Civil War – Why did Parliament win?

The civil war started when King Charles I raised his standard at Edgehill on October 1642. This was the first important battle of the Civil War and both sides claimed victory. At the start of the Civil War the Royalists (King Charles I side) was at a higher advantage than the Parliamentarians. The royalists had cavalry where Parliamentarians had not.

King Charles had many supports in the North Western region of England, since there was many nobles who owned the land. The nobles were given their title by previous monarchs so they owed the monarch. Parliament controlled South Eastern regions as there were many merchants in the cities. They earned their money by hardwork and were reluctant to Charles’ taxes. Parliament also received troops from Scotland.

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The Battle of Edgehill occurred when both sides on route for London clashed together. King Charles marched his army from Shrewsbury on 12th October, his plans to make it to London. However, the Earl of Essex also marched for London from Worcester. Their routes were almost parallel.

On the 21st October they were 7 miles apart from each other. Prince Rupert realized the danger that Essex might attack, so persuaded Charles to organize his army on the slopes of Edgehill. Essex realized that Charles’ army was near so they also stopped on the slopes. Both of them organized their ...

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