20. Interlude

02/22/21 • 14 min

The First Civil War had ended. King Charles I had lost, which wasn't just a military or political problem, but a religious one too: after all, if God had made him king, and God also determined who won wars, who could make sense of what was going on? Had God sided with Parliament against the king he'd set on his throne in the first place.

In practical terms, Charles was in captivity, a prisoner of Parliament. In the country at large, normal politics could have restarted, if politics had been anything like normal. There were tensions between Parliament and Parliament's army, which was beginning to do some of its own political soul-searching. Which was particularly interesting, since it was the most powerful organisation in the country. And, within the army itself, there were tensions too, as new trends appeared, among common people, wondering whether, what will all the fighting they were doing, and all the sacrifices they had made, they shouldn't be given a bit more of a say in the running of the state.

Fascinating debates. Sadly cut short. Because Charles may have been down, but he wasn't yet out. And he could still do something destructive and self-destructive.
The illustration is the front page of one of the versions of the Leveller document, 'An Agreement of the People', laying out demands for wider political rights.
Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

Previous Episode

19. First Civil War: Parliament gets serious

Parliament getting serious about the Civil War, getting its act together on military matters - above all by launching its New Model Army - and starting to win some key battles.

Against that context, and helping Parliament on its way to success, there's the meteoric rise of Oliver Cromwell, a man whose military ability hadn't been suspected before. Not that this will be the end of his surprises for England.

The episode ends as the First Civil War - ironically referred to as the 'Great Civil War' - also closes with poor old King Charles I in pretty dire straits.

General Oliver Cromwell at Marston Moor, 1644
Engraving by William French after Ernest Crofts ARA, published by J S Virtue and Company Limited, London, 1860 (c).
National Army Museum. 1999-04-158-1

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

Next Episode

21. Round 2 and a deluded king’s fine death

When the Scots began to worry about the increasing power of the New Model Army, and even whether it might be a bigger threat to them than the king, they decided to open negotiations with him. The result was a strange alliance between former enemies. Charles escaped and joined them, launching the Second English Civil War.

Which he lost, just like the First.

This time, though, his enemies had run out of patience with him. They decided that he had to go. For that, they organised a show trial, but even to get that they first had to pull off a military coup.

With all that in place, they got their trial and eventually the execution they wanted. Which Charles went to with courage and dignity, that won him widespread affection again. In fact, he handled his death so well that it seems rather a pity he didn't handle his life as wisely.

The illustration is an engraving from Nalson’s Record of the Trial of Charles I. Plate 2 from “A True copy of the journal of the High Court of Justice for the tryal of K. Charles I as it was read in the House of Commons and attested under the hand of Phelps, clerk to that infamous court”, taken by J. Nalson Jan. 4, 1683. Credit: British Museum / Commons.

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License