The Parliament

The Parliament was an elected organization set up by the

king to manage the country to save the King the effort.

Although officially ruled by the King, Parliament was

increasing it's power so rapidly that by the 1600s it could

no longer be relied on to do what the King wanted. King

Charles 1st came into conflict with his Parliament in 1629

when he ordered Parliament to raise taxes and it refused.

His response was to abolish Parliament and he ruled

Parliament on his own for 11 years. However, the people

didn't support him and he ran short of money so he had to

reinstate Parliament in 1640.

However, conflict broke out again in 1642 when Charles

tried to have 5 members of Parliament arrested who had

been actively disagreeing with his policies. The MPs fled

into the back of the streets of London but when the King

went after them, the citizens expelled him angrily from their

city. This was a direct violation by the people of the

supreme power of the King and marked the beginning of

the English Civil War.

Those English who supported the King (the Cavaliers) had

support