'' by
Charles Landseer, painted in 1845, depicts Charles (centre in blue sash) before the
battle of Edgehill, 1642. In mid-1642, both sides began to arm. Charles raised an army using the medieval method of
commission of array, and Parliament called for volunteers for its militia. The negotiations proved futile, and Charles raised the royal standard in
Nottingham on 22 August 1642. By then, his forces controlled roughly the Midlands, Wales, the
West Country and northern England. He set up his court at
Oxford. Parliament controlled London, the south-east and East Anglia, as well as the English navy. After a few skirmishes, the opposing forces met in earnest at
Edgehill, on 23 October 1642. Charles's nephew
Prince Rupert of the Rhine disagreed with the battle strategy of the royalist commander
Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey, and Charles sided with Rupert. Lindsey resigned, leaving Charles to assume overall command assisted by
Patrick Ruthven, 1st Earl of Forth. Rupert's cavalry successfully charged through the parliamentary ranks, but instead of swiftly returning to the field, rode off to plunder the parliamentary baggage train. Lindsey, acting as a colonel, was wounded and bled to death without medical attention. The battle ended inconclusively as the daylight faded. In his own words, the experience of battle had left Charles "exceedingly and deeply grieved". He regrouped at Oxford, turning down Rupert's suggestion of an immediate attack on London. After a week, he set out for the capital on 3 November,
capturing Brentford on the way while simultaneously continuing to negotiate with civic and parliamentary delegations. At
Turnham Green on the outskirts of London, the royalist army met resistance from the city militia, and faced with a numerically superior force, Charles ordered a retreat. He overwintered in Oxford, strengthening the city's defences and preparing for the next season's campaign.
Peace talks between the two sides collapsed in April. on horseback in front of his troops, 1644 The war continued indecisively over the next couple of years, and Henrietta Maria returned to Britain for 17 months from February 1643. After Rupert
captured Bristol in July 1643, Charles visited the port city and laid
siege to Gloucester, further up the
river Severn. His plan to undermine the city walls failed due to heavy rain, and on the approach of a parliamentary relief force, Charles lifted the siege and withdrew to
Sudeley Castle. The parliamentary army turned back towards London, and Charles set off in pursuit. The two armies met at
Newbury, Berkshire, on 20 September. Just as at Edgehill, the
battle stalemated at nightfall, and the armies disengaged. In January 1644, Charles summoned a Parliament at Oxford, which was attended by about 40 peers and 118 members of the Commons; all told, the
Oxford Parliament, which sat until March 1645, was supported by the majority of peers and about a third of the Commons. Charles became disillusioned by the assembly's ineffectiveness, calling it a "mongrel" in private letters to his wife. In 1644, Charles remained in the southern half of England while Rupert rode north to
relieve Newark and
York, which were under threat from parliamentary and Scottish Covenanter armies. Charles was victorious at the
Battle of Cropredy Bridge in late June, but the royalists in the north were defeated at the
Battle of Marston Moor just a few days later. The King continued his
campaign in the south, encircling and disarming the parliamentary army of
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex. Returning northwards to his base at Oxford, he fought at
Newbury for a second time before the winter closed in; the battle ended indecisively. Attempts to negotiate a settlement over the winter, while both sides rearmed and reorganised, were again unsuccessful. At the
Battle of Naseby on 14 June 1645, Rupert's horsemen again mounted a successful charge against the flank of Parliament's
New Model Army, but elsewhere on the field, opposing forces pushed Charles's troops back. Attempting to rally his men, Charles rode forward, but as he did so,
Robert Dalzell, 1st Earl of Carnwath seized his bridle and pulled him back, fearing for the King's safety. The royalist soldiers misinterpreted Carnwath's action as a signal to move back, leading to a collapse of their position. The military balance tipped decisively in Parliament's favour. There followed a series of defeats for the royalists, and then the
siege of Oxford,
from which Charles escaped (disguised as a servant) in April 1646. He put himself into the hands of the Scottish Presbyterian army besieging
Newark, and was taken northwards to
Newcastle upon Tyne. After nine months of negotiations, the Scots finally arrived at an agreement with the English Parliament: in exchange for £100,000, and the promise of more money in the future, the Scots withdrew from Newcastle and delivered Charles to the parliamentary commissioners in January 1647.
Captivity '' by
Eugène Lami, 1829 Parliament held Charles under house arrest at
Holdenby House in Northamptonshire until Cornet
George Joyce took him by threat of force from Holdenby on 3 June in the name of the New Model Army. By this time, mutual suspicion had developed between Parliament, which favoured army disbandment and presbyterianism, and the New Model Army, which was primarily officered by
congregationalist Independents, who sought a greater political role. Charles was eager to exploit the widening divisions, and apparently viewed Joyce's actions as an opportunity rather than a threat. He was taken first to
Newmarket, at his own suggestion, and then transferred to
Oatlands and subsequently
Hampton Court, while more
fruitless negotiations took place. By November, he determined that it would be in his best interests to escape—perhaps to France, Southern England or
Berwick-upon-Tweed, near the Scottish border. He fled Hampton Court on 11 November, and from the shores of
Southampton Water made contact with Colonel
Robert Hammond, Parliamentary Governor of the
Isle of Wight, whom he apparently believed to be sympathetic. But Hammond confined Charles in
Carisbrooke Castle and informed Parliament that Charles was in his custody. From Carisbrooke, Charles continued to try to bargain with the various parties. In direct contrast to his previous conflict with the Scottish Kirk, on 26 December 1647 he signed a secret treaty with the Scots. Under the agreement, called the "
Engagement", the Scots undertook to invade England on Charles's behalf and restore him to the throne on condition that Presbyterianism be established in England for three years. The royalists rose in May 1648, igniting the
Second Civil War, and as agreed with Charles, the Scots invaded England. Uprisings in
Kent, Essex, and
Cumberland, and a rebellion in South Wales, were put down by the New Model Army, and with the defeat of the Scots at the
Battle of Preston in August 1648, the royalists lost any chance of winning the war. Charles's only recourse was to return to negotiations, which were held at
Newport on the Isle of Wight. On 5 December 1648, Parliament voted 129 to 83 to continue negotiating with the King, but
Oliver Cromwell and the army opposed any further talks with someone they viewed as a bloody tyrant and were already taking action to consolidate their power. Hammond was replaced as Governor of the Isle of Wight on 27 November, and placed in the custody of the army the following day. In
Pride's Purge on 6 and 7 December, the members of Parliament out of sympathy with the military were arrested or excluded by Colonel
Thomas Pride, while others stayed away voluntarily. The remaining members formed the
Rump Parliament. It was for all practical purposes a military coup. ==Trial==