Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

189

BATTLE OF NASEBY

At the Battle of Naseby in 1645, the

heavily armed and well-organized

pikemen and musketeers of

Cromwell’s “New Model Army”

crushed the Royalists.

OLIVER CROMWELL

The English Republic

(1649-60) was organized

and ruled mainly by Lord

Protector Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658).

Cromwell was an honest, moderate man and a

brilliant army leader. But his attempts to enforce religious

purity upon England made him unpopular with many.

Royalist

cavalry

IN 1649, CHARLES I, king of England, was put on trial for treason and

executed. His death marked the climax of the English Civil War, also called the

English Revolution, a fierce struggle between king and Parliament (the law-

making assembly) over the issue of who should govern England. The struggle

had begun many years before. Charles I believed that kings were appointed

by God and should rule alone; Parliament believed that it should have greater

power. When the king called upon Parliament for funds to fight the Scots, it

refused to cooperate, and in 1642 civil war broke out. England was divided into

two factions—the Royalists (also called Cavaliers), who supported Charles, and

the Parliamentarians (also called Roundheads), who supported Parliament.

Charles was a poor leader, and the Roundheads had the support of the navy

and were led by two great generals—Lord Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell. By

1649, Cromwell had defeated Charles and declared England a republic. Despite

various reforms, Cromwell’s rule was unpopular. In 1660, the army asked

Charles’s son, Charles II, to take the throne and the monarchy was restored.

RUMP PARLIAMENT

At the end of the English Civil

War, all that was left of King

Charles’s Parliament was a

“rump” Parliament, whose

members refused to leave. In

1653, Cromwell, determined

to get rid of any remnant of

the king, dismissed Parliament.

He pointed at the mace, the

speaker’s symbol of office,

and laughingly called it a

bauble (left).

CHARLES I

King Charles I (reigned 1625-49)

was the only English monarch to

be executed. He ignored the

Parliament, and ruled alone from

1629 to 1640. After a disagreement

with the Parliament in 1642,

Charles raised an army and began

the civil war that ended his reign.

The picture above depicts the

scene of his execution.

Royalist officers wore

wide-brimmed hats.

Parliamentary

(New Model) army

Find out more

Civil war

United kingdom

United kingdom, history of

English Civil War

DIGGERS

During these turbulent

years, new political groups

emerged. Some, such as

the Diggers, were very

radical. They believed

that ordinary people

should have a say in

government and wanted

to end private property.

Pikeman