Oliver Cromwell

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Oliver Cromwell

Although the disputation of religion also helped to stir up the

English civil war, its fundamental causes were the constitutional

conflicts. Many English and the members of the parliament, including

Oliver Cromwell, were not satisfied with how the king ruled over their

country. This was interfused with the conflicting issues over

religions. Many English may have been frustrated by William Laud,

Charles’ main political advisor pointed as the archbishop of

Canterbury in 1633, who attempted to make reforms in the Church of

England. However, his actions were not revolutionary to trigger the

civil war. Therefore, the longstanding constitutional conflicts were

the main components that evoked the civil war. These causes were the

king’s belief of “divine right of kings,” his method of collecting

money during the Eleven Years Tyranny, and the aftermath of the

imposition of the new religious law in Scotland.

Charles I, like his father James I, was a strong believer in the

“divine right of kings.” As a result, he believed that the parliament

would not argue with any of his decisions. However, the parliament did

argue with him over the issues of money and religion. Therefore, in

1629 he ordered the dissolution of the parliament for the next 11

years, also known as the period called the Eleven Years Tyranny. So

the king ruled England for 11 years without the support of the

parliament. When Charles attempted to reform the Church of England,

many people resented. Due to his firm belief in the “divine right of

kings,” Charles ordered to persecute them. As a result, the English

were mainly angered by the persecution, not by the reform of the

Church, and so the disputation of religion was out of this. Moreover,

many were frustrated by the poor method of raising money. When the

king asked rich men to buy the title, they refused. Consequently, they

were fined the same sum of money it would have cost for the title

anyway. This nonsense infuriated more people. One may perceive that

Charles was an egocentric, greedy king.

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