English Civil War
The English Civil War (1641–1651) was a
series of armed conflicts and political mach-
inations between Parliamentarians and Roy-
alists. The
first
(1642–46) and second
(1648–49) civil wars pitted the supporters of
King Charles I against the supporters of the
Long Parliament, while
the
third war
(1649–51) saw fighting between supporters
of King Charles II and supporters of the
Rump Parliament. The Civil War ended with
the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of
Worcester on 3 September 1651.
The Civil War led to the trial and execu-
tion of Charles I, the exile of his son, Charles
II, and replacement of English monarchy with
first,
the
Commonwealth
of
England
(1649–53), and then with a Protectorate
(1653–59), under Oliver Cromwell’s personal
rule. The monopoly of the Church of England
on Christian worship in England ended with
the victors consolidating the established
Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. Constitu-
tionally, the wars established the precedent
that an English monarch cannot govern
without Parliament’s consent, although this
concept was established only with the Glori-
ous Revolution later in the century.
History of England
This article is part of a series
Prehistoric Britain
Roman Britain
Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Norman England
House of Plantagenet
House of Lancaster
House of York
House of Tudor
House of Stuart
The Protectorate
Commonwealth of England
Stuart Restoration
Glorious Revolution
Kingdom of Great Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland
England Portal
Terminology
The term English Civil War appears most
commonly in the singular form, although his-
torians often divide the conflict into two or
three separate wars. Although the term de-
scribes events as impinging on England, from
the outset the conflicts involved wars with
and civil wars within both Scotland and Ire-
land; see Wars of the Three Kingdoms for an
overview.
Unlike other civil wars in England, which
focused on who ruled, this war also con-
cerned itsel