ALAMY, BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
In fighting the king, parliament
aimed to bring him to order,
not to destroy him. It promised
to restore him on terms that
would guarantee his subjects’
safety and religion.
In late 1648, parliament
finally wrung concessions
from the captive Charles that a
majority in the Commons was
willing to accept. However, the
New Model Army wasn’t in the
mood for compromise. Having
fought the Second Civil War
against the king, it had
resolved to bring him to justice.
On 6 December, leaders of
the ‘peace party’ found their
entry to the Commons blocked
by soldiers under Colonel
Thomas Pride and were
imprisoned. Over the following
days, Pride and his men
excluded large numbers of
other MPs from the House.The army’s actions
transformed the cause for
which Roundheads had
fought. In the following
months, the MPs whom the
army allowed to remain at
Westminster destroyed the
constitution that parliamenthad pledged itself to preserve.
They had the king tried and
executed, they abolished
the monarchy and the
House of Lords, and they
turned England into a
‘Commonwealth and
Free State’. Blair Worden- Pride’s Purge December 1648
When the New Model Army scuppered MPs’
attempts to restore Charles to the throneThe public execution of Charles I
on 30 January 1649 was a truly
revolutionary act, followed within a
matter of days by the abolition of
the monarchy. The new
Commonwealth regime claimed
jurisdiction over England and
the allegedly dependent
kingdom of Ireland. Their
actions, however, effectively
severed the personal union,
established under James VI
and I, which had bound the
kingdoms of England and
Scotland together for almost
50 years.
The Scottish Covenanters now
faced three choices. They could
replicate the decision to abolish
monarchy, but few supported such a
move. Alternatively, Charles I’s
successor could be declared King ofScotland alone, but the presence of
Scottish settlers in Ireland complicated
matters, as did the ongoing commitment
of the Covenanters to religious reform
in the three kingdoms.
On 5 February 1649, therefore, the
Scottish parliament signalled its
opposition to developments in England
by declaring Charles II King of Great
Britain, France and Ireland. This placed
the Covenanters on a direct collision
course with the Commonwealth.
The Scottish declaration meant that
war with England could not be avoided,
particularly once Charles II arrived
in Scotland in June 1650. The
actions of the Covenanters and Oliver
Cromwell’s subsequent conquest
of Scotland ensured that the Anglo-
Scottish union survived the English
experiment in republican government.
Micheál Ó Siochrú- The declaration of the Scottish
parliament 5 February 1649
When Scottish Covenanters set themselves on a
collision course with the English CommonwealthCharles II, c1675, shown in coloured
chalks on paper after a portrait
by Sir Peter LelyCharles I is beheaded at Whitehall on 30 January 1649