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Comfortable. October

0:30

the 23rd, 1642. A

0:35

Sunday. We're

0:38

in the heart of England, near

0:40

the village of Kyneton in the county of

0:42

Warwickshire. It's

0:45

a crisp autumn morning. Across

0:49

a misty rolling valley, two armies form

0:51

up. On

0:54

the slope of Edge Hill, under

0:56

a fluttering royal standard, are 12,000 royalists.

1:00

They are to fight for their king. A

1:04

mile opposite, under the cross of

1:06

St George, are a similar

1:08

number of parliamentarians. The

1:10

self-proclaimed soldiers of the people. An

1:14

air of confusion hangs. Nobody's

1:17

quite sure how to even get this

1:19

battle started. It's

1:22

been so long since anybody in England has fought

1:24

a proper war, that the

1:26

organizers are reduced to consulting instruction

1:28

manuals. Swedish

1:30

military strategy is currently all the

1:32

rage. It's musketeers

1:35

in the center. Check. Pike

1:37

men on either side. Check. Time

1:41

wears on. Patience is straining.

1:44

The mounted troops soothe their restless

1:46

charges. The

1:49

infantry grow resentful at being pushed around

1:51

by the clueless toffs. They

1:53

know that in the end, the

1:55

hurly-burly will come down to them.

1:58

Them and their sixteen men. foot lances, two

2:02

bristling hedgehog walls ramming into

2:04

each other. By

2:10

the time they're ready, it's past lunchtime. Delegations

2:13

ride into no man's land for a parley. Both

2:17

sides confirm. They'll begin

2:19

at two o'clock. But

2:22

as they return to their lines, someone

2:25

in the parliamentary artillery gets itchy fingers

2:27

and loses off a cannon. And

2:35

so begins the first

2:37

major engagement of the

2:39

English Civil War. Back

2:48

down the Banbury Road, arriving too

2:51

late to take any meaningful part, is

2:53

the officer in charge of a Cambridge Academy

2:56

troop, a member

2:58

of Parliament named Oliver

3:00

Cromwell. From

3:08

Noiser, this is part two

3:11

of the Cromwell story. And

3:14

this is Real Dictators.

3:25

England has been torn by civil war before.

3:29

It was the Wars of the Roses, one hundred

3:31

and fifty years earlier, that placed the Tudors on

3:33

the throne. But no

3:35

war fought on home soil will

3:37

have the destructiveness of the conflicts

3:40

about to ravage these isles. The

3:44

English Civil War will be just one component.

3:47

Across fourteen long years, the

3:50

Wars of the Three Kingdoms, to

3:53

give them their more accurate title, will

3:55

account for over half a million dead.

4:00

In England alone, they will

4:02

kill more people than World Wars I and

4:04

II combined. There will

4:07

not be a village, a family that

4:09

remains untouched by the carnage that is

4:11

about to roll out across the realms.

4:15

Death and destruction will rage from

4:17

Newmarket to New England, Dublin

4:20

to Dundee, Dunkirk

4:22

to Virginia. Let's

4:32

scroll back a few months to where

4:34

we left off at the end of the last episode. In

4:38

the summer of 1642 Ireland is still in open rebellion. The

4:43

Scots, meanwhile, recently occupied north-east

4:45

England. The

4:47

relationship between Crown and Parliament has

4:49

been broken irreparably. King

4:52

Charles has fled London and

4:54

raised his standard at Nottingham. It's

4:57

an open declaration of war on

4:59

Parliament and by extension his people.

5:03

Charles intends to take the capital and

5:05

restore royal authority. Parliament

5:08

aims to bring the King home and

5:10

to the negotiating table. This

5:13

is a battle for the monarchy's soul. Dr

5:17

Anna Kaye. One

5:20

of the things you have to really remember about

5:22

the civil war is that it was not a

5:24

fight between people who wanted a republic and people

5:26

who wanted a monarchy. Both sides, on the sort of

5:28

what are we fighting for, wanted to retain a monarchy.

5:30

It was all about what kind of religious arrangements there

5:32

should be and what the extent of the power of

5:35

the King should be. At

5:37

the outbreak of war, Oliver Cromwell

5:40

has no military experience whatsoever.

5:43

But circumstances will push him to the fore.

5:50

Professor John Morrow. I

5:52

mean, everyone can see the horrors of what a civil

5:54

war will be. Most People

5:56

still think that in the end this

5:58

can be sorted out. By a

6:01

negotiation compromised. Almost more

6:03

thing when some suppose historically was by

6:05

like three. but you be fighting him

6:08

than your states are at risk so

6:10

most people are catching some accounts most

6:12

people are getting snow, most people are

6:14

trying to avoid making a decision. On

6:17

it. at that point the

6:19

control of the local all

6:22

reese to almost full suit

6:24

hardliners, Promo. becomes one

6:26

of the hardliners. Right

6:31

now he is a humble, untried

6:33

captain. And. The regional East

6:35

Anglian only. Answerable to

6:37

the Earl of Manchester. Cromwell.

6:39

Has no background apps all Salisbury. Now

6:41

he was the than they the militia

6:44

which would have mans you to been

6:46

trying to few days a year so

6:48

he comes up to completely fresh and

6:50

I think he's lucky in that in

6:53

the very early months that he may

6:55

need Schools and small cavalry skirmishes of

6:57

people equally innocence of warfare. Overall

7:01

command of the Parliamentary com he gone to

7:03

Robert Devereux. Those of us that. He

7:06

is the obvious choice. One

7:09

of a few senior parliamentarians with

7:11

any military experience. As

7:14

an axe to grind. His

7:16

father lost his head to Elizabeth,

7:18

the first. Unfortunately

7:21

the current url as a signal

7:23

from. Is a bit of a drunkard.

7:26

Indecisive. His

7:28

much younger wife has run off with

7:30

another man, citing impotence on the part

7:32

of her husband's. This.

7:34

Will be the source of feel torn. Let's

7:37

assume the enemy. But. His own troops

7:39

to. Professor.

7:42

Peter Goon. He's quite

7:44

long in the truth is quite an elderly

7:46

think up by fond of the Civil War.

7:48

Is a competent commander? Rollin a

7:51

dynamic come on. He's.

7:53

Able to lead some good

7:55

campaigns, but overall it's Apache

7:58

military record. He makes mistakes,

8:00

he makes miscalculations, On

8:04

the Royalists side, it's the king

8:07

himself who is the nominal military

8:09

supreme. One of those red

8:11

lines that Charles wouldn't negotiate on by. right?

8:13

by God. I'm Commander in Chief, and that

8:15

brought the way through the war. And

8:18

he is an active come on. He does

8:20

play a role on the battlefield that age

8:22

they'll a new breed. but he also

8:24

delegates command. Charles.

8:28

Has his own issues of maintenance, At

8:31

Nottingham on August Twenty second. The

8:33

royal standard is raise defiantly. But.

8:36

A howling wind blows it down. At

8:40

four hundred square feet Sikhism, a

8:42

very sick carpet and now sopping

8:45

wet, it will prove too heavy

8:47

to list again. And

8:50

not many people have turned up

8:52

a paltry eight hundred horse and

8:54

three hundred foot month. But.

8:57

The king's assured that their

8:59

allegiance of loyal Welshman spoiling

9:01

for site so he makes

9:03

his way west to Shrewsbury.

9:12

At this time there is no standing army.

9:15

Troops. Are raised according to need.

9:17

Neither. Side can boast companies have

9:19

regular this. The bands

9:22

of local militia of renowned more for

9:24

drinking skills and weapons drills. That

9:28

is not to doubt the bravery of

9:30

ordinary Englishman. The. Yeoman of

9:32

England and indeed rooms have been the

9:34

backbone of campaigns and I shinko. Only

9:38

not since medieval times pitted against

9:40

each other. In

9:43

numbers To begin with, parliament has the upper

9:45

hand. Essex's enlisted

9:48

the contingent of London Apprentice

9:50

Boys. They're. Identifiable by

9:52

the short cropped hair. A

9:55

new rebellious trend. It.

9:57

Will earn the Army a derogatory nickname.

10:00

Roundheads. The.

10:02

King's Offices with their silks and

10:04

frills and feathers. Will. Be

10:06

dismissed by their opponents as decadence.

10:09

Spanish Style Caballero Us. Cavaliers.

10:16

As the army's assemble

10:18

ideology recedes, the country

10:20

breaks along tribal loans.

10:24

The. Nobility and the provincial peasantry

10:26

rally to the Royalists. The tradesmen

10:28

in the merchants to parliament. Geographically.

10:32

The north and west of for the

10:34

King, the south and east to Westminster.

10:38

It's. The urban progressive swiss. The

10:40

rural conservatives, The Metropolitan

10:42

versus the shiny. New

10:45

Money Buses Old. There

10:49

are anomalies: leo's of Essex

10:51

and Manchester, or among the

10:53

band of rebel nobles supporting

10:55

parliament. Geographically

10:57

to there are outliers. England's second

10:59

city is the great part of

11:02

Bristol. So situated deep in the

11:04

King's West country, it's in the

11:07

hands of the parliamentarians. But

11:10

the cleavages of the Civil War

11:12

will dominate English lice and politics

11:14

for centuries. Arguably, they still do.

11:18

Across the land ancient settlements

11:21

that world foundations not much

11:23

changed since the Middle Ages

11:25

begin. Forty sign. Arms.

11:31

And money or in the hands of Parliament. The.

11:33

King must strike before his resources

11:35

run out. He still

11:37

big box of his stuff. Is

11:40

march to shoes be best. Fruit. Within.

11:43

The months ten thousand recruits com drifting

11:45

out of the Welsh Mountains. The

11:49

king also has an ace of his

11:51

sleeves a star signing. He

11:54

comes in the shape of his nephew, Prince

11:56

Rupert of the Rhine. Age

11:59

twenty two, look at is a dashing

12:01

cavalry officer. A young start.

12:03

Squashed and his wife. And

12:08

quite the character. With. Is flowing

12:10

locks and down the outfits. He

12:13

speaks English with a heavy German accent.

12:16

According to legend, he travels and fights

12:18

with his pet poodle. Boy.

12:20

Tucked into his tunic. Group.

12:23

It's men are known to fight twin

12:25

pistol suppose back. At

12:27

his signature twist chemically church.

12:31

But. Flesh whoop. It is also a bit of a whose

12:33

head. Not. A team player.

12:36

Managing. This marquee signing of become

12:38

an issue in itself. Professor

12:42

Clear Jackson. The.

12:44

One of the tragedies of the civil wars

12:46

is the extent to which families are inevitably

12:48

to, but I did it. One brother might

12:51

take up arms for the Royal his side

12:53

and another might take up arms to the

12:55

parliamentarians. Exactly the same happened. chose the first

12:57

own family they sister Elizabeth as the he

12:59

marries in exile in the Netherlands for oldest

13:02

son's Charles Louis. And. See side

13:04

with parliament's Quite controversially they come

13:06

over to England. So. Louise

13:08

younger brother Prince Rupert becomes one is

13:10

Charles the first prominent cavalry demand as

13:13

and also his other brother Prince Morris.

13:15

And these two German brothers know any

13:17

of a huge amounts of experience fighting

13:20

during the says he is war, but

13:22

they also bring a reputation with them.

13:24

It's sort of continental butchery. Essex

13:28

tracks the King's men westwards.

13:31

The. Risk of issues around booster. Rupert.

13:34

Boasts that the sniffling round heads of

13:36

their for the taking. Him

13:44

and since it is gorgeous

13:46

grills, Pretty. His son says hi to

13:48

get set in the nets. Unless you're browsing

13:50

com on his inventory while you still get

13:52

all in. all birds

13:55

are time since this is comfortable com

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14:13

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14:18

Your Home. I spent

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if you lived in ancient Greece, you'd

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15:15

October the 12th, the royalist army begins

15:17

massing for the big push south. In

15:21

an age of poor roads and thick woodlands,

15:24

the armies lose sight of each other. Then

15:27

in the early hours of October the 23rd,

15:29

Rupert's scouts spy the fires

15:32

of Essex's encampment. The

15:36

king could sidestep the enemy altogether and

15:38

march straight on London, but

15:41

excitable Rupert advises Uncle Charles to

15:43

seize the advantage. They'll

15:45

finish this thing right here.

15:48

And so, in the

15:50

Warwickshire countryside, the first

15:52

mass engagement of the Civil War takes

15:54

place. In

16:01

military terms, it's amateurish. After

16:04

an hour of artillery bombardment, the

16:07

maneuvers are tentative. Neither

16:09

side is comfortable yet with the prospect

16:11

of slaughtering fellow countrymen. And

16:14

there is a lack of discipline. The

16:16

sight of Rupert's charges causes the roundheads

16:19

to scatter. But

16:21

when the prince chases the stragglers and attempts

16:23

to loot the baggage waggers, the

16:26

royalists lose their shape. Victory

16:29

is not consolidated. There

16:34

are about a thousand dead and three thousand

16:37

wounded at the Battle of Edge Hill, as

16:39

it will be named. As

16:42

both sides tactically retreat, it's

16:44

a score draw at best. Quite

16:47

tepid compared with the rampant savagery

16:49

that will soon unfold. When

16:53

the king enters the town of Banbury,

16:55

then Oxford, he's met

16:57

with cheering crowds. But

17:00

he has failed to lend the killer blow. And

17:04

now, instead of storming London, he prefers

17:07

to take a cautious, scenic advance up

17:09

the Thames Valley. In

17:12

November, the king is beaten back just

17:14

west of the capital, Aternum Green. There

17:17

are rumors of atrocities, some

17:19

fictitious, some genuine, of

17:22

roundhead soldiers being used by cavaliers

17:24

as human shields. Of

17:27

the mutilation of prisoners, already

17:29

the media is playing a part. With

17:35

winter closing in, the campaign season of 1642 comes to

17:38

a close. Troops

17:42

are unable to sustain themselves through the

17:44

barren months. The roads

17:46

are impassable. The

17:48

king retires to a snowbound Oxford.

17:51

It will be his new forward base, his

17:54

rival capital. At the

17:56

end of 1642, there are now two Englands. Back

18:01

in Cambridgeshire, Cromwell spends

18:04

the long dark months drilling local

18:06

units. He

18:08

stumps up one hundred pounds from his own

18:10

pocket to spend on arms and

18:13

raises two companies of volunteers. From

18:17

the periphery at Edge Hill, he

18:19

saw enough to know that victory will only

18:21

come with effective cavalry, still

18:23

the most important unit in battle. Great

18:26

cavalry too, just breastplates

18:29

and open fronted helmets, enabling

18:31

his mobile troops to shoot as well as wield

18:33

a sword from the saddle. As

18:36

the snows thaw, his training

18:38

pays off. Cromwell

18:44

rises up remarkably quickly through

18:46

the ranks. Initially, he's

18:49

a gentleman, he's an MP, so he's commissioned

18:51

even though he has no military experience. Some

18:54

of 1642, as captain of a

18:56

troop of horse, probably 60 to

18:59

80 mounted soldiers. Early

19:02

in 1643, he's promoted as

19:04

Colonel of a horse regiment,

19:06

cavalry regiment in Parliament's

19:08

biggest most successful regional army,

19:11

which is the Army of the Eastern Association. What

19:14

really makes him this, that the

19:17

Army of the Eastern Association is

19:19

ordered by Parliament to go and

19:21

fight further north, leaving him as

19:23

the most senior of the junior

19:25

officers to protect East Anglia.

19:29

He has a very limited brief, which is

19:31

keeping Enroyllis raiding into East Anglia, and he

19:33

makes a great success of it. By

19:35

the time the Army of East Anglia comes back,

19:38

he's won a whole series of skirmishes that

19:40

make them think this is someone who really

19:42

is useful to us, and so they put

19:44

him in charge of the cavalry of the

19:46

east of England. That was the big breakthrough.

20:00

Talent is everything. Discipline

20:02

is strict. Men are

20:05

fined for swearing. Being drunk

20:07

will see you whipped. He

20:09

also forbids the use of the

20:11

term roundhead. His

20:14

men respond well to his methods. And

20:17

what really comes to the fore is

20:19

that he has this ability to personally connect

20:21

with the soldiers, to sort of tune

20:23

in to the things that are going

20:25

to stir their souls and

20:28

make them willing to fight

20:30

and die at his side. He's

20:32

brilliant at that. And he walks among his

20:34

men, he eats with them, you know, he's

20:36

there on the bench next to his men

20:38

drinking, talking. He loves jokes and funny

20:41

stories, you know, he's a very good

20:43

commethrum officer. Royalist

20:46

Oxford meanwhile, it's all

20:48

about hard cash. The

20:50

war was meant to have been wrapped up inside

20:53

a few months. There's

20:55

now a problem of how to finance it. The

20:58

dons of Oxford University melt their

21:00

gold plates. Other

21:02

money-racing schemes are floated. In

21:06

particular, there is a cunning plan. It's

21:16

the night of February the 22nd, 1643. We're

21:20

in Bridlington, Yorkshire. It's

21:22

the lone Royalist port along this stretch

21:25

of coast. The

21:28

North Sea has been cutting up rough, but

21:30

a Dutch warship and its escorts have

21:32

managed to come in close. On

21:36

the cover of darkness, they put ashore

21:38

their precious cargo and,

21:40

just as importantly, their

21:42

VIP passenger. Stepping

21:45

out of a rowing boat onto the

21:47

beach comes Queen Henrietta Maria. She

21:50

has brought with her a crucial haul. The

21:53

ship's holds are laden with arms, munitions,

21:56

plus 80,000 pounds in cash. When

22:00

the King left

22:02

London, he had the good sense to bring his royal treasures

22:04

with him. And Henrietta Maria is taking them to Holland. There

22:08

she pawned the crown jewels. The

22:12

Dutch vessels get out first. A

22:15

squadron of parliamentary frigates has been in

22:17

hot pursuit. Danger passed. Briddington

22:21

turns in for the

22:23

night. But the parliamentarians haven't given up on

22:25

the night. But

22:28

the parliamentarians haven't given up the chase.

22:34

In the early hours of vessel heaves close to

22:36

the harbour wall, it opens

22:38

fire. Sleepy

22:41

Briddington is devastated by hailstone

22:44

cannibals. The

22:48

Queen and her handmaidens rush out in their night

22:50

clothes to shelter in a ditch. The

22:53

Royal Dwarf, Geoffrey Hudson, charges, heroically,

22:55

to the quayside to Waby's cutlass.

23:00

After two hours the frigate moves off. Job

23:03

done. But Henrietta is

23:05

alive, if shell-shocked. And

23:08

the next day she heads south, tooting

23:10

her booty. One

23:16

thing we often tend to forget is

23:18

how cosmopolitan and continental the Stuarts were.

23:21

Charles I is married to a French wife, Queen

23:23

Henrietta Maria. And actually, for

23:26

her as a devout Catholic, she really

23:28

can't understand a lot of the arguments

23:30

taking place between Episcopalians and Presbyterians, who

23:32

all seem to her to be complete

23:34

heretics. But what she has is utter

23:36

trust and faith in her husband. And

23:38

is actually very proactive on his behalf,

23:41

seeking to raise money. The

23:44

Royal Navy, it defected to parliament almost to

23:46

a man, almost to a ship at the

23:48

start of the Civil War. So

23:51

pursued by parliamentarian

23:53

vessels, she is able,

23:56

under fire, to land and

23:58

disembark at Bridlington. She's then

24:00

got the problem with a convoy of

24:02

moving out of royalist territory in Yorkshire,

24:05

in Northern England, to get

24:07

to the King and to bring the resources

24:09

where they're really needed. And

24:11

there's a cat and mouse game. Which

24:14

route will the convoy take from

24:16

mainly royalist Yorkshire to get down

24:18

to Oxford? Prince

24:21

Rupert gets active in the Midlands, clearing a

24:24

path. He takes the

24:26

hamlet of Birmingham and the Cathedral

24:28

City of Lichfield. He

24:30

shows his burning love for the country by

24:32

putting Birmingham to the flame. And

24:35

Henrietta Maria virtually unscathed, is

24:37

able to get herself and

24:40

reinforcements and supplies to the King.

24:47

The royalists are in business again, armed

24:49

to the teeth, ready for another

24:51

tilt at London. It

24:54

mocks the hapless parliamentarians. Unlike

24:57

Cromwell's light troops, Essex's

25:00

cavalry have taken to trusting themselves

25:02

up in ridiculous full-body armour. They've

25:05

earned the nickname of Lobsters. Dashing

25:09

Rupert is having these comic crustaceans

25:11

for lunch. In

25:13

July, following a crushing royalist victory,

25:16

he takes Bristol. Things

25:19

are looking good. It

25:21

is filtering back of defections, of

25:24

roundheads losing their nerve. The

25:28

mood on the streets of London turns, from

25:31

rebellion to frustration. When

25:34

the leading MP John Pym rides to Parliament,

25:37

he's assaulted by a mob of angry women

25:39

who threaten to chuck him in the Thames.

25:43

But Pym is yesterday's man. He

25:45

is in secret, terminally ill. Charles

25:48

John Hampton, his likely successor, has already

25:51

been killed in action. The

25:54

cry for decisive leadership is loud. For

25:57

not just a politician, but a soldier. one

26:00

who can stiffen the sinews and summon up

26:02

the blood. In

26:04

July, Cromwell expels the last royalist from

26:07

East Anglia and wins the

26:09

key city of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. He

26:12

is the only parliamentarian commander yet to

26:14

taste defeat, and it

26:17

has been noted, he's

26:19

made Lieutenant General. And

26:25

of course it becomes a snowball because then every battle

26:27

you win or skirmish you win becomes an expression of

26:30

how much God thinks you're doing the right thing. And

26:32

if you can articulate that to your men as well

26:34

as believing it in your own head, then

26:36

you get this kind of absolutely sort

26:38

of molten sense of being the chosen

26:41

ones. And that was very, very

26:43

powerful. As Cromwell puts

26:45

it famously, trust in

26:47

God and keep your powder

26:49

dry. That

26:55

said, the royalists still command the majority

26:57

of English territory. The

26:59

port of Bristol is now a viable rival

27:01

to London. And by

27:03

securing the Severn Valley beyond, they

27:06

can control the waterways through England's

27:08

heartland. But there's a problem. The

27:11

river city of Gloucester is still in

27:14

parliamentarian hands. The

27:16

attempt to take it is one of the numerous

27:18

sieges that will characterize the war. This

27:21

one becomes a huge drain on royalist

27:23

resources, cannonballs thudding into the

27:25

town walls for weeks on end. One

27:30

large siege cannon is hauled by the royalists

27:32

to the top of a nearby church. But

27:35

the parliamentarians managed to knock it down.

27:38

The cannon goes by a nickname, Humpty

27:41

Dumpty. Its destruction

27:43

will become the origin of a rhyme. Humpty

27:47

Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty

27:49

Dumpty had a great fall. All

27:51

the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't

27:54

put Humpty together again. If

27:57

you thought Humpty was an egg, blame Lewis.

28:00

Carol. The

28:05

Royalists pulled back from Gloucester in September,

28:08

but they're caught in a clash with Essex's man

28:10

at Newbury. There has

28:12

clearly been an upgrade in military capabilities

28:14

on both sides. A third

28:16

of all troops are casualties. The

28:19

scale of the slaughter alarms everybody. Neither

28:22

army has what it takes to deliver the

28:24

coup de gras. There

28:26

are now dissenting nobles on both sides who

28:29

wonder whether they shouldn't just settle this thing

28:31

in a gentlemanly fashion, meet

28:33

it in an appointed field and fight it

28:35

out in a one-off. Winner takes all. Clash.

28:38

A cup final. But

28:43

the parliamentary ultras will countenance no such

28:45

thing. It's victory or

28:47

nothing. And if

28:49

they can't do it themselves, then they'll

28:52

do it with outside help. They're

28:55

not alone. Charles at

28:57

his room, it is already extending feelers to

28:59

third parties. The

29:01

King looks west to Ireland. He

29:04

cobbles together a truce with the

29:06

Irish Catholics, leaving them in control of most

29:08

of the island of Ireland. And

29:10

that will enable him to bring mainly

29:13

Protestant troops back from Ireland to mainland

29:15

England, Wales to fight for him. So

29:18

there's a problem there. There's all sorts

29:20

of problems. The King doing a deal

29:22

with Irish Catholics who had so recently

29:24

killed Irish Protestants, even many of his

29:26

own supporters think that's very dubious. Parliament

29:29

casts its eyes in a different direction.

29:33

Far more fruitful, Parliament looks north

29:35

to Scotland. The Scots don't

29:37

trust the King. They believe

29:39

that if the King wins the civil war

29:42

in England and Wales, he will reverse or

29:44

try and re-impose his political and religious control

29:46

over Scotland. So they are quite

29:48

open to doing a deal with the English

29:50

parliamentarians. It seems

29:52

an obvious partnership. Both

29:54

governments are united in a common

29:56

puritan purpose. with

30:00

which the Scots cut through Northeast England back

30:02

in the Bishops Wars shows

30:05

that they are forced to be reckoned with. Squeezed

30:08

between North and South, the

30:10

Royalists will have to fight a war on

30:12

two fronts. There

30:15

is little political incentive for the Scots to

30:17

get involved in this English war, but

30:20

there is something that could grease the wheels.

30:23

Parliament would never admit that it's

30:25

hiring a mercenary army, but

30:28

the Scottish Government agrees to send a military

30:30

mission in return for a financial settlement. £31,000

30:33

a month was

30:36

equipment. Not

30:40

everybody in Westminster welcomes the move,

30:43

but those who object to Scottish

30:45

intervention are sidelined. The

30:49

military alliance is dressed up with

30:51

a manifesto. It's called the Solom

30:53

League and Covenant and

30:55

it comes with a further catch. Scottish

30:58

assistance is conditional on

31:01

England adopting Scots style Presbyterianism

31:04

as its official national church. With

31:09

a large Presbyterian lobby in the Commons, the

31:12

bill sails through. The

31:14

Anglo-Scottish Treaty is signed off

31:17

on September the 25th, 1643. Again

31:24

there is no question here of the monarchies abolition.

31:27

If Charles is there by divine right,

31:29

who is anyone to question God's will?

31:32

It's just a matter of how to

31:35

harness this ordained monarch into a modern

31:37

political system. Securing

31:40

the Scottish alliance is the last act

31:42

on the part of the old parliamentary

31:44

order. On

31:46

December the 8th, John Pym dies.

31:50

Professor Nicholas of Shaughnessy. His

32:00

cohorts. They are the

32:03

ones who leads the

32:05

rhetorical constitution parliamentary. a

32:07

rebellion. The treaty

32:09

also france a brand new concept. Joint

32:13

Rule of England and Scotland by a

32:15

committee of the two kingdoms. Crucially,

32:19

Though. The English signatories have

32:21

less themselves and get on close. The.

32:23

Proviso that everything in the agreement

32:26

is according to the word of

32:28

God. This

32:30

is important because a split is

32:33

developing within the body of English

32:35

puritans. On. The

32:37

one hand, the Presbyterians, Advocates

32:40

of a statement edge. On.

32:42

The other those who prefer

32:44

to see the church removed

32:46

from politics and controlled by

32:48

congregations. They are

32:50

known as the Independence. And.

32:53

They include one Oliver Cromwell.

33:01

The. King's advisers have been watching.

33:05

What? Legitimacy does the English palm

33:07

and has asked us. If

33:10

this leaderless body is now being

33:12

written Russia by extremists, Ones.

33:15

Who an hour signing a regular

33:17

covenants with foreign nations. In.

33:20

A bold political move, the

33:22

King declares parliament to be

33:24

illegitimate. He. Summons All

33:26

those have been ejected from Westminster

33:28

and foams his own Come to

33:31

Parliament. They. Are eighty three

33:33

Peers and one hundred and seventy

33:35

five members who meet in Oxford.

33:37

And January Sixteen, Forty Four. The

33:40

king not only has most of the country behind him

33:43

know. But. Has his own

33:45

rival government. For

33:49

the likes of Cromwell, this is

33:51

a standoff. The can only be

33:54

solved with overwhelming military force. On

33:57

January twenty second, the very

33:59

day. that the Oxford Parliament convenes.

34:03

A Scottish army of 18,000 foot and 3,000 horse is

34:07

crossing the River Tweed. They

34:10

are led by the Earl of Leaven, veteran

34:12

general of the Thirty Years' War. The

34:16

first order of business for the Scots is

34:18

to besiege the town of Newcastle, and

34:21

the plan works. By

34:25

the spring of 1644, the

34:27

war's axis has shifted to the north of

34:29

England. It leaves

34:32

the Royalist Southern flank exposed. Cromwell's

34:35

eastern association moves up and starts

34:38

attacking the Cavalier stronghold of York.

34:42

Prince Rupert races to relieve the city. But

34:45

it's his Cavalier attitude, by

34:48

now a byword for recklessness, which

34:50

will condemn both him and the Royalist

34:52

army. The

34:55

king sends him a note. It

34:57

contains an ambiguous written order. Rupert

35:01

interprets it as a command

35:03

to make a stand in the field. Charles

35:06

will later deny this was his

35:08

intention. Alongside

35:11

the Royalist Marquess of Newcastle, Rupert

35:14

rallies the troops for an open, pitched

35:16

battle. Newcastle makes

35:18

a boast. His elite

35:21

shock troops, nicknamed lambs, because

35:23

of their white woolen uniforms,

35:25

will have their jackets stained red

35:27

with round-head blood. July

35:36

the 2nd, 1644, is

35:39

a day of alternating rain and sunshine.

35:42

At first light, psalms can

35:44

be heard rising from the ranks of

35:46

the parliamentary army. They

35:49

have been enticed into brittle west of York,

35:51

on the open, windswept mast and moor.

35:56

But the Cavaliers are no match for this

35:58

new Anglo-Scottish force. Not in

36:00

the same league, not anymore. The

36:03

royalist army is obliterated. God

36:06

made them a stubble to our swords,

36:08

recounts Cromwell. Then we

36:10

took their regiments of foot with our

36:12

cavalry and overthrew all that we encountered.

36:16

Even Rupert's pet poodle is a casualty.

36:22

Marston Moor is considered to

36:24

be the bloodiest battle ever fought on English

36:26

or British soil. Little

36:29

quarter is given. While

36:32

thunder rumbles overhead, Cromwell's cavalry

36:34

chases the royal stragglers down the

36:36

surrounding lanes. Along

36:39

a three mile stretch, four

36:41

thousand corpses pile up against the

36:43

dry stone walls. There

36:47

is personal tragedy for Cromwell. His

36:50

nephew Valentine has his legs smashed

36:52

by a cannonball. He

36:54

dies under the surgeon's sore. This

36:58

follows the death of his own second son,

37:00

Oliver. He'd succumb

37:02

to smallpox while garrisoned down south. Cromwell

37:06

has a near miss himself at Marston Moor.

37:09

At the height of the battle, a musket ball

37:11

skims his neck, forcing him to

37:13

leave temporarily to have his wound patched up.

37:17

But ultimately it's new castles of lambs who have

37:19

been led to the slaughter. The

37:22

only blood staining their jackets is

37:24

their own. So

37:28

the really decisive factor in tipping the

37:30

balance towards Parliament is the decision of

37:32

the Scots to join on Parliament's side.

37:36

The decisive battle of Marston Moor in 1644. Cromwell

37:39

himself, in his reports of the battle,

37:41

accords himself a very major role, but

37:43

he certainly couldn't have achieved that victory

37:45

without the Scots. Nonetheless,

37:49

there was little doubt as to who is

37:51

the driving force in the Parliamentarian army.

37:57

He was a total amateur at the outset of the

37:59

war. But Cromwell seems

38:01

born to soldiering. Not

38:03

only has he trained up an effective fighting force,

38:06

but he is always there in the thick

38:09

of it, calm and disciplined amid the carnage.

38:12

And he is a superb orator

38:14

and rabble-rouser, arguably better

38:16

than he is a political speaker. He

38:19

can ride into any given town to convince

38:21

thousands of young men to rally, to die,

38:24

for his

38:26

cause. There

38:28

is an air of invincibility about him, a

38:31

destiny. The men have

38:33

a nickname for him, the

38:35

same one that is being applied to

38:37

his hard-as-nails cavalry, Ironsides.

38:42

Cromwell is phenomenally skilled at ensuring that

38:45

the reports of decisive encounters such as

38:47

Marston Moore are reported in the ways

38:49

in which he is shown to best

38:52

advantage. So this sort of

38:54

cult of personality is reflected in

38:56

print, and that means that Cromwell's achievements

38:58

are known about by much larger regerships

39:00

than would ever have been the case

39:02

in previous decades. The

39:09

king is down on his uppers. Queen

39:12

Henrietta Maria gives birth to a new daughter.

39:16

She then abandons her family, baby and

39:18

all, and disappears back to France. She

39:21

will never see her husband again. With

39:26

a sense of the inevitable, the royalists

39:28

enter into peace talks. The

39:31

rival delegations spend twenty days in the

39:33

taverns and inns of Uxbridge near London.

39:38

It's February, the close season, and

39:40

the mood is convivial, optimistic,

39:43

boozy. There

39:46

is a sticking point. Extensive

39:48

concessions are being demanded of Charles before

39:50

he resumes the throne. But

39:54

the Cavalier high-up seem convinced they can

39:56

talk his majesty round. Cromwell

39:59

could ride in the town. into the sunset here, but

40:02

his well-honed skills tell him that

40:05

this is far from a done deal, and

40:08

predictably the talks break down.

40:14

Back at Parliament Cromwell lets rip. He

40:17

has differences with his Scottish allies, he declares.

40:20

He is opposed to Presbyterian

40:22

uniformity. They didn't

40:24

overthrow one established church, only to replace it

40:27

with another, and he's

40:29

also miffed about the lukewarm conduct of the

40:31

war. If they'd fought like

40:33

they did at Marston Moor, it would have all been over

40:35

long ago. In the

40:37

hands of nobles like Essex and Manchester, the

40:39

army is too soft. The

40:42

way Cromwell sees it, they're far too

40:44

ready to compromise. Manchester

40:47

protests, if we beat the

40:49

king ninety-nine times, he will still be our

40:51

king, and we his subjects. If

40:53

he beats us once, we shall

40:55

all be hanged. Cromwell

40:58

replies, My lord, if

41:00

it be so, then why did we take up arms

41:02

in the first place? Cromwell

41:05

demands wholesale reform of the parliamentary

41:08

army, and it must

41:10

begin with the removal of these lordships from

41:12

command. I

41:14

had rather have a plain russet-coated captain

41:16

that knows what he fights for and

41:19

loves what he knows, than

41:21

that which you call a gentleman and is nothing

41:23

else. A

41:27

lot of parliamentarians had assumed that this would

41:29

be a very short campaign, that Charles

41:32

would clearly recognise that his MPs were

41:34

very upset and would reach a settlement.

41:37

And that doesn't happen. And one of the major

41:39

divisions of opinion that emerges in late

41:41

1644 is between the Earl of

41:45

Manchester and his second in command, who

41:47

happens to be the 45-year-old MP for

41:49

Cambridge, Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell

41:51

certainly did share the wider

41:54

feeling amongst many of the

41:56

military and political leaders on

41:58

the parliamentarian side that master

42:00

and more aside, Parliamentarian

42:03

armies had underperformed during 1644. The

42:05

potential fruits

42:08

of master and more have been

42:11

squandered by lackluster command, indecision, not

42:13

wanting maybe even to inflict a

42:15

full defeat on the king. When

42:20

Manchester threatens to impeach Cromwell for his

42:22

impertinence, there are huge ruckions. But

42:25

Cromwell carries the day. The

42:28

result is an act of Parliament

42:30

called the self-denying ordinance. It

42:33

comes into law in April 1645.

42:35

It prohibits

42:37

aristocrats from holding office in the

42:40

parliamentary army. And

42:42

it marks the end for nobles like

42:44

Essex and Manchester. Parliament

42:50

is too shrewd to let Cromwell be the

42:52

new commander-in-chief. They don't want

42:54

a Julius Caesar, a general who

42:56

seizes political power. Instead,

42:58

supreme command goes to Sir Thomas

43:01

Fairfax. But

43:03

nobody doubts that Cromwell is the dominant

43:05

figure. He is appointed

43:07

general of the horse. Technically,

43:10

the act also bars MPs from

43:13

holding rank. Cromwell,

43:15

as the member for Cambridge, should be forced

43:17

to step down, just like the nobles. But,

43:21

with victory in Parliament,

43:23

who in Parliament is going to sack the

43:26

most brilliant soldier? Extenuating

43:28

circumstances are found, extensions

43:31

are granted, and

43:33

besides, Cromwell's men are

43:35

refusing to fight without him. For

43:38

the first two years, he's only

43:40

appointed for a few months at a

43:42

time. But the trouble is he's proving

43:44

his worth so much, and the top

43:46

general, Sir Thomas Fairfax, desperately wants him

43:48

as his cavalry commander. The

43:52

parliamentary army is restructured, no

43:55

longer regionalized, but a national force.

43:58

Cromwell's own eastern associates. The creation is used

44:00

as the template. There

44:03

are modern, efficient lines of command. The

44:06

men are well disciplined, well equipped, properly

44:08

paid. And they

44:10

will wear a consistent uniform, a

44:13

red coat. Conscription

44:16

goes into overdrive. There

44:18

will be eleven new parliamentary regiments of

44:20

horse. Twelve foot

44:22

plus artillery. It

44:25

will be known as the New Model

44:27

Army. Parliamentary

44:33

resolve has been stiffened. As

44:35

if to make the point, Archbishop Lord

44:37

Charles' old spiritual enforcer is

44:40

dragged from the tower. He's

44:43

been banged up there for four years. The

44:46

frail elderly cleric staggers blinking into the

44:49

sunlight before being hauled off to be

44:51

executed. Cromwell

44:56

is right to take the initiative. Across

44:59

England there are outbreaks of royalist

45:01

rioting. And there's been

45:04

a big defection. The

45:06

Marquess of Montrose decides to switch

45:08

sides. He throws his

45:10

lot in with the King, promising to

45:12

unite Scotland behind the Crown. Mrs.

45:18

Cromwell's is currently at large in the north of Scotland with

45:20

the Rebel Army, packed with

45:22

Catholic Highlanders and Irish imports.

45:26

This thing is far from over. The

45:29

longer the delay, the more the parliamentarians stand

45:32

to lose. It

45:34

will become Cromwell's personal motto. Pax

45:37

Quarito bello. Let

45:39

peace be sought through war. It

45:44

is already out that the King is trying to

45:46

reclaim his territory in central England. He's

45:48

marching on Leicester. Cromwell's

45:51

men stomp to the Midlands. They

45:54

have a new quick march technique. It's

45:57

an athletic stiff-legged motion learned from the armies

45:59

on the left. the continent, the

46:01

Goose Step. On

46:03

June the 14th at Naysby in Northamptonshire,

46:06

the new model army delivers a

46:09

devastating smackdown. Well,

46:11

the Battle of Naysby is where he

46:13

really shows that he's come to full

46:16

maturity. Now, something similar had happened at

46:18

Marston Mall, but it's even more dramatic

46:20

at Naysby. So he's got this extraordinary

46:23

discipline. And, you

46:25

know, when I do a one-man reenactment

46:27

of Naysby, which I've been known to

46:29

do, I get people to stand where

46:31

the Royalist frontline was. They

46:33

thought the Palmitays were probably retreating because

46:36

their scouting wasn't very good. And

46:38

then the first thing they

46:40

know is they hear Cromwell soldiers

46:43

singing psalms. And

46:45

then they come over the brow of the hill in full

46:48

military array. And they're

46:50

downhill, they're downwind. And

46:53

between them and Cromwell is quite

46:55

steep ground. And they think basically,

46:57

oh, s***. The

47:00

victory is clinical, bloodthirsty. Afterwards,

47:03

in a frenzy, Cromwell's men put

47:05

to the sword a hundred or so women

47:07

found in the Royalist hill, slaughtered

47:09

for being Catholic agents, speakers

47:12

of an alien tongue, possibly

47:14

even witches. Most

47:16

likely, in a leash. There

47:25

will be no more reconciliation, decrees

47:27

Cromwell. What has been

47:29

done today is God's will. You

47:32

know, there are pamphlets written in the Civil

47:34

War, but this is part of the mindset

47:36

that's hard for us to get. That God

47:38

is so imminent, is so present, that

47:41

he will bend bullets so

47:43

that when the Royalists fire their bullets,

47:45

they will steer past the Palmentarians.

47:48

And when the Palmentarians fire their bullets, you will steer them into

47:50

them. And people's pain, they've

47:53

seen this. They can give

47:55

eyewitness testimony of God being that

47:57

present. of

48:00

the most original talents ever to take to

48:02

the field. It's not

48:04

just about tactics. It's not just

48:06

about his leadership. It's about his

48:09

idea of imbuing the army, not

48:11

only with Heimer Rau, but

48:14

also, if you like, with ideology,

48:16

with belief, with

48:18

Heimindedness, with, to use

48:20

a more modern term, bigotry. Professor

48:24

Miho Luschukre. There's

48:26

no question that many of those who

48:28

fought in the new model army at

48:30

the side of Parliament did have strong

48:32

religious beliefs and convictions, but that doesn't

48:34

necessarily make it an army of God.

48:37

Cromwell himself, he was

48:39

a classic Puritan. He sees himself very

48:41

much as doing God's will and as

48:43

being God's emiracy on earth. And that

48:46

gives a great strength and

48:48

determination to the man in terms

48:50

of his actions. But as somebody

48:52

famously said, Cromwell often

48:54

wrestled with his conscience, but usually he won.

48:57

Basically, he could sort of justify

48:59

anything he had done in his

49:01

own religious context. Amid

49:06

the carnage of Nesbi, the

49:08

Parliamentarians find something, something

49:11

devastating, incriminating. In

49:15

the King's baggage train is a

49:17

stash of correspondence. His

49:21

Majesty has written personal, desperate invitations

49:23

for military intervention to anyone who

49:25

might listen. The

49:28

Irish, the French, the Dutch.

49:31

He's even offered up Orkney and the Shetland

49:33

Islands in return for Danish assistance.

49:37

Over the next few months, fortress

49:40

by fortress, town by town,

49:43

the last vestiges of royalist support will

49:45

be snuffed out. In

49:48

the Scottish borders, Montrose's rebel

49:50

army is trounced. Prince

49:54

Rupert had promised the King that he would

49:56

hold Bristol till Christmas by

49:58

September 1645. It's been

50:01

surrendered. Charles

50:03

will disown his mercurial nephew. In

50:07

this final phase, Cromwell is

50:09

the driving force. He

50:12

plays a significant role during the last year

50:14

of the war, from summer 1645 to summer

50:19

1646. Effectively a big mopping

50:21

up operation against remaining royalist

50:23

regional armies and bases, and

50:25

that's how Cromwell ends

50:28

the main civil war in

50:30

that mopping up operation that

50:32

by early summer 1646

50:35

had secured a

50:37

full unconditional military

50:39

victory for Parliament.

50:42

For his pains, Cromwell is awarded grants

50:44

of land by Parliament worth £2,500.

50:46

His commission with

50:50

the new model armies renewed for a further

50:52

six months, whatever the law

50:54

might say. He moves

50:56

his family to London and a

50:58

house on Drury Lane. For

51:02

King Charles, whatever way he looks at it, it's

51:05

game over. He

51:07

might still flee across the Channel, but

51:09

that would send him into exile. Instead,

51:13

still hoping for reconciliation, he

51:15

plays his Scottish card. As

51:18

a proud steward, he puts

51:20

his faith in his Caledonian compatriots.

51:24

He will turn himself in to a

51:26

Scottish brigade camped out in Nottinghamshire. With

51:31

Cromwell closing in on Oxford, the

51:33

King escapes, disguised as the servant.

51:39

On May 5, 1646,

51:42

just a few miles from where he raised

51:44

his standards so defiantly four years earlier, Charles

51:47

presents himself to the Earl of Leaven.

51:51

But if he thinks he is to be Leaven's

51:53

VIP guest, he is sorely mistaken.

51:55

He is now a

51:57

hostage and extremely valuable

51:59

one. Charles

52:02

is taken at first to Newcastle, setting

52:05

off a series of negotiations that will run through

52:07

the rest of the year. To

52:10

the Scots, the king is a bargaining chip, but

52:13

they don't quite know how to play him. Do

52:16

they force Charles to accept the Covenant

52:19

and unite Scotland under him as

52:21

a Presbyterian nation, or

52:23

could they reboot Presbyterianism in

52:26

an Anglo-Scottish union? The

52:28

initiative still really lies with the king, to

52:31

reach a settlement. And a lot of the

52:33

terms that are presented to him at different

52:35

junctures throughout the Civil Wars really don't change

52:37

very much in substance. And one

52:39

of the frustrations for those around Charles

52:42

is his refusal to negotiate, or to

52:44

agree something and then immediately to form

52:47

a different alliance and restart the wars.

52:49

And eventually Parliament concludes that he is

52:51

not to be trusted. Ultimately,

52:55

for the Scots, holding the

52:57

king seems to be more trouble than it's worth.

53:01

After nine months there is still no resolution. Let

53:04

the English sort it out. As

53:07

always it comes down to money. Just

53:10

as in the Bishops' Wars, the Scottish

53:13

forces will only remove themselves from English

53:15

territory, as well as hand over the

53:17

king for a fee. They

53:20

are still owed a staggering £400,000 in back payments. But

53:24

taking part in this English scrap, London

53:27

can cough that up for a start. There

53:31

are some who protest. The

53:34

Earl of Lauderdale claims that by selling

53:36

their king, his fellow Scots would be

53:38

hissed at by all nations. Yea

53:41

the dogs in the street would piss upon them.

53:44

Apart in January 1647, for

53:47

a king's ransom, Charles

53:49

I is handed over to the

53:51

English parliamentarians. He

53:53

has certain stipulations. His

53:56

safety must be guaranteed. He

53:58

must be allowed to retain his own. servants its

54:01

mere detail. The King

54:04

of England is now a captive of

54:06

the enemy, the Parliament of

54:09

Oliver Cromwell. In

54:22

the next episode, with

54:26

the King in captivity, both sides

54:28

seek a settlement. But

54:31

when Charles escapes to peace a second civil

54:33

war, all trust is broken. For

54:36

Cromwell, there is only one course

54:38

of action, a solution that

54:41

will plunge the British Isles into

54:43

unknown territory. His

54:45

Majesty must be put on

54:47

trial. That's

54:49

next time.