The quarrel is now between light and darkness, not who shall rule, but whether we shall live or be preserved or no. Good words will not do with the cavaliers. John Lambert, speech to parliament 1656
In the early seventeenth century the British Isles were engulfed by bitter religious and political conflict. The people divided into two warring tribes – the Roundheads, radical parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell, fighting to create a more egalitarian church and state, and the Cavaliers, Royalists led by Charles I, fighting to preserve the religious hierarchy and the king’s authority. Roundhead or Cavalier: Which One Are You? BBC 2012
The battle between Roundheads and Cavaliers continues to shape our national life. ibid.
The Roundheads also introduced a military uniform for the first time – the famous redcoat. ibid.
By October 1647 the King was imprisoned and the Cavaliers were in disarray. ibid.
The Levellers published their demands for human rights and democratic reform in a manifesto called the Agreement of the People. ibid.
The Roundheads were confronted by a pleasure-loving people, and they were never happier than when they were getting drunk. ibid.
Parliament issued an order for the utter suppression and abolishing of all stage plays. ibid.
After a seven-day trial the King was found guilty. ibid.
An English republic was established. ibid.
Cromwell failed to crush the Cavalier spirit of Christmas. ibid.
Oliver Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector for nearly five years. ibid.
Roundhead or Cavalier: the battle continues. ibid.
Two civil wars, one king almost blown up, another with his head cut off, a third simply got rid of. Adam Nicholson, The Century that Wrote Itself I: The Written Self, BBC 2013
Over 80,000 soldiers died on the battlefield. By the end of the war, parliament had emerged triumphant. The civil war like many of the era’s seismic upheavals was born out of legal disputes. The Strange Case of the Law: The Story of English Justice II: The Pursuit of Liberty BBC 2012
All cases in England are carried out in the name of the King. Rex v Defendant. Could Rex be against Rex? ibid.
Charles repeatedly declined to plead. ibid.
Matilda v Stephen: Norman England’s first civil war was about to begin. Monarchy by David Starkey s1e3: Conquest, Channel 4 2004
The two sides came face to face at Bosworth in the Midlands … Henry was crowned Henry VII two months later promising to restore the glory days of his namesake King Henry V. Monarchy by David Starkey s2e1: The Crown Imperial, Channel 4 2005
23rd November 1658: this ruler was not a king, he was instead a regicide, a king killer: his name was Oliver Cromwell. Monarchy by David Starkey s2e5: Cromwell the King Killer
After a dozen battles and thousands dead the war had bogged down: for the parliamentarians the stalemate provoked crisis and soul-searching. ibid.
1645: The New Model Army: this was England’s first truly professional fighting force. ibid.
Charles characteristically overplayed it rejecting the astonishingly lenient terms he was offered by Cromwell and the other army leaders in order to guarantee religious toleration. ibid.
Cromwell was anything but democratic. Dr Clare Jackson, The Stuarts II: A King Without a Crown, BBC 2014
One in five adult males would fight; one in twenty would die. ibid.
This is the [bronze] head of Charles I. It was cut off in a brutal act that ended centuries of royal power and paved the way for democracy. This story explores Charles’s mind. Lisa Hilton, Charles I: Downfall of a King I: Two Worlds Collide, BBC 2019
Nine years of bloody civil war and regicide all stemmed from the events of just fifty tempestuous days. ibid.
All this starts with a rift between two men: on one side is King Charles, and on the other, a scheming politician called John Pym. ibid.
Charles’s court reached staggering heights of indulgence. ibid.
Pym’s fear resonates with MPs … The King is being misled by his Catholic Queen and his wrongheaded advisers. ibid.
The Grand Remonstrance caused uproar in parliament. ibid.
Some of the Irish rebels claim to be acting in his name … a brilliant PR coup for Pym. ibid.
The very foundation of the British state fractures. I want to discover how our government can fall apart. Lisa Hilton, Charles I: Downfall of a King II: A Nation Divided
This collision of world-views plunges England into a decade of violence and sends the King sliding towards the executioner’s axe. ibid.
As a Puritan, Pym fears England is ripe for foreign Catholic invasion. He thinks Charles is a dangerous King … Pym’s London radicals dominate the benches. ibid.
Protests spawned riots: riots turn into a national uprising. Attacking the prayer book, rebels did not mince their words. ibid.
Now things get really personal. ibid.
Fuelled by ale, the London apprentices are on the rampage … ‘No Bishops! No Popish Lords!’ ibid.
Charles loses control of the parliament and the people in one foul swoop. ibid.
London is in meltdown. Once a laughable minority, the Puritans have swept into power. ibid.
1st January 1642: Charles summons John Pym. ibid.
A new plan: if he [Charles I] can’t beat Pym, he’ll try and do a deal to get him on side: at a secret meeting at Whitehall Palace he offers him the coveted role of Chancellor of the Exchequer … He refuses the offer. Lisa Hilton, Charles I: Downfall of a King III: The Final Showdown
The Queen’s religion is one of Pym’s most potent weapons. ibid.
Pym is trying to push the King over the edge. ibid.
But the King has no choice except retreat [from parliament]. As he does, their fury finds its voice in cries of, Privilege! ibid.
Mighty John Pym now rules over an abandoned London with 10,000 troops at his command: a myriad of plots, blunders and obstinacy have brought us to this cliff edge. Now in January 1642 war is all but inevitable. ibid.
Henry Tudor is the most wanted man in England. This 27-year-old Welsh exile is about to make a claim for the English Throne. And it’s all thanks to his mother, Margaret Beaufort. Royal Bastards: Rise of the Tudors III, History 2021
Behind Stanley’s back, Margaret joins a plot to free the two princes and put Edward V on the throne. ibid.
Noblemen begin to turn against Richard and flee England. ibid.
With Buckingham in her back pocket, Margaret plans a war. Henry and Jasper will land in England with a fleet of fifteen ships and five-thousand men. ibid.
Richard issues a statement denouncing Margaret … Everything that she has fought for has been taken away. But she is alive. ibid.
That man was Stephen – what followed was a protracted civil war ... One of the bleakest periods in our history. Sam Willis, Castles: Britain's Fortified History I, Instruments of Invasion, BBC 2014
This is the last journey of King John – the Magna Carta king. Ben Robinson, The Last Journey of the Magna Carta King, BBC 2015
It would lead to the invasion of England, the country ripped apart by civil war, and the King dead. ibid.
It’s 1603: the Elizabethan age gives way to an era of unrest and revolution. A political and religious splintering under the Stuart Kings as culture war becomes real war. The King’s Cavaliers vs Parliamentary Roundheads. From the ashes of war comes a creative flourishing and the rise of a more questioning culture. Art that Made Us IV: To Kill a King, BBC 2022
Painting in England with a level of skill no native artist can touch, Anthony van Dyke creates extraordinary portraits of the rich and famous. ibid.