WORCESTER

From 1642, the British Civil Wars consumed the Stuart dynasty’s three kingdoms in a titanic struggle between king and parliament. The conflicts – which were proportionally the bloodiest in Britain’s history – were fought across England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales but in 1651 they actually ended where they had begun nine years before. By this time, a king was dead, a republic had been proclaimed and the deceased monarch’s heir had returned from exile to claim his kingdoms. This 21-year-old man – Charles II – was determined to fight England’s regicidal parliament but he would have to confront one of Europe’s greatest commanders in battle – Oliver Cromwell.

Covenanter kingmakers

The beheading of Charles I on 30 January 1649 was a shocking moment in British history. The trial and execution of a monarch by his own parliament was unprecedented and it was the climactic moment of two wars. The English Parliament abolished the monarchy and became a republican Commonwealth, but the British Civil Wars were far from over. Charles had been king of England, Scotland and Ireland but although they were unified by the Crown they were governed separately.

There had been a strong Royalist presence in Ireland and in August 1649 Oliver Cromwell led an expedition to crush Irish resistance. His notoriously bloody campaign was successful but there were greater problems emerging in Scotland. Scottish Presbyterians, known as Covenanters, had provided crucial support to the English Parliament during the first two Civil Wars but Charles I had been executed without their consultation. This angered the Covenanters whose own Scottish Parliament proclaimed the exiled Prince of Wales as Charles II on 5 February 1649.

The Covenanters proceeded to reluctantly join forces with Scottish Royalists, known as Engagers, and Charles II landed in Scotland on 23 June 1650. Charles had been proclaimed as the monarch of all three