108-564: Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 1612 – 12 November 1671) was an English politician, military officer and peer who fought in the English Civil War . An adept and talented commander, Fairfax led the Parliamentarians to several victories, including at the crucial Battle of Naseby , effectively becoming military ruler of England, though he was eventually eclipsed by his subordinate Oliver Cromwell , who
216-636: A Committee of Both Kingdoms , which for the first time co-ordinated Parliamentary strategy in all three war zones, England, Scotland and Ireland. In February 1644, the Scots under Leven besieged Newcastle , closing the major import point for Royalist war supplies. They made little progress, with the Marquess-based nearby at Durham . Two weeks later, the Earl of Manchester defeated a Royalist force at Selby . Newcastle had to leave Durham, and garrison York, which city
324-546: A Roman Catholic French princess, Henrietta Maria . Parliament refused to assign him the traditional right to collect customs duties for his entire reign, deciding instead to grant it only on a provisional basis and negotiate with him. Charles, meanwhile, decided to send an expeditionary force to relieve the French Huguenots , whom French royal troops held besieged in La Rochelle . Such military support for Protestants on
432-473: A charge of treason. The members had learned that he was coming and escaped. Charles not only failed to arrest them but turned more people against him. In the summer of 1642, these national troubles helped to polarise opinion, ending indecision about which side to support or what action to take. Opposition to Charles also arose from many local grievances. For example, imposed drainage schemes in The Fens disrupted
540-447: A court case, attainder did not require a legal burden of proof to be met, but it did require the king's approval. Charles, however, guaranteed Strafford that he would not sign the attainder, without which the bill could not be passed. Furthermore, the Lords opposed the severity of a death sentence on Strafford. Yet increased tensions and a plot in the army to support Strafford began to sway
648-447: A daughter, Hon. Mary Fairfax (30 July 1638 – 20 October 1704), who married George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham . Fairfax was succeeded as Lord Fairfax by a cousin, Henry Fairfax, 4th Lord Fairfax of Cameron . As a soldier he was exact and methodical in planning, in the heat of battle "so highly transported that scarce any one durst speak a word to him", chivalrous and punctilious in his dealings with his own men and
756-615: A jewel of great value set with diamonds, and a sum of money. The king had returned from Wales and established himself at Oxford , where there was a strong garrison but, ever vacillating, he withdrew secretly, and proceeded to Newark to throw himself into the arms of the Scots Covenanter army there. Oxford capitulated in June 1646 following the final siege , and by the end of September 1646 Charles had neither army nor garrison in England, following
864-557: A natural philosopher and writer. With his help and support, she became a popular writer of plays, poetry, and fiction, and was known as "mad Madge" for her extravagant style and affected manner. Created a Knight of the Bath in 1610, he was elected Member of Parliament for East Retford in the 1614 " Addled Parliament " and succeeded his father in 1617. Cavendish was created 'Viscount Mansfield' in 1620 and 'Earl of Newcastle-upon-Tyne' in 1628 but failed to achieve high office, despite spending
972-476: A practical means of compelling them. From the thirteenth century, monarchs ordered the election of representatives to sit in the House of Commons , with most voters being the owners of property, although in some potwalloper boroughs every male householder could vote. When assembled along with the House of Lords , these elected representatives formed a Parliament. So the concept of Parliaments allowed representatives of
1080-448: A racecourse near Welbeck, and in this period his grace composed his second work on horsemanship, a sequel to his previous work. Relying on the historical truth that dukedoms were originally the preserve of royalty, Newcastle and his wife began to refer to themselves as Prince and Princess respectively. This assumed title appears in the full title of his second work of literature. In his later years, he suffered from Parkinson's disease , and
1188-597: A resurgence of Protestant power, struck first , and all Ireland soon descended into chaos. Rumours circulated that the King supported the Irish, and Puritan members of the Commons soon started murmuring that this exemplified the fate that Charles had in store for them all. On 4 January 1642, Charles, followed by 400 soldiers, entered the House of Commons and attempted to arrest five members on
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#17330862946671296-608: A single kingdom. Many English Parliamentarians were suspicious of such a move, fearing that such a new kingdom might destroy old English traditions that had bound the English monarchy. Because James had described kings as "little gods on Earth", chosen by God to rule in accordance with the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings , and Charles shared his father's position, the suspicions of the Parliamentarians had some justification. At
1404-478: A tactic learned while fighting in the Dutch army, where cavalry would charge at full speed into the opponent's infantry, firing their pistols just before impact. However, with Oliver Cromwell and the introduction of the more disciplined New Model Army , a group of disciplined pike men would stand its ground, which could have a devastating effect. The Royalist cavalry had a tendency to chase down individual targets after
1512-717: Is a pivotal character in the 2003 film To Kill a King , as well as in Rosemary Sutcliff 's 1953 historical fiction Simon , being portrayed as inspiring and fair. He also appears as a central character in Sutcliff's 1959 novel The Rider of the White Horse , which gives an account of the early stage of the Civil War from the point of view of his wife, and in Howard Brenton 's 2012 play 55 Days . Douglas Wilmer portrayed him in
1620-424: Is said that his wife, Anne Fairfax , shouted from the gallery that "he had more wit than to be there". Later when the court said that they were acting for "all the good people of England", she shouted "No, nor the hundredth part of them!". This resulted in an investigation and Anne was asked or required to leave the court. It was said that Anne could not forbear, as Bulstrode Whitelocke says, to exclaim aloud against
1728-579: The Dutch Republic purchasing weapons. He had insufficient troops to hold the entire area, and Parliamentary forces under Lord Fairfax and his son Sir Thomas , retained key towns like Hull , and Leeds . In late February 1643, a convoy with Henrietta Maria and weapons landed at Bridlington , and was escorted to Oxford. This success, combined with a victory at Adwalton Moor near Leeds in June, caused Newcastle to be created 'Marquess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne'. The 1643 Solemn League and Covenant had created
1836-586: The Earl of Lindsey , was to die fighting for the King at the Battle of Edgehill . In early January 1642, a few days after failing to capture five members of the House of Commons, Charles feared for the safety of his family and retinue and left the London area for the north country. Further frequent negotiations by letter between the King and the Long Parliament, through to early summer, proved fruitless. On 1 June 1642
1944-677: The English Lords and Commons approved a list of proposals known as the Nineteen Propositions . In these demands, the Parliament sought a larger share of power in the governance of the kingdom. Before the end of the month the King rejected the Propositions. As the summer progressed, cities and towns declared their sympathies for one faction or the other: for example, the garrison of Portsmouth commanded by Sir George Goring declared for
2052-568: The Magnum Concilium (the House of Lords , but without the Commons , so not a Parliament), Charles finally bowed to pressure and summoned another English Parliament in November 1640. The new Parliament proved even more hostile to Charles than its predecessor. It immediately began to discuss grievances against him and his government, with Pym and Hampden (of ship money fame) in the lead. They took
2160-565: The Thirty Years' War which began in 1618 and concluded in 1648. The war was of unprecedented scale for the English. During the campaign seasons, 120,000 to 150,000 soldiers would be in the field, a higher proportion of the population than were fighting in Germany in the Thirty Years' War . The main battle tactic came to be known as pike and shot infantry. The two sides would line up opposite one another, with infantry brigades of musketeers in
2268-466: The Tonnage and Poundage Act 1640 . On 3 May, Parliament decreed The Protestation , attacking the 'wicked counsels' of Charles's government, whereby those who signed the petition undertook to defend 'the true reformed religion', Parliament, and the king's person, honour and estate. Throughout May, the House of Commons launched several bills attacking bishops and Episcopalianism in general, each time defeated in
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#17330862946672376-524: The "Eleven Years' Tyranny". During this period, Charles's policies were determined by his lack of money. First and foremost, to avoid Parliament, the King needed to avoid war. Charles made peace with France and Spain, effectively ending England's involvement in the Thirty Years' War . However, that in itself was far from enough to balance the Crown's finances. Unable to raise revenue without Parliament and unwilling to convene it, Charles resorted to other means. One
2484-429: The "Great Rebellion". Some historians, notably Marxists such as Christopher Hill (1912–2003), favoured the term " English Revolution ". Each side had a geographical stronghold, such that minority elements were silenced or fled. The Royalist areas included the countryside, the shires, the cathedral city of Oxford, and the less economically developed areas of northern and western England. Parliament's strengths spanned
2592-542: The 1648 Second English Civil War resulted in the execution of Charles I in January 1649, and establishment of the Commonwealth of England . In 1650, Charles II was crowned King of Scotland, in return for agreeing to create a Presbyterian church in both England and Scotland. The subsequent Anglo-Scottish War ended with Parliamentarian victory at Worcester on 3 September 1651. Both Ireland and Scotland were incorporated into
2700-588: The 1970 Ken Hughes film Cromwell . He was played by Jerome Willis in the 1975 historical film Winstanley . He appears in Michael Arnold's novel Marston Moor , which includes an account of Fairfax's adventures in the eponymous battle. He was also a central character, played by Nigel Anthony, in the 1988 BBC Radio production of Don Taylor's play God's Revolution . Attribution: English Civil War Parliamentarian victory 1643 1644 1645 1646 England The English Civil War
2808-625: The Cavendishes had a music chapel of 5 musicians. They were acquainted with several of the contemporary English composers, and Newcastle's library contained a substantial collection of music of these composers. The department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham holds a number of papers relating to the 1st Duke: the Cavendish Papers (Pw 1), part of the Portland (Welbeck) Collection, includes some of his personal papers;
2916-486: The Church more ceremonial, replacing the wooden communion tables with stone altars. Puritans accused Laud of reintroducing Catholicism, and when they complained he had them arrested. In 1637, John Bastwick , Henry Burton , and William Prynne had their ears cut off for writing pamphlets attacking Laud's views – a rare penalty for gentlemen , and one that aroused anger. Moreover, the Church authorities revived statutes from
3024-705: The Church. In the spring of 1639, King Charles I accompanied his forces to the Scottish border to end the rebellion known as the Bishops' War , but after an inconclusive campaign, he accepted the offered Scottish truce: the Pacification of Berwick . This truce proved temporary, and a second war followed in mid-1640. A Scots army defeated Charles's forces in the north, then captured Newcastle . Charles eventually agreed not to interfere in Scotland's religion. Charles needed to suppress
3132-679: The Commonwealth, and Britain became a unitary state until the Stuart Restoration in 1660. The term English Civil War appears most often in the singular, but historians often divide the conflict into two or three separate wars. These were not restricted to England alone, as Wales (having been annexed into the Kingdom of England ) was affected by the same political instabilities. The conflicts also involved wars with Scotland and Ireland and civil wars within them. Some historians have favoured
3240-656: The Continent potentially alleviated concerns about the King's marriage to a Catholic. However, Charles's insistence on giving command of the English force to his unpopular royal favourite George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham , undermined that support. Unfortunately for Charles and Buckingham, the relief expedition proved a fiasco (1627), and Parliament, already hostile to Buckingham for his monopoly on royal patronage , opened impeachment proceedings against him. Charles responded by dissolving Parliament. This saved Buckingham but confirmed
3348-624: The Earl of Essex from the supreme command, along with other Members of Parliament. This was then followed by the New Model Ordinance , which replaced the locally raised Parliamentary regiments with a unified army. Sir Thomas Fairfax was selected as the new Lord General, with Cromwell as his Lieutenant-General and cavalry commander. After a short preliminary campaign, the New Model Army justified its existence, and "the rebels' new brutish general", as
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3456-583: The Elder , a member of the King's Privy Council, who refused to confirm it in Parliament out of loyalty to Charles. On 10 April 1641, Pym's case collapsed, but Pym made a direct appeal to the Younger Vane to produce a copy of the notes from the King's Privy Council, discovered by the Younger Vane and secretly turned over to Pym, to the great anguish of the Elder Vane. These notes contained evidence that Strafford had told
3564-681: The English Book of Common Prayer to Scotland in the middle of 1637. This was violently resisted. A riot broke out in Edinburgh, which may have been started in St Giles' Cathedral , according to legend, by Jenny Geddes . In February 1638, the Scots formulated their objections to royal policy in the National Covenant . This document took the form of a "loyal protest", rejecting all innovations not first tested by free Parliaments and General Assemblies of
3672-530: The English Parliamentarians and the Scottish Covenanters , while Prince Rupert hastened with all available forces to the relief of the besieged garrison. A gathering of eager national forces within a few square miles of ground naturally led to a battle, and Marston Moor (2 July 1644) proved decisive for the struggle in the north. The younger Fairfax bore himself with the greatest gallantry in
3780-462: The Irish Catholic gentry to pay new taxes in return for promised religious concessions. In 1639, Charles had recalled Wentworth to England and in 1640 made him Earl of Strafford, attempting to have him achieve similar results in Scotland. This time he proved less successful and the English forces fled the field at their second encounter with the Scots in 1640. Almost the whole of Northern England
3888-628: The King in 1638. The fines imposed on people who refused to pay ship money and standing out against its illegality aroused widespread indignation. During his "Personal Rule", Charles aroused most antagonism through his religious measures. He believed in High Anglicanism , a sacramental version of the Church of England , theologically based upon Arminianism , a creed shared with his main political adviser, Archbishop William Laud . In 1633, Charles appointed Laud Archbishop of Canterbury and started making
3996-548: The King's ministers. Finally, the Parliament passed a law forbidding the King to dissolve it without its consent, even if the three years were up. These laws equated to a tremendous increase in Parliamentary power. Ever since, this Parliament has been known as the Long Parliament . However, Parliament did attempt to avert conflict by requiring all adults to sign The Protestation , an oath of allegiance to Charles. Early in
4104-433: The King, but when Charles tried to acquire arms from Kingston upon Hull , the weaponry depository used in the previous Scottish campaigns, Sir John Hotham , the military governor appointed by Parliament in January, refused to let Charles enter the town, and when Charles returned with more men later, Hotham drove them off . Charles issued a warrant for Hotham's arrest as a traitor but was powerless to enforce it. Throughout
4212-453: The King, "Sir, you have done your duty, and your subjects have failed in theirs; and therefore you are absolved from the rules of government, and may supply yourself by extraordinary ways; you have an army in Ireland, with which you may reduce the kingdom." Pym immediately launched a Bill of Attainder stating Strafford's guilt and demanding that he be put to death. Unlike a guilty verdict in
4320-466: The Long Parliament, the house overwhelmingly accused Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford , of high treason and other crimes and misdemeanors. Henry Vane the Younger supplied evidence of Strafford's claimed improper use of the army in Ireland, alleging that he had encouraged the King to use his Ireland-raised forces to threaten England into compliance. This evidence was obtained from Vane's father, Henry Vane
4428-467: The Lord General to settle the kingdom, but the crisis was now at hand. Fairfax was in agreement with Cromwell and the army leaders in demanding the punishment of Charles, and he was still the effective head of the army. He approved, if he did not take an active part in, Pride's Purge (6 December 1648), but on the last and gravest of the questions at issue he set himself in deliberate and open opposition to
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4536-526: The Lords. Charles and his Parliament hoped that the execution of Strafford and the Protestation would end the drift towards war, but in fact, they encouraged it. Charles and his supporters continued to resent Parliament's demands, and Parliamentarians continued to suspect Charles of wanting to impose episcopalianism and unfettered royal rule by military force. Within months, the Irish Catholics, fearing
4644-722: The North, while York surrendered on 16 July. As a military commander, Lord Clarendon described Newcastle as "fit to be a general as a bishop". However, Marston Moor was fought against his advice, while he was also intelligent enough to understand his limits, and recruited reliable subordinates. After Marston Moor, Newcastle left England for Hamburg , accompanied by his two sons and his brother Charles; in April 1645 they moved to Paris , where he met and married his second wife Margaret , maid of honour to Queen Henrietta Maria . While there, Newcastle continued his feud with Prince Rupert, suggesting to
4752-560: The Parliament after only a few weeks; hence its name, "the Short Parliament ". Without Parliament's support, Charles attacked Scotland again, breaking the truce at Berwick, and suffered comprehensive defeat. The Scots went on to invade England, occupying Northumberland and Durham . Meanwhile, another of Charles's chief advisers, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Viscount Wentworth , had risen to the role of Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1632, and brought in much-needed revenue for Charles by persuading
4860-489: The Queen he should be removed from command. The new Marchioness was a dramatist and romancer, and had been maid of honour to Queen Henrietta Maria . Their marriage appears to have been a very happy one, and she later wrote a biography of him. His love and admiration for his wife is best expressed in the fine sonnet he wrote as an introduction to her masterpiece The Blazing World . Newcastle left in 1648 for Rotterdam with
4968-543: The Scots in the First Bishops' War , which ended with the Pacification of Berwick before any fighting took place. In the Second Bishops' War the following year, the English army was routed at the Battle of Newburn . Fairfax fled with the rest of the defeated army, but was nevertheless knighted in January 1641 for his services. The Fairfaxes, father and son, though serving at first under King Charles I , were opposed to
5076-575: The West, South and South West of England, however, the Royalist cause remained strong. The war had lasted two years, and the nation began to complain of the contributions that were exacted of and the excesses that were committed by the military. Dissatisfaction was expressed with the military commanders and, as a preliminary step to reform, the Self-denying Ordinance was passed. This involved the removal of
5184-412: The ability and authority to collect and remit the most meaningful forms of taxation then available at the local level. So, if the king wanted to ensure smooth revenue collection, he needed the gentry's cooperation. For all of the Crown's legal authority, its resources were limited by any modern standard to the extent that if the gentry refused to collect the king's taxes on a national scale, the Crown lacked
5292-512: The affairs of the army; when in 1650 Scots Covenanter Kirk Party eventually declared for Charles II , and the Council of State resolved to send an army to Scotland in order to prevent an invasion of England , Fairfax resigned his commission. Cromwell desired to see him continue as Commander-in-chief, as did those planning the war, but Fairfax could not support the war. Cromwell was appointed his successor, "Captain-general and Commander-in-chief of all
5400-400: The arbitrary prerogative of the Crown , and Sir Thomas declared that "his judgment was for the Parliament as the king and kingdom's great and safest council". Charles endeavoured to raise a guard for his own person at York , intending it, as the events afterwards would prove, to form the nucleus of an army. Fairfax was employed to present a petition to his sovereign, entreating him to listen to
5508-608: The arts. He was a renowned horse breeder, as well as being patron of the playwright Ben Jonson and the intellectual group known as the Welbeck Circle . Despite spending the then enormous sum of £15,000 entertaining Charles I in 1634, he failed to gain a significant political post. In the early stages of the First English Civil War , he was appointed Royalist Captain-General in Northern England; he financed much of
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#17330862946675616-562: The battle and, though severely wounded, managed to join Oliver Cromwell and the victorious cavalry on the other wing. One of his brothers, Colonel Charles Fairfax, was killed in action. But the Marquess of Newcastle fled the kingdom, and the Royalists abandoned all hope of retrieving their affairs. The city of York was taken, and nearly the whole of the north would submit to the Parliament. In
5724-446: The centre. These carried matchlock muskets, an inaccurate weapon which nevertheless could be lethal at a range of up to 300 yards. Musketeers would assemble three rows deep, the first kneeling, second crouching, and third standing. At times, troops divided into two groups, allowing one to reload while the other fired. Among the musketeers were pike men, carrying pikes of 12 feet (4 m) to 18 feet (5.5 m) long, whose main purpose
5832-418: The centuries de facto powers of enough significance that monarchs could not simply ignore them indefinitely. For a monarch, Parliament's most indispensable power was its ability to raise tax revenues far in excess of all other sources of revenue at the Crown's disposal. By the 17th century, Parliament's tax-raising powers had come to be derived from the fact that the gentry was the only stratum of society with
5940-606: The chief command. At York and at Oxford he endeavoured to save the libraries from pillage, and he enriched the Bodleian with some valuable manuscripts. His correspondence was edited by G.W. Johnson and published in 1848–49 in four volumes. The metaphysical poet Andrew Marvell wrote "Upon Appleton House, To My Lord Fairfax", nominally about Fairfax's home, but also his character as well as England during his era. Fairfax married Hon. Anne de Vere , daughter of Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury and Mary Tracy, on 20 June 1637. They had
6048-589: The collapse of the Royalist cause came a confused period of negotiations between the Parliament and the King, between the King and the Scots, and between the Presbyterians and the Independents in and out of Parliament. In these negotiations the New Model Army soon began to take a most active part. The Lord General was placed in the unpleasant position of intermediary between his own officers and Parliament. In July
6156-402: The conflicts in the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland had similarities, each had their own specific issues and objectives. The First English Civil War was fought primarily over the correct balance of power between Parliament and Charles I . It ended in June 1646 with Royalist defeat and the king in custody. However, victory exposed Parliamentarian divisions over the nature of
6264-515: The enemy. Honour and conscientiousness were equally the characteristics of his private and public character. But his modesty and distrust of his powers made him less effectual as a statesman than as a soldier, and above all he is placed at a disadvantage by being both in war and peace overshadowed by his associate Cromwell, who was politically talented and able to manipulate public antipathy against Charles to lead to his execution, something Fairfax never wanted. Fairfax, played by actor Dougray Scott ,
6372-612: The enormous sum of £15,000 entertaining Charles I in 1634. However, in 1638 he was appointed governor of the Prince of Wales , then made a Privy Counsellor . When the Bishops' Wars began in 1639, he provided the king with a loan of £10,000 and a troop of volunteer horse. He was appointed Gentleman of the Robes in 1641, but was implicated in the Army Plot , and withdrew for a time from the court. As tension increased, both Charles and Parliament tried to secure key ports and weapons; an attempt by Newcastle to capture Hull in July failed. When Charles formally declared war in August, Newcastle
6480-648: The first personal union of the Scottish and English kingdoms . As King of Scots, James had become accustomed to Scotland's weak parliamentary tradition since assuming control of the Scottish government in 1583, so that upon assuming power south of the border, the new King of England was affronted by the constraints the English Parliament attempted to place on him in exchange for money. Consequently, James's personal extravagance, which resulted in him being perennially short of money, meant that he had to resort to extra-parliamentary sources of income. Moreover, increasing inflation during this period meant that even though Parliament
6588-494: The forces raised or to be raised at authority of Parliament within the Commonwealth of England." During the Commonwealth of England in 1654, Fairfax was elected MP for the newly created constituency of West Riding in the First Protectorate Parliament . He received a pension of £5,000 a year, and lived in retirement at his Yorkshire home of Nunappleton until after the death of the Lord Protector in 1658. Nunappleton and Fairfax's retirement there, as well as his personality, are
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#17330862946676696-430: The greatest French riding masters, François Robichon de La Guérinière , as well as a more controversial figure in dressage, Baucher . He is also said to be the inventor of draw reins . After the 1660 Stuart Restoration , Newcastle returned to England and succeeded in regaining the greater part of his estates, though burdened with debts, his wife estimating his total losses in the war at the enormous sum of £941,303. He
6804-430: The head of a body of Yorkshire gentlemen, and such was the influence of Fairfax's name and reputation that 1,200 horse quit Lambert's colours and joined him. This was speedily followed by the breaking up of all Lambert's forces, and that day secured the restoration of the monarchy. For these actions, along with his honourable conduct in the civil war, he was spared from the wave of Royalist retributions. In April 1660 Fairfax
6912-459: The impression that Charles wanted to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny of his ministers. Having dissolved Parliament and unable to raise money without it, the king assembled a new one in 1628. (The elected members included Oliver Cromwell , John Hampden , and Edward Coke .) The new Parliament drew up a Petition of Right , which Charles accepted as a concession to obtain his subsidy. The Petition made reference to Magna Carta , but did not grant him
7020-456: The industrial centres, ports, and economically advanced regions of southern and eastern England, including the remaining cathedral cities (except York, Chester, Worcester). Lacey Baldwin Smith says, "the words populous, rich, and rebellious seemed to go hand in hand". Many officers and veteran soldiers had fought in European wars, notably the Eighty Years' War between the Spanish and the Dutch, which began in 1568, as well as earlier phases of
7128-436: The initial charge, leaving their forces scattered and tired, whereas Cromwell's cavalry was slower but better disciplined. Trained to operate as a single unit, it went on to win many decisive victories. The English Civil War broke out in 1642, less than 40 years after the death of Queen Elizabeth I . Elizabeth had been succeeded by her first cousin twice-removed , King James VI of Scotland , as James I of England, creating
7236-692: The intention of joining the Prince of Wales in command of the rebellious navy, and finally took up his abode at Antwerp , where he remained till the Restoration . In April 1650 he was appointed a member of Charles II 's privy council , and in opposition to Edward Hyde advocated the agreement with the Scots. In Antwerp he lived in the Rubenshuis (the house where the painter Peter Paul Rubens had lived from 1610 till his death in 1640) and established his famous riding-school, exercised "the art of manège" (High School riding), and published his first work on horsemanship, Méthode et invention nouvelle de dresser les chevaux in 1658. This work had an influence on one of
7344-401: The issue. On 21 April, the Commons passed the Bill (204 in favour, 59 opposed, and 250 abstained), and the Lords acquiesced. Charles, still incensed over the Commons' handling of Buckingham, refused his assent. Strafford himself, hoping to head off the war he saw looming, wrote to the king and asked him to reconsider. Charles, fearing for the safety of his family, signed on 10 May. Strafford
7452-433: The king failed to issue a proper summons, the members could assemble on their own. This act also forbade ship money without Parliament's consent, fines in distraint of knighthood, and forced loans. Monopolies were cut back sharply, the courts of the Star Chamber and High Commission abolished by the Habeas Corpus Act 1640 , and the Triennial Act respectively. All remaining forms of taxation were legalised and regulated by
7560-499: The king had called him, proved his capacity as commander-in-chief in the decisive Battle of Naseby (14 June 1645). The king fled to Wales . Fairfax besieged Leicester , and was successful at Taunton , Bridgwater and Bristol . The whole of the west was soon reduced. Fairfax arrived in London on 12 November 1645. In his progress towards the capital he was accompanied by applauding crowds. Complimentary speeches and thanks were presented to him by both houses of parliament, along with
7668-418: The livelihood of thousands after the King awarded a number of drainage contracts. Many saw the King as indifferent to public welfare, and this played a role in bringing much of eastern England into the Parliamentarian camp. This sentiment brought with it such people as the Earl of Manchester and Oliver Cromwell , each a notable wartime adversary of the King. Conversely, one of the leading drainage contractors,
7776-425: The opportunity presented by the King's troubles to force various reforming measures – including many with strong "anti- Papist " themes – upon him. The members passed a law stating that a new Parliament would convene at least once every three years – without the King's summons if need be. Other laws passed making it illegal for the king to impose taxes without Parliamentary consent and later gave Parliament control over
7884-512: The person of the King was seized by Cornet Joyce , a subaltern of cavalry—an act which sufficiently demonstrated the hopelessness of controlling the army by its Articles of War . Fairfax was more at home in the field than at the head of a political committee, and, finding events too strong for him and that his officers were rallying around the more radical and politically shrewd Cromwell, he sought to resign his commission as commander-in-chief. He was, however, persuaded to retain it. He thus remained
7992-489: The policy of coastal counties and inland ports such as London paying ship money in times of need, but it had not been applied to inland counties before. Authorities had ignored it for centuries, and many saw it as yet another extra-Parliamentary, illegal tax, which prompted some prominent men to refuse to pay it. Charles issued a writ against John Hampden for his failure to pay, and although five judges including Sir George Croke supported Hampden, seven judges found in favour of
8100-410: The policy of the officers. He was placed at the head of the judges who were to try the King, and attended the preliminary sitting of the court, but absented himself after this. The most likely explanation is that when he saw that they were serious about intending to execute the king he declined to have anything to do with this. In calling over the court, when the crier pronounced the name of Fairfax, it
8208-499: The political settlement. The vast majority went to war in 1642 to assert Parliament's right to participate in government, not abolish the monarchy, which meant Charles' refusal to make concessions led to a stalemate. Concern over the political influence of radicals within the New Model Army like Oliver Cromwell led to an alliance between moderate Parliamentarians and Royalists, supported by the Covenanter Scots . Royalist defeat in
8316-681: The proceedings of the High Court of Justice. In February 1649 Fairfax was elected Member of Parliament for Cirencester in the Rump Parliament . Anne was later approached to intercede on the King's behalf to prevent his execution. Fairfax's last service as Commander-in-chief was the suppression of the Leveller mutiny at Burford in May 1649. He had given his adhesion to the new order of things, and had been reappointed Lord General, but he merely administered
8424-471: The property-owning class to meet, primarily, at least from the point of view of the monarch, to sanction whatever taxes the monarch wished to collect. In the process, the representatives could debate and enact statutes , or acts . However, Parliament lacked the power to force its will upon the monarch; its only leverage was the threat of withholding the financial means required to implement his plans. Many concerns were raised over Charles's marriage in 1625 to
8532-438: The rebellion in Scotland but had insufficient funds to do so. He needed to seek money from a newly elected English Parliament in 1640. Its majority faction, led by John Pym , used this appeal for money as a chance to discuss grievances against the Crown and oppose the idea of an English invasion of Scotland. Charles took exception to this lèse-majesté (offense against the ruler) and, after negotiations went nowhere, dissolved
8640-450: The right of tonnage and poundage , which Charles had been collecting without Parliamentary authorisation since 1625. Several more active members of the opposition were imprisoned, which caused outrage; one, John Eliot , subsequently died in prison and came to be seen as a martyr for the rights of Parliament. Charles avoided calling a Parliament for the next decade, a period known as the " personal rule of Charles I ", or by its critics as
8748-555: The subject of Andrew Marvell's country house poem, Upon Appleton House . The troubles of the later Commonwealth recalled Lord Fairfax to political activity, and in 1659 he was elected MP for Yorkshire in the Third Protectorate Parliament . For the last time Fairfax's appearance in arms helped to shape the future of the country, when George Monck invited him to assist in the operations about to be undertaken against John Lambert 's army. In December 1659 he appeared at
8856-577: The sudden death of his second wife was a blow from which he never recovered. With John Dryden 's assistance he translated Molière 's L'Etourdi as Sir Martin Mar-all (1688). He contributed scenes to his wife's plays, and poems of his composition are to be found among her works. Cavendish was the patron of, among others, Jonson , Shirley , Davenant , Dryden, Shadwell and Flecknoe , and of Hobbes , Gassendi and Descartes . During their stay in Antwerp ,
8964-475: The summer, tensions rose and there was brawling in several places, the first death from the conflict taking place in Manchester . William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne , KG , KB , PC ( c. 16 December 1593 – 25 December 1676), who after 1665 styled himself as Prince William Cavendish , was an English courtier and supporter of
9072-511: The surrender of Thomas Blagge at Wallingford Castle after a siege conducted by Fairfax. In January 1647, the King was delivered up by the Covenanters to the commissioners of England's parliament. Fairfax met the king beyond Nottingham , accompanying him during the journey to Holdenby , treating him with the utmost consideration in every way. "The general", said Charles, "is a man of honour , and keeps his word which he had pledged to me." With
9180-529: The surrender of which place he approved the execution of the Royalist leaders Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle , holding that these officers had broken their parole . At the same time, Cromwell's great victory of Preston crushed the faction of the Scots Covenanters who had made an engagement with the king, the Engagers . John Milton , in a sonnet written during the siege of Colchester, called upon
9288-559: The term The British Civil Wars . From the Restoration to the 19th century, the common phrase for the civil wars was "the rebellion" or "the great rebellion". The wars spanning all four countries are known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms . In the early 19th century, Sir Walter Scott referred to it as "The Great Civil War". The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica called the series of conflicts
9396-417: The time of Elizabeth I about church attendance and fined Puritans for not attending Anglican services. The end of Charles's independent governance came when he attempted to apply the same religious policies in Scotland. The Church of Scotland , reluctantly episcopal in structure, had independent traditions. Charles wanted one uniform Church throughout Britain and introduced a new, High Anglican version of
9504-419: The time, the Parliament of England did not have a large permanent role in the English system of government. Instead, it functioned as a temporary advisory committee and was summoned only if and when the monarch saw fit. Once summoned, a Parliament's continued existence was at the King's pleasure since it was subject to dissolution by him at any time. Yet in spite of this limited role, Parliament had acquired over
9612-557: The titular chief of the army party, and with the greater part of its objects he was in complete, sometimes most active, sympathy. Shortly before the outbreak of the Second Civil War , Fairfax succeeded his father in the barony and in the office of governor of Hull . In the field against the English Royalists in 1648 he displayed his former energy and skill, and his operations culminated in the successful siege of Colchester , after
9720-413: The voice of his parliament, and to discontinue the raising of troops. This was at a great meeting of the freeholders and farmers of Yorkshire convened by the king on Heworth Moor near York. Charles attempted to ignore the petition, pressing his horse forward, but Fairfax followed him and placed the petition on the pommel of the king's saddle. When the civil war began in 1642, his father, Lord Fairfax,
9828-500: The war effort himself, later claiming this totalled in excess of £1,000,000. After the defeat at Marston Moor in July 1644, a battle fought against his advice, he went into exile in Europe. He returned to England after the Stuart Restoration in 1660, and although created Duke of Newcastle in 1665, he remained on the fringes of the court and became critical of Charles II . He died in 1676 and
9936-538: Was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Royalists and Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms , the struggle consisted of the First English Civil War and the Second English Civil War . The Anglo-Scottish War of 1650 to 1652 is sometimes referred to as the Third English Civil War. While
10044-452: Was appointed general of the Parliamentary forces in the north, and Sir Thomas was then made lieutenant-general of the horse under him. Both father and son distinguished themselves in the Yorkshire campaigns. In 1643, a minor battle between Royalists for Charles I and a small group of Roundheads under Fairfax, who were en route from Tadcaster to Leeds , took place at Seacroft . Fairfax
10152-571: Was beheaded two days later. In the meantime, both Parliament and the King agreed to an independent investigation into the king's involvement in Strafford's plot. The Long Parliament then passed the Triennial Act 1640 , also known as the Dissolution Act, in May 1641, to which royal assent was readily granted. The Triennial Act required Parliament to be summoned at least once in three years. When
10260-492: Was besieged by the Scots, Sir Thomas Fairfax, and Manchester's Army of the Eastern Association . In May, Prince Rupert left Shrewsbury and marched north; on 29 June he arrived at Knaresborough , 30 kilometres from York, to find he was faced by a superior force. Despite Newcastle's opposition, the largest battle of the war took place on 2 July at Marston Moor . The result was a decisive Royalist defeat that lost them
10368-510: Was buried at St James' Church, Bilbrough , near York. Fairfax had a taste for literature . He translated some of the Psalms , and wrote poems on solitude, the Christian warfare, the shortness of life, etc. During the last year or two of his life he wrote two Memorials which have been published—one on the northern actions in which he was engaged in 1642–44, and the other on some events in his tenure of
10476-833: Was buried in Westminster Abbey . William Cavendish was born at Handsworth, South Yorkshire , the eldest surviving son of Sir Charles Cavendish and Catherine Ogle, descended from the Barons Ogle . He was a grandson of Bess of Hardwick and courtier William Cavendish . He had a younger brother, Charles (1594–1654), and the two remained close friends throughout their lives. In 1618, Cavendish married Elizabeth Howard (1599–1643), with whom he had five children – Jane (1621–1669), Charles (1626–1659), Elizabeth (1626–1663), Henry, 2nd Duke of Newcastle (1630–1691), and Frances. Encouraged by their father, Jane and Elizabeth became minor poets and writers. In 1645, he married Margaret Lucas ,
10584-473: Was exempted from the retribution that was exacted on many other leaders of the revolution. Thomas Fairfax was born at Denton Hall , halfway between Ilkley and Otley in the West Riding of Yorkshire , on 17 January 1612, the eldest son of Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron . (His family title of Lord Fairfax of Cameron was in the peerage of Scotland , then still independent from England, which
10692-402: Was given command of the four northern counties, largely because he was willing to pay for his own troops. In November 1642, he advanced into Yorkshire , raised the siege of York , and forced Lord Fairfax to retire after attacking him at Tadcaster . Fighting continued during the winter, as Newcastle tried to secure a landing place for an arms convoy organised by Henrietta Maria , who was in
10800-425: Was granting the King the same nominal value of subsidy, the income was actually worth less. This extravagance was tempered by James's peaceful disposition, so that by the succession of his son Charles I in 1625 the two kingdoms had both experienced relative peace, internally and in their relations with each other. Charles followed his father's dream in hoping to unite the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland into
10908-421: Was more politically adept and radical in his actions against Charles I of England . Fairfax became dissatisfied with Cromwell's policies and publicly refused to take part in the trial of Charles I . Eventually he resigned, leaving Cromwell to control the country. Because of this, as well as his honourable battlefield conduct and active role in the 1660 Stuart Restoration after Cromwell's death in 1659, Fairfax
11016-451: Was obliged to retreat across Bramham moor , and summed up the Battle of Seacroft Moor as 'the greatest loss we ever received'. Sometimes severely defeated, but more often successful, and always energetic, prudent and resourceful, father and son contrived to keep up the struggle until the crisis of 1644, when York was held by the Marquess of Newcastle against the combined besieging forces of
11124-567: Was occupied and Charles forced to pay £850 per day to keep the Scots from advancing. Had he not done so they would have pillaged and burnt the cities and towns of Northern England. All this put Charles in a desperate financial state. As King of Scots, he had to find money to pay the Scottish army in England; as King of England, he had to find money to pay and equip an English army to defend England. His means of raising English revenue without an English Parliament fell critically short of achieving this. Against this backdrop, and according to advice from
11232-566: Was re-elected MP for Yorkshire in the Convention Parliament . He was put at the head of the commission appointed by the House of Commons to wait upon Charles II at The Hague and urge his speedy return. His actions assisted the Stuart Restoration . Fairfax provided the horse which Charles rode at his coronation. The remaining eleven years of the life of Lord Fairfax were spent in retirement at his seat in Yorkshire. His wife died in 1665 and Fairfax died at Nun Appleton Priory in 1671. He
11340-567: Was reinstated in the offices he had filled under Charles I and appointed a Gentleman of the Bedchamber . He was invested in 1661 with the Order of the Garter which had been bestowed upon him in 1650, and was advanced to a dukedom (of Newcastle-on-Tyne) on 16 March 1665. He retired, however, from politics and occupied himself with his estate and with his favourite pursuit of training horses. He established
11448-423: Was to protect the musketeers from cavalry charges. Positioned on each side of the infantry were cavalry, with a right wing led by the lieutenant-general and left by the commissary general . Its main aim was to rout the opponents' cavalry, then turn and overpower their infantry. The Royalist cavaliers' skill and speed on horseback led to many early victories. Prince Rupert , commanding the king's cavalry, used
11556-537: Was to revive conventions, often outdated. For example, a failure to attend and receive knighthood at Charles's coronation became a finable offence with the fine paid to the Crown. The King also tried to raise revenue through ship money , demanding in 1634–1636 that the inland English counties pay a tax for the Royal Navy to counter the threat of privateers and pirates in the English Channel. Established law supported
11664-679: Was why he was able to sit in the English House of Commons after he inherited it.) His dark hair, eyes and swarthy complexion would earn him the nickname "Black Tom". Fairfax studied at St John's College, Cambridge , and Gray's Inn (1626–1628), and then volunteered to join Sir Horace Vere 's expedition to fight for the Protestant cause in the Netherlands. In 1639, he commanded a troop of Yorkshire dragoons which marched with King Charles I against
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