19. First Civil War: Parliament gets serious

Parliament getting serious about the Civil War, getting its act together on military matters - above all by launching its New Model Army - and starting to win some key battles.

Against that context, and helping Parliament on its way to success, there's the meteoric rise of Oliver Cromwell, a man whose military ability hadn't been suspected before. Not that this will be the end of his surprises for England.

The episode ends as the First Civil War - ironically referred to as the 'Great Civil War' - also closes with poor old King Charles I in pretty dire straits.

General Oliver Cromwell at Marston Moor, 1644
Engraving by William French after Ernest Crofts ARA, published by J S Virtue and Company Limited, London, 1860 (c).
National Army Museum. 1999-04-158-1

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License