Describe the stages in 1642 by which England slipped into civil war
In the events leading to 1642 Charles 1st had managed to regain support that he had lost as a result of his ‘11 years tyranny’. Pym’s revolutionary reforms began to shock members of parliament, the ‘Grand Remonstrance’ had only passed by the narrowest of margins, with nearly 50% of the commons supporting the King. Despite this England fell into a state of civil war on 22nd August 1642 – Charles’ radical, ill-advised actions led to many people turning to parliament, having lost the image of a secure leader they had once seen.
Henrietta Maria, Charles’ catholic wife and his other advisors had encouraged Charles to make a stance against the increasingly radical parliamentary policies. Charles initial reaction to this was to accept their advice. He attempted to remove those who dared to question his ‘divine right’, by arresting them. Five of the members of the House of Commons were chosen: John Pym, John Hampden, William Strode, Denzil Holles and Sir Arthur Haselrig. A peer, Lord Kimbolton was also chosen. Charles entered the house of commons on the 4th of January 1642 with approximately 400 armed men, this turned out to be not only disastrous to the King’s chances of recovering support, but also embarrassing as the five members had escaped leaving Charles to look foolish, only able to state “The birds are flown..”. This is a key stage in England’s slide into war as it created more anger against the King, alienating him from the MPs. War was now very likely.
