A table of who blamed whom, with a conclusion.
| Speaker | Target of Blame | Assertions |
|---|---|---|
| The Pope | The Puritans | William Laud was right, though many others disagree: The puritans are too strict and cannot accept change. By refusing Charles and Laud to have any power over the church they are causing a major conflict and forcing people to take sides. |
| The Irish | The Protestants | The Irish land was being stolen by foreign Protestants. The Irish Catholics were driven out of their homes. They rebelled in order to get their property back. Catholics were blamed for the war, and were allegedly spying for the Pope. |
| The Scots | Charles and the Bishops | The Scots do not want Charles or Laud interfering with their religious practices. They have tried to force the Scots to us a Catholic-style prayer book and answer to bishops and priests. The Scots do not want to become Catholic. |
| The Puritans | Charles and Laud | The King and his bishops have no respect for their subjects. They are abusing their power and changing the laws to suit them. Puritans are decent people who want simple church services. |
| Charlies | Everyone Else | He was placed on his throne by God, his word is law and his people have no right to defy him. The King is Defender of the Faith and has the right to raise an army to defend his kingdom. He does what he thinks necessary, and no-one else’s opinion matters. |
My Conclusion
The English Civil War, as with most religious wars, is another case of Catholics blaming Protestants, Protestants blaming Catholics, peasants blaming king, king blaming peasants. Everyone blames each other for a long war over who has the right to the church. Even though both sides are Christian, they still manage to find a reason for killing each other. Then we have King Charles, who believes that he is God’s true emissary and that everyone should worship him – and makes all his decisions based on that judgement. History tells us that it is never a good idea to have two main religious groups under the rule of a greedy king. However I think that Charles was probably the biggest catalyst in the war: By meddling with the Church of England’s affairs, Charles made the Protestants angry. They then took their anger out on the Catholics, who fought back, causing war. If only Charles hadn’t been so pushy, arrogant and full of himself, he might have been able to maintain peace between the two faiths. From what I have seen, heard and read, Kings and Queens have a habit of getting into huge arguments with either the Pope or their Bishops. There have been many wars caused by political fallouts, or money, or powerful villains wanting to rule the world, but a staggering number of battles, wars, rebellions and terrorist actions have been caused by the inability of two different religions to get along with each other. Since history began, millions of people have died fighting over what they believe to be the one true faith. With that in mind, I’d say the person who really caused the Civil War was God.
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