25. Protectorate
In the 1650s, power concentrated in England into fewer and fewer hands, until in the end a Lord Protector was appointed and - surprise, surprise, since he dominated the Army Council which appointed hi...
19 Mar 202113min
24. Republic
Who could imagine that England could ever be a republic? And yet for eleven years it became one. Still, it would be a serious mistake to confuse 'republic' with 'democracy'. It swiftly became clear, a...
14 Mar 20219min
23. An uncertain throne and an oak tree
We start with Charles I's son mounting a throne in Scotland as Charles II, and end with him hiding up an oak tree, throneless once more. In between, lots of exciting battles, all rather boringly won b...
9 Mar 20218min
22. A desert called peace
This is the chapter where we reach the Third English Civil War. We've seen that though their concerns may have been mainly English, the civil wars were by no means limited to England. They were, indee...
4 Mar 20218min
21. Round 2 and a deluded king’s fine death
When the Scots began to worry about the increasing power of the New Model Army, and even whether it might be a bigger threat to them than the king, they decided to open negotiations with him. The resu...
27 Feb 202111min
20. Interlude
The First Civil War had ended. King Charles I had lost, which wasn't just a military or political problem, but a religious one too: after all, if God had made him king, and God also determined who won...
22 Feb 202114min
19. First Civil War: Parliament gets serious
Parliament getting serious about the Civil War, getting its act together on military matters - above all by launching its New Model Army - and starting to win some key battles. Against that context, a...
17 Feb 20219min
18. First Civil War: the fight gets going
Oh dear, oh dear. Charles I pushed and pushed. Eventually, the other side pushed back. First it was the Scots, who turned out to be a lot better at fighting than Charles had imagined, and gave him a c...
12 Feb 202113min
