WEBVTT 1 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:23.960 Hello, and Welcome to Western civ. Episode four hundred and 2 00:00:24.039 --> 00:00:30.559 sixty three. The war begins on December the twenty first, 3 00:00:31.160 --> 00:00:35.119 fourteen sixty one. Elections were held in London for the 4 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:39.719 Common Council, and the results were clear the Puritans were 5 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:44.000 in the ascendancy. When the lords gathered in Westminster at 6 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:46.920 the end of December, a crowd of apprentices and others 7 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:50.520 began to shout out at them, no bishops, no poete 8 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:54.840 bish Lords. An opposing force made up of military volunteers 9 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:57.799 and soldiers of fortune who had also gathered in the city. 10 00:00:58.159 --> 00:00:59.920 They had actually come to serve the King and ire 11 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:03.719 and elsewhere, but they could also be supported to guarantee 12 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:07.640 to turn upon the crowds and support Parliament. At this point, 13 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:11.079 the king realized these soldiers might be useful for putting 14 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:13.879 down any brief rebellion. Problem, as we're about to see 15 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:17.079 is that this wasn't going to be a rebellion. This 16 00:01:17.239 --> 00:01:19.719 was going to be outright civil war. 17 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:21.359 Now. 18 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:24.719 This was actually the period, so we're talking late sixteen 19 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:28.040 forty one early sixteen forty two, when we first actually 20 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:34.400 hear the terms roundhead and cavalier. Roundhead became the common 21 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:37.680 currency to refer to those of the Puritan persuasion because 22 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:42.719 of their short cropped hair. The Royalist soldiers had long 23 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:46.159 Aristocratic locks, flowing like a beautiful night, you know, in 24 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:49.439 those pictures, and so hence we call them the cavaliers. 25 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:53.400 With the steady formation of these two antagonistic powers, there 26 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.480 was already talk around of a civil war. Argument and 27 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.680 dissension sprang up everywhere. Two days after Christmas, crowds once 28 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:05.400 more gathered around Westminster to demand a response from lords 29 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:09.439 to another petition against the bishops. We're talking Episcopal bishops here, 30 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:14.560 but those who are much more Catholic in their outward 31 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:18.159 looking features than the Puritans would prefure. A group of 32 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:20.759 soldiers fell upon them, but the citizens in this case 33 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:25.759 actually fought back. Inspired by fear, they attacked the troops 34 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:29.919 with sticks and stones and wooden cudgels. Some sailors joined in, 35 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.639 until the soldiers were actually beaten down and had to 36 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:36.960 run away. On the following morning, soldiers advanced out of 37 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:40.080 Westminster Abbey and fell upon the citizens, this time with 38 00:02:40.120 --> 00:02:43.159 swords and pistols. In the afternoon, they went after a 39 00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:47.639 group of apprentices in retaliation. The citizens now threatened to 40 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:52.639 shut up their shops and refrain from all trade in London. Meanwhile, 41 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:55.719 in the House of Lords, the bishops sat huddled in torchlight, 42 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:59.280 listening to the rage and menace of the crowd outside. 43 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:02.719 They were forced to leave the chamber by secret message, 44 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:06.240 some under the protection of great lords, others using secret 45 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:10.000 passages out of the buildings. Otherwise they probably would have 46 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:13.800 met the fate of some of those soldiers. On the 47 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:17.400 twenty ninth of December, now we're still in sixteen forty one, 48 00:03:17.479 --> 00:03:20.520 a group of twelve bishops laid the complaint that they 49 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:25.960 had been quote violently menaced, affronted and assaulted by multitudes 50 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:30.560 of people end quote, and that because of their enforced 51 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:33.360 absence from the House of Lords, which they now couldn't 52 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:37.560 get back into, any laws passed had to be considered 53 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:42.639 null and void. This was tantamount, of course, to asserting 54 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:49.199 that without bishops, parliament became illegal. The members of the 55 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:53.800 House of Commons were incensed at this claim. I thought 56 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:56.800 it was arrogant, and on the following day they had 57 00:03:56.840 --> 00:04:00.400 the bishops in the House of Commons impeached for high reason. 58 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:05.639 Ultimately they were arrested and sent to the tower. On 59 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:08.280 the first day of the new year, sixteen forty two, 60 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:12.800 matters came to a head. Committees from the House of 61 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:15.960 Commons and the remaining lords met at Guildhall to consider 62 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:19.279 a new strategy. It was agreed that the trained bands, 63 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:22.120 those that had been put together from various groups in London, 64 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:26.199 would be summoned on the authority of Parliament, not at 65 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:29.839 the King. At this meeting, plans were also drawn up 66 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:34.759 to impeach the Queen for communicating with Catholic rebels in Ireland. 67 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:40.120 The threats perhaps was designed to provoke King Charles into 68 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:43.959 violent action. The trained bands were indeed raised for the 69 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:49.560 cause of parliamentary effectively placing London under Parliament's military control 70 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:54.120 to summon armed troops. Now we can't forget it was 71 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:57.759 an act of treason. But tellingly, and this is the 72 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:03.759 important part, nobody said seemed to care anymore. Charles was, 73 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:07.480 of course seeking his own methods. What he was trying 74 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:09.399 to do at the moment was draw up plans to 75 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:13.040 impeach certain members of the House of Parliaments. That Charles' 76 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:16.879 problem throughout the early proceedings here was that he really 77 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:20.959 believed this was a small group of agitators, that the 78 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:23.920 large population, and even the large population of the House 79 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:27.560 of Commons in general still loved him. He was wrong 80 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:31.920 about that, and his inability to conceive this as a 81 00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:35.279 broader based issue is what ultimately puts him on the 82 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:38.120 back foot for so much of this coming conflict. 83 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:42.079 In the end, it's going to cost him his head. Now. 84 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:46.720 On January third, as a consequence the charges which had 85 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:49.879 been drawn up against several of these men, Lord Mandeville, 86 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:54.839 of course, John Pim, John Hamden, Arthur Haselrigg Denzil Hollis, 87 00:05:55.079 --> 00:05:58.480 and William Strode were red ows before the House of Lords. 88 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:00.560 On the file day. 89 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:04.519 Not to resist his own countermeasure, John Pim sent a 90 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:07.839 delegation to the Common Council of London, newly elected in 91 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:11.519 the Puritan interest, to plead for help. That day the 92 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:15.000 council elected its own Committee of Safety for the city, 93 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:17.360 and you could start to hear rhymes of the same 94 00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:19.120 things that are going to happen in the French Revolution. 95 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:21.920 By the way, Now wasn't a moment too. 96 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:24.360 Soon, by the way, because the king was actually ready 97 00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:27.879 to strike that very next day. Pim, who again remembers 98 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:31.160 in charge of the Puritan faction within the House of Commons. 99 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:34.160 He had been alerted to the attempted assault, perhaps by 100 00:06:34.199 --> 00:06:38.480 spies at court, and he prepared instead for a notable 101 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:42.600 act of theatricality. The accused men, the men that I 102 00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:45.639 just mentioned, took their seats in Commons in the early afternoon, 103 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:48.120 knowing full well that the King would be informed of 104 00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:52.000 their presence. At three o'clock, Charles left Whitehall with an 105 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:54.279 armed guard of three hundred men and made his way 106 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:56.800 to men's winster, the idea of being, of course, that 107 00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:59.639 he was going to arrest them. The news reached the 108 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:02.720 Common and the indicted members slipped from their seats and 109 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:05.439 hid in the court of the King's bench before being 110 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:08.759 rowed from the river into the city. Even as they 111 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:11.720 made their departure, the King's party could be heard clattering 112 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:14.800 on the stairs into the lobby. The King entered the 113 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:17.560 chamber of the Commons alone, but the doors were left 114 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:19.839 open so that the members could see the armed forces 115 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:24.639 waiting outside. Charles said, quote, gentlemen, I am sorry to 116 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:27.560 have this occasion of coming to you end quote. He 117 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:29.879 asked for the accused members to be surrendered to him. 118 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:33.800 He realized then that they weren't there. His bluff had 119 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:37.279 been called. He looked about him, seeing that they were gone, 120 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:40.360 and said, quote, I do not see any of them. 121 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:44.360 I think I should know them. He added, I come 122 00:07:44.439 --> 00:07:47.519 to tell you that I must have them. Wheresoever I 123 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:53.360 find them, is mister pim here. No one answered, well, well, 124 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.439 tis no matter. I think my eyes are as good 125 00:07:56.600 --> 00:08:00.839 as another's end quote. He then asked the speaker of 126 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:03.319 the House of Commons to help him find these members. 127 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:07.519 The speaker, whose last name was Lentil, replied, may it 128 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:10.079 please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor 129 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:12.360 tongues to speak in this place, but as the house 130 00:08:12.439 --> 00:08:14.920 is pleased to direct me whose servant I am here, 131 00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:17.879 and I humbly beg your Majesty's pardon that I cannot 132 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:20.720 give other answer than this to what your Majesty is 133 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:23.759 pleased to demand of me. This was essentially an equivocation. 134 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:29.160 There followed a long pause, the king eventually responding, quote, well, 135 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:31.920 since I see all the birds have flown, I do 136 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:34.639 expect from you that you will send them unto me 137 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:38.120 as soon as they return hither. If not, I will 138 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:41.559 seek them myself, for their treason is foul, and such 139 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:44.320 a one as you will thank me to discover. But 140 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:46.519 I assure you on the word of a king, I 141 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:49.679 never did intend any force, but shall proceed against them 142 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:52.960 in legal and fair way, and I never meant any 143 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:57.240 other end quote. As the King turned to go, cries 144 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:00.799 of privilege, privilege were raised around them. Of course, we're 145 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:05.519 talking now about privileges of English gentlemen, the idea of 146 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:10.159 habeas corpus, which Charles has already suspended from time to time. 147 00:09:10.200 --> 00:09:12.120 So the idea that he would treat fairly to them 148 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:15.840 is something that the Commons was no longer willing to entertain. 149 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:17.679 Now. 150 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:20.200 The members of the King's party in Commons realized at 151 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:25.440 once that the King had committed a huge, maybe fatal mistake. 152 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:29.000 His authority was totally lost, and everyone could see it. 153 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:33.919 In a mood of understandable dismay, they submitted meekly to 154 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:36.360 the decision of the rest of Parliament to adjourn itself 155 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:38.679 to the hall of one of the London guilds as 156 00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:41.639 a place of greater safety. On the evening of the 157 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:44.679 failed attempt, the city had all the air of an 158 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:48.600 army camp. Barricades had been set up, chains were drawn 159 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:52.080 across the principal streets. The people of the suburbs, as 160 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:55.360 well as the city itself, offered their support to Parliament 161 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:59.000 in the case that Charles's army would march upon them. 162 00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:02.799 The women oiled water, ready to throw upon any encroaching cavaliers. 163 00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:06.440 The members who had absconded were now safely concealed in 164 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:09.639 a house. The call went up among some that the 165 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:14.879 king was unworthy to live. Indeed, Charles had now effectively 166 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:19.960 lost control over his capital city. Unfortunately for Charles, London 167 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:23.080 was not the only seat of disaffection. In the days 168 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:27.000 immediately following, thousands of men from Kent to Buckinghamshire, North 169 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:31.320 Hampshire and Leicestershire, Essex and Sussex rode or marched to 170 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:35.279 Westminster with petitions for Parliament. They complained in general about 171 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:38.600 the decay of trade provoked by the divisions. The country was, 172 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:41.919 as a result of this crisis, confronted by an immediate 173 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:46.519 and sudden economic decline. The loss of confidence restricted trade, 174 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:49.120 and the tradesmen and merchants of London hoarded their money 175 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:52.279 in the hope of better times. The majority of people, 176 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:55.759 of course, yearned for peace, and it's important to note, however, 177 00:10:55.960 --> 00:10:59.799 that the petitioners from Kent and elsewhere addressed Parliament, not 178 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:02.879 the King, now as the center of authority in the nation. 179 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:08.039 Without really other options, by the tenth of January, Charles 180 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:12.720 decided he must leave London and did so for Hampton Court. Meanwhile, 181 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:15.759 the military arsenal of the nation was moved to Hull, 182 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:19.360 where twenty thousand weapons and seven thousand barrels of gunpowder 183 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:22.919 were secured. The King appointed the Earl of Newcastle to 184 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:25.720 be the governor of the port and arsenal, but he 185 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:29.000 was circumvented almost immediately by the swift action of a 186 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:32.840 young parliamentarian named John Ham, who persuaded the Mayor of 187 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:34.200 Hull to admit his men. 188 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:36.240 And so now it was the. 189 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:39.559 Commons and Parliament, not the King, in charge of twenty 190 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:45.000 thousand weapons and seven thousand barrels of gunpowder. The Commons 191 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.559 drew up a declaration to the officials of the counties, 192 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:51.000 urging them to get ready for the defense. The King, 193 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:53.279 in response, sent a letter to Westminster in which he 194 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:56.039 proposed that he would reserve the privileges of its members 195 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:59.039 and protect the interests of the true religion in exchange 196 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:02.080 for only now a commits in preserving his authority and 197 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:06.720 his revenues. At the end of January, Charles also summoned 198 00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:09.399 all of his faithful lords to Windsor. This was the 199 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:12.679 castle which, for all practical purposes, is going to be 200 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:15.799 the seat of power for every Royalist move from here 201 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.759 on out. On the fifth of February, the Commons sent 202 00:12:19.879 --> 00:12:22.440 up to the Lords a bill concerning the exclusion of 203 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:26.679 bishops from Parliament. Meanwhile, by the middle of that month 204 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:27.759 things are happening fast. 205 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:28.039 Now. 206 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:31.159 Charles and the Queen Henrietta Maria were at Canterbury on 207 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:33.399 their word to Dover, where it was agreed that the 208 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:38.360 Queen would embark for Holland. Things were now moving fast. Indeed, 209 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:42.759 the bill for the exclusion, which was passed by the lords, 210 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:45.639 then reached the King. He was advised that if he 211 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:48.559 didn't give it royal assent, then the Queen's journey might 212 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:52.600 be prevented by parliamentary supporters. In fact, the Queen herself 213 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:56.559 urged Charles to agree to the bill as far as 214 00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:59.120 she was concerned. Frankly, the bishops were simply dispensable. They 215 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:03.440 could always be replaced afterwards. So Charles consented, even though 216 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:06.399 he had promised in his coronation oath to maintain the 217 00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:11.279 ecclesiasticals in all their privileges. He probably calculated, like Queen 218 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:14.600 Penranta Maria, that he could just rescind this decision. Later on, 219 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:18.720 when Charles traveled back to his palace at Greenwich, he 220 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:21.480 sent for his eldest son. He was determined to keep 221 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:23.840 the Prince of Wales with him as a guarantee for 222 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:27.600 the preservation of the royal family. Bother and son, in fact, 223 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:30.960 would actually remain together for the next three years, all 224 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:34.960 through the coming Civil War. The members of Parliament now 225 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:39.720 asked politely for Charles to simply stay around Westminster. They 226 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:46.399 believed his presence elsewhere could provoke conflict and danger. He responded, quote, 227 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:49.159 for my residence near you, I wish it to be 228 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:51.159 so safe and honorable that I have no cause to 229 00:13:51.159 --> 00:13:54.600 be absent from Whitehall. Ask yourself whether I have not 230 00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:59.559 end quote. He attendedly agreed. He didn't believe that he 231 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.600 needed to be and any close proximity to London or 232 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:07.000 to the parliamentarians. He was no longer safe. But in 233 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:10.559 reality Charles had no interest in going to Whitehall and 234 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:13.320 going to Westminster, and going to any of those places. 235 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:15.759 None of them he considered safe, and in fact the 236 00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:21.320 next day set out for York. On March sixteenth, with 237 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:24.960 the King absent, the Commons meant for one of the 238 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:30.240 most i would say revolutionary moments in English history. On 239 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:34.720 that day, March sixteenth, sixteen forty two, the Commons issued 240 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:39.799 a proclamation that it was Parliament which was the supreme. 241 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:41.320 Power of the land. 242 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:45.919 This had never before been done in English history, and 243 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:49.399 it sets a break in tradition everything that happens afterwards. 244 00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:53.399 We can now talk about Parliament as the head of 245 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:55.279 government rather than the King. 246 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:56.639 Who will be continued to be the head of state. 247 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:01.120 At the same time, members issued an order requiring the 248 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:05.399 leaders of local militias to be appointed by them by Parliament, 249 00:15:05.559 --> 00:15:08.480 not by the King. These men would in turn raise 250 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:13.039 forces on behalf of Parliament, not the King. Still, there 251 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:16.279 was no necessity for war at this point. Many local 252 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:19.679 communities throughout the realm were at peace. Neither side appeared 253 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:22.120 to have the power of resources to raise or command 254 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:24.600 an army. No one wanted to be found guilty of 255 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:27.919 starting the civil war. The King and the company of 256 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:30.840 his son made a slow journey to York, and he 257 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:34.840 still was optimistic, saying that he could easily raise an 258 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:37.559 army of sixteen thousand men, which would put down any 259 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:43.000 pidly army that the parliamentarians. The problem, of course, wasn't 260 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:45.360 raising the men, it was arming them, because now the 261 00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:48.600 parliamentarians were in control of Hull. And so in the 262 00:15:48.679 --> 00:15:51.840 last week of April, Charles approached Hall where that twenty 263 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:55.480 thousand stash of weapons and that seven thousand barrels of 264 00:15:55.559 --> 00:15:58.919 gunpowder was sitting with a company of about three hundred horsemen, 265 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:01.799 preceded by a message that he had come to meet 266 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:05.360 with the governor. Sir John Hawtham resolved with the municipal 267 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:10.320 laders to stop any triumphant entry. When the King arrived 268 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:13.320 at the gates, he found them shut. He found the 269 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:16.279 drawbridge raised, and there was a guard upon the ramparts. 270 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:20.440 He demanded entrance, as the lawful sovereign, but he was 271 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:23.600 told by Hawtham that quote I dare not open the gates, 272 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:26.879 being instructed by Parliament with the safety of the town. 273 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:32.519 Charles responded, I believe you have no order from Parliament 274 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:34.559 to shut the gates against me or to keep me 275 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:38.559 out of the town. To this, Hawtham answered that the 276 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.360 King's force was so great that quote if it were admitted, 277 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:43.200 I should not be able to give a good account 278 00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:47.600 of the town end quote. Eventually, Hautum, it appears this 279 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:51.039 is actually disputed, but it appears told him that Charles 280 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:54.120 could come in if he left most of his men outside, 281 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:58.360 he could bring twelve. Now Charles refused on the condition 282 00:16:58.440 --> 00:16:59.159 that this was just. 283 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:00.879 An insult to his person. 284 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:05.400 He declared that Hotham was a traitor. His dignity and 285 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:09.640 self respect had been too injured. And so Charles continued 286 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:11.599 on to York, and from there he sent a message 287 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:15.079 to Parliament. He told them all about the insult that 288 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:17.680 had been given to them by Hautam. He believed him 289 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:21.960 to be imputent. Meanwhile, the two houses, and we're talking 290 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:24.920 about lords and commons now both stated in a reply 291 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:28.480 that quote, Sir John Hottam had done nothing but in 292 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:34.960 obedience to the commands of the Houses of Parliament. Parliament 293 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:49.440 had picked its side. In the spring of sixteen forty two, 294 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:52.319 the two houses of Parliament resolved that quote the King, 295 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:56.119 seduced by wicked counselors, intends to make war against Parliament. 296 00:17:56.279 --> 00:17:56.920 End quote. 297 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:00.079 So they began to prepare their army. In May, a 298 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:03.599 levy of sixteen thousand soldiers was ordered. In the course 299 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:06.319 of the spring Parliament nominated the Earl of Warwick to 300 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:08.960 be Lord High Admiral of the English Fleet, and he 301 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:11.559 worked quickly to gain the loyalty of his men, and 302 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:14.079 ships that supported the cause of the king were quickly 303 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:18.039 boarded and overpowered. Men and money, of course, were also 304 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:21.480 arriving in York on the part of Charles. Yet the 305 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:24.519 soldiers on either side had not yet necessarily been raised 306 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:27.400 to fight. The idea might be at this point that 307 00:18:27.400 --> 00:18:29.960 they could be used to deter other side from the 308 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.519 support of any subsequent show of violence, regardless, and this 309 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:38.160 happened so often. In these situations. Events had now just 310 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:41.400 taken on a life of their own. Each side was 311 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:45.680 essentially countermoving and moving honestly, without a lot of forethought. 312 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:50.599 A parliamentary supporter remarked later that quote, it is strange 313 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:53.640 to note how we have insensibly slid into this beginning 314 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:57.640 of a civil war by one unexpected accident after another, 315 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:00.839 as waves of the sea which had brought us thus 316 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:05.880 far end quote. Now Ever, since, of course, volumes upon 317 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:09.720 volumes have been written abound the English Civil War cuns 318 00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:14.920 and everyone's always looking for one social cause or oftentimes 319 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:19.400 a religious cause, and that's true. But one principal motive 320 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.920 I think that gets ignored in both this civil war 321 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:26.799 and in so many others is just fear. The reality 322 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:30.759 is both sides were acting out of fear of what 323 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:35.480 the other side might do. There just wasn't trust. If 324 00:19:35.480 --> 00:19:39.000 there had been any modicum of trust between the parliament 325 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:42.720 and the king, I think this would have been resolved. 326 00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:46.519 But John Pim and his colleagues knew that if the 327 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:51.319 king prevailed, they would be declared traders and they would 328 00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:56.519 be drawn and quartered. So at this point, from their perspective, 329 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:00.119 there wasn't an option. They had to fight. 330 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:01.680 Now. 331 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:05.599 At the beginning of June, Parliament, guided by him, delivered 332 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:09.519 nineteen propositions to the King. Among them was the wish 333 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:13.599 or maybe command, that the King dismiss his forces and 334 00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:17.519 accept the validity of the force raised by Parliament. He 335 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:20.640 needed to also accept the religious reforms outlined by the 336 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:24.160 members of Parliament, and to exclude any Popish peers from 337 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:28.160 the lords. His principal officers could only be appointed with 338 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:31.079 the approval of Parliament, and all important matters of state 339 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:35.160 would need to be debated. There the documents became, in 340 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:39.559 the words of one parliamentarian quote, the principal foundation of 341 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:43.799 the ensuing war. The King, of course, rejected these demands 342 00:20:43.799 --> 00:20:48.799 out of hand with the words nolus legis angelikai muttare, 343 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:51.720 which means we do not wish the laws of England 344 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:55.799 to be changed. Technically he was right about that, and 345 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:57.920 so at the beginning of July it was reported that 346 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:03.440 royalists had now mustered and Hereford, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire, and so. 347 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:06.480 On June eleventh, Parliament declared that the King had already 348 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:10.160 started the war, diverting any blame for beginning this conflict. 349 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:13.839 Was true necessarily because no one had fired any shots yet. 350 00:21:14.279 --> 00:21:18.240 But again who started this war became really important in 351 00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:22.759 English minds. The Parliament again set up another Committee of Safety, 352 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:25.599 through which that summer in autumn began to organize soldiers, 353 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:29.519 weaponry and supplies. Now it should be noted that a 354 00:21:29.559 --> 00:21:32.240 majority of the great magnates of the realm and the 355 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:36.559 greater landowners supported the King because his privileges guaranteed their own. 356 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:39.880 Twice as many families of the gentry also took the 357 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:43.319 King's part. Of course, I should say that the Puritan 358 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:49.240 gentry were all parliamentarians. Religious dissenters in general overwhelmingly took 359 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:52.440 the side of parliament. Of course, well, Roman Catholics and 360 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:56.039 those of the Orthodox Anglican faith supported the king, or 361 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:58.680 maybe for fear of reprisals from both sides, just decided 362 00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:02.960 to stay neutral. The universities and cathedral cities were largely 363 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:05.799 for the king, although the clergy were often opposed by 364 00:22:05.799 --> 00:22:09.160 the aldermen, while the chief ports of the realm were 365 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.799 all for the parliament. A greater number of towns, however, 366 00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:16.680 just wanted to stay out of the whole thing. In 367 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:20.680 most general terms, if you look at England, the north 368 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:23.359 and the west were sympathetic to the king, while the 369 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:27.640 south and east London in particular supported the parliamentary cause. 370 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:31.000 But this is a crude drawing. The reality is is 371 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:35.240 within any community, no matter where you were, there were 372 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:39.319 divisions between the two sides. This is not like the 373 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:41.599 American Civil War where you can just draw a neat 374 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:44.079 line along the Mason Dixon line and say, well, this 375 00:22:44.119 --> 00:22:46.839 is one side, this is the other side. This is 376 00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:49.960 much more of a mixed bag civil war. And the 377 00:22:50.039 --> 00:22:53.319 reality was most Englishmen were going to stay neutral throughout 378 00:22:53.319 --> 00:22:56.640 this thing. It was the hardcore partisans on both sides 379 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.599 who provoked the conflict. It was they who would fight 380 00:22:59.640 --> 00:23:02.839 the conflict, and it was they who would end the conflict. 381 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.039 That doesn't mean, as in any war, it was they 382 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:09.359 who would bear the brunt of the casualties. As always, 383 00:23:09.559 --> 00:23:11.880 innocent neutral civilians pay the price. 384 00:23:11.960 --> 00:23:12.119 Too. 385 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:16.000 Many families, in fact, were split in their allegiances. 386 00:23:17.319 --> 00:23:18.599 Still, how did it. 387 00:23:18.519 --> 00:23:21.880 Start, Well, we have to go to the afternoon of 388 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:27.279 August the twenty second, sixteen forty two. On that day, 389 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:30.720 Charles rode into Nottingham where the royal standard was being 390 00:23:30.759 --> 00:23:33.440 taken from the castle and then was fixed in the ground. 391 00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:37.039 Beside him, it was given a silk flag with royal 392 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:40.680 arms and a new motto quote give Caesar his due 393 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:43.400 end quote. I don't know if that's a message you're 394 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:46.880 going through, man, but okay. It was suspended from a 395 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:49.200 long pole that was dyed red at the upper part, 396 00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:52.279 which was actually said to have maybe been an overused 397 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:57.319 may pole. The king looked over a pre written proclamation 398 00:23:57.400 --> 00:24:01.839 of war, corrected certain words, and then had it read. 399 00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:07.319 The trumpets were sounded and everyone threw their hats into 400 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:11.440 the air. Shouting God, save King Charles, and hang up 401 00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:16.880