Was Religion the Cause of the English Civil War?

Was religion the cause of the English civil war?

Religion was one of the causes of the civil war between crown and Parliament. However, the war was also caused over arguments about tax and divine right.

The status of the monarchy started to decline under the reign of James I. James was a firm believer in the divine right of Kings. This was a belief that he was appointed by God to rule the country and that God could never do wrong, so neither could he. James expected Parliament to do what he wanted; he did not expect them to argue.

One major advantage Parliament had over James was that they had money and James was short of it. James and Parliament continuously argued over tax. Parliament told him he could not collect it without permission. James suspended Parliament in 1611. His friends were used to run the country and in return were rewarded with titles. This caused offence to many MP’s, which believed it was their job to run the country.

James recalled Parliament in 1621 to discuss the future marriage of his son, Charles, to a Spanish princess. Parliament was outraged. If this marriage happened, would the children be brought up as Catholics? Fortunately, the marriage never took place, but the relationship between Parliament and King was never mended by the time James died in 1625. This was one way religion caused the civil war.

Charles had a very different personality to James. He was conceited, arrogant and also a strong believer in the divine right of Kings. He’d seen the damage between Parliament and his father, but blamed it entirely on Parliament because a King appointed by God could not be wrong.

From 1625 to 1629, Charles argued with Parliament over many issues, but money and religion were the most common cause of argument.

Charles ruled by using the Court of Star Chamber. To gain money, everyone was fined heavily. Rich men were often persuaded to buy titles and if they didn’t they would be fined the same amount as the title would’ve cost!

Charles ordered that everyone in the country should pay Ship Money, a tax paid by coastal towns and villages for the upkeep of the navy. Only coastal areas benefited form the navy, yet Charles insisted the whole country benefited from it so everyone had to pay the tax. This was one way tax caused the civil war.

Charles also clashed with the Scots by ordering they should use a new prayer book. This angered the Scots so much they invaded England. As Charles was short of money to fight the Scots, he recalled Parliament, as they were the only people with the money to fight a war and had the authority to collect extra money.

In return, Parliament ordered that the Court of Star Chamber closed and that the earl of Strafford, one of the Kings top advisors, be executed, to show power.

The relations between King and Parliament were not going well and by 1642, the King sent soldiers to Parliament to arrest his biggest critics but they had already fled to London. Just six days after, Charles realized a civil war could not be avoided.

As I have shown, religion was not the only cause of the civil war. I think the main reason for it was the divine right of Kings because if the King didn’t believe in it he wouldn’t have had many of those views and the whole civil war could have been prevented.