Greg Jenner

Pym starts to unpick Charles's policies. He goes after ship money, which was that inland coastal thing. He goes after the Star Chamber, which is how Charles had crushed the media. He goes after the High Commission. He goes after crucifixes and images in the churches. So he's taking on the Anglican high church, Arminianism. He's sort of puritanising and streamlining government.

So King Charles was under huge pressure from Pym and from Parliament in general. And he was now relying on a new advisor called Thomas Wentworth, the Earl of Stratford, who was out in Ireland. And he tried to recall Wentworth back to London. Parliament found out about it. They intercepted him.

So King Charles was under huge pressure from Pym and from Parliament in general. And he was now relying on a new advisor called Thomas Wentworth, the Earl of Stratford, who was out in Ireland. And he tried to recall Wentworth back to London. Parliament found out about it. They intercepted him.

They accused him of treason and they forced the king to sign the death warrant and Stratford was executed. And he had been running Ireland. And without Stratford there, suddenly we get a huge, huge outbreak of violence in Ireland. And this is a really important factor, isn't it?

They accused him of treason and they forced the king to sign the death warrant and Stratford was executed. And he had been running Ireland. And without Stratford there, suddenly we get a huge, huge outbreak of violence in Ireland. And this is a really important factor, isn't it?

And we get the Irish Catholic Confederation of Kilkenny, which is the sort of unification of an Irish resistance or independent movement almost. And they are fighting for the king, but they sometimes fight against the Scottish and sometimes for. Like it's it's very confusing what's going to happen. But the Irish equation is so important.

And we get the Irish Catholic Confederation of Kilkenny, which is the sort of unification of an Irish resistance or independent movement almost. And they are fighting for the king, but they sometimes fight against the Scottish and sometimes for. Like it's it's very confusing what's going to happen. But the Irish equation is so important.

And this is one of the reasons we don't call it the English Civil War, because Ireland is a huge part of it. Scotland's a huge part of it. Unfortunately, Wales just gets sucked into England. Sorry, Wales. So we get the Grand Remonstrance. Do you know what that is, Toussaint?

And this is one of the reasons we don't call it the English Civil War, because Ireland is a huge part of it. Scotland's a huge part of it. Unfortunately, Wales just gets sucked into England. Sorry, Wales. So we get the Grand Remonstrance. Do you know what that is, Toussaint?

But it's not, John. It's much more serious than that. And the music isn't nearly as jolly.

But it's not, John. It's much more serious than that. And the music isn't nearly as jolly.

There's also a petition presented to Parliament, which is 24 yards long. So it's about 20 metres long. It's got 15,000 signatures on it. It's against Catholic peers and bishops. And I love the idea of just unrolling this petition slowly in front of Parliament. It's so passive aggressive. So the Grand Remonstrance, not a ballroom dance, unfortunately.

There's also a petition presented to Parliament, which is 24 yards long. So it's about 20 metres long. It's got 15,000 signatures on it. It's against Catholic peers and bishops. And I love the idea of just unrolling this petition slowly in front of Parliament. It's so passive aggressive. So the Grand Remonstrance, not a ballroom dance, unfortunately.

It's an absolutely huge list of things that people hate about the King. We're getting daily clashes in Parliament by this point. We've got riots, we've got protests, we've got people being shot, proper violence breaking out in Westminster. And a fed up King Charles basically comes up with a plan. He's going to arrest Pym. He's going to accuse him of treason. He's presumably going to execute him.

It's an absolutely huge list of things that people hate about the King. We're getting daily clashes in Parliament by this point. We've got riots, we've got protests, we've got people being shot, proper violence breaking out in Westminster. And a fed up King Charles basically comes up with a plan. He's going to arrest Pym. He's going to accuse him of treason. He's presumably going to execute him.

And why doesn't it work?

And why doesn't it work?

1642, this is the year of the Civil War. And in May of 42, we get the country basically going to... How does the country raise itself to war when it's the king that they're angry at? Well...

1642, this is the year of the Civil War. And in May of 42, we get the country basically going to... How does the country raise itself to war when it's the king that they're angry at? Well...

I mean, it's a fair point. Why not? Is it just because it's in the middle of the country? Is that just a good sensible?