The roles of Charles Stuart and John Pym in Parliaments victory of the English Civil War

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The roles of Charles Stuart and John Pym in Parliaments victory of the English Civil War.

On August the 2nd 1642 King Charles the 1st raised his standard at Nottingham. The English Civil War had begun and it lasted from 1642 until the King's execution at the beginning of 1649. One could argue that it was actually two separate Civil wars, fought between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists. The first war beginning in 1642 and ending in 1646 when the King was captured, and then the second from 1647 after the Kings escape, to 1648 when he was again defeated and captured. However we will simply be looking at the years up until his surrender to the Scotts, April 1646, as by the end of June that same year, the surrender of Oxford was to mark the virtual end to the war. So who were John Pym and Charles Stuart, and what role did they play in the events that led to Parliament's victory? I will look at their actions during the Cival war that may have helped the Parliamentarians gain victory.

By 1640, John Pym had become the head of a political group who later became known at the Parliamentarians. Pym was a skilled political tactician who first entered parliament in 1620. He had participated in the Commons' Protestation against James in 1621 for which he was placed under house arrest for five days as a result. He also took part in the attack on the Duke of Buckingham due to his belief that the man was incompetent in the way of foreign policy.

The Parliamentarians (although not named that) originated back in the 1620's with a group of Lords and MP's -Lord Saye and Sele, the Earl of Warwick and Sir John Eliot. They organised the Petition of Right in 1628 and a year later John Pym had joined them during the crisis that produced the Three Resolutions of 1629. So the 1620's saw a number of events that brought together a group of men who had the same political views and the belief that the law of the land was binding on the king and his subjects.

Others that took up support of the Parliamentarians were yeomen and craftsmen and later on once the war had begun, many of the common people turned to the Parliamentarians also.

Pym played a major role leading up until his death in 1643. His role as leader of the Moderate group amongst the parliamentarians was important in keeping the war and peace groups together. His idea of introducing weekly taxes in London created a strong financial system for the parliamentarians which set them up for a long term war against the Royalists. He set up the Midland and Eastern Association that created good relationships between local county communities and the parliamentarians. His alliance with the Scots, proved crucial in the end although it caused a stir amongst the peace and war groups, but Pym's powers of persuasion and the firing of Henry Marten, a powerful war group leader, helped to reassure the peace group.
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The Royalists were of course led by King Charles the 1st, who was the second son of the former King, James the 1st. Therefore Charles must have been brought up always believing that his brother would become the King after his father's reign. According to Angela Anderson, who wrote a book on Charles the 1st in the Longman History in depth series, Charles was rather shy and not very good at speaking in public. She also states that Charles was overshadowed by the presence and then death of his brother, Prince Henry. So how did Charles act, believing ...

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