The outbreak of the English civil wars between royalists and parliamentarians in 1642 led to the execution of the English king, Charles I, on January 30th 1649. Horrified by this, hundreds of English royalists fled to Ireland to regroup. The English parliament was now encircled by threats from Scotland and Ireland. Both declared their loyalty to Charles Stuart (Charles I’s son), while England became a republic and appointed Cromwell as lord lieutenant of Ireland.

The English Civil Wars comprised three wars, which were fought between Charles I and Parliament between 1642 and 1651. The wars were part of a wider conflict involving Wales, Scotland and Ireland, known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The human cost of the wars was devastating. Up to 200,000 people lost their lives, or 4.5% of the population. This was as great a loss, proportionally, as during the First World War.

In July 1642, England finally descended into civil war after years of political wrangling and empty promises between Parliament and King Charles I. The two sides had disagreed over money, religion, and how political power should be distributed. The opposing sides became known as the ‘Roundheads’ (Parliamentarians) and ‘Cavaliers’ (Royalists). During the early years of war, most Parliamentarians merely wanted to force the king to see the error of his ways and have some of his powers curbed by Parliament. It was not, as yet, an objective to abolish the monarchy.

Oliver Cromwell was born on 25 April 1599, his father was Robert Cromwell, a modest country gentleman, and his mother was Elizabeth Steward. Oliver spent his childhood in Huntingdon before attending Cambridge University for one year. Cromwell married Elizabeth Bourchier on 22 August 1620, and they went on to have seven children, the most famous being the eldest, Richard (b. 1626). In 1628, he represented a Cambridgeshire borough as a Member of Parliament.

Worksheet and PEE aregarding weapons of War

Between 1642 and 1651, armies loyal to King Charles I and Parliament faced off in three civil wars over longstanding disputes about religious freedom and how the “three kingdoms” of England, Scotland and Ireland should be governed. Notable outcomes of the wars included the execution of King Charles I in 1649, 11 years of republican rule in England and the establishment of Britain’s first standing national army.

Charles I was king of England, Scotland and Ireland, whose conflicts with parliament led to civil war and his eventual execution. Charles I was born in Fife on 19 November 1600, the second son of James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark. On the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 James became king of England and Ireland. Charles’s popular older brother Henry, whom he adored, died in 1612 leaving Charles as heir, and in 1625 he became king. Three months after his accession he married Henrietta Maria of France. They had a happy marriage and left five surviving children.

During the long reign (1558–1603) of Elizabeth I, England emerged as a world power and her presence helped unify the country against foreign enemies. Her reign is often defined in terms of her skillful diplomacy, her action on religious matters, and the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Her reign also saw a brilliant flourishing in the arts.

In November 1095, at the Council of Clermont in southern France, the Pope called on Western Christians to take up arms to aid the Byzantines and recapture the Holy Land from Muslim control. This marked the beginning of the Crusades. Pope Urban’s plea was met with a tremendous response, both among the military elite as well as ordinary citizens.

In the Middle Ages, the holiday began in earnest before dawn on Christmas morning with a special Christmas mass that signaled the official end of Advent and the start of the feasting season, which ran from December 25 through January 5.

In November 1095, at the Council of Clermont in southern France, the Pope called on Western Christians to take up arms to aid the Byzantines and recapture the Holy Land from Muslim control. This marked the beginning of the Crusades. Pope Urban’s plea was met with a tremendous response, both among the military elite as well as ordinary citizens.

Evacuation was voluntary, but the fear of bombing, the closure of many urban schools and the organised transportation of school groups helped persuade families to send their children away to live with strangers. The schoolchildren in this photograph assembled at Myrdle School in Stepney at 5am on 1 September 1939. The adults accompanying them are wearing arm bands, which identify them as volunteer marshals.

‘Inside the chimney, high I climb Its dark inside the sooty stack, I bang my head, I graze my back, I lose all sense of passing time, Inside the chimney, high I climb

Children in Medieval TimesL.O: Understand the different lives that rich and poor children had.

How did slaves try to gain their own freedom? slave rebellions, in the history of the Americas, periodic acts of violent resistance by Black slaves during nearly three centuries

In 1807 the slave trade was abolished throughout the British Empire. In 1833 slavery itself was abolished in all British colonies.

Interview with an Ex Slave- Master Alec had plenty for us to eat. There was meat, bread, collard greens, snap beans, potatoes, dried fruits and lots of milk and butter. We had wooden beds and wooden bowls which were kept filled with bread and milk for the children all day. You might want to call the place that Master Alec gave us to grow vegetables a ‘garden’, but it looked more like a field to me.

In an auction sale slaves would be brought from the pen to stand on a raised platform so they could be seen by the buyers. People could inspect the slaves if they wanted to. The auctioneer would decide a price to start the bidding and whoever gave the highest price won. In a scramble sale all people who wanted to buy a slave would pay the trader an agreed amount of money. The trader would then give them a ticket and all buyers would rush in the pen and grab the slaves they wanted. It was a terrifying ordeal for the slaves.

A British slave ship set off from Liverpool or Bristol, carrying trade goods, and sailed to Africa. The slaves were marched to the coast in chained lines called coffles, where they were held in prisons called ‘factories’. The ship then sailed across the Atlantic to the West Indies. This was called the ‘Middle Passage’. Some ships, but not all, then loaded up with sugar and rum to sell in England.

As soon as Europeans began to settle in America, in the early 16th century, they imported enslaved Africans to work for them. As European settlement grew, so did the demand for enslaved people. Over the next 300 years more than 11 million enslaved people were transported across the Atlantic from Africa to America and the West Indies, and Britain led this trade from the mid-17th century onwards. Ports such as Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow sent out many slaving ships each year, bringing great prosperity to their owners. Many other cities also grew rich on the profits of industries which depended on slave-produced materials such as cotton, sugar and tobacco.