit while those supporting the Parliament were funded by an appeal to the cities and by the placing of levies on the towns.

As the wars continued men on both side of the struggle changed side. This at first was to the detriment of the Parliamentary forces but in time some of those loyal to the king began to support the cause of the Parliament. This was despite the king's ancient right to call for arms in times of conflict from all land owners and high born people. The Parliamentarians had already abandoned most of the laws and so this most ancient call to arms for the king was largely ignored.

The progress of the wars showed that early on the victory was mainly had by the king's cavaliers over Parliament's forces. Mainly in the north and the west of the country Charles I had his successes. Scotland came into the war on the side of Parliament and this put some pressure on the crowns forces. This pressure was used by Oliver Cromwell in 1644 to win the Battle of Marston Moor. This marks the rise of Oliver Cromwell in the Parliamentary army and he would use these successes to eventually take over the control of the commonwealth as Lord Protector.

In 1645 Cromwell reorganized Parliaments forces into the New Model Army. This was a more disciplined and better trained group of soldiers and with this the tide began to turn against the royalist cause. In 1646 the besieged Charles I received from Parliament the same nineteen points that had brought both sides to conflict. Charles again did not give assent to them. Instead an arrangement was brokered between Parliament and the king that would see him surrender himself to them and thus end the war. By the end of 1646 the great seal of the king was broken and power over England was now available to be taken.

1647 and 1648 saw the contention for control over the realm between Oliver Cromwell, with his New Model Army, and the Parliament as the king was held prisoner and not permitted to govern. Cromwell controlled 55 members of the parliament and used them to gain further support for his control over the government. Cromwell made overtures to the king to gain those members who had supported the royalist cause. London tried to stand against Cromwell but was quickly put down. He continued to consolidate his power and eventually had control over the parliament. He did not turn control back to the king as he said he would.

Charles I was as unwilling to work with Parliament under the control of Cromwell and the generals as he had been before the Civil War. Cromwell removed opposition in the house, leaving what became known as the Rump Parliament, and began a charge against the king for his part in bringing about the war.

The king was brought before Parliament, the charges read, and the king denied the authority of Parliament to charge him. This occurred three times and each time Parliament asserted that they did have the necessary authority. Charles was found guilty of tyranny and executed at the gates of Whitehall on Jan 30th 1649.