How far was Religion the cause of the Civil War?

The English civil war was the result of many complicated factors, all of which were important in
their own rights. One of the major, and possibly on of the more simpler reasons was a difference
of religion. On the death of Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch, the English crown was taken up
by James VI of Scotland, now James I of England. He and his son, Charles I, were both protestant
Kings. Charles, like his father believed in the divine appoinment of Kings. However, Charles was
much more stubborn and self-righteous than James and believed that he had no need to
compromise or even explain his policies to anyone save God himself. This most likely caused
some malcontent amongst the citizens of England, laying the foundations for civil war.

Another action that struck dischord among Charles' people was the appointment of Richard
Montagu to the position of a Royal Chaplain. Montagu had previously argued against the
teachings of John Calvin in a pamphlet, a man who rejected the authority of the Pope and is
sometimes regarded as the 'renewer of the Lutheran church'. This brought him into disrepute
amongst the Puritans, and John Pym, a Puritan member of the house of Commons reacted n such
a way that prompted him to appeal to Charles I for help, resulting in his Chaplaincy. This made
the Puritans suspicious of Charles' intentions for the church and thus made them more willing to
rally with Cromwell against the King.

Charles further estranged the Puritans by attempting to move the Church of England away from
this Calvinism and towards a more traditional and sacramental practice. In collaboration with him
towards this goal was Archbishop William Laud, newly-appointed archbishop of Canterbury.
Laud attempted to create religious uniformity in England by dismissing non-conformist
clergymen and closing any Puritan organisations. Charles' new church was known as the 'High-
Anglican' church, and was actively hostile towards the reformist tendencies of many of his
English and Scottish subjects.

Not all of Charles' mistakes that lead to the civil war were with the religious community. His
heavy-handedness with Parliamentary funds and counsel made the members of parliament
predisposed against him. Charles' brother in law, Elector Palatine had lost his lands to the Holy
Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, and so after agreeing to help him, Charles declared war on Spain.
However, instead of taking Parliament's advice and capturing the Spanish fleet, Charles opted for
the more agressive and more expensive attack on the continent. Parliament only granted Charles a
subsidy of £140'000, hardly sufficiant for Charles' campaign. They also proposed a bill to keep a
tab on Charles' expenditures, but Charles allies in the House of Lords, led by the Duke of
Buckingham, refused to pass the bill. The war in spain spiralled out of Charles' control, largely
due to Buckingham's incompetance as a leader of men, however Charles refused to dismiss him,
dismissing parliament instead, and imposing a tax on the people of England without
parliamentary consent to fund his war. This caused great civil unrest, amongst the people and the
Parliament, and against Charles.

Charles I and Parliament clashed on many occasions, and in 1629 Charles began a rules that has
been known as the 'Eleven Years Tyranny', where he ruled without Parliament. But even without
Parliament, Charles levied more and more obscure and archaic taxes, many of which were
obsolete, which made him increasingly unpopular with his people.

The first years of Charles' personal rule were marked by peace in England, albiet due to tighter
central control. There was some opposition to Charles' taxes and Laud's policies, but overall the
earlier period of the elevn years was at peace. This peace was soon broken by Charles' attempt to
impose his religious policies on Scotland. Charles ordered the use of a new prayer book,
modelled on the Elizabethan version of the Common Book of Prayer, but although it was
supported by the Scottish Bishops, it was resisted by many Presbyterian Scots who saw it as a
vehicale for Charles' Anglicanism. While the Civil War was, for the most, confined to England,
the Scottish disposition on the whole was important in that they felt disinclined to help Charles
when he was in need.

When the near-bankrupt Charles was forced to call Parliament in April 1640, the 'Eleven Years
Tyranny' was ended. However, while Parliament agreed to allow Charles to raise the funds for
war, they also wanted to discuss Charles' various abuses of power during the eleven years that
Parliament had not been in session. Charles refused, and both parties refused to give ground on
this matter. Parliament was dissolved less than a month after it was called, which lead to this
session becoming known as the 'Short Parliament'.

What is now known as the 'Long Parliament' was called in November 1640, and began with the
members passing an act called the 'Triennial Act'. As the name suggests, it meant that the
Parliament had to be summoned at least once every three years. In the absence of a summons,
Parliament were now allowed to assemble on their own. This gave the Parliament more
independance from their King, and thus the power to act against him.

In 1641, rumours began to reach Charles that Parliament intended to impeach his Catholic Queen,
Henrietta Maria. He took drastic action, and entered the House of Commons with armed force on
the 4th January 1642, but found that his opponents had already fled. This move was politically
disastrous and possibly the beginning of the end for Charles. It was this that triggered Charles'
raising of an army against Parliament.

Religion is seen as a major factor in causing the civil war; it was probably the main reason the
Puritan Oliver Cromwell rose up against the King. However, Cromwell would never have gotten
as far as he did or had been as effective if Charles hadn't already laid the foundations for an
uprising. By the time war broke out in 1642, Charles had lost the support of a good portion of the
church and most of his citizens in Scotland, and the Irish had rebelled against his Protestant rule.
Parliament were solidly against him due to his abuse of them and his abuse of his power. Religion
was only one of many factors stemming from the heavy-handed and selfish ruling of Charles that
created a country ready to march against their fellows.