OCR Civil War Revision: Why Was The King Executed

July 1646 : Parliament tries to disband army

May 1647 : Solemn Engagement - Army would not disband until they were paid

August 1647 : Putney Debates where the army debated what their political stance should be among themselves

1646 : The Newcastle Propositions - Parliament proposed that the armed forces should be controlled by Parliament for 20 years and that only Parliament could disband itself

June 1647 : Army seized the King at Holdenby 

June 1647: Declaration of the Army - said 'we are not mercenaries' and demanded that anti-army MPs should leave. 11MPs left as a result

Summer 1647 : Heads of Proposals - Army offered Charles a settlement where the Church would become independent of the State

1647 : London Counter Revolution - the conservative mob invaded the houses of Parliament and kicked out pro-army MPs and brought back anti-army ones

December 1648 : Pride's Purge 

Played both sides against eachother by pretending to be interested in negotiations

• Pretended to be interested in Parliament's Newcastle Propositions in 1646
• Pretended to be interested in Army's Heads of Proposals in 1647
• Made the Engagement in secret with the Scots in 1647 promising them Presbytarianism

Didn't take opposition seriously

• Refused to plead at his trial in 1649 until after the sentence was passed

Parliament mistreated the Army

• Tried to dismiss the army without pay - the cavalry were owed 48 weeks pay 
• Parliament alienated the army by voting that the army should only be 6000 men strong and made up of Presbyterians in May 1647
• Repealed Vote of No Addresses when they wanted to negotiate with the King in 1648  - Army saw this as hypocritical

Army disrespected Parliament

• Army swore the Solemn Engagement to demonstrate that they were unhappy with Parliament's treatment of them in 1647
• Army took King from Parliament at Holdenby in June 1647
• Army took control of Parliament in Pride's Purge 1648

Parliament and Army had different aims

• There were seperate negotiations with the King
• Army had Heads of Proposals in 1647

Growth of religious groups

• There were sects such as the 5th Monarchists and Quakers who wanted an indpendant church system

Growth of extreme political groups

• Developement of the Levellers who wanted votes for everyone
• Levellers agreed "Agreement of the People" which came to a head at the Putney Debates in August 1647
• Putney Debates in August 1647 distracted the Army from negotiating with the Kings

Before Second Civil War

• King escaped from Hampton court in November 1647 to negotiate with the Scots while pretending to negotiate with Army and Parliament
• Charles went on to sign the Engagement with the Scots in December 1647

After Second Civil War

• The Second Civil War increased the Army's mistrust of the King as he betrayed their trust
• The War caused the Army to decide that Charles must be executed at the Windsor Prayer Meeting in 1648
• Army enacted Pride's Purge in December 1648 as a response to Parliament opening negotiations with the King through the repeal of the Act of No Addresses