Origins of the English Civil War
Causes were Religious, Economic and Political but Began with Tyranny
King Charles I grew up in a very religious home. His father, King James, had conservative ideas about the divine right of Kings. Charles I called it his "Personal Rule".
Absolute Power
Charles enlarged these ideas and in his narcissistic way, interpreted being God’s servant as a right to treat all of his own subjects as servants. He disregarded more that 400 years of English constitutional convention and decided that he could reign supreme without regard for the wishes of his people. He viewed Parliament as a rubber stamp on any initiative he could dream up. When these guardians of Liberty balked, he simply dissolved the assembly. The third time he did this, in 1629, he arrested several Parliamentary leaders and threw them in the Tower. This began a long period of time which his opponents called the “eleven year tyranny”. He simply called it “personal rule”. In 1632 he made Tom Wentworth the Lord-Deputy of Ireland. Wentworth thought, as the Kings representative that he would have a little “personal rule” of his own. This was a major factor in the Irish uprising in 1641.
Puritans vs. Anglicans
Charles turned his political opponents into patriotic enemies and then proceeded to make a lot of religious enemies by making his High Anglican friend William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. Now the Puritan faction was bound to make even more trouble for the king because Laud was a religious bigot when it came to any other form of worship. In 1633 he finally offended his ancient Scottish subjects when he married the French and Catholic Princess Henrietta, which confirmed to them his disdain for the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland.
Scots Covenanters
In 1639, the Scots decided they had reached breaking point. Lords Argyll, Balmerino, Montrose and Rothes sounded the call to arms. They recruited Alexander Leslie as their General. In response, King Charles tried to raise an Army as well but there were no funds in the coffers and no one, especially the Puritans, would come to his aid. This caused Charles to make overtures towards his Scots brethren; but by 1640, he had again decided to use force to bring the Scottish Covenanters into submission.
Kings Advisor's Beheaded
This left him no other choice than to recall Parliament to raise the necessary funds. To no one’s surprise this Parliament was no more eager to support this war effort than the last one. Charles then turned to his Irish minister. Wentworth obliged the Irish Parliament to finance the war. This forced Scotland’s hand. They promptly invaded and were virtually unopposed. King Charles tried to do damage control by giving in to the Scots demands. The debacle was made complete when his two most faithful advisors were tried and put to death as traitors.
King Charles vs. Parliament
The final chapter began in 1641 when the Irish revolted. This was the natural outcome of the tyrannical “personal rule” of the Kings favorite, Wentworth. Now, the King had to clash with Parliament over who was going to direct the war effort. Charles then made his most fatal and obtuse mistake. He attempted to apprehend the five leading members of the opposition … during a session of parliament! This stunt cost King Charles his moral authority. The entire royal family was forced into hiding and England's first civil war was underway.
Source
The Cousins Wars by Kevin Phillips, 1999, Basic Books
