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SavannahYear 8
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HistoryCrown against Parliament30 min★★★ difficulty

Why did the English Civil Wars break out?

In 1629 Charles I sent Parliament home and ruled without it for eleven years. By 1642 the country was at war with itself. This lesson sorts long-term tensions from the events that lit the fuse.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand the changing role of the monarchy and the causes and consequences of the English Civil Wars

Key learning points

  • • Money without consent
  • • Religion under suspicion
  • • 1641–42: the fuse burns
  • • Ranking the causes

This lesson at a glance

  • 30 minutes
  • 19 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

changingmonarchycausesconsequencesenglish

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 19 · Discover5%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 19

Watch first

Why did the English Civil Wars break out?

An English teaching video on this topic from British Library. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand the changing role of the monarchy and the causes and consequences of the English Civil Wars

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 19

Before we start

What you already know

You should know that monarchs needed Parliament to grant taxes and that the monarch was also head of the Church.

3

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

Personal Rule
Charles I's government from 1629 to 1640 without calling Parliament.
Ship money
A tax Charles collected without parliamentary consent.
Grand Remonstrance
Parliament's 1641 list of complaints against the king's government.
Trigger
A short-term event that turns tension into conflict.
Militia
Armed forces raised locally; control of them became the final quarrel.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Long-term tensions

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 19

Learn

Money without consent

Charles funded Personal Rule through forced loans and ship money, a coastal defence levy he extended inland. When John Hampden was prosecuted for refusing to pay, the case turned a tax dispute into a constitutional argument about whether the king could take money at will.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

Religion under suspicion

Charles supported Archbishop Laud's more ceremonial worship, and his queen was Catholic. To many Protestants this looked like a slide back to Rome. Imposing a new prayer book on Scotland in 1637 provoked war there, and Scottish war forced Charles to call Parliament again in 1640.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 19

Quick check

Why was ship money so controversial?

8

Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

What forced Charles to recall Parliament in 1640?

9

Reset break

Part 9 of 19

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 19

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Triggers and outbreak

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 19

Learn

1641–42: the fuse burns

The Irish rebellion of 1641 brought reports of massacres and raised a terrifying question: who could be trusted with an army? Parliament passed the Grand Remonstrance. In January 1642 Charles marched into the Commons to arrest five members and failed. Trust collapsed, and the militia question could not be settled by talking.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 19

Learn

Ranking the causes

Money, religion and trust ran together for a decade; Scotland and Ireland forced the crisis; the attempted arrest destroyed the possibility of compromise. Long-term causes made war possible, short-term ones made it happen. Say both, and say which did which.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 19

Quick check

Why did the 1641 Irish rebellion make war likelier?

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 19

Quick check

Which best distinguishes a trigger from a long-term cause?

15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • Parliament did not begin by wanting to abolish the monarchy; most wanted to limit it.
  • Ship money was resented for being levied without consent, not because the amount was unpayable.
  • The wars were British, not only English: Scotland and Ireland shaped them throughout.
  • The attempted arrest of the five members was a trigger, not a long-term cause.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 19

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

17

Challenge round

Part 17 of 19

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Long-term ____ made war possible, short-term ones made it happen.

18

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Why did the English Civil Wars break out?

6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Personal Rule lasted from...

  2. 2. Who was prosecuted for refusing ship money?

  3. 3. The Grand Remonstrance was...

  4. 4. Charles imposed a new prayer book on...

  5. 5. In January 1642 Charles tried to arrest...

  6. 6. Most MPs in 1642 wanted to...

19

Lesson round-up

Part 19 of 19

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

A factory inspector's notebook, 1842

"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."

"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."

"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."

Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
  2. What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
  3. How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.

  • Source work

    Reading

    Read the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.

    2 paragraphs

  • Essay answer

    Writing

    Answer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.

    300–400 words

  • Timeline

    Diagram

    Draw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.

    6–8 events

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Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover

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