In August 1642 the Civil War began, it was between Parliament and the King because of many reasons..............

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How the Civil War began

        In August 1642 the Civil War began, it was between Parliament and the King because of many reasons…………..

        In the 1500’s the monarch was definitely in control of the country. But Parliament gradually got more powerful.

         Charles got off to a very bad start because in 1625 Charles married a French Catholic Princess, Henrietta Maria. This was very unpopular with Parliament because Charles was Protestant and they thought that Charles would try to change the country into Catholics. Also because she was a Foreigner to England. Parliament did not trust Charles’s main adviser, Buckingham. But in 1626 Parliament tried to punish Buckingham for bungling a naval expedition against Spain. Charles sent two MP’s to prison because of this.

Then there was the question of money. When a new King or Queen came to the throne Parliament usually voted to give the monarch the income from Custom’s Duties for life. But when Charles came to the throne Parliament voted to grant him the Custom’s Duties for only one year. They were trying to force him into calling them more often, so Parliament gradually got more power because they were getting called more often because Charles wanted more and more money.

        Charles started to make rules without Parliament’s permission such as bringing back old laws. Laud an Archbishop, wanted to change the church services and he wanted to bring back decorations into the church. Many people thought Charles was going Catholic, because of his Catholic wife. Charles told the public the reason there were decorations in the church was because they would bring them closer to God.

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Also Charles without Parliament ran out of money on a regular basis, because he didn’t call Parliament often, also because people wouldn’t pay the taxes he set. Another reason he kept running out of money was because he got himself into a lot of wars, so that was more money.

To get more money he brought back an old rule, Ship Tax. Ship Tax was taken from coastal counties. But because Charles wanted more money he started to tax the whole country even people who didn’t live on the coast. And if people didn’t pay they might have been sent ...

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