"God is pleased to be called a man of Warre": Religious Violence in the English Civil War, 1642-1646

Abstract

In the seventeenth century, daily lives were shaped by religious observance; the Bible was the means by which the world was understood, and Biblical language was one of the most comprehensive tools of expression. However, religious orthodoxy was a hotly-contested issue that pervaded political discourse and fired loyalties at all levels of society. This thesis therefore analyses the extent to which religious convictions and difference permeated the civil war armies and continued to drive the soldiers’ actions throughout the First Civil War (1642-1646). Dedication to religious observance safeguarded the Christian soldiers’ immortal souls, but each side’s religiosity, and perception of the world, resulted in the use of religious doctrine to explain difference and validate violence against ‘God’s enemies’. Although providing evidence for the role of religion in both the Parliamentarian and Royalist armies, this thesis, at times, places emphasis on the Royalists due to their relative historiographical underrepresentation. While the Parliamentarian army has been viewed as deeply religious – ‘godly’ – there is evidence that the Royalist side, too, structured army life around divine services. It is also apparent that the high command on both sides undertook a determined campaign to disseminate the language of holy war to their trops. These ideas diffused through the civil war armies. They were reflected by the soldiers – from those in high positions of power to those among the lower ranks – on military banners and in letters, diaries, and journals. Army chaplains played a fundamental role in shaping soldiers’ attitudes toward the opposing side, and it is through their military sermons that the rhetoric of religious war can also be gleaned. Using diverse forms of evidence, this thesis also examines military manuals; military articles (laws) and proclamations; the soldiers’ pocket bibles, catechisms, and Royalist prayer books; and newsbooks and pamphleteering to illustrate how religious convictions and difference affected the soldiers’ perception of the war. The religious war rhetoric within these sources had repercussions on the style of warfare. The civil war was more violent than previously thought, and several case studies of massacres demonstrate that extreme violence could be religiously motivated. Religion was crucial to the waging of war and religious violence had real and devastating effects for combatants and non-combatants alike.