WHY DID A CIVIL WAR BREAK OUT IN ENGLAND IN 1642?
The Civil War had many separate causes. If we are to believe Conrad Russell then religion was the most important aspect of the explosive nature of the war following 1640. Other historians such as John Morrill have pointed out that to look too closely at religion in high politics as almost a single factor of the war is a dangerous stance to take. Morrill espouses the view that whilst events in high politics were certainly at the centre of the explosion of the Civil War, it would be wrong for one to discount events in the counties. It is events in these areas that have taken historians such as Morrill to conclude that they acted as a detonator for the issues and situations that arose in high politics. Yet, whilst examining the counties, it is important for one not to elude from the fact, as Russell emphasizes, that the Civil War began, "not as an uprising in the provinces but with breakdown in the center;" .
English: Madonna and child, thought to have been d...
Charles M. Daniels Collection Photo
King Charles II is portrayed wearing the robes of ...Therefore, the constitutional developments after 1640 especially were certainly instrumental in the breakdown of relations and can indeed be seen to be inter linked with the religious and the county background. In assessing the causes of the Civil War, it is also important for one to keep a balance between revisionist and post-revisionist concepts. Therefore, whilst much of the focus lies around 1640, it is also true that there were certain longer term causes such as the continued mis-government of Charles I that must have been instrumental in a sectional majority of parliament taking the actions that they did between 1640 to 1642.
The religious belief of Charles I in the 1630's was one of Laudianism. However, this went against the main stream...