1.
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
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The Wars of the Three Kingdoms, sometimes known as the British Civil Wars, formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland and Scotland between 1639 and 1651. The English Civil War proper has become the best-known of these conflicts and included the execution of the monarch, Charles I. The wars were the outcome of tensions over religious and civil issues, religious disputes centered on whether religion was to be dictated by the monarch or the choice of the individual, with many people feeling that they ought to have freedom of religion. The related civil questions were to what extent the kings rule was constrained by parliaments—in particular his right to raise taxes, furthermore, the wars also had an element of national conflict, as Ireland and Scotland rebelled against Englands primacy within the Three Kingdoms. Since 1541, monarchs of England had also styled their Irish territory as a Kingdom, Scotland, the third separate kingdom, was governed by the House of Stuart. With the English Reformation, King Henry VIII made himself head of the Protestant Church of England and outlawed Catholicism in England and Wales. However, Catholicism remained the religion of most people in Ireland and was for many a symbol of resistance to the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the 16th century. In the Kingdom of Scotland the Protestant Reformation was a movement led by John Knox. In 1584, he introduced bishops, but met opposition and had to concede that the General Assembly running the church should continue to do so. The personal union of the three kingdoms under one monarch came about when King James VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth to the English throne in 1603 and he showed little interest in his other two kingdoms, Scotland and Ireland. James VI remained Protestant, taking care to maintain his hopes of succession to the English throne and he duly also became James I of England in 1603 and moved to London. In 1625, he was succeeded by his son Charles I who was less skillful or restrained and was crowned in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, opposition to his attempts to enforce Anglican practices reached a flashpoint when he introduced a Book of Common Prayer. Charles confrontation with the Scots came to a head in 1639, see also the English Civil War. Charles shared his fathers belief in the Divine Right of Kings, while the Church of England remained dominant, a powerful Puritan minority, represented by around one third of the members of Parliament, had much in common with the Presbyterian Scots. The English Parliament also had repeated disputes with the king over such subjects as taxation, military expenditure, while James I had held the same opinions as his son with regard to royal prerogatives, he had enough charisma to persuade the Parliament to accept his policies. Charles did not have this skill in human management and so, meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Ireland, tensions had also begun to mount. Charles Is Lord Deputy there, Thomas Wentworth, had antagonised the native Irish Catholics by repeated initiatives to confiscate their lands and he had also angered Roman Catholics by enforcing new taxes but denying them full rights as subjects. Modern historians have emphasised the lack of the inevitability of the wars, pointing out that all sides resorted to violence in a situation marked by mutual distrust
2.
Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
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The Scottish Royalists, aided by Irish troops, had a rapid series of victories in 1644–45, but were eventually defeated by the Covenanters. This led to the Third English Civil War, when Scotland was invaded and occupied by the Parliamentarian New Model Army under Oliver Cromwell, Scotland had helped to spark this series of wars in 1638, when it had risen in revolt against Charles Is religious policies. The National Covenant of Scotland was formulated to resist the Kings innovations, the Covenanters raised a large army from the dependants of their landed class and successfully resisted Charles Is attempt to impose his will on Scotland in the so-called Bishops Wars. The Scottish uprising triggered civil war in Charles other two Kingdoms, first in Ireland, then in England, as a result, they had proposed raising an army from Irish Catholics, in return for abolishing discriminatory laws against them. This prospect alarmed Charles enemies in England and Scotland and the Covenanters threatened to invade Ireland, in response a group of Irish conspirators launched the Irish Rebellion of 1641, which quickly degenerated into a series of massacres of English and Scottish Protestant settlers in Ireland. This in turn sparked civil war in England, because the Long Parliament did not trust Charles with command of an army to put down the Irish rebellion, the English Civil War broke out in 1642. The Scottish Covenanters sent an army to Ulster in Ireland in 1642 to protect the Scottish settlers there, however, some in Scotland continued to side with the King. These were most prominent in the Highlands and north-east of Scotland, there were several factors that inclined people towards Royalism. Among them were religion, culture, clan politics and political allegiance, furthermore, the Highlands was a distinct cultural, political and economic region of Scotland. It was Gaelic in language and customs and at time was largely outside of the control of the Scottish government. Some Highland clans preferred the more distant authority of Protestant King Charles to the powerful, however, the largest Highland clan, the Campbells, led by their chief, Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, did side with the Covenanters. This meant that the Protestant Campbells rivals in the violent world of politics, notably the MacDonalds. It should be said that some of these overlap, for instance the MacDonalds were Catholics, were sworn enemies of the Campbells. Historian David Stevenson writes, It is a moot point whether one should call the MacDonnells of Antrim Scots or Irish, Montrose had already tried and failed to lead a Royalist uprising by 1644, when he was presented with a ready made Royalist army. The Irish Confederates, who were aligned with the Royalists. From their point of view, this would tie up Scottish Covenanter troops who would otherwise be used in Ireland or England, the Irish sent 1500 men to Scotland under the command of Alasdair MacColla MacDonald, a MacDonald clansman from the Western Isles of Scotland. They included Manus OCahan and his 500-man regiment, shortly after landing, the Irish linked up with Montrose at Blair Atholl and proceeded to raise forces from the MacDonalds and other anti-Campbell Highland clans. The new Royalist army led by Montrose and MacColla was in some respects very formidable and they did not fight in the massed pike and musket formations that dominated continental Europe at the time, but fired their muskets in loose order before closing with swords and half-pikes
3.
English Civil War
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The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists over, principally, the manner of Englands government. The war ended with the Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, the monopoly of the Church of England on Christian worship in England ended with the victors consolidating the established Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. The term English Civil War appears most often in the singular form, the war in all these countries are known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Unlike other civil wars in England, which focused on who should rule, this war was more concerned with the manner in which the kingdoms of England, Scotland, the two sides had their geographical strongholds, such that minority elements were silenced or fled. The strongholds of the royalty included the countryside, the shires, on the other hand, all the cathedral cities sided with Parliament. All the industrial centers, the ports, and the advanced regions of southern and eastern England typically were parliamentary strongholds. Lacey Baldwin Smith says, the words populist, rich, at times there would be two groups of three lines allowing one group to reload while the other group arranged themselves and fired. Mixed in among the musketeers were pikemen carrying pikes that were between 12 feet and 18 feet long, whose purpose was to protect the musketeers from cavalry charges. The Royalist cavaliers skill and speed on horseback led to early victories. While the Parliamentarian cavalry were slower than the cavaliers, they were better disciplined. The Royalists had a tendency to chase down individual targets after the initial charge leaving their forces scattered and tired, Cromwells cavalry, on the other hand, trained to operate as a single unit, which led to many decisive victories. The English Civil War broke out fewer than forty years after the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, in spite of this, James personal extravagance meant he was perennially short of money and had to resort to extra-Parliamentary sources of income. Charles hoped to unite the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland into a new single kingdom, many English Parliamentarians had suspicions regarding such a move because they feared that setting up a new kingdom might destroy the old English traditions which had bound the English monarchy. As Charles shared his fathers position on the power of the crown, at the time, the Parliament of England did not have a large permanent role in the English system of government. Instead, Parliament functioned as an advisory committee and was summoned only if. Once summoned, a continued existence was at the kings pleasure. Yet in spite of this role, Parliament had, over the preceding centuries. Without question, for a monarch, Parliaments most indispensable power was its ability to tax revenues far in excess of all other sources of revenue at the Crowns disposal
4.
Worcester, England
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Worcester is a city in Worcestershire, England,31 miles southwest of Birmingham and 27 miles north of Gloucester. The River Severn flanks the western side of the city centre, the Battle of Worcester was the final battle of the English Civil War, where Oliver Cromwells New Model Army defeated King Charles Is Cavaliers. Worcester is known as the home of Royal Worcester Porcelain, composer Edward Elgar, Lea & Perrins, makers of traditional Worcestershire sauce, the trade route past Worcester which later formed part of the Roman Ryknild Street dates to Neolithic times. The position commanded a ford over the River Severn and was fortified by the Britons around 400 BC and it would have been on the northern border of the Dobunni and probably subject to the larger communities of the Malvern hillforts. It may have been the Vertis mentioned in the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmography, using charcoal from the Forest of Dean, the Romans operated pottery kilns and ironworks at the site and may have built a small fort. In the 3rd century, Roman Worcester occupied an area than the subsequent medieval city. Industrial production ceased and the settlement contracted to a position along the lines of the old British fort at the river terraces southern end. This settlement is identified with the Cair Guiragon listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the History of the Britons attributed to Nennius. This is not a British name but an adaption of its Old English name Weorgoran ceaster, the Weorgoran were precursors of Hwicce and probably West Saxons who entered the area some time after the 577 Battle of Dyrham. The oldest known church was St Helens, which was certainly British, the town was almost destroyed in 1041 after a rebellion against the punitive taxation of Harthacanute. During this time, the relocated to the nearby Bevere Island,2 miles upriver. The following century, the town was attacked several times during The Anarchy, by late medieval times the population had grown to around 10,000 as the manufacture of cloth started to become a large local industry. The town was designated a county corporate, giving it autonomy from local government. Worcester was the site of the Battle of Worcester, when Charles II attempted to regain the crown, in the fields a little to the west and south of the city. Worcester had supported the Parliamentary cause before the outbreak of war in 1642 but spent most of the war under Royalist occupation. After the war it used its location as the site of the final battles of the First Civil War. As part of this and not based upon any historical fact, it invented the epithet Fidelis Civitas, in 1670, the River Severn broke its banks and the subsequent flood was the worst ever seen by Worcester. The closest flood height to what is known as The Flood of 1670 was when the Severn flooded in the rains of July 2007
5.
Commonwealth of England
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The republics existence was declared through An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth, adopted by the Rump Parliament on 19 May 1649. Power in the early Commonwealth was vested primarily in the Parliament, the Rump was created by Prides Purge of those members of the Long Parliament who did not support the political position of the Grandees in the New Model Army. Just before and after the execution of King Charles I on 30 January 1649, with the abolition of the monarchy, Privy Council and the House of Lords, it had unchecked executive and legislative power. The English Council of State, which replaced the Privy Council and it was selected by the Rump, and most of its members were MPs. However, the Rump depended on the support of the Army with which it had an uneasy relationship. After the execution of Charles I, the House of Commons abolished the monarchy and it declared the people of England and of all the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging to be henceforth under the governance of a Commonwealth, effectively a republic. In Prides Purge, all members of parliament who would not accept the need to bring the King to trial had been removed, thus the Rump never had more than two hundred members. Most Rumpers were gentry, though there was a proportion of lesser gentry. Less than one-quarter of them were regicides and this left the Rump as basically a conservative body whose vested interests in the existing land ownership and legal systems made it unlikely to want to reform them. For the first two years of the Commonwealth, the Rump faced economic depression and the risk of invasion from Scotland and Ireland, by 1653 Cromwell and the Army had largely eliminated these threats. There were many disagreements amongst factions of the Rump, some wanted a republic, but others favoured retaining some type of monarchical government. Most of Englands traditional ruling classes regarded the Rump as a government made up of regicides. However, they were aware that the Rump might be all that stood in the way of an outright military dictatorship. High taxes, mainly to pay the Army, were resented by the gentry, limited reforms were enough to antagonise the ruling class but not enough to satisfy the radicals. Despite its unpopularity, the Rump was a link with the old constitution, by 1653, France and Spain had recognised Englands new government. Though the Church of England was retained, episcopacy was suppressed, mainly on the insistence of the Army, many independent churches were tolerated, although everyone still had to pay tithes to the established church. Some small improvements were made to law and court procedure, for example, however, there were no widespread reforms of the common law. This would have upset the gentry, who regarded the law as reinforcing their status
6.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
7.
Escape of Charles II
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The Escape of Charles II from England in 1651 was a key episode in his life. Although only taking six weeks, it had an effect on his attitudes for the rest of his life. Charles had lost to Cromwells New Model Army at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, a reward of £1,000 was offered for the capture of the King. It it is likely that the King and anyone helping him would have been executed for treason if caught, the King had a distinctive appearance, very swarthy and 62 tall. Furthermore, there were cavalry patrols whose specific task was to find the King, fortunately for Charles, the Catholics had an organisation with 90 years of experience in keeping secrets and hiding people. However, it was illegal for Catholics to travel more than five miles away from their homes without a pass from the sheriff of the county. Late on 3 September 1651, Charles fled the city of Worcester by the gate in the company of Lord Wilmot, Lord Derby, Charles Giffard. While some of the party elected to try to flee to Scotland, Charles rejected the idea on the basis of its difficulties, the journey would cover hundreds of miles and expose him to many dangers. Instead, Charles planned to make for London, as it was such a city, he could easily disguise himself. Charles told only Wilmot of his plan, telling him they would meet at the Three Cranes Tavern, by now, night was falling and shelter was urgently required, decisions would have to be made without delay. Lord Derby was a committed Cavalier and a prominent Catholic nobleman and he now suggested Boscobel House to Charles as a safe place of refuge. Shropshire remained a Catholic stronghold with many hiding places, the owner of Boscobel, Charles Giffard, was himself accompanying the group and agreed to the plan, however, he suggested another house, White Ladies Priory, as being safer than Boscobel. The royal party then headed into Shropshire, stopping after five miles at an inn in Ombersley for refreshments, Charles continued on towards Stourbridge through the parish of Chaddesley Corbett and past the parishes of Hagley and Pedmore. Stourbridge was garrisoned by Parliamentary troops but Charles was able to pass without the alarm being sounded, tradition has it the King halted at Whittington Manor, now the Whittington Inn on the A449. From there he passed through Kinver into Staffordshire, the party stopped again at Wordsley, before arriving at White Ladies Priory on Giffards estate at Boscobel in the early hours of 4 September. The houses on the estate were looked after by servants, five Catholic brothers called Pendrell, lived on the Boscobel Estate. At White Ladies, the King was met by George Pendrell who called his brother, Richard, from his farm, Hobbal Grange and they disguised the King as a farm labourer, in a coarse noggen shirt, with breeches of green coarse cloth and a doeskin leather doublet. Charles was then given a pair of patched stockings and a greasy, long, white, steeple-crowned hat to wear, and Richard cut the Kings hair, leaving it short on top but long at the sides
8.
Roundhead
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Roundhead was the name given to the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against Charles I of England and his supporters, the Cavaliers or Royalists, who claimed rule by absolute monarchy, the goal of the Roundhead party was to give the Parliament supreme control over executive administration. Most Roundheads sought constitutional monarchy in place of the absolutist monarchy sought by Charles I, englands many Puritans and Presbyterians were almost invariably Roundhead supporters, as were many smaller religious groups such as the Independents. However many Roundheads were Church of England, as were many Cavaliers, Roundhead political factions included the proto-anarchist Diggers, the diverse group known as the Levellers and the apocalyptic Christian movement of the Fifth Monarchists. Some Puritans, but by no means all, wore their hair closely cropped round the head or flat, during the war and for a time afterwards, Roundhead was a term of derision—in the New Model Army it was a punishable offence to call a fellow soldier a Roundhead. This contrasted with the term Cavalier to describe supporters of the Royalist cause, Roundheads appears to have been first used as a term of derision toward the end of 1641, when the debates in Parliament in the Clergy Act 1640 were causing riots at Westminster. The demonstrators included London apprentices and Roundhead was a term of derision for them because the regulations to which they had agreed included a provision for closely cropped hair. However, Richard Baxter ascribes the origin of the term to a made by Queen Henrietta Maria of France at the trial of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford. Referring to John Pym, she asked who the man was. The principal advisor to Charles II, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, remarked on the matter and they who were looked upon as servants to the king being then called Cavaliers, and the other of the rabble contemned and despised under the name of Roundheads. By the end of this period some Independent Puritans were again using the term Roundhead to refer to the Presbyterian Puritans. Likewise during the Exclusion Bill crisis, the term Cavalier was replaced with Tory, an Irish term introduced by their opponents, the History of England from the Accession of James II. Historical Memorials Relating to the Independents Or Congregationalists, From Their Rise to the Restoration of the Monarchy, religious Thought in England, from the Reformation to the End of Last Century, A Contribution to the History of Theology. Heavy Words Lightly Thrown, The Reason Behind Rhyme, attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Anonymous
9.
Cavalier
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It was later adopted by the Royalists themselves. Prince Rupert, commander of much of Charles Is cavalry, is considered to be an archetypal Cavalier. Cavalier derives from the same Latin root as the French word chevalier, Cavalier is chiefly associated with the Royalist supporters of King Charles I in his struggle with Parliament in the English Civil War. Charles, in the Answer to the Petition 13 June 1642 speaks of Cavaliers as a word by what mistake soever it seemes much in disfavour, Cavalier was not understood at the time as primarily a term describing a style of dress, but a whole political and social attitude. Most Parliamentarian generals wore their hair at much the length as their Royalist counterparts. The best patrons in the nobility of Charles Is court painter Sir Anthony van Dyck, probably the most famous image identified as of a cavalier, Frans Hals Laughing Cavalier, shows a gentleman from the strongly Calvinist Dutch town of Haarlem, and is dated 1624. These derogatory terms also showed what the typical Parliamentarian thought of the Royalist side – capricious men who cared more for vanity than the nation at large. Although they did not share the same outlook on how to worship God as the English Independents of the New Model Army, if I forget Thee, do not forget me. However, the word was coined by the Roundheads as a propaganda image of a licentious, hard drinking and frivolous man. It is this image which has survived and many Royalists, for example Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, fitted this description to a tee. Of all his qualifications dissimulation was his masterpiece, in which he so much excelled and this sense has developed into the modern English use of cavalier to describe a recklessly nonchalant attitude, although still with a suggestion of stylishness. Likewise during Exclusion Bill crisis the term Roundhead was replaced with Whig, an example of the Cavalier style can be seen in the painting Charles I, King of England, from Three Angles by Anthony van Dyck. The mascot of Cavalier has been commonly used in the sports world. Most prominently it has been that of the professional Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA since 1970 and it has also been adopted by smaller organizations such as Johnson County Community College, Kankakee Community College, St. Gregorys University, and the University of Virginias College at Wise. Cavaliers have been represented as a class and subclass of role-playing character since 1983 in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Cavalier Generals, King Charles I and His Commanders in the English Civil War, 1642–46. Going to the Wars, The Experience of the British Civil Wars 1638-1651, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Goring, George Goring, Lord. Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of, the history of the rebellion and civil wars in England. The History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution 1688, the Concise Encyclopedia of the Revolutions and Wars of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1639-1660
10.
Oliver Cromwell
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Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Cromwell was born into the gentry, albeit to a family descended from the sister of King Henry VIIIs minister Thomas Cromwell. Little is known of the first 40 years of his life as only four of his letters survive alongside a summary of a speech he delivered in 1628. He became an Independent Puritan after undergoing a conversion in the 1630s. He was a religious man, a self-styled Puritan Moses. He was elected Member of Parliament for Huntingdon in 1628 and for Cambridge in the Short and he entered the English Civil War on the side of the Roundheads or Parliamentarians. Cromwell was one of the signatories of King Charles Is death warrant in 1649 and he was selected to take command of the English campaign in Ireland in 1649–1650. Cromwells forces defeated the Confederate and Royalist coalition in Ireland and occupied the country, during this period, a series of Penal Laws were passed against Roman Catholics, and a substantial amount of their land was confiscated. Cromwell also led a campaign against the Scottish army between 1650 and 1651, as a ruler, he executed an aggressive and effective foreign policy. He died from natural causes in 1658 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, the Royalists returned to power in 1660, and they had his corpse dug up, hung in chains, and beheaded. In a 2002 BBC poll in Britain, Cromwell, sponsored by military historian Richard Holmes was selected as one of the ten greatest Britons of all time. However, his measures against Catholics in Scotland and Ireland have been characterised as genocidal or near-genocidal, Cromwell was born in Huntingdon on 25 April 1599 to Robert Cromwell and Elizabeth Steward. Katherine married Morgan ap William, son of William ap Yevan of Wales, Henry suggested to Sir Richard Williams, who was the first to use a surname in his family, that he use Cromwell, in honour of his uncle Thomas Cromwell. They had ten children, but Oliver, the child, was the only boy to survive infancy. Jasper was the uncle of Henry VII and great uncle of Henry VIII, Cromwells paternal grandfather Sir Henry Williams was one of the two wealthiest landowners in Huntingdonshire. Cromwells father Robert was of modest means but still a part of the gentry class, as a younger son with many siblings, Robert inherited only a house at Huntingdon and a small amount of land. This land would have generated an income of up to £300 a year, near the bottom of the range of gentry incomes, Cromwell himself in 1654 said, I was by birth a gentleman, living neither in considerable height, nor yet in obscurity. He was baptised on 29 April 1599 at St Johns Church and he went on to study at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, then a recently founded college with a strong Puritan ethos
11.
Charles II of England
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Charles II was king of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king of Scotland from 1649 until his deposition in 1651, Charles IIs father, Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. A political crisis followed the death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim, after 1660, all legal documents were dated as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649. Charless English parliament enacted laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England, Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance. The major foreign policy issue of his reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, he entered into the treaty of Dover. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679, Titus Oatess revelations of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charless brother, the crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and, following the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681, and ruled alone until his death on 6 February 1685. He was received into the Roman Catholic Church on his deathbed, Charless wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no live children, but Charles acknowledged at least twelve illegitimate children by various mistresses. He was succeeded by his brother James, Charles II was born in St Jamess Palace on 29 May 1630. His parents were Charles I and Henrietta Maria, Charles was their second son and child. Their first son was born about a year before Charles but died within a day, England, Scotland and Ireland were respectively predominantly Anglican, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic. At birth, Charles automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, at or around his eighth birthday, he was designated Prince of Wales, though he was never formally invested. During the 1640s, when Charles was still young, his father fought Parliamentary, by spring 1646, his father was losing the war, and Charles left England due to fears for his safety. Charles I surrendered into captivity in May 1646, at The Hague, Charles had a brief affair with Lucy Walter, who later falsely claimed that they had secretly married
12.
Third English Civil War
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The Third English Civil War was the last of the English Civil Wars, a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. Even so, Charles II in exile had to submit to long negotiations, the Marquess of Huntly was executed for taking up arms for the king on 22 March 1649. The Marquess of Montrose, under the direction of Charles II, but Charles II merely used Montrose as a threat to obtain better conditions for himself from the Covenanters. Charles II now tried to regain the throne through an alliance with his fathers former enemies in Scotland and he dismissed all the faithful Cavaliers who had followed him to exile. Ireland had been at war since the rebellion of 1641, with most of the island being controlled by the Irish Confederates. In 1648, in the wake of Charles Is arrest, and the threat to them from the armies of the English Parliament. At the end of May 1650 Cromwell turned over his command in Ireland to Henry Ireton and it took two more years of prolonged siege and guerrilla warfare, before the last major Irish resistance was ended, after the fall of Galway in late 1652. The last Confederate Catholic troops surrendered in mid-1653, on 26 June Fairfax, who had been anxious and uneasy since the execution of King Charles I, resigned the command-in-chief of the army to Cromwell, his lieutenant-general. The pretext, rather than the reason, of Fairfaxs resignation was his unwillingness to lead an English army to reduce Scotland and this important step had been resolved upon as soon as it was clear that Charles II would come to terms with the Covenanters. From this point the Third Civil War became a war of England against Scotland, here at least the English Independents carried the whole of England with them. About the same time a new act was passed that was destined to give full. Meanwhile, the motto frappez fort, frappez vite was carried out at once by the regular forces, on 19 July, Cromwell made the final arrangements at Berwick-on-Tweed. Cromwell took with him Lieutenant-General Charles Fleetwood and Major-General John Lambert, on 22 July, Cromwell crossed the river Tweed. The same day a sharp but indecisive fight took place on the slopes of Arthurs Seat, after which Cromwell, having felt the strength of Leslies line. Leslies horse followed him up sharply, and another action was fought, the result was that the army was purged of 80 officers and 3000 soldiers as it lay within musket shot of the enemy. Cromwell was more concerned, however, with the question than with the distracted army of the Scots. On 6 August, he had to back as far as Dunbar to enable the fleet to land supplies in safety. He soon returned to Musselburgh and prepared to force Leslie to battle, in preparation for an extended manoeuvre three days rations were served out
13.
Battle of Dunbar (1650)
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The Battle of Dunbar was a battle of the Third English Civil War. Charles was pronounced King of Great Britain, Ireland and France on 5 February 1649, the battlefield has been inventoried and protected by Historic Scotland under the Historic Environment Act 2011. Although the Scottish and English parliaments were initially allies in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and this was not what Scotlands Presbyterian commissioners had envisioned when they signed the Solemn League and Covenant along with their English counterparts. Thus there came a gradual realisation among some Covenanting Scots that a rapprochement or engagement with the King was perhaps the only way to achieve the true religion throughout Britain and this idea was hotly contested in Scotland. They invaded England in 1648 without the approval of the Scottish Parliament or General Assembly, however, the Duke of Hamilton proved to be a poor general and was easily defeated by the English parliamentary forces at the Battle of Preston. Those who had opposed engaging with the King in 1648 were now effectively governing Scotland and this infuriated the English Parliaments Council of State who decided on a pre-emptive invasion of Scotland. Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Armys commander, disagreed with this strategy against the Scots Covenanters, john Lambert was made Sergeant Major General and appointed as the Armys second-in-command. His army was no longer formed of the veterans of the Thirty Years War who had taken the field for the Scots at the Newburn. Many of them had perished during the Civil War and the ill fated 1648 invasion of England, far more had left active service after the former event, some even leaving for Swedish or French service once more. This meant that a new army had to be raised and trained by the remaining veterans and it eventually comprised some 12,000 soldiers, outnumbering the English army of 11,000 men. Though the Scots were well armed, the pressure of time meant they were poorly trained compared with their English counterparts, Leslie chose therefore to barricade his troops behind strong defensive works around Edinburgh and refused to be drawn out to meet the English in battle. This plea, however, fell on deaf ears, by early September, the English army, weakened by illness and demoralised by lack of success, began to withdraw towards its supply base at Dunbar. Leslie, believing that the English army was retreating, ordered his army to advance in pursuit, Cromwell wrote to the governor of Newcastle, We are upon an engagement very difficult. The enemy hath blocked up our way at the pass of Copperspath and he lieth so upon the hills that we know not how to come that way without great difficulty, and our lying here daily consumeth our men, who fall sick beyond imagination. Eager to curtail the mounting cost of the campaign, the ministers of the Kirk in attendance are said to have put Leslie under great pressure to press on with an attack. On 2 September 1650, he brought his army down from Doon Hill and approached the town and he knew that an attack on the Scottish right flank would leave the left flank unengaged and that a successful push against the right would roll back the latter. On observing the Scots manouevring into their new positions, he is said to have exclaimed, The Lord hath delivered them into our hands. The Major-General and myself coming to the Earl of Roxburghs House, to which he immediately replied, That he had thought to have said the same thing to me
14.
Battle of Inverkeithing
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The Battle of Inverkeithing was a battle of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It was fought on 20 July 1651 between an English Parliamentarian army under John Lambert and a Scottish Covenanter army acting on behalf of Charles II, lamberts force was a seaborne expedition landed at Fife to get around the main Scottish position at Stirling. The battle resulted in a decisive English victory that gave Oliver Cromwells forces control of the Firth of Forth, after his victory at the Battle of Dunbar Oliver Cromwell went on to occupy large parts of southern Scotland. Unable to push past Leslie, firmly entrenched at Stirling, Cromwell was quick to realise that Fife, once across the Forth the English would be able to march on Perth and cut the Scots lines of communication with their northern hinterland, now essential for both supplies and recruits. A seaborne invasion of Fife was a tricky operation, early in 1651 the Council of State, the executive authority of the Commonwealth, had ordered the construction of special flat bottomed boats, which arrived in Leith in April. While this would enable men and horses to be ferried in close to the northern shore, Leslie could easily move sufficient forces from his base at Stirling to throw the invaders back into the sea. Or, alternatively, he could wait for enough Englishmen to cross to Fife before falling on the remnant at Edinburgh. This was a risk, but the only alternative was another winter of war. The Firth was to be crossed at its narrowest point, between North and South Queensferry, spanned today by the road and rail bridges. A landing here offered another advantage, besides speed, North Queensferry stands on a narrow peninsula, by the morning almost 2000 troops were on the northern shores of the Forth, and Overton at once set about constructing entrenchments. Reinforcements were sent across with Major-General John Lambert two days later, bringing the strength to about 4500 men by the morning of 20 July. The detachment was placed under the command of Sir John Brown of Fordell. Browns orders were simple, to prevent Lambert breaking out of his bridgehead and it is possible that Cromwell at first saw the Fife operation as no more than a diversion, intended to unlock the Scots position at Stirling. While the landings were taking place he approached Leslies camp with his remaining force, seeing Leslie march off in support of Brown, he then moved quickly across the hills, through Bannockburn and on to the vacated camp at Torwood. A little to his north Cromwell found that his progress was blocked by the enemy. Unable to make any headway, Cromwell withdrew by nightfall and it was now up to Lambert. The Ferry Peninsula is separated from the rest of Fife by narrow isthmus, from the low-lying land of the isthmus and the surrounding shore, the centre is dominated by the Ferry Hills, rising two hundred and forty feet above sea level. Beyond the peninsula, to the north-west, the ground rises up again to Castland Hill and its neighbour Meickle Hill and these two hills also command the coastal route to Rosyth and the road running towards the village of Inverkeithing
15.
Battle of Upton
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In the action which followed the Royalist commander Major General Edward Massey was severely wounded and the surviving Royalists were driven out of the town and north along the Worcester Road. On his return from Scotland Cromwell took command of the Parliamentary forces arrayed against the Royalist army encamped in, initially he concentrated his forces at Evesham which blocked any Royalist advance on London. Cromwells force at Evesham were increasing daily and his first planned act was to occupy the west bank of the Severn. Massey was quartered in the village of Hanley Castle, at Severn End, some slight earthworks had been thrown up between the town and the brook on the Worcester Road, which formed a strong position to resist any advance made along the road. Lambert saw that if the Upton was defended it would be impossible to carry it in its then state, there was just one chance, the Royalists might keep a bad look-out, as no sentries were posted, possibly they had no idea any enemy was near. To cross the river was a service of difficulty and danger, Lambert, therefore, determined to take the risk. During the night he kept his men out of sight at Ryall, on 29 August, in the grey morning light, as dawn was breaking, the 18 started on their mission. Never were troops given a task than Lamberts men were now called upon to perform. In dim daylight to walk in single file over a long, narrow plank, high above a deep, rapid river, with the prospect each moment of being fired upon, was a task before which the bravest might quail. It is no disgrace to Lamberts men to say they did not like it, yet they did not shrink, they knew that at all hazards the river must be crossed, and that they had to cross it. When they got on to the plank, and began to march in single file, they could not stand the water below them, their heads swam. So they sat down on the plank, straddling across it, after some delay all reached the Upton bank in safety. There some hot work awaited them, as they formed up the Royalists perceived that they had crossed the river and at once attacked them fiercely. The survivors held out bravely, returned their assailants fire, causing some loss. Massey, awoken by the sound of the firing, at once set off to his men, all of the 18 were, to all appearances, doomed. Over the bridge, with the Royalists now on the alert, under the fire that would be poured on it no one would live to walk the plank. Lambert was loth to leave his men without an effort to save them, the river was low, the tide was out. It was said to be fordable, but that the ford was difficult and dangerous, Lambert decided it should be risked
16.
Bishops' Wars
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The Bishops Wars were conflicts, both political and military, which occurred in 1639 and 1640 centred on the nature of the governance of the Church of Scotland, and the rights and powers of the Crown. They constitute part of a political conflict across Scotland, England and Ireland. James VI of Scotland had reintroduced episcopacy to the Church of Scotland in 1584, after acceding to the English throne, he increased the numbers of bishops. His son, Charles I continually tried to foster uniformity between the churches of his realms following the Anglican model. His regulation of liturgy in Scotland through the imposition of a Book of Common Prayer in 1637 sparked rioting and his attempts to control the situation from London were unsuccessful, and by July 1638 he decided in his English Privy Council that force would have to be used. The Scottish army, of some 12,000 men, led by Leslie, were encamped a few miles away on the side of the border near Duns. Meanwhile, a series of engagements between Covenanters and Scottish royalist forces took place in Aberdeenshire. The first was a confrontation at the town of Turriff called the Raid of Turriff at which no blood was shed. The next was the siege of Towie Barclay Castle, in one person was shot – the very first casualty of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. This was followed by two minor engagements known as the Trot of Turriff and the battle of the Brig o Dee to the south of Aberdeen. The new General Assembly then re-enacted all the measures passed by the Glasgow Assembly, Charles considered these terms unacceptable and dissolved parliament. Thomas Wentworth, now earl of Strafford, became the adviser to the King. He threw himself into Charles’s plans with great energy and left no stone unturned to furnish the new expedition with supplies. The Scots under Leslie and Montrose crossed the River Tweed, in a short time, the invaders overran the whole of Northumberland and County Durham. Charles had to leave the two counties in Scots hands as a pledge for the payment of Scots expenses when he agreed to peace and it sat until purged in 1648. He had now all the causes of the original dispute. English Civil War timeline Wars of the Three Kingdoms Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms Bishops in the Church of Scotland Baillie, Robert, Letters, calendar of State Papers Domestic of the Reign of King Charles I, 1858–97. The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, variously edited, rothes, John Leslie, earl of, A Relation of the Proceedings of the Affairs of the Kirk of Scotland, from August 1637 to July 1638,1830
17.
Battle of Newburn
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Conway, heavily outnumbered, was defeated, and the Scots went on to occupy the town of Newcastle, obtaining a stranglehold on Londons coal supply. Charles I had no choice but to agree on October 26 to the Treaty of Ripon, under which the Scottish army in northern England would be paid daily expenses, pending a final treaty of peace. To raise the necessary funds Charles had to call the Long Parliament, in November of the same year a General Assembly in Glasgow not only rejected the Prayer Book, but also expelled the bishops from the church, as suspect agents of the crown. Charles refusal to accept this led to the outbreak of the First Bishops War in 1639 and this war saw much posturing but little real action. In the end the two sides, reluctant to push the issue, concluded hostilities in the Pacification of Berwick, an agreement without an agreement, that was at best a breathing space. The Scots agreed that the Glasgow Assembly had been illegal, Charles agreed that a new Assembly, together with a Parliament, should meet in Edinburgh in the summer of 1640. As none of the issues that had led to the signing of the National Covenant had been settled and this was to lead directly to the outbreak of the Second Bishops War in which Newburn was the only battle. To raise the necessary funds Charles summoned a new Parliament to Westminster, but the Short Parliament was more interested in raising various grievances long suppressed and was quickly dismissed, leaving the king worse off than before. The geography and progress of the battle have been described here, in short, the Scots forces occupied better ground to the north of the river than the Kings forces located on the marshes of Stella and Ryton, and the latter were defeated as a consequence. A useful assessment of the engagement by English Heritage opined, As a classical example of how to conduct an opposed river crossing, there are few examples of this form of operation to be found amongst other English battles. It is easy to confuse this battle of Newburn and the occupation of Newcastle with an encounter which led to the Siege of Newcastle. At stake was always the prize of controlling the trade from the Tyne. In 1640 the Newcastle corporation had to pay £38,888 to the Scots and this won them no friends and when on 20 June 1642 the king appointed a governor and erected batteries to guard the Tyne, no-one of consequence complained on Tyneside although Parliament was alarmed. Newcastle became a royalist city in the English civil war, Newburn was used as a bridging point by Scottish forces in 1644. Wars of the Three Kingdoms Donaldson, G. Scotland from James V to James VII,1965 Fissel, the Bishops War, Charles Is Campaigns against Scotland, 1638–1640,1994 Hewison, J. K. The Covenanters,1913 Matthew, D, Scotland Under Charles I,1955 Russel, C, The Fall of the British Monarchies, 1637–1642,1991 Stevenson, D. The Scottish Revolution, 1637–44,1973 Turner, Sir James, Memoirs of his own Life and Times, 1632–1670,1829 Terry, the Life and Campaigns of Alexander Leslie,1899 Wedgwood, C. V. The Kings Peace, 1637–1641,1955 Matthews, R. England versus Scotland,2003, ISBN 978-0850529494 Fraser C. M. & Elmsley K. scotwars. com
18.
First English Civil War
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The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War. The English Civil War can be divided into three, the First English Civil War, the Second English Civil War, and the Third English Civil War. For the most part, accounts summarise the two sides fought the English Civil Wars as the Royalist Cavaliers of Charles I of England versus the Parliamentarian Roundheads of Oliver Cromwell. However, as many civil wars, loyalties shifted for various reasons. During this time, the Irish Confederate Wars continued in Ireland, starting with the Irish Rebellion of 1641, the first and last of these motives animated the foot-soldiers of the Royal armies. These sturdy rustics who followed their squires to the war, saw the enemy as rebels, the cavalry was composed largely of the higher social orders. The rebel troops on the hand were mainly drawn from the ranks of the middle class or bourgeois. The other side of the war saw the causes of the initially as a constitutional issue. Thus, the elements of resistance in Parliament and the nation were at first confused, but the backbone of resistance was the Puritan element, and this waging war at first with the rest on the political issue, soon brought the religious issue to the front. But for a generation before the war broke out, the system had disciplined and trained the middle classes of the nation to centre their will on the attainment of their ideals, the parliamentarians had the stronger material force. They controlled the navy, the nucleus of an army that was being organised for the Irish war and they had the sympathies of most of the large towns, where the trained bands, drilled once a month, provided cadres for new regiments. Also, by recognising that war was likely, they prepared for war before Royalists did, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Essex, the Earl of Manchester, and other nobles and gentry of the Parliamentary party, had great wealth and territorial influence. On the other hand, Charles could raise men without authority from Parliament by using impressment and the Lords-Lieutenant, thus he depended on financial support from his adherents, such as the Earl of Newcastle and the Earl of Derby. Both the king and the Parliament raised men when and where they could, Parliament claimed to be justified by its own recent Militia Ordinance, while the king claimed the old-fashioned Commissions of Array. For example, in Cornwall the Royalist leader Sir Ralph Hopton indicted the enemy before the jury of the county for disturbing the peace. In effect, both sides assembled local forces wherever they could do so by valid written authority and this thread of local feeling and respect for the laws runs through the early operations of both sides, almost irrespective of the main principles at stake. Many promising schemes failed because of the reluctance of militiamen to serve outside their own county, as the offensive lay with the King, his cause naturally suffered from this far more than that of Parliament. However, the spirit of the struggle proved very different
19.
Siege of York
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It lasted from 22 April until 1 July when the city was relieved by Prince Rupert of the Rhine. Rupert and Newcastle were defeated the day at the decisive Battle of Marston Moor. During the seventeenth century, York was often referred to as the capital of the north and it had great prestige as the seat of the Archbishop of York, and as the centre of much of the regions trade. When civil war broke out in 1642, the Royalists in Yorkshire were briefly besieged in the city, during the following year, Newcastle defeated the Parliamentarian northern army under Lord Fairfax and his son Sir Thomas Fairfax at the Battle of Adwalton Moor and drove the survivors into Hull. The Royalists laid siege to Hull, but could not prevent Parliament resupplying the city from the sea, an attempt to suborn the governor, Sir John Hotham, was thwarted. Newcastle also sent detachments southward into Lincolnshire, but these were defeated at Gainsborough and Winceby by Parliamentarian cavalry under Oliver Cromwell, late in 1643, Parliament signed a treaty, the Solemn League and Covenant, with Scotland. On 19 January 1644, a Scottish army under the Earl of Leven invaded Northumberland, Newcastle took the bulk of his army north to face this new threat, leaving John Belasyse as Governor of York with 1,500 horse and 1,800 foot. Since the autumn of 1643, Sir Thomas Fairfaxs cavalry had moved into Cheshire, now, they began moving back across the Pennines into Yorkshire. To prevent them rejoining Lord Fairfaxs army in Hull, Belasyse occupied the town of Selby, on 11 April, Thomas Fairfax and Parliamentarian infantry under Sir John Meldrum stormed Selby, capturing Belasyse and most of his army. On hearing the news, the Marquess of Newcastle realised that York was threatened and hastily retreated there, the Scots army followed him, and linked up with the Fairfaxes. They moved to the city and appeared before it on 22 April, Newcastle sent most of his cavalry out of the city to join other Royalist armies. Under Newcastles Lieutenant General of Horse, Lord Goring, they moved south into Derbyshire, a garrison of 800 horse and 5,000 foot remained in York under Newcastle and his Lieutenant General of Foot, Lord Eythin. York lies at the confluence of the River Ouse and the smaller River Foss, the Scots occupied the sector west of the city, the Fairfaxes that to the east. By the 17th century, however, the lake had begun to silt up to the point that it could have been possible to cross on foot. The Parliamentarians constructed a bridge of boats over the Ouse at Acaster Malbis several miles south of York to allow communications between their two armies, the besiegers chief concern during this period was to maintain their lines of communication with Hull, through which they received supplies and especially munitions. The Parliamentarian army of the Eastern Association, under the Earl of Manchester had so far played little part in the war. On 6 May, they stormed Lincoln, removing the last Royalist garrison in their area and they moved to join the besiegers of York on 3 June, taking the hitherto unguarded northern sector between the Ouse and Foss. Another bridge of boats was constructed across the Ouse at Poppleton to enable communications between them and the other armies, with the northern sector secure, large numbers of Parliamentarian horse could be spared to clear the area around the city
20.
Battle of Marston Moor
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The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the First English Civil War of 1642–1646. During the summer of 1644, the Covenanters and Parliamentarians had been besieging York, Rupert had gathered an army which marched through the northwest of England, gathering reinforcements and fresh recruits on the way, and across the Pennines to relieve the city. The convergence of these made the ensuing battle the largest of the civil wars. On 1 July, Rupert outmanoeuvred the Covenanters and Parliamentarians to relieve the city, the next day, he sought battle with them even though he was outnumbered. He was dissuaded from attacking immediately and during the day both sides gathered their strength on Marston Moor, an expanse of wild meadow west of York. Towards evening, the Covenanters and Parliamentarians themselves launched a surprise attack, on 30 June 1643, the Royalists commanded by the Marquess of Newcastle defeated the Parliamentarian army of Lord Fairfax at the Battle of Adwalton Moor near Bradford. Fairfax and his son, Sir Thomas Fairfax, fled with their forces to the port of Hull. Newcastle sent some of his army south into Lincolnshire, as part of a planned three-pronged advance on London, in late 1643, the English Civil War widened. Early in 1644, a Covenanter army under the Earl of Leven entered the north of England on behalf of the English Parliament. During March and early April, the Marquess of Newcastle fought several delaying actions as he tried to prevent the Scots from crossing the River Tyne, to prevent Sir Thomas rejoining Lord Fairfax in Hull, Belasyse occupied the town of Selby which lay between them. On 11 April, Sir Thomas Fairfaxs force, reinforced by infantry under Sir John Meldrum, stormed Selby, capturing Belasyse, hearing the news, Newcastle realised that the city of York was in danger. York was the city and bastion of Royalist power in the north of England. He hastily retreated there to forestall the Fairfaxes, Leven left a detachment under the Earl of Callendar to mask the Royalist garrison of Newcastle upon Tyne, and followed the Marquess of Newcastles army with his main body. On 22 April, Leven and the Fairfaxes joined forces at Wetherby, together, they began the Siege of York. Initially, the siege was a loose blockade as the Covenanters. On 3 June, they were reinforced by the Parliamentarian army of the Eastern Association under the Earl of Manchester, York was now completely encircled and siege operations began in earnest. Leven was accepted as commander in chief of the three combined allied armies before York and it was politic to make the Scottish Covenanters pre-eminent in the north as they were the largest single contingent in the army, but Leven was also a respected veteran of the Thirty Years War. News of the siege soon reached Oxford, where King Charles had his wartime capital, from 24 April to 5 May, he held a council of war attended by his nephew and most renowned field commander, Prince Rupert
21.
Battle of Inverlochy (1645)
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The Battle of Inverlochy was a battle of the Scottish Civil War in which Montrose routed the pursuing forces of the Marquess of Argyll. The battlefield is currently under research to be inventoried and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009, on 14 January 1645, having sacked Inverary, the seat of the Campbells of Argyll, the Royalist forces left Inverary and headed north. It is believed that Montrose split his army at Glen Etive sending part of it up past Ballachulish while the bulk continued across Rannoch Moor, Montroses army was dwindling as his highlanders continued to head home leaving him with about 1500 men. He was aware that a Covenanter army under the command of the Earl of Seaforth was waiting to confront him at Inverness, Montrose was also aware that Argyll, with a force of 3000 men, was pursuing him and was only thirty miles behind at Inverlochy. What followed was one of the greatest flanking marches in British history across some of the toughest and wildest terrain in the British Isles. Instead of marching back down the glen, Montrose decided to surprise Argyll, the Montrose army spent a cold night in the open on the side of Ben Nevis. Argyll was aware that a force was operating in the area. Just before dawn on 2 February 1645, Argyll and his covenanters were dismayed at the sight that lay before them, as far as they were aware Montrose should have been 30 miles north. Argyll did not stay for the battle, but instead he left the command of his army to his general, Duncan Campbell of Auchinbreck, Auchinbreck lined up the covenanters in front of Inverlochy castle, which he reinforced with 200 musketeers to protect his left flank. In the centre he placed the Campbells of Argyll and put the lowland militias on the flanks, unlike at Tippermuir and Aberdeen, where Montrose had annihilated hastily conscripted and poorly trained militias, the troops he faced at Inverlochy were veterans of the war in England. Montrose lined his army up in two lines deep to avoid being out flanked, placing his 600 highlanders in the centre with the Irish on the flanks. The fight did not start straight away and instead broke out along the line. This is probably because Auchinbreck and his officers believed that they were fighting one of Montroses lieutenants and not the man himself. Just before first light, the Royalists launched their attack, the Irish clashed violently with the lowlanders on both flanks and routed them while the highlanders closed with the Campbells in the centre. The Campbells broke, but their retreat to the castle was blocked by the Royalist reserve cavalry under the command of Sir Thomas Ogilvie, Auchinbreck was shot in the thigh while trying to rally his men and died shortly afterwards. The remaining Covenanters briefly rallied around their standard, then broke and ran, the small garrison in Inverlochy castle surrendered without a fight. Over 1500 Covenanter troops died, while Montrose is reputed to have only lost 250 men, Montrose, through his lieutenant, MacColla, was able to use this conflict to rally Clan Donald against Clan Campbell. Battle of Inverlochy Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Battles of Clan Cameron ScotWars
22.
Battle of Alford
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The Battle of Alford was an engagement of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which took place near the village of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on 2 July 1645. The battlefield is included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland, having defeated Colonel Hurry at Auldearn, the Marquis of Montrose continued his raiding campaign in the Highlands. Fearing that Montrose intended to attack Aberdeen again, Major-General William Baillie led the Covenanter army to cut him off, the two armies were roughly equal in size at about 2,000 foot, although Baillie had 5-600 horse compared with Montroses 250-300, giving him a slight advantage. However, this advantage was negated by the effect of the presence of representatives of the Committee of Estates on his chain of command and it had the power to overrule Bailies orders. Montrose took up a position on a low hill overlooking the ford across the Don at Alford, Montrose waited until the Covenanting horse was across the river, and the infantry was crossing, before ordering a general attack. A fierce fight ensued around the ford between the Covenant cavalry under Balcarras and the Royalist Cavalry under Lord Gordon, Montrose committed his reserves, a force of Gordon infantry, and the Covenant forces broke. The difficulties presented by escaping across a ford meant that the rout was particularly vicious, Covenant losses were about 1,500 of their 2,000 infantry, although much of their cavalry, along with Baillie, Balcarres and the Committee escaped. The Royalists lost several hundred men, including Lord Gordon, nevertheless, the battle of Alford was one of the few bright moments for the Royalist cause in the aftermath of Naseby, only two weeks earlier. Site of the Battle of Alford 1645 - Wars of the Three Kingdoms
23.
Battle of Kilsyth
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The Battle of Kilsyth was an engagement of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms which took place on 15 August 1645 at Kilsyth. Despite a numerical disadvantage, the battle was another victory for the Royalist general Montrose over the Covenanters, Baillie and his army were at Perth attending the meeting of the Scottish Estates. The cavalry was mainly regular dragoons, when news of this troop movement reached Montrose, he decided to confront these forces individually, before they could join up. Marching from Dunkeld he skirted Baillies force at Perth and travelled via Kinross, Glenfarg and Alloa, crossing the Forth near Stirling, by nightfall on 14 August, the army was camped in a meadow near Colzium, by Kilsyth, in the area around Colzium Castle. This area is known as Cavalry Park in memory of the event. Baillie learned of Montroses advance almost immediately, but it took a time for its purpose to become apparent. Realising that his opponent had gained an advantage and that Lanarks forces were in danger, he moved his men southward, on the same night as Montrose reached Colzium, Baillie was only three miles off at Hollinbush. He arrived late and his men had little rest, overnight, his scouts located the Royalist encampment, and at dawn the next morning his troops were on the move and, marching directly across country, reaching the village of Banton. This gave the Covenanters the higher ground around the rim of the hollow occupied by the Royalist infantry. The Royalist troops were visible, undisturbed by the arrival of the main army of their enemies. A direct attack by Montrose against the Covenanter line would face daunting high ground held by a superior opponent. Although Baillies decision was sound, he was not allowed to adhere to it, worried by the possibility of Montrose escaping to fight another day, they ordered a flank march around the Royalist position. Baillie protested against the redeployment, but was overruled, other Covenant and Royalist units joined the fray, acting without orders. Montrose seized the opportunity, and sent his cavalry and Highlanders against the now disrupted Covenant column. The mass of the Royalist infantry subsequently joined in the attack, Baillies army soon broke and ran. Approximately three-quarters of the Covenanter troops perished, Baillie himself fled south with an escort of cavalry, but was caught in the notorious Dullatur Bog, a marshy area lying between the head waters of the Kelvin and the Bonny. He managed to escape, although he left most of his escort behind, during construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal, the bodies of several troopers, one still seated on a horse, were recovered from the bog. Lanarks forces were told of the defeat, and dispersed, lanark himself and the Committee of Estates escaped across the border to England
24.
Battle of Philiphaugh
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The Battle of Philiphaugh was fought on 13 September 1645 during the Civil War near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. The Royalist army of the Marquis of Montrose was destroyed by the Covenanter army of Sir David Leslie, when the Covenanters became allies of the English Parliamentarians, Montrose was given a commission as King Charless Lieutenant General in Scotland. He was able to raise an army consisting of regiments of Irish soldiers sent to Scotland by the Irish Confederates, with these troops, Montrose had won a remarkable series of victories in the year preceding the Battle of Philiphaugh. The last of these was at Kilsyth, which destroyed the last Covenanter army in Scotland, Montrose refused to allow his army to loot Glasgow, instead accepting a sum of £500 from the Town Council as pay for his soldiers. He then summoned a Parliament to be held in Glasgow, the Council complained at the cost which would be involved and asked to be excused the levy of £500. Montrose agreed, leaving his army without pay, at the same time, Montrose appointed the former prisoner, the Earl of Crawford as his Lieutenant General of Horse. Most of his horsemen were Gordons under Lord James Aboyne, affronted by Crawfords appointment, they too left the army. Montrose hoped to gain recruits from the Borders, and marched south with only 500 musketeers from his Irish Catholic regiments and he made for Kelso, but found that only a few Borders gentry joined his army instead of the thousands of recruits he expected. Leslie collected reinforcements from Covenanter garrisons in Newcastle upon Tyne and Berwick and he marched along the east coast intending to cut off Montrose from the Highlands, but learned of Montroses position and strength, and turned south to intercept him. Contemporary accounts give only an outline of the battle. Subsequent authors have interpreted this in ways in an attempt to arrive at a more detailed account. Warner puts this just below the junction of the Yarrow Water, the following morning was misty, and whatever scouting was undertaken by the Royalists failed to reveal the presence of Leslies forces. Leslie divided his force into two wings, one of which attacked the Royalist position directly, getting to within half a mile before the alarm was raised. The other executed a flanking manoeuvre, probably on the bank of the Ettrick Water although some interpretations follow a later ballad. Montrose was alerted to Leslies attack by the sound of gunfire, although the Royalist infantrys strong defensive position enabled them to repel at least two Covenanter attacks, the arrival of Leslies flanking force ensured their defeat. He cut his way out with 30 men, and retreated over the Minchmoor road toward Peebles, some Presbyterian Ministers who accompanied Leslie persuaded him that this clemency was foolish, and the prisoners and 300 camp followers were slaughtered in cold blood. Montrose attempted to raise another army in the Highlands, but was unable to take the field against Leslies army, after fighting a guerilla campaign over the following winter and spring, he received orders from King Charles to lay down his arms. Montrose, Crawford and Sir John Hurry, who had changed sides to join Montrose after the Battle of Auldearn, were refused pardon by the victorious Committee of Estates and went into exile
25.
Battle of Dunaverty
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The Battle of Dunaverty involved a battle and the siege of Dunaverty Castle in Kintyre, Scotland in 1647. The events involved the Covenanter Army under the command of General David Leslie on one side, about 200–300 men who could not be transported or did not wish to leave Scotland prepared to defend the castle. When the Covenanter Army arrived, they laid siege to the castle, once the attackers had captured the strongholds water supply, the defenders–by now running out of water–requested a surrender on fair terms. After agreeing to surrender and leaving the castle, the men, women and children were put to the sword at the request of Reverend John Naves and Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll. However, a number of people appear to have survived the massacre, including Flora McCambridge, the infant Ranald MacDonald of Sanda, James Stewart and a MacDougall of Kilmun. More than 300 MacDougalls and followers, men, women and children, were slaughtered at Dunaverty, according to Sir James Turner, who was Leslies Adjutant-General, after some fighting inexorable thirst made them desire a parley. I was ordered to speak with them, There is controversy as to the circumstances. For while the Marquis and he with Mr. Nevoy were walking over the ancles in blood he turned about and said, Now, Mr. John, have you not once gotten your fill of blood. In the appendix to his memoirs, Turner, who had seen the Bishops MS. and seems to have felt that his own honour was involved, contradicts certain of its statements. In particular he denies that there was a promise of quarter, and that Leslie, Argyll, an ingenious argument with regard to this latter point is also submitted in his by the Rev. Dr. Be this as it may, two still remain. And, Who was responsible for the butchery, even if it be true that Leslie attempted to salve such conscience as he had by the nice distinction which surprised Turner, it is extremely probable that his victims were misled by his quibbling. For otherwise it is unlikely that they would have surrendered, turning for the moment to the next question—who was responsible for this butchery. Bishop Guthry alleges that Argyll was responsible, and so also does the decree above quoted, and his instigation of the massacre was actually one of the charges brought against him, not only in the action already referred to, but also in his trial for treason. But Turner, who was a witness in that trial, after saying that there was no evidence against him, goes on to give his account of what really happened, and in the Appendix, p.240, he is even more emphatic, It is true. The traditional account of this bloodshed and devastation is given in Adventures in Legend, by the Marquis of Lorne, K. T. Even Leslie, it appears, though insinuating that Argyll had stirred up Nevoy. It is plain that Turner, as a soldier of fortune, is anxious to clear Leslie from the charge of having broken his promise of quarter
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Battle of Preston (1648)
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See Battle of Preston for the battle of the Jacobite Rising. The Parliamentarian victory presaged the end of the Second English Civil War, on 8 July 1648, when the Scottish Engager army crossed the Border in support of the English Royalist, the military situation was well defined. For the Parliamentarians, Cromwell besieged Pembroke in South Wales, Fairfax besieged Colchester in Essex, on 11 July, Pembroke fell and Colchester followed on 28 August. Elsewhere, however, the rebellion, which had put down by rapidity of action rather than sheer weight of numbers. Charles, the Prince of Wales, with the fleet cruised along the Essex coast, Cromwell and John Lambert, however, understood each other perfectly, while the Scottish commanders quarrelled with each other and with Sir Marmaduke Langdale. As the English Royalist uprisings were close to collapse, it was on the adventures of the Engager Scottish army that the interest of the war centred and it was by no means the veteran army of the Earl of Leven, which had long been disbanded. For the most part it consisted of raw levies and, as the Kirk party had refused to sanction The Engagement, David Leslie and thousands of experienced officers, the leadership of the Duke of Hamilton proved to be a poor substitute for that of Leslie. Hamiltons army, too, was so ill provided that as soon as England was invaded it began to plunder the countryside for the means of sustenance. On 8 July the Scots, with Langdale as advanced guard, were about Carlisle, lamberts horse were at Penrith, Hexham and Newcastle, too weak to fight and having only skilful leading and rapidity of movement to enable them to gain time. All the restless energy of Langdales horse was unable to dislodge Lambert from the passes or to find out what was behind that impenetrable cavalry screen, the crisis was now at hand. Cromwell had received the surrender of Pembroke Castle on 11 July, rains and storms delayed his march, but he knew that Hamilton in the broken ground of Westmorland was still worse off. He then called up artillery from Hull, exchanged his local levies for the regulars who were besieging Pontefract, on 12 August Cromwell was at Wetherby, Lambert with horse and foot at Otley, Langdale at Skipton and Gargrave. Hamilton was at Lancaster, and Sir George Monro with the Scots from Ulster, Langdale called in his advanced parties, perhaps with a view to resuming the duties of advanced guard, on the night of 13 August, and collected them near Longridge. Baillie attempted to cover the Ribble and Darwen bridges on the Wigan road, pursuit was at once undertaken, and not relaxed until Hamilton had been driven through Wigan and Winwick to Uttoxeter and Ashbourne. There, pressed furiously in rear by Cromwells horse and held up in front by the militia of the midlands, various attempts were made to raise the Royalist standard in Wales and elsewhere, but Preston was the death-blow to the Royalist hopes in the Second Civil War. Cromwell estimated the Royalist losses at 2,000 killed and 9,000 captured, bloody Preston, The Battle of Preston,1648. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Sir Marmaduke Langdales letter and an account of his capture extracted from Memoirs Of The Life Of Colonel Hutchinson by Lucy Hutchinson, Carlyle, Thomas, ed. Oliver Cromwells letters and speeches, with Elucidations by Thomas Carlyle
27.
Battle of Stirling (1648)
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The second Battle of Stirling was fought on the 12 September 1648 during the Scottish Civil War of the 17th century. The Battle of Stirling in 1648 was part of the War of the Three Kingdoms, by this time, the Presbyterian Covenanter movement had defeated the Scottish Royalists, who favoured unconditional loyalty to King Charles I. Those that supported this engagement between the King became known as Engagers, the Engagers army under the command of the Duke of Hamilton was defeated by the New Model Army under the command of Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Preston. This initiated the civil war between the Engagers and their opponents known as the Kirk party. The nucleus of the Marquis of Argylls force amounted to about 300 men and he was also joined by a further 300 militiamen when he arrived in Stirling on the morning of September 12,1648. His men were assigned to various areas of the town. Argyll had barely begun his meal when the Earl of Lanarks advance forces, commanded by Sir George Munro, 1st of Newmore, Argyll then mounted his horse and galloped over Stirling Bridge to seek safety. While making his escape he came under fire from Stirling Castle which had not yet surrendered to Argyll and was flying the Kings colours. Munro even personally kicked down a door to chase out Argylls men. The battle surprised the Marquis of Argylls men, who broke after some initial resistance, losing about 200 dead. Many more were killed trying to escape and some even drowned trying to swim across the River Forth to safety, among the dead on Argylls side were William Campbell of Glenfalloch and Sir Colin Campbell of Ardkinglas, both killed in action. Outside Stirling the Earl of Lanark had a force of 4000 horse and 6000 men on foot, Argylls General David Leslie commanded 3000 horse and 8000 men on foot also outside Stirling. It is interesting to speculate what sort of battle would have taken place the day had it not been for Munros initiative on the morning of 12 September 1648. Munro urged Lanark to continue fighting after the battle and attack David Leslies forces, both sides agreed to disband their forces by the 29 September 1648. Shortly after this battle the armies of the Earl of Lanark and the Marquess of Argyll, on 27 September 1648 the Treaty of Stirling was agreed and led to the end of Engager dominance of Scotland. Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, David Leslie Stirling Battle of Stirling 1648 a. d. Scotwars General History of the Highlands 1645 -1649 at ElectricScotland. com The Engagement, 1647-8
28.
Siege of Inverness (1649)
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The siege of Inverness took place in 1649 as part of the 17th-century Scottish Civil War that was, in turn, part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. On 5 February 1649, Charles II had been proclaimed king after his fathers execution and it was decided that Charles and his friends who were in exile should again try to recover the kingdom, once again led by the royalist army leader James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose. As a result a rising took place in the north of Scotland under Colonel Hugh Fraser, on 22 February they entered Inverness, where they expelled the garrison of Inverness Castle and afterwards demolished the walls and fortifications. On 26 February a council of war was held, here they framed certain enactments by which they took the customs and excise of the six northern counties of Scotland into their own hands. Soon afterwards General David Leslie, Lord Newark was sent north to attack them, the clans then retreated from Inverness back into Ross-shire. Leslie placed a garrison in the Castle Chanonry of Ross, as soon as Leslie left for the south, the Mackenzies attacked and retook the Castle Chanonry of Ross. James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, landed in Ross-shire in 1650, however, by this time many of them had switched sides, and opposed him at the Battle of Carbisdale. History of the Frasers of Lovat, with genealogies of the families of the name, to which is added those of Dunballoch
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Battle of Carbisdale
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The Battle of Carbisdale took place close to the Village of Culrain on 27 April 1650 and was part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The battlefield has been inventoried and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009, after the execution of Charles I in January 1649, Scotland entered a period of complex political maneuvering. Amongst other things he would be required to take the Covenants of 1638 and 1643, in exile at the Hague, Charles was anxious to take the quickest way back to the throne. He initially favoured calling on the assistance of the Catholic Irish authorities at Kilkenny, in falling back on the Covenanters Charles hoped to put them in a more accommodating frame of mind. On 22 February 1649 Charles appointed Montrose as Lieutenant-Governor of Scotland, throughout the course of the year Montrose kept busy using his commission in an attempt to raise troops and money in the German state of Brandenburg, as well as Sweden and Denmark. This met with limited success, but by September he had managed to raise, in March 1650 Montrose came in person, landing at Kirkwall with some more foreign mercenaries to join his advance party and the Orcadian levies. Amongst his officers was Sir John Hurry, his old opponent at the Battle of Auldearn in 1645, altogether he had 40 horse,500 mercenaries and 700 Orcadians, completely unskilled in the arts of war. On board his ship, the Herderinnan, anchored in Scapa Flow and he was instructed to cross to Caithness that same evening with part of the little army and advance to Ord of Caithness, a high hill overhanging the sea just north of Kildonan. Montrose crossed with the rest of his force a few days later, Montrose had heard that the local Highland Scottish clans of Clan Munro, Clan Ross and Clan Mackenzie were up in arms and were likely to join him, although as it turned out, they did not. Montrose had hoped to meet up with the Clan Munro and Clan Ross, in Edinburgh the Committee of Estates, the executive authority of the Scottish Parliament, was soon aware that Montrose had crossed to the mainland. General David Leslie, Lord Newark was instructed to take his forces north to prevent this incursion from developing into a major rising, a rendezvous was held at Brechin on 25 April. From here Colonel Archibald Strachan was sent ahead to gather the cavalry that had wintered in the north. He now had five troops of horse under his command, including three that had been with him at the rout of an army at Balvenie Castle near Dufftown in May 1649. Strachan now rode on to Ross-shire, convinced that victory was already his, Montrose joined Hurry at the Ord of Caithness. Avoiding these obstacles, the royalists turned aside, marching up Strathfleet towards Strathoykell, the Oykell was forded just to the west of its junction with the Cassley, and the trek continued along the southern bank. With no support in the hills the rebels continued back towards the coastal plain, by now Strachan was at Tain conferring with the earl of Sutherland. Learning of Montroses whereabouts, he decided on a surprise attack. Montroses army was in a glen, where the Culrain Burn flows into the Kyle of Sutherland
30.
Glencairn's rising
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Glencairns rising was a Royalist revolt in Scotland against the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell from 1653 to 1654. It was led by William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn, initially successful it began to suffer divisions when John Middleton arrived to replace Glencairn as commander, resulting in a series of duels between officers. It was defeated when Thomas Morgan caught Middletons army at Dalnaspidal on 19 July 1654, although the rising was unsuccessful it forced a change of policy by the Cromwellian regime, which now looked for a reconciliation with former Royalists and Engagers. William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn was given command of the Royalist forces in Scotland by Charles II and he convened a meeting of Scottish notables at Lochearn in August 1653. These notables then mustered their vassals and supporters to form an army of about 60 horse. The governor of Stirling Castle, Colonel Kidd, sallied out to suppress this force and this victory boosted morale and the rising gained some support from Lowland Scottish lords, forcing the Commonwealth government to adopt a more conciliatory attitude to these groups. In early 1654, nine months into the revolt, John Middleton, a Lowland officer, despite objections from his followers, Glencairn surrendered control over his forces, which had now reached 3,500 foot and 1,500 horse. Divisions were largely due to petty disputes between Glencairns and Middletons respective forces and that evening Sir George Munro, Middletons aide, insulted Glencairns forces and the result was a duel between Glencairn and Munro in which the latter was wounded. He would eventually be released and retire from the conflict, the following day two junior officers from the two camps had a duel of their own in which one was killed and the other was later arrested and hanged. A series of disputes and duels undermined the leadership of the campaign for the remainder of the rising. Middleton adopted a strategy of raid and harrying, although successful in distracting the Commonwealth forces and causing disruption, it soon began to prove counter-productive, as growing unpopularity led to a drying up of recruitment. With his return to Scotland after his naval command against the Dutch. On 19 July 1654 a force from Moncks command under Thomas Morgan caught Middletons army at Dalnaspidal, in the resulting battle the royalists were scattered and a wounded Middleton was forced to escape to the Highlands. The end of the Dutch War meant there was no possibility of foreign aid, as a result the Royalist military effort petered out. Eventually, Glencairn surrendered to Monck and Middleton escaped to the continent to join the court in exile and this resulted in the Act of Grace and Pardon, proclaimed in Edinburgh on 5 May 1654. Instead of a blanket forfeiture among those implicated in resistance, it named 24 persons whose lands would be seized, even then most of those names were treated with leniency and fines were remitted for confiscations, or were reduced, and some were abandoned. Firth, C. H. ed. LXVIII Col. 88–89 Manganiello, Stephen C
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Battle of Dalnaspidal
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The Battle of Dalnaspidal was a battle during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and one of the last engagements of the Scottish Civil War, bringing an end to the Royalist rising of 1651 to 1654. The Earl of Glencairn raised the Clan MacGregor from Rannoch and he would have no difficulty recruiting them because one of their opponents was the Earl of Argyll, a Campbell, one of their hereditary enemies. Alexander, the 12th chief of Clan Robertson led his men from Fea Corrie, both forces met above Annat and marched up the old path to Loch Garry. On the evening of 19 July 1654, Thomas Morgan surprised John Middleton, the Royalist horse had become separated from the foot. When Morgans superior forces advanced towards them, most of Middletons cavalry fled, as Morgans cavalry continued to advance, the Royalist infantry also turned and ran. The fight at Dalnaspidal broke the Royalist insurrection in the Highlands, although wounded, Middleton managed to escape into the mountains, but he was never able to gather a substantial force again. Monck wanted all the leaders of the put to death. William, Earl of Glencairn surrendered to General Monck in September 1654, Middleton escaped back to the Continent and rejoined Charles II at Cologne early in 1655. Baker, Helen, The Glencairn Uprising, 1653-54, Department of Linguistics, Lancaster University for their Newsbooks at Lancaster project
32.
Worcester
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Worcester is a city in Worcestershire, England,31 miles southwest of Birmingham and 27 miles north of Gloucester. The River Severn flanks the western side of the city centre, the Battle of Worcester was the final battle of the English Civil War, where Oliver Cromwells New Model Army defeated King Charles Is Cavaliers. Worcester is known as the home of Royal Worcester Porcelain, composer Edward Elgar, Lea & Perrins, makers of traditional Worcestershire sauce, the trade route past Worcester which later formed part of the Roman Ryknild Street dates to Neolithic times. The position commanded a ford over the River Severn and was fortified by the Britons around 400 BC and it would have been on the northern border of the Dobunni and probably subject to the larger communities of the Malvern hillforts. It may have been the Vertis mentioned in the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmography, using charcoal from the Forest of Dean, the Romans operated pottery kilns and ironworks at the site and may have built a small fort. In the 3rd century, Roman Worcester occupied an area than the subsequent medieval city. Industrial production ceased and the settlement contracted to a position along the lines of the old British fort at the river terraces southern end. This settlement is identified with the Cair Guiragon listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the History of the Britons attributed to Nennius. This is not a British name but an adaption of its Old English name Weorgoran ceaster, the Weorgoran were precursors of Hwicce and probably West Saxons who entered the area some time after the 577 Battle of Dyrham. The oldest known church was St Helens, which was certainly British, the town was almost destroyed in 1041 after a rebellion against the punitive taxation of Harthacanute. During this time, the relocated to the nearby Bevere Island,2 miles upriver. The following century, the town was attacked several times during The Anarchy, by late medieval times the population had grown to around 10,000 as the manufacture of cloth started to become a large local industry. The town was designated a county corporate, giving it autonomy from local government. Worcester was the site of the Battle of Worcester, when Charles II attempted to regain the crown, in the fields a little to the west and south of the city. Worcester had supported the Parliamentary cause before the outbreak of war in 1642 but spent most of the war under Royalist occupation. After the war it used its location as the site of the final battles of the First Civil War. As part of this and not based upon any historical fact, it invented the epithet Fidelis Civitas, in 1670, the River Severn broke its banks and the subsequent flood was the worst ever seen by Worcester. The closest flood height to what is known as The Flood of 1670 was when the Severn flooded in the rains of July 2007
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New Model Army
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The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration. Its soldiers became full-time professionals, rather than part-time militia, to establish a professional officer corps, the armys leaders were prohibited from having seats in either the House of Lords or House of Commons. This was to encourage their separation from the political or religious factions among the Parliamentarians, many of its common soldiers therefore held Dissenting or radical views unique among English armies. Ultimately, the Armys Generals could rely both on the Armys internal discipline and its religious zeal and innate support for the Good Old Cause to maintain an essentially dictatorial rule. The New Model Army was formed as a result of dissatisfaction among Parliamentarians with the conduct of the Civil War in 1644, there was also increasing dissension among Parliaments generals in the field. Parliament suspected that many of its officers, who were mainly Presbyterians, were inclined to favour peace with King Charles. The Earl of Manchester was one of the prominent members favouring peace, Manchester and Cromwell clashed publicly over this issue several times. Parliaments senior commander, the Earl of Essex, was suspected of lack of determination and was on poor terms with his subordinates. The tensions among the Parliamentarian generals became a public argument after the Second Battle of Newbury. Some of them believed that King Charless army had escaped encirclement after the battle through inaction on the part of some commanders. In response, Parliament directed the Committee of Both Kingdoms, the body that oversaw the conduct of the War. On 19 December, the House of Commons passed the Self-denying Ordinance, originally a separate matter from the establishment of the New Model Army, it soon became intimately linked with it. Once the Self-denying Ordinance became Law, the Earls of Manchester and Essex, on 6 January 1645, the Committee of Both Kingdoms established the New Model Army, appointing Sir Thomas Fairfax as its Captain-General and Sir Philip Skippon as Sergeant-Major General of the Foot. The Self-denying Ordinance took time to pass the House of Lords, although Oliver Cromwell handed over his command of the Armys cavalry when the Ordinance was enacted, Fairfax requested his services when another officer wished to emigrate. Cromwell was commissioned Colonel of Vermuydens former regiment of horse, and was appointed Lieutenant General of the Horse in June, Cromwell and his son-in-law Henry Ireton were two of the only four exceptions to the Self-denying Ordinance, the other two being local commanders in Cheshire and North Wales. They were allowed to serve under a series of temporary commissions that were continually extended. They were intended to reduce the remaining Royalist garrisons in their areas, some of their regiments were reorganised and incorporated into the New Model Army during and after the Second English Civil War. Although the cavalry regiments were well up to strength and there was no shortage of volunteers
34.
Charles I of England
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Charles I was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was the son of King James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England. He became heir apparent to the English, Irish, and Scottish thrones on the death of his brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. Two years later, he married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria of France instead, after his succession, Charles quarrelled with the Parliament of England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Charles believed in the right of kings and thought he could govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent and he supported high church ecclesiastics, such as Richard Montagu and William Laud, and failed to aid Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years War. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War, after his defeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament. Charles refused to accept his captors demands for a constitutional monarchy, re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Charles forged an alliance with Scotland, but by the end of 1648 Oliver Cromwells New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and a called the Commonwealth of England was declared. The monarchy was restored to Charless son, Charles II, in 1660, the second son of King James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark, Charles was born in Dunfermline Palace, Fife, on 19 November 1600. James VI was the first cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth I of England, in mid-July 1604, Charles left Dunfermline for England where he was to spend most of the rest of his life. His speech development was slow, and he retained a stammer, or hesitant speech. In January 1605, Charles was created Duke of York, as is customary in the case of the English sovereigns second son, Thomas Murray, a Presbyterian Scot, was appointed as a tutor. Charles learnt the usual subjects of classics, languages, mathematics, in 1611, he was made a Knight of the Garter. Eventually, Charles apparently conquered his physical infirmity, which might have been caused by rickets and he became an adept horseman and marksman, and took up fencing. Even so, his public profile remained low in contrast to that of his stronger and taller elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. However, in early November 1612, Henry died at the age of 18 of what is suspected to have been typhoid, Charles, who turned 12 two weeks later, became heir apparent
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Regicide
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The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a person of royalty. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the execution of a king after a trial, reflecting the historical precedent of the trial. More broadly, it can refer to the killing of an emperor or any other reigning sovereign. Before the Tudor period, English kings had been murdered while imprisoned or killed in battle by their subjects, elizabeth had originally been excommunicated by Pope Pius V, in Regnans in Excelsis, for converting England to Protestantism after the reign of Mary I of England. The defeat of the Spanish Armada and the Protestant Wind convinced most English people that God approved of Elizabeths action, after the First English Civil War, King Charles I was a prisoner of the Parliamentarians. They tried to negotiate a compromise with him, but he stuck steadfastly to his view that he was King by Divine Right, on 13 December 1648, the House of Commons broke off negotiations with the King. In the middle of December, the King was moved from Windsor to London, the House of Commons of the Rump Parliament passed a Bill setting up a High Court of Justice in order to try Charles I for high treason in the name of the people of England. From a Royalist and post-restoration perspective this Bill was not lawful, however, the Parliamentary leaders and the Army pressed on with the trial anyway. At his trial in front of The High Court of Justice on Saturday 20 January 1649 in Westminster Hall, I would know by what authority, I mean lawful. In view of the issues involved, both sides based themselves on surprisingly technical legal grounds. Charles did not dispute that Parliament as a whole did have some powers, but he maintained that the House of Commons on its own could not try anybody. At that time under English law if a prisoner refused to plead then this was treated as a plea of guilty and he was found guilty on Saturday 27 January 1649, and his death warrant was signed by 59 Commissioners. To show their agreement with the sentence of death, all of the Commissioners who were present rose to their feet. On the day of his execution,30 January 1649, Charles dressed in two shirts so that he would not shiver from the cold, in case it was said that he was shivering from fear. Charles was then escorted through the Banqueting House in the Palace of Whitehall to a scaffold where he would be beheaded. He forgave those who had passed sentence on him and gave instructions to his enemies that they should learn to know their duty to God, the King - that is, my successors - and the people. He then gave a speech outlining his unchanged views of the relationship between the monarchy and the monarchs subjects, ending with the words I am the martyr of the people. His head was severed from his body with one blow, one week later, the Rump, sitting in the House of Commons, passed a bill abolishing the monarchy
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Atkinson, Charles Francis (1911). "Great Rebellion". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 420–421. See section 57, The Third Scottish Invasion of England.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 