The English Revolution

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Dramatic Increases in the Power of Parliament

During the Civil War, Parliament passed laws (ordinances) without the King's agreement. By 1646 it was regularly imposing taxes without the people's consent; raising forced loans; throwing people into prison without trial; billeting soldiers on civilians; confiscating property and imposing martial law - in fact, doing all the things it had accused King Charles of doing. And it was doing them very efficiently, using its central + county committees to force its will on the nation.

Social Upheaval

The war put power into the hands of many people who had never held it before. It challenged the traditional belief in a rigid social order based on landed wealth and privilege. It created groups such as the Diggers, who demanded radical social changes.

The Church of England Abolished, 1645

Parliament abolished the Bishops, and replaced the Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer with a Presbyterian Directory of Public Worship.


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