Northwest Europe (1636–1647 CE): Civil Strife, Colonial Expansion, and Intellectual Achievement

England: Civil War and Turmoil

The tensions between Charles I and Parliament culminated in open conflict with the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642. The king's authoritarian policies, religious controversies, and resistance to parliamentary authority led to a brutal struggle between Royalists (supporters of the monarchy) and Parliamentarians (advocates of parliamentary governance). Prominent leaders such as Oliver Cromwell emerged, significantly influencing the Parliamentarian cause. Battles such as Edgehill (1642), Marston Moor (1644), and Naseby (1645) were pivotal, ultimately resulting in Charles's defeat and subsequent imprisonment.

Ireland: Rebellion and Conflict

In 1641, Ireland erupted into rebellion as the Catholic Gaelic and Old English populations sought to reverse decades of plantation policies and Protestant domination. This uprising swiftly escalated into the Irish Confederate Wars, intertwining with the broader conflicts across Britain and Ireland, further complicating the turbulent political landscape.

Scotland: Covenanters and Wars of the Three Kingdoms

Scotland, deeply affected by Charles I's religious policies, witnessed the outbreak of the Bishops' Wars in 1639 and 1640, driven by Presbyterian Covenanters resisting Anglican influence. By 1643, Scotland allied formally with the English Parliamentarians through the Solemn League and Covenant, playing a critical role in shaping the outcome of the civil wars across the British Isles.

Scandinavia: Denmark-Norway’s Continuing Struggles

Christian IV struggled to restore Danish influence following earlier military defeats. Although he pursued internal reforms and fortifications, Denmark-Norway remained politically weakened, grappling with ongoing economic and military setbacks that constrained its ambitions in European affairs.

Maritime and Colonial Developments

The English East India Company expanded its commercial presence in India significantly during this period. The hospitality initially extended by the Mughal emperor Jahangir was further consolidated under his successor Shah Jahan, resulting in increased English influence and the expansion of trade networks, particularly in commodities like cotton, silk, indigo, and tea. Concurrently, English colonial ventures in North America continued to flourish, with Massachusetts Bay Colony and other New England settlements experiencing substantial growth, laying foundational structures for future American colonial expansion.

Scientific and Intellectual Advances

The period remained intellectually vibrant, marked by ongoing developments in natural philosophy and science. The legacy of Francis Bacon’s inductive methods continued to inspire researchers, while significant strides were made in mathematics and astronomy. In 1637, René Descartes published Discourse on Method, greatly influencing European thought, including intellectual circles in Northwest Europe.

Cultural Flourishing Amidst Conflict

Despite political upheaval, cultural life in Northwest Europe persisted robustly. Literature thrived, with the emergence of works such as John Milton’s early poetry, reflecting the intense religious and political debates of the era. Music and theater continued to evolve, capturing the complexities and turbulence of contemporary society.

Legacy of the Era

By 1647 CE, Northwest Europe was profoundly transformed. England stood on the precipice of a republic as Charles I awaited trial and the balance of power shifted decisively toward Parliament. Ireland and Scotland remained entangled in complex conflicts tied to broader struggles across the British Isles. Meanwhile, the region's cultural and intellectual advancements set the stage for future developments, marking the era as one of profound transition.

King Charles I allows increasing Puritan agitation to reform "Romish" practices in the Church of England to be frustrated, which divides the country.

Charles summons Parliament after a several-year hiatus.

The so-called “Long Parliament” begins in 1640.

Parliament, the City, and the Navy line up against the King.

Civil War in England begins in 1642 between Charles and Parliament.

Income and property tax is introduced for the first time.

The Royal Society is formed in 1646 to support science.

Rosicrucians supposedly infiltrate the stone Masons, introducing mysticism and cabalism.

It is clear after the failure of the Hamilton mission, emphasized by the fiasco of the Glasgow Assembly, that the issues between the king and the Scots cannot be solved by any diplomatic process.

For Charles, war entails a major risk: he simply does not have the resources to mount a serious military operation.

Fresh funds will mean summoning Parliament.

However, the king has now ruled England for eleven years in its absence, and the last occasion on which it was summoned was far from satisfactory.

The Scots, moreover, are especially adept in keeping one step ahead of the king in the propaganda stakes, determined that any military contest with England should not be seen in the context of ancient national rivalries.

Even the very title of the coming conflict is a measure of their success.

It is being referred to by the summer of 1639 as the Bellum Episcopale: the Bishops' War.

While Englishmen may very well be prepared to heed a distant call, few are prepared to die for Scottish bishops.

King Charles, despite his problems in raising funds, gathers a poorly trained English force of around twenty thousand men in the early summer of 1639 and marches towards the border.

He is confronted at Berwick-upon-Tweed by a better organized force led by Leslie.

As neither side wants to fight, a settlement with no settlement, "the Pacification of Berwick", is reached in June under which the Covenanters agree to withdraw the decisions of the 'illegal' Glasgow Assembly and the king agrees that all disputed questions should be referred to another General Assembly that would meet in Edinburgh or to the Parliament of Scotland.

It is obvious to both sides that Edinburgh will simply confirm all the decisions taken at Glasgow.

Charles, however, does have one small success while at Berwick: he has won over Montrose, hitherto a leading Covenanter.

This is not entirely due to the royal charm.

At the time of the Glasgow Assembly Lord Lorne, now the eighth Earl of Argyll, had abandoned his place on the royal council and joined the Covenanter rebels.

As the leading Scot of his generation he had quickly acquired a commanding role, thus displacing men like Montrose.

Personal rivalry, as well as political hostility, are to lead to the first serious fracture in the whole movement.

The new General Assembly reenacts all the measures passed by the Glasgow Assembly the previous winter, as expected, but does even more, uncovering the real causes of the contest with the king.

It is no longer a struggle over simple confessional differences or even a question of church government—it is over the nature of political power itself.

Not only is Episcopacy abolished but churchmen are declared incapable of holding civil office.

What is worse from the king's point of view the appointment of bishops is declared not just to be wrong in practice but contrary to the law of God.

Charles had accepted Traquair's argument that Episcopacy might be set aside in Scotland as a temporary expedient.

However, to declare it contrary to Scripture means that its rejection cannot be limited by space or time.

If Episcopacy is universally unlawful how is it to be maintained in England and Ireland?

The Edinburgh Parliament proves no less radical.

The Lords of the Articles, a body which controls the agenda, is remodeled, giving a much greater say to the lesser gentry and the burgesses and removing direct royal input.

Parliament begins to remodel itself as an institution, and in the course of the next few years is to cover ground that had taken centuries for its English cousin.

All of the acts of the General Assembly are given the status of law.

The Edinburgh Parliament has, in effect, confirmed a revolution; in Scotland, royal power as it is traditionally understood is dead.

It is an impossible situation for Charles to accept, even if he were of a mind to do so.

He cannot rule as an absolute monarch in one corner of his kingdom and a constitutional monarch in another.

For England the situation is particularly invidious because of its more advanced tradition of constitutional law.

For Charles to summon a new Westminster Parliament at any time before the outbreak of the First Bishops' War would have been a risky enterprise; after the Edinburgh Assembly and Parliament it is a step wrought with suicidal implication.

Charles, believing that the Scots are intriguing with France, fancies that England, in hatred of its ancient foe, will now be ready to rally to his standard.

After having ruled alone in England for eleven years, the king in April 1640 once more calls an English parliament.

The so-called Short Parliament demands redress of grievances, the abandonment of the royal claim to levy ship money, and a complete change in the ecclesiastical system.

Charles thinks that it will not be worthwhile agreeing such terms even to conquer Scotland, and dissolves parliament.

A fresh war with Scotland follows.

Thomas Wentworth, now earl of Strafford, becomes the leading adviser of the King.

He throws himself into Charles’s plans with great energy and leaves no stone unturned to furnish the new military expedition with supplies and money.

But no skillfulness of a commander can avail when soldiers are determined not to fight.

The Scots, as Charles prepares for a renewal of the war in the summer of 1640, make a rapid and decisive movement.

An army under the command of Alexander Leslie, a professional soldier, crosses the border in August, sweeping aside local royal forces at the Battle of Newburn, ...

...going on to occupy the port of Newcastle and thus obtaining a stranglehold on London's coal supply.

The invaders have in a short time overrun the whole of Northumberland and County Durham.