Page 58 - Phonebox Magazine July 2016

What was the importance of the English Civil War?
Part One – By Peter Ashdown
Peter Ashdown is a local amateur historian who is involved with the Committee that is organising a celebration of the English Civil War in Newport Pagnell on the Bank Holiday Weekend 28th to 29th August 2016. The Event will involve two days of simulated battle with cavalry, infantry, artillery, musketeers and pikemen in association with the English
TCivil War Society.
he English Civil War was not
simply a dispute between King and Parliament but an important stage in the evolution of British democracy
as we know it today. To understand this, one needs to look back into early history when England was far from democratic, and the developments over the centuries which lead to the eventual armed con ict in 1642. England under Roman rule during the 1st to the 5th centuries AD was an organised society with all the characteristics of early civilisation including towns, roads, water supplies, public baths and a legal system. Local authorities ruled under the direction from Rome of the Emperor and Senate, the council of aristocrats in which legal powers were vested. When the Romans withdrew in 415 AD the remnants of their society lingered on but the country eventually reverted to fragmented tribal rule under the attack of Anglo-Saxons and Danes who settled in most of England and Southern Scotland. These invaders lived alongside the original British Celtic population and gradually they intermingled into an English speaking nation. The tribal areas merged into a number of kingdoms of which Wessex in the South, Mercia in the Midlands and Northumbria in the North were the largest and most signi cant. Wales remained largely separate and essentially Celtic.
During the 9th and 10th centuries England became unified under the leadership of the Kingdom of Wessex and the capital moved from the original capital of Wessex, Winchester, to the old Roman capital of London. After being virtually abandoned when the Romans left, London was by then a thriving city with trade links from the Mediterranean to the Baltic Seas. The role of the King became established as all powerful, and his authority was devolved to local earls and royal appointees. England had become one nation under one king with a common English language and a ourishing artistic culture.
Following the Norman invasion in 1066 the Norman kings reinforced their power through the feudal system. The King granted noble titles and land to the great lords who administered their territories on behalf of the king, and in return provided military support for the Royal Army. The great lords granted title and land to the minor barons in return for soldiers. The King’s immediate advisors were the Privy Council through which he administered his authority.
At times when the King was weak and there were strong leaders amongst the great lords the power of the King was challenged. King John was weak and was forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215 which imposed
restrictions on his powers over the great lords. During the remainder of the 13th century there were several such Magna Cartas agreed by successive Kings from which emerged the concept of a Parliament in addition and separate to the Privy Council. Edward lll conceded the right for there to be consultation before tax could be imposed, ie taxation only with the agreement of Parliament.
The country was not always peaceful. The Norman kings had an ancestral link to the rule of Normandy and by various marriages over the years also had claims over large areas of what became France as we know it today. There were a number of wars with the French which lead to the gradual loss of territory in France. There were also disputes as to the royal line between the members of the royal family and the aristocratic families they married. Allegations of illegitimacy lead to internal struggles and civil wars, such as the War of the Roses in the 15th century. None of these wars disputed the power of the king as such, they disagreed as to who should be king.
In the 16th century Henry Vlll wanted to divorce his rst wife as she had failed to provide him with a male heir. Katherine was from the Spanish Royal Family who had powerful in uence with the Pope as Spain was then at the height of its power. The Pope refused to grant Henry a divorce so Henry decided to break with the Roman Catholic Church and declared himself head of the Church of England. This hugely important decision was made without reference to Parliament. However Henry used the endorsement of Parliament to legitimise his concept of national sovereignty with King, Lords and Commons acting together; ie a uni ed nation with a national church.
In 1603 Queen Elizabeth l, the last of the Tudor monarchs, died unmarried and childless. Her natural heir was her relative James Stuart, King James Vl of Scotland, who was the great- great-grandson of Henry Vll the rst Tudor king of England. James was immediately summoned to take his inheritance as James l of England. He ruled England and Scotland as
58 Phonebox Magazine | July 2016