OCR Specification focus:
‘the Second Civil War; Pride’s Purge; the trial and execution of Charles I.’
The turbulent years 1648–1649 marked the climax of conflict between Charles I and Parliament, defined by renewed warfare, political radicalisation, and the king’s unprecedented trial and execution.
The Second Civil War (1648)
The Second Civil War broke out in 1648 after the breakdown of negotiations between Charles I and Parliament. Despite defeat in the First Civil War, Charles remained determined to regain power.
Causes of the Second Civil War
Charles I’s duplicity: While imprisoned, Charles entered into secret negotiations with the Scots, promising to impose Presbyterianism in England in exchange for military support.
The Engagement (1647): Charles agreed with the Scottish Engagers to establish Presbyterian worship for three years in return for their army’s intervention.
Discontent with Parliament: Royalist uprisings spread across England and Wales, fuelled by resentment over Parliament’s religious reforms and high taxation.
Events of the Second Civil War
Royalist risings in Kent, Essex, and South Wales erupted in spring and summer 1648.
Scottish invasion: In July 1648, a Scottish army entered England under the Engagement.
Parliamentarian victories:
Cromwell crushed the Welsh rebellion at Pembroke.
Fairfax suppressed rebellion in Kent and Essex.
Cromwell defeated the Scots decisively at the Battle of Preston (August 1648).
A simplified, labelled map of the Battle of Preston (17–19 August 1648) showing key rivers, the town, and opposing force positions. This clarifies Parliament’s manoeuvre and Royalist-Scottish fragmentation, with extra place labels for orientation. Source
Consequences of the War
The war confirmed for many within the New Model Army that Charles could never be trusted.
The army, radicalised by events, began to see the king as a man of blood—a term meaning one guilty of causing the bloodshed of his people.
Man of blood: A contemporary phrase referring to a ruler who had caused the spilling of his subjects’ blood through tyranny or unjust war, thereby forfeiting moral legitimacy.
The Second Civil War created conditions for a political revolution, as military leaders determined that settlement with Charles was impossible.
Pride’s Purge (December 1648)
The growing divide between Parliament and the Army culminated in Pride’s Purge, the only recorded military coup in English history.
Causes
Negotiations with Charles: The majority of the Long Parliament continued to favour renewed negotiations with the king, despite his duplicity.
Army’s opposition: The New Model Army, under Cromwell and Ireton, rejected further compromise. They demanded justice against Charles.
Religious radicalism: Many within the Army and Independent faction in Parliament believed God had judged against Charles and wanted divine justice carried out.
Events of the Purge
On 6 December 1648, Colonel Thomas Pride, with Army soldiers, stationed himself outside the House of Commons.
Engraving depicting Colonel Thomas Pride refusing admission to Presbyterian MPs at the Commons entrance. It captures the Army’s intervention and intimidation, with period dress and architecture providing historical context. Source
He physically prevented MPs deemed sympathetic to Charles from entering.
About 140 Members were excluded, and others intimidated; around 60 remained to form what became known as the Rump Parliament.
Significance
Pride’s Purge transformed Parliament into an assembly dominated by Army supporters.
It marked a revolutionary moment: sovereignty shifted from king and Parliament to the Army.
The purge created the Rump Parliament, which would sanction Charles’s trial.
Rump Parliament: The remnant of the Long Parliament left after Pride’s Purge, composed of MPs sympathetic to the Army’s radical agenda.
Pride’s Purge was unprecedented, demonstrating the Army’s decisive role in reshaping England’s political order.
The Trial of Charles I (January 1649)
The trial of Charles I was unprecedented in European history: never before had a reigning monarch been tried and executed by his own subjects.
Establishing the Court
The Rump Parliament passed an Ordinance for the Trial of the King in January 1649.
The House of Lords rejected it, but the Commons declared itself the supreme authority, bypassing both king and Lords.
A High Court of Justice of 135 commissioners (judges) was created, though only about half participated.
Charges Against the King
Charles was accused of being a “tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the Commonwealth of England.”
The prosecution argued he had waged war against his people, thereby breaking the trust placed in him.
Charles’s Defence
Charles refused to plead, insisting the court had no legal authority to try him.
He invoked the principle of divine right monarchy, asserting he was accountable only to God.
Divine Right Monarchy: The belief that monarchs derive their authority directly from God, making them accountable only to Him and not to earthly institutions.
Charles’s refusal to acknowledge the court reinforced the Army’s view of him as obstinate and unrepentant.
Verdict and Execution
On 27 January 1649, Charles was declared guilty.
On 30 January 1649, he was executed outside the Banqueting House, Whitehall, before a large crowd.
Engraving showing the execution of Charles I outside the Banqueting House, Whitehall. The scaffold, architecture, and crowded spectators highlight the gravity of the event. Decorative portrait roundels and allegorical elements are present beyond the syllabus core. Source
Impact of the Trial
The execution shocked Europe; monarchs viewed it as a dangerous precedent.
For radicals, it was a moment of divine justice.
England was declared a Commonwealth, governed as a republic without king or House of Lords.
Consequences of the Second Civil War and Trial
The combined events of the Second Civil War, Pride’s Purge, and the Trial of Charles I fundamentally altered England’s political and constitutional landscape.
Key consequences included:
The abolition of monarchy and creation of a republican Commonwealth.
The emergence of the Army as the dominant political force.
Intensified divisions between moderates, who saw the trial as unlawful, and radicals, who hailed it as providential.
These developments marked the end of Charles I’s reign and the beginning of an unprecedented republican experiment in England.
FAQ
Cromwell took a central military role in 1648. After quelling uprisings in South Wales, he led the decisive campaign against the invading Scottish Engagers.
At the Battle of Preston, Cromwell manoeuvred his forces to divide and overwhelm the larger Scottish army. His leadership here convinced many in the New Model Army that God had chosen them as instruments of justice.
Preston was not just a military victory but a turning point in perceptions of Charles.
The scale of Charles’s duplicity, inviting Scottish intervention, became undeniable.
Parliamentarians concluded that no trust could be placed in a monarch who had provoked a second round of bloodshed.
It directly influenced the Army’s push for bringing Charles to trial.
Before December 1648, Parliament was divided between moderates wanting settlement with Charles and radicals aligned with the Army.
Pride’s Purge forcibly removed moderate MPs, leaving only the compliant Rump Parliament. This gave the Army effective control of government, ensuring it could pursue a trial.
It also marked the first time in English history that a military force reshaped parliamentary membership.
The court declared that sovereignty resided in the House of Commons, not the monarch.
They argued that Charles had broken the fundamental trust of governance by waging war on his people.
By elevating the Commons as the supreme authority, the trial challenged traditional constitutional principles of shared sovereignty with king and Lords.
Reactions were deeply divided.
Radicals and soldiers saw the execution as divine justice and a chance to build a godly republic.
Many ordinary people were shocked, regarding it as unlawful regicide.
Royalists mourned Charles as a martyr, a view later reinforced in works such as Eikon Basilike.
These divisions highlighted the fragility of the new Commonwealth regime.
Practice Questions
Question 1 (2 marks)
In which year was Charles I executed, and where did the execution take place?
Mark Scheme:
1 mark for correctly identifying the year as 1649.
1 mark for correctly identifying the location as outside the Banqueting House, Whitehall.
Question 2 (6 marks)
Explain why the Second Civil War (1648) made it impossible for many in the New Model Army to reach a settlement with Charles I.
Mark Scheme:
Award up to 6 marks.
1 mark for identifying that Charles I negotiated secretly with the Scots despite previous defeats.
1 mark for reference to the Engagement (1647), where Charles promised Presbyterianism for Scottish support.
1 mark for noting the series of Royalist risings in Kent, Essex, and South Wales.
1 mark for explaining that Parliamentarian victories at Pembroke, Colchester, and especially Preston confirmed Charles’s duplicity.
1 mark for identifying that the Army began to view Charles as a “man of blood”, untrustworthy and responsible for renewed bloodshed.
1 mark for explaining that these events convinced the Army that settlement was impossible and that only radical action (trial) remained.
