1630s: The Causes of the War in England

Britain – The English Civil War, 1642-51

In this course, Professor Mike Braddick (University of Sheffield) explores the English Civil War (1642-51) through the lens of radical and revolution. We begin by thinking about the causes of the war in England, focusing in particular on why the people of England were so unhappy with their king in the 1630s. After that, we look at the early years of the 1640s and the increasing polarisation of views on religion and politics. In the third module, we think about how these tensions were rapidly escalated in the 1640s and the factors that fuelled this escalation, before turning in the fourth module to the question of why the king ended up losing his head. In the fifth module, we take a step back to think about the concept of radicalism more generally, and how what constituted 'radical' views evolved from one decade to the next.

1630s: The Causes of the War in England

In this module, we think about why the people of England were so unhappy with Charles I in the 1630s, focusing in particular Charles' preferred form of Protestantism (Arminianism), his attempts to raise money by legally dubious means (e.g. Ship Money), and his refusal to call a Parliament for more than a decade.