There once was a man named Charles. He was the son of King James. In 1625, he became the king of Englnd. Not only that, but also Scotland and Ireland. He is known for his problems with parliament that eventually led to the civil war.

From the beginning of his time being king, there were problems. He was taught by his father King James, that kings receive their power from god and are responsible only to god. Charles was very close minded and not willing to cooperate with parliament.

Parliament are the people who help make rules in England. They were upset with Charles for many reasons. For one, a close friend to Charles and his father, George Villiers, the duke of Buckingham had many problems with them. A previous failure in an expedition against the Spanish port of Cadiz was blamed on him and the house of Commons tried to impeach him for Treason. Charles instead dismissed parliament in 1625.

Charles needed money for the Bishop's war between England and Scotland and without parliament, his funds were low. He attempted to raise money through a forced loan by the people. This was a tax levied without parliaments consent. His actions made him very unpopular to the people.

The king was desperate and needed money. Only three weeks after dissolving parliament, he was forced to recall it. He needed money to fund the war with France and Spain. This was not the only time he would do this. King Charles dissolved Parliament 3 times between 1625 and 1629.

 Later on, Parliament proposed the petition of rights, a petition brought to the king from parliament. It was full of rules they needed to follow such as restrictions on taxes without consent, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and the use of martial law. Charles signed it, but pretty much ignored it. In 1629, Charles elected to stop calling parliaments and began funding his rule through taxes like ship money and fines. This was a major reason as to why the civil war started.

The battle of Powick was the first battle of this war, taking place on September 23rd, 1642. Both sides had around 1,000 men and the battle lasted about twenty minutes. Very few Royalists were killed, but around 40 parliamentarians

were killed.

The battle of Edgehill took place on October 23, an exact month after Powick bridge. It took place between Banbury and Warwick. With around 25-30,000 soldiers, 1,000 died and 2,000 were injured. It is undecided who won this battle.

The battle of Braddock Down occurred on January 19, 1643 at Cornwall. There were only around 9,000 soldiers with 200 killed and 1,500 captured. The Cavaliers won this battle, their commander being Earl of Newcastle.