The seventeen century 1625 1660

Conflict with the Puritans
The Puritans were the more disgusted with Charles of all the English. The king´s ally and Archbishop Laud had stepped up the persecution of Calvinist's dissenters. Inbrutal public ceremonies, Puritan leaders had their noses slit, their cheeks branded, and their ears cropped off. Only their faith helped them. "The more I am beaten down, the more I am lifted up!"Exclaimed one Puritan after a torturer finished his work.
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Radical Puritans wanted to do away with bishops and the whole hierarchy of the Anglican Church.Archbishop Laud and the High Church Anglicans supported the king, while most puritans opposed him. They believe that each congregation had the right to choose its own minister.
Most Puritans wereagainst the idea of a “king’s divinity right” to rule. A king is a thing men have done for their welfare, meaning that men could unmake a king. James I understood the danger and summed it ups in a shortphrase “No bishop, no king”.
The Long Parliament
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When the king and archbishop tried to force conformity on Scottish, the Scots rose up ondefiance. In 1639, King Charles had to lead an army north to put down the rebellion. With the war stalemated, Charles returned to London desperate for funds. But Parliament was in no mood to grant the king’srequest without guarantees.
Parliament was demanding the trial of Laud and Thomas Wentworth, the hated leader of the king’s army. Finally, they were tried and later executed.-------------------------------------------------
The legislators insisted on reforms to limit the power of the king. At least, in 1642, Parliament condemned Charles as a tyrant. So he sent armed men into the Parliamentto seize the opposition leaders. But, they escaped and the Parliament began raising its own army. Charles ran away north. During the next eleven years the Parliament ruled England.
The Civil War...