I

4. The Civil War

n the summer of 1642, the King raised his standard at Nottingham. That marked the beginning of theCivil War between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, or the Roundheads. At the beginning, the war was favourable to the King. The Roundheads were brave enough but inexperienced in fighting, while the Cavaliers were all trained warriors. The Royalist leader was the King’s nephew, Prince Rupert who had come from Germany to help his uncle. The most famous Parliamentarian general was Oliver Cromwell, who was a landowner from Huntingdonshire and a Member of Parliament. Cromwell soon began the military leader of the army. Until the Revolution broke out, nobody had known, even himself, that he had a talent for military leadership. Cromwell trained a body of soldiers, “a regiment on horse”, about whom he wrote: “I would rather have a plain captain that knows what he fights for that that which you call a gentleman and is nothing else; a few honest men are better than numbers”.

Cromwell’s army of a “New Model” was well-disciplined. His soldiers were called “Ironsides” because they were never beaten. Cromwell won two great battles against the Royalists – at Marston Moor, in 1644, and at Naseby, in 1645. These two battles made Parliament supreme in the North and in the Midlands. Finally, the King’s army was destroyed. Charles wanted to join the Scotsmen, and begged them to help him win back his kingdom. But they were bribed by Cromwell and handed Charles over to Parliament.

The High Court was assembled together to try the King and to put an end to the war. The trial was held in Westminster Hall, and lasted several days. The King was found guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence read: “… the court, being satisfied in conscience that he, Charles Stuart, is guilty of the crimes of which he has been accused, doth adjudge him as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the good people of the nation, to be put to death by severing his head from his body.” Three days later, on January 30, 1649, Charles I was beheaded. England was proclaimed a Commonwealth (a Republic) and Oliver Cromwell got the title of the Lord Protector.

When the Puritans came to power, they introduced a number of measures, which were to become moral rules for everyday life. Games and theatrical performances were prohibited. It was thought that they proceeded from the devil. Statues and pictures were taken out of the churches. The music that followed services was excluded. Cromwell himself prohibited the celebration of Christmas. There were two reasons for all that. To begin with, it was a form of protest against the King’s church which was very costly, and, secondly, it was a political platform. It was during the time of the Commonwealth that pews and pulpits were placed in churches to make it easier for the people to listen to long sermons.