Was King Charles I the main cause of the English civil war?
The English Civil War has many causes however Charles I must be counted as one of the major reason for the English civil war. Few people could have predicted that the civil war that started in 1642 would have actually happened, as with many wars, there are long, short term causes and triggers such as the grand remonstrance.
There is evidence that Charles was responsible for the civil war because of his ideas and behaviour about religion
One reason was that he was superstition as he believed that God had choose him to rule as king over anybody else, he married a catholic woman from Spain, Henrietta Maria, this was frowned upon as Charles himself and most of England was Protestants, Charles had promised that Henrietta Maria, she would be allowed to practise her religion freely additionally Charles and Archbishop Laud made Changes to the Church of England by changing the pray book they thought it would bring people close to God however the Scots were unhappy with this change.
An important reason why Charles was responsible for the civil war was his attitude and behaviour towards parliament
Charles I's attitude and behaviour towards Parliament have been highlighted as key factors in creating a situation in which civil war; Charles attempted to arrest of 5 MPs. He successfully arrested 2 MPs. Charles thought that God was on his side and no-one could argue with any his actions consequently he dismissed parliament and didn’t use or talk to them for eleven years.
Further evidence against Charles is that he made the situation worse by
One factor is his approach to obtain money using tax. He collected "Ship Money" (this is a tax was used to improve the navy in time of war) without Parliament's permission from all the coastal counties, He later introduced the tax to inland counties as well, Charles was thought have used this money for painting and clothes
It could be argued that parliament was partly...