Hello everyone and welcome to episode 304 of The History of England, The Braking Storm.

This time we heard about how the English reluctantly, but seemingly inexorably, drifted to war.

Despite the uncomprehending feeling on the part of most of them, the surely their King

and Parliament could sort this out, they were so close.

We heard about how most of them tried hard to avoid making any choice at all, but most

were reluctantly forced to do so, because certainly the King and probably Parliament were

now committed to fighting, although a shot has yet to be fired.

Although it's impossible to make hard and fast rules about what kind of people plumped

for each side in general, royalists fought for tradition, the preservation of the social

hierarchy, and for the Elizabethan Church of England, despite not really sharing Charles's

view of what that actually meant in practice.

William and Terrians fought for their true religion and for liberty and the principle of consent

between subject and sovereign.

We then saw Charles's increasingly frustrated efforts to raise an army at York, going

them through Lincolnshire to Nottinghamshire where he finally seized the nettle and raised

the standard of war, to about 30 wet and wind-blown people.

Well, today gentle listeners, after all the talking, we are at last going to see some

blood spilled.

Now I assume this is a good thing, I have sensed some impatience at the lack of death

and indeed of destruction, and if so, well you have finally come to the right place.

Last time we left the King in quite a dark place, a wet and windy day in Nottingham,

normally the sort of place reserved for stagdoos in what has become known as the Stag Party

...