Timeline of the English Civil Wars

Last updated April 12, 2025

This is a timeline of events leading up to, culminating in, and resulting from the English Civil Wars.

Events prior to the English Civil War

1626 – Parliament dismisses George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham from command of English forces in Europe; Charles I, furious, dismisses Parliament.
1628 – Charles recalls Parliament; Parliament draws up Petition of Right which Charles reluctantly accepts. John Felton murders George Villiers in Portsmouth.
1629 – Charles dismisses Parliament and does not call it again until 1640, thus commencing the Personal Rule
1633 – William Laud appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.
1637 – Charles attempts to impose Anglican services on the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, Jenny Geddes reacts starting a tumult which leads to the National Covenant.
1639–1640 – Bishops' Wars start in Scotland.

1640

13 April, first meeting of the Short Parliament
5 May, Charles dissolves the Short Parliament
28 October, Charles forced to sign the Treaty of Ripon.
3 November, first meeting of the Long Parliament.
11 December, the Root and Branch Petition submitted to the Long Parliament

1641

July, the Long Parliament passes "An Act for the Regulating the Privie Councell and for taking away the Court commonly called the Star Chamber"
July, Charles returns to Scotland and accedes to all Covenanter demands
August, the Root and Branch Bill rejected by the Long Parliament
October, outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641
1 December – The Grand Remonstrance is presented to the King
December – The Long Parliament passes the Bishops Exclusion Act

Events of 1642

4 January, Charles unsuccessfully attempts to personally arrest the Five Members (John Pym, John Hampden, Denzil Holles, Sir Arthur Haselrig, and William Strode) on the floor of the House of Commons
January, on the orders of the Long Parliament, Sir John Hotham, 1st Baronet seizes the arsenal at Kingston upon Hull
5 February, the bishops of the Church of England are excluded from the House of Lords by the Bishops Exclusion Act
23 February – Henrietta Maria goes to the Netherlands with Princess Mary and the crown jewels
5 March, the Long Parliament passes the Militia Ordinance
15 March, the Long Parliament proclaims that "the People are bound by the Ordinance for the Militia, though it has not received the Royal Assent"
April, Sir John Hotham, 1st Baronet refuses the king entrance to Kingston upon Hull
May – The Irish rebellion ends
2 June – The Nineteen Propositions rejected
3 June, The great meeting on Heworth Moor outside York, summoned by Charles to garner support for his cause.
July, Charles I of England unsuccessfully besieged Hull
July, Parliament appoints the Committee of Safety
29 September The Treaty of Neutrality (Yorkshire) signed by Lord Fairfax for Parliament and Henry Bellasis for the Royalists
23 October Battle of Edgehill
1 December Battle of Piercebridge
7 December Battle of Tadcaster
18 December First Sieges of Bradford (Battle of the Steeple)

The First English Civil War

Events of 1643

19 January, Battle of Braddock Down
23 January, Battle of Leeds
28 January, the Long Parliament sends commissioners to negotiate the Treaty of Oxford (unsuccessful)
19 March, Battle of Hopton Heath
30 March, Battle of Seacroft Moor
3 April, Battle of Camp Hill — a Royalist victory
8–21 April, Siege of Lichfield — a Royalist capture
25 April, Battle of Sourton Down — Parliamentarian victory
16 May, Battle of Stratton — Royalist victory
21 May, Thomas Fairfax launches an attack on the Royalist garrison at Wakefield to take prisoners in exchange for the men lost at Seacroft Moor
29–31 May, Siege of Worcester — Parliamentarians failed to capture
16 June, the Long Parliament passes the Licensing Order
18 June, Battle of Chalgrove Field — John Hampden was mortally wounded during the Battle and died on Saturday evening of 24 June 1643.
30 June, Battle of Adwalton Moor
1 July, first meeting of the Westminster Assembly
2 July Second Sieges of Bradford
4 July, Battle of Burton Bridge
5 July, Battle of Lansdowne (or Lansdown) fought near Bath.
13 July, Battle of Roundway Down fought near Devizes
20 July, Battle of Gainsborough
26 July, Storming of Bristol
17 August, the Church of Scotland ratifies the Solemn League and Covenant
2 September, Beginning of Siege of Hull (1643)
18 September, Battle of Aldbourne Chase
20 September, First Battle of Newbury
25 September, the Long Parliament and the Westminster Assembly ratify the Solemn League and Covenant. Under the terms of the deal with Scotland, the Committee of Safety is superseded by the Committee of Both Kingdoms
11 October, Battle of Winceby

Events of 1644

The Scots marched South and joined Parliament's army threatening York.

26 January, Battle of Nantwich
3 February, Siege of Newcastle, formal request to surrender to the Scots.
29 March, Battle of Cheriton
28 May, Storming of Bolton and the Bolton Massacre
29 June, Battle of Cropredy Bridge
2 July, Battle of Marston Moor
13 September, Second Battle of Aberdeen
19 October, Siege of Newcastle ends with the storming of the city by Scottish soldiers
24 October, the Long Parliament passes the Ordinance of no quarter to the Irish
27 October, Second Battle of Newbury
23 November, first publication of Areopagitica by John Milton
4 November, the Long Parliament sends the Propositions of Uxbridge to the king at Oxford

Events of 1645

6 January, the Committee of Both Kingdoms orders the creation of the New Model Army
28 January, the Long Parliament appoints commissioners to meet with the king's commissioners at Uxbridge
22 February, negotiations over the Treaty of Uxbridge end unsuccessfully
February–July, Great Siege of Scarborough Castle
23 April, the Long Parliament passes the Self-denying Ordinance
9 May, Battle of Auldearn
30 May, Siege and sacking of Leicester^[1]
14 June, Battle of Naseby
2 July, Battle of Alford
10 July, Battle of Langport
15 August, Battle of Kilsyth
13 September, Battle of Philiphaugh
24 September, Battle of Rowton Heath
Surrender of Leicester
October fear of Royalist attack in south Lincolnshire
Charles went to Welbeck, Nottinghamshire
17 December Siege of Hereford ended with the surrender of Royalist garrison.

Events of 1646

18 January, Siege of Dartmouth ended with the surrender of Royalist garrison.
3 February, Siege of Chester ended with the surrender of Royalist garrison after a 136-day siege.
16 February, Battle of Torrington victory for the New Model Army
10 March, Ralph Hopton surrenders the Royalist army at Tresillian bridge in Cornwall.
21 March, Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold the last pitched battle of the First Civil War is a victory for the New Model Army
13 April, Siege of Exeter ended with the surrender of Royalist garrison.
5 May, Charles surrendered to a Scottish army at Southwell, Nottinghamshire
6 May, Newark fell to the Parliamentarians
24 June, Siege of Oxford ended with the surrender of Royalist garrison.
22 July, Siege of Worcester ended with the surrender of Royalist garrison.
27 July, after a 65-day siege, Wallingford Castle, the last English royalist stronghold, surrenders to Sir Thomas Fairfax.
19 August, Royalist garrison of Raglan Castle surrendered (Wales)
9 October, the Long Parliament passes the Ordinance for the abolishing of Archbishops and Bishops in England and Wales and for settling their lands and possessions upon Trustees for the use of the Commonwealth

Events of 1647

13 March, Harlech Castle the last Royalist stronghold in Wales surrendered to the Parliamentary forces.
29 May, General Council of the Army drew-up the Solemn Engagement
3 June, Cornet George Joyce (a junior officer in Fairfax's horse) with a troop of New Model Army cavalry seizes the King from his Parliamentary guards at Holdenby House and place him in protective custody of the New Model Army
4–5 June, at a rendezvoused on Kentford Heath near Newmarket the officers and men of the New Model Army gave their assent to the Solemn Engagement
8 June, General Fairfax sent the Solemn Engagement to Parliament along with a letter explaining that the King was now in the custody of the Army negotiations would be conducted through New Model Army representatives
1 August, General Council of the Army offers the Heads of Proposals
31 August, Montrose escaped from the Highlands
October, "An Agreement of the People for a firm and present peace upon grounds of common right", presented to the Army Council
28 October, Beginning of the Putney Debates. Ended 11 November.
26 December, a faction of Scottish Covenanters sign The Engagement with Charles I

The Second English Civil War

Events of 1648

8 May, Battle of St. Fagans
16 May(?) – 11 July Siege of Pembroke
1 June, Battle of Maidstone
13 June – 28 August, Siege of Colchester
17 August – 19 August, Battle of Preston
19 August, Battle of Winwick
28 August, On the evening of the surrender of Colchester, Royalists Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle were shot
15 September, Treaty of Newport
November, leaders in the army draft the Remonstrance of the Army
6 December, Pride's Purge, when troops under Colonel Thomas Pride removed opponents of Oliver Cromwell from Parliament by force of arms resulting in Rump Parliament

Events of 1649

15 January, "An Agreement of the People of England, and the places therewith incorporated, for a secure and present peace, upon grounds of common right, freedom and safety" presented to the Rump Parliament
20 January, The trial of Charles I of England by the High Court of Justice begins
27 January, The death warrant of Charles I of England is signed
30 January, Charles I of England executed by beheading – the Rump Parliament passes Act prohibiting the proclaiming any person to be King of England or Ireland, or the Dominions thereof
5 February, The eldest son of Charles I, Charles, Prince of Wales, was proclaimed "king of Great Britain, France and Ireland" by the Scottish Parliament at the Mercat Cross, Edinburgh.^[2]
7 February, The Rump Parliament votes to abolish the English monarchy
9 February, publication of Eikon Basilike , allegedly by Charles I of England
14 February, the Rump Parliament creates the English Council of State
February, Charles II proclaimed king of Great Britain, France and Ireland by Hugh, Viscount Montgomery and other Irish Royalists at Newtownards in Ulster.^[3]^[4]
9 March, Engager Duke of Hamilton, Royalist Earl of Holland, and Royalist Lord Capel were beheaded at Westminster
17 March, an Act abolishing the kingship is formally passed by the Rump Parliament.
24 March, The capitulation of Pontefract Castle which, even after the death of Charles I, remained loyal to Charles II
1 May, "AN AGREEMENT OF THE Free People of England. Tendered as a Peace-Offering to this distressed Nation" extended version from the Leveller leaders, "Lieutenant Colonel John Lilburne, Master William Walwyn, Master Thomas Prince (Leveller), and Master Richard Overton, Prisoners in the Tower of London, May the 1. 1649."
October, first publication of Eikonoklastes by John Milton, a rebuttal of Eikon Basilike

English invasion of Scotland

Events of 1650

1 May, Treaty of Breda signed between Charles II and the Scottish Covenanters
23 June, Charles II signs the Solemn League and Covenant
3 September, Battle of Dunbar, Scotland
1 December, Battle of Hieton, Scotland (skirmish)

Events of 1651

1 January, Charles II crowned King of Scots at Scone
20 July, Battle of Inverkeithing
25 August, Battle of Wigan Lane (skirmish)
28 August, Battle of Upton (the start of the western encirclement of Worcester)
3 September, Battle of Worcester
3 September, the start of the escape of Charles II
6 September, Charles II spends the day hiding in the Royal Oak in the woodlands surrounding Boscobel House
16 October, Charles II landed in Normandy, France, after successfully fleeing England

Events after the English Civil War

approximate deathcount: royalists: 50,000. parliamentarians: 34,000

1650–1660, English Interregnum
- 1649–1653, The first period of the Commonwealth of England
- 20 April 1653, The Rump Parliament disbanded by Oliver Cromwell
- 1653–1658, The Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell
- 25 March 1655, Battle of the Severn was fought in the Province of Maryland and was won by a Puritan force fighting under a Commonwealth flag who defeated a Royalist force fighting for Lord Baltimore
- 13 April 1657, Oliver Cromwell declines the crown of England
- 3 September 1658, Death of Oliver Cromwell
- 1658–1659, The Protectorate under Richard Cromwell
- 7 May 1659, Rump Parliament restored by Richard Cromwell
- 25 May 1659, Richard Cromwell delivered a formal letter resigning the position of Lord Protector
- 13 October 1659, Rump Parliament disbanded again
- 1659–1660, The second period of the Commonwealth of England
1660, English Restoration and the return of King Charles II of England
- 30 January 1660, Charles II proclaimed King of England
- March 1660, Convention Parliament elected
- 4 April 1660, Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda, which made known the conditions of his acceptance of the crown of England
- 25 April 1660, Convention Parliament assembled for the first time
- 29 May 1660, Charles II arrives in London and the English monarchy is restored
- July 1660, Richard Cromwell left England for the Kingdom of France where he went by a variety of pseudonyms, including "John Clarke"
- 29 December 1660, Convention Parliament disbanded by Charles II
- 23 April 1661, coronation of Charles II at Westminster Abbey
- 1660–1662, The trials and executions of the regicides of Charles I
- 30 January 1661, On the 12th anniversary of the beheading of Charles I, the exhumed remains of Oliver Cromwell were posthumously executed (Cromwell's severed head was displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall until 1685)

Notes

↑ Sherwood, Roy (1992). The Civil War in the Midlands 1642–1651. Alan Simon Publishing. pp. 136–137. ISBN 0750901667.
↑ Brown 2013, Scottish proclamation.
↑ Reid & Killen 1853 , p. 102 footnote 20: The ceremonial at the proclamation of Charles II. at Newtownards may be seen in the Montg. MSS., p. 206.
↑ "King Charles the 2d being proclaimed our King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland" ( Montgomery & Hill 1869 , pp. 68, 178).

Some of the information on this page could be different or similar to other websites.

References

Brown, K.M.; et al., eds. (2007–2013), "Proclamation of Charles the second king of Great Britane, France and Ireland, 5 January 1649 (NAS. PA2/24, f.97r-97v.)", The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, St Andrews: University of St Andrews
Reid, James Seaton; Killen, William Dool (1853). A History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland: Comprising the Civil History of the Province of Ulster from the Accession of James the First ... Vol. 2 (2 ed.). Whittaker. p. 102.
Montgomery, William; Hill, George (1869), The Montgomery manuscripts: (1603–1706) Comp. from family papers by William Montgomery, of Rosemount; and edited with notes, Belfast: Archer, pp. 68, 176

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[1] Sherwood, Roy (1992). The Civil War in the Midlands 1642–1651. Alan Simon Publishing. pp. 136–137. ISBN 0750901667.

[FOOTNOTEBrown2013Scottish_proclamation-2] Brown 2013, Scottish proclamation.

[3] Reid & Killen 1853 , p. 102 footnote 20: The ceremonial at the proclamation of Charles II. at Newtownards may be seen in the Montg. MSS., p. 206.

[4] "King Charles the 2d being proclaimed our King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland" ( Montgomery & Hill 1869 , pp. 68, 178).

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