page 1 about civil war

The English Civil War
was as much the
response to the effects
of the Reformation as it
was a response to the
needs of the rising
middle classes, the
landed gentry. The war
itself involved the king,
Parliament, the
aristocracy, the middle
classes, the commoners,
and the army. The War
tested the prerogative
of the king and
challenged the theory
of divine right. War
raged between
Parliamentarians,
Royalists, Cavaliers and
Roundheads and every
religious sect in
England.
The years before 1640
in England were years
of national
disillusionment. The gap
between the court and
Protestant elements
widened, the golden
age of drama and
literature was over, the
religion of the court
and at Oxford and
Cambridge seemed
diffused, and scientific
ideas, though popular
in London and at
Oxford and Cambridge,
as yet had received no
official recognition. In
the meantime,
censorship grew more
severe, and lawyers
became the patrons
and consumers of art.
For the most part,
energies which had
been devoted to
literature in the mid-to-
late 16th century were
now channeled into
political and theological
concerns. The Civil War
was both religious and
political, as well as
social and economic.
But it was also a legal
battle between the king
and his subjects.