The divine right of kings

Charles I became king in 1625. He firmly believed in the divine right of kings — the idea that a monarch is chosen by God and answers to God alone, not to Parliament or the people.

• Money — kings needed Parliament to approve most taxes, but Charles resented having to ask, and Parliament resented paying without a say.
• Religion — Charles favoured a formal, ceremonial "High Church" style that many Puritans distrusted as too close to Catholicism.
• Power — Charles wanted to rule as he saw fit; Parliament wanted its rights and grievances respected.

The heart of the story: the clash was about who really held power — the Crown or Parliament. Money, religion and power were tangled together from the start.

The "Eleven Years' Tyranny"

In 1629, frustrated with Parliament, Charles dissolved it and ruled alone for eleven years (1629–1640). His critics later called this the "Eleven Years' Tyranny"; historians call it the Personal Rule.

• To raise money without Parliament, Charles revived old measures — most famously Ship Money, a tax once for coastal defence which he extended to inland counties. John Hampden famously refused to pay it.
• With Archbishop William Laud, Charles pushed his ceremonial religious reforms harder, angering Puritans across England and Scotland.

Why it mattered: ruling without Parliament and raising taxes people saw as unfair made many believe Charles was becoming a tyrant — deepening the crisis.

Ruling without Parliament

The Bishops' Wars end the Personal Rule

Charles tried to force a new English-style prayer book on Presbyterian Scotland. The Scots rebelled, leading to the Bishops' Wars (1639–40).

• Fighting the Scots cost money Charles did not have — so in 1640 he was forced to recall Parliament to raise funds, ending eleven years of Personal Rule.
• The Short Parliament (1640) was quickly dissolved when it refused to cooperate; the Long Parliament (1640 onwards) then challenged the king's powers directly.

Turning point: needing money to fight Scotland handed Parliament its chance to attack the king's abuses — the crisis was now impossible to contain.

The road to Civil War

Relations collapsed. In January 1642 Charles marched into Parliament to arrest five MPs — but they had fled, and this failed attempt shocked the country.

• The First English Civil War began in 1642: Royalists ("Cavaliers") loyal to the king versus Parliamentarians ("Roundheads").
• Early battles included Edgehill (1642), an indecisive clash. The war then turned Parliament's way at Marston Moor (1644).

Key idea: neither side set out to abolish the monarchy in 1642 — it was a war over how the country should be governed, not (yet) about ending kingship.

Name the year

Cromwell and the New Model Army

Parliament won the First Civil War for several reasons — and one man rose to prominence:

• Oliver Cromwell emerged as a brilliant, disciplined cavalry commander.
• From 1645 the professional, well-drilled New Model Army gave Parliament a decisive edge. It crushed the Royalists at Naseby (1645).
• Parliament also held London, the navy and the country's wealth. Charles surrendered in 1646.

The decisive battle

The execution of Charles I

Even defeated, Charles refused to compromise and plotted a fresh war. This Second Civil War (1648) convinced his enemies he could never be trusted. He was put on trial for treason.

• On 30 January 1649, Charles I was executed — beheaded on a scaffold outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall, London.
• He was the only English king to be executed. Shortly after, the monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished.

Misconception alert: Charles was not killed in battle during the war — he was tried and executed in 1649, after the fighting, in a deliberate legal act that shocked Europe.

The year the king died

England becomes a republic

With no king, England was governed as a republic — the Commonwealth (1649–1660). It was a genuine break from centuries of monarchy.

• In 1653, Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector — head of the Protectorate. He held huge power but refused the offer of the crown.
• Cromwell's campaigns in Ireland — including the sieges of Drogheda and Wexford (1649) — were notoriously brutal and are still remembered bitterly.
• Puritan rule brought strict measures at home; for example, popular entertainments were restricted and Christmas celebrations were discouraged.

Misconception alert: Cromwell was Lord Protector, not a king — he turned the crown down. When he died in 1658, his son Richard Cromwell briefly took over but could not hold power.

What was Cromwell?

Who or what did it?

Tap a person or event on the left, then tap its significance on the right.

The monarchy comes back

After Cromwell's death the republic fell into instability. Many people longed for stable, familiar government. In 1660, General George Monck marched south and helped arrange the return of the monarchy.

• Charles II (son of the executed king) was invited back and restored to the throne in 1660, returning to London on his birthday, 29 May 1660.
• The Declaration of Breda promised a degree of tolerance and mercy to encourage a peaceful return.
• Puritan restrictions eased: the theatres reopened and a more relaxed court culture returned.

What happened in 1660?

Plague, fire and a new age

Charles II reigned from 1660 to 1685. His years on the throne were eventful and are strongly linked with two great London disasters:

• The Great Plague of London (1665) — a terrible outbreak that killed a huge share of the city's population.
• The Great Fire of London (1666) — which destroyed much of the medieval city and forced a major rebuild.
• Charles II died in 1685 and was succeeded by his Catholic brother, James II — setting up the next great crisis of the century.

Change and continuity: the monarchy was back, but it could never forget 1649 — Parliament had shown a king could be removed, and the balance of power had shifted for good.

Timeline: 1629 → 1685

Put the events in order

Tap the events in the correct time order, from earliest to latest.

Why did the Civil War happen?

OCR wants you to explain why the crisis unfolded and why the monarchy was restored. Group your causes under recurring themes:

• Money — Ship Money and taxes raised without Parliament's consent.
• Religion — Charles and Laud's ceremonial reforms angering Puritans; the prayer book forced on Scotland.
• Power — the divine right of kings clashing with Parliament's claim to a say in government.
• Individuals & events — Charles's refusal to compromise, Cromwell and the New Model Army, and later George Monck.

Turning points to argue for: the execution of 1649 (the ultimate break with monarchy) and the Restoration of 1660 (the monarchy brought back) are the two strongest "biggest change" answers.

What did Charles I believe?

Using sources on the crisis

You will handle sources — speeches, portraits, pamphlets, printed accounts of the execution — from a bitterly divided time. Two habits win marks:

• Ask who made it and why (provenance). A Royalist pamphlet mourning a martyred king and a Parliamentarian one justifying his execution will describe the same event very differently.
• Use your own knowledge to judge it. Support or challenge a source with facts you know — dates, battles, and the arguments over money, religion and power.

Interpretations differ: historians still argue over Cromwell — hero of liberty or brutal dictator? Recognising that interpretations vary is exactly what the exam rewards.

Name the leader

Name the idea

The essentials to remember

You've covered the whole OCR Personal Rule to Restoration study. Press Finish to see your score.