History of War – October 2019

BRITISH

CIVIL WARS

TIMELINEOF...

1643

FIRSTENGLISHCIVILWAR

WarbreaksoutbetweenCharlesI andtheEnglish

Parliament.TheFirstCivilWaris alsothelongest

andlastsforfouryears.It is mostlyfought

in Englandandresultsin a Parliamentarian-

Covenantervictoryalthoughmanybloodybattles

andsiegesarefoughtbeforeitsconclusion.

1642-

23 October 1642

BATTLEOFEDGEHILL^01

Thefirstmajorpitchedbattlebetween

CharlesI andParliamentoccursin

Warwickshire.Thetwosidesarealmost

numericallyevenandtheengagement

resultsin a bloodystalemate.Charles

subsequentlyfailsto advanceon

LondonbutheestablishestheRoyalist

headquartersat Oxford.Thisensures

thatthewarcontinues.

1639-

Frontline

CELTIC UNREST

Scottish Covenanters (Presbyterians) win two

“Bishops’ Wars” against Charles I’s attempts to

impose uniform practices between the churches

of Scotland and England. Meanwhile, Irish Catholic

rebels rise up to seize control of the Protestant

English administration in Ireland. This weakens

Charles’s authority and encourages an increasingly

assertive Parliament to assert its rights.

STALEMATE

Neither the Royalists nor Parliamentarians

are able to make significant headway during

1643 although both sides win substantial

engagements. Among other clashes, the

Royalists win the Battle of Roundway Down

while the Parliamentarians are victorious at

the First Battle of Newbury.

The Siege of Basing House

The Stuart dynasty fought three conflicts against

England’s Parliament in a decade that wrought

unprecedented bloodshed across the British Isles

Parliament is deeply unsettled by propaganda

depictions of English Protestant settlers in

Ireland being massacred by Irish Catholics

The British Civil Wars officially begin when Charles

I raises his Royal Standard against Parliament at

Nottingham, 22 August 1642