Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Sources bound the wars differently. Wikidata gives 1638 to 1651, the year of the Battle of Worcester. English Wikipedia begins with the first Bishops' War in 1639 and ends in 1653, when the last Irish forces surrendered; the National Army Museum dates the civil wars proper 1642 to 1651.
Sides
English and Welsh Royalists, Scottish Royalists under the Marquess of Montrose (1644–1645, 1650), and Royalist forces in Ireland under Ormond
Armies of the English Parliament, from 1645 the New Model Army
Covenanter government and armies of Scotland, including the Engagers who fought for Charles I in 1648
Irish Catholic insurgents of 1641, then the Confederate Catholics of Ireland
England
Ireland
Scotland
WalesWhat happened
From 1639 to 1653 a chain of wars ran through all three kingdoms of Charles I: England (with Wales), Scotland and Ireland. Scottish Covenanters, who rejected his changes to their church, defeated him in the Bishops' Wars of 1639–1640 and occupied northern England. In 1641 Irish Catholics rose in Ulster; thousands of Protestant settlers were killed, settler forces killed Irish civilians in turn, and the Confederate Catholics of Ireland soon held most of the island. Civil war between Royalists and Parliamentarians began in England in 1642. Alliances shifted: the Covenanters joined Parliament in 1643 and fought at Marston Moor, and Parliament's New Model Army defeated the King at Naseby in 1645. After a second war in 1648, in which a Scottish faction fought for the King, Charles I was tried and beheaded in January 1649 and England became a republic. Oliver Cromwell's army then took Ireland, where the Confederates had joined the Royalists, and defeated the Scots, who had accepted Charles II as their king, at Dunbar in 1650 and Worcester in 1651. The last Irish forces surrendered in 1652–1653.
Outcome: Charles I was executed and the monarchy abolished; England, Scotland and Ireland were ruled from London as one Commonwealth until the monarchy was restored in 1660, and most land held by Irish Catholics was confiscated.
Key events
Leaders
- Charles I · King of England, Scotland and Ireland; executed in 1649 · Royalists (Charles I, then Charles II)
- Prince Rupert of the Rhine · The King's nephew and cavalry commander; led the Royalist army at Marston Moor · Royalists (Charles I, then Charles II)
- James Graham, Marquess of Montrose · Led Royalist forces in Scotland in 1644–1645 and 1650 · Royalists (Charles I, then Charles II)
- James Butler, Marquess of Ormond · The King's commander in Ireland; led the Royalist and Confederate alliance from 1649 · Royalists (Charles I, then Charles II)
- Charles II · Crowned King of Scots at Scone in 1651; led the army defeated at Worcester · Royalists (Charles I, then Charles II)
- Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex · Captain-general of Parliament's army from 1642 to 1645 · Parliamentarians (the English Parliament, from 1649 the Commonwealth)
- Sir Thomas Fairfax · Commander of the New Model Army from 1645; won at Naseby · Parliamentarians (the English Parliament, from 1649 the Commonwealth)
- Oliver Cromwell · Cavalry commander under Fairfax, then commander-in-chief in Ireland (1649–1650) and Scotland (1650–1651) · Parliamentarians (the English Parliament, from 1649 the Commonwealth)
- Alexander Leslie, Earl of Leven · Commander of the Covenanter army; led it at Newburn and Marston Moor · Scottish Covenanters (allied with Parliament from 1643, with Charles II from 1650)
- David Leslie · Covenanter general; commanded the Scottish army defeated at Dunbar · Scottish Covenanters (allied with Parliament from 1643, with Charles II from 1650)
- Archibald Campbell, Marquess of Argyll · Leading figure in the Covenanter government of Scotland · Scottish Covenanters (allied with Parliament from 1643, with Charles II from 1650)
- Sir Phelim O'Neill · Led the 1641 rising in Ulster · Irish Confederate Catholics (allied with the Royalists from 1649)
- Owen Roe O'Neill · Led the Confederate army of Ulster from 1642 · Irish Confederate Catholics (allied with the Royalists from 1649)
- Thomas Preston · Led the Confederate army of Leinster · Irish Confederate Catholics (allied with the Royalists from 1649)
Deaths
Death tolls are estimates and often contested. Each is a range from its sources; a figure one party gives is marked as theirs.
Total deaths · England and Wales
- 190,000 – 230,441
Soldiers and civilians, killed in fighting or dead of disease. The historian Charles Carlton estimated about 190,000 deaths (3.7 per cent of the population) in 1992 and revised this to 230,441 in 2011; World History Encyclopedia gives about 100,000 soldiers and 100,000 civilians. All such figures are estimates.
Total deaths · Scotland
- 60,000 – 92,751
The historian Ian Gentles puts deaths at about 60,000, some 6 per cent of the population: about 25,000 killed in battle and 35,000 dead of accident or disease. Charles Carlton estimated 60,000 in 1992 and revised this to 92,751 in 2011.
Sources
- Dittmar, Jenna, et al. "The final plague outbreak in Scotland 1644–1649: Historical, archaeological, and genetic evidence." PLOS ONE 19(11), 2024 (citing Ian Gentles, The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms, 1638–1652, 2007).
- Atherton, Ian. Review of Charles Carlton, This Seat of Mars: War and the British Isles 1482–1746 (Yale University Press, 2011). Reviews in History, Institute of Historical Research, no. 1256.
Total deaths · Ireland
- 250,000 – 325,000
Deaths from fighting, famine and plague, 1641–1653. The National Army Museum gives more than 250,000, perhaps 15–20 per cent of the pre-war population; Charles Carlton's revised estimate (2011) is 325,000, about a fifth of the population.
- 618,000according to the 17th-century surveyor William Petty
Petty counted deaths in Ireland since 1641 from war, famine and disease, about 40 per cent of the pre-war population. Historians now judge the figure too high, partly because many of the missing had fled abroad or been transported; Charles Carlton used it in 1992 and later revised his estimate to 325,000.
Sources
- Dorney, John. "War and Famine in Ireland, 1580–1700." The Irish Story, 2012.
- Wikipedia (English). "Cromwellian conquest of Ireland."
- Atherton, Ian. Review of Charles Carlton, This Seat of Mars: War and the British Isles 1482–1746 (Yale University Press, 2011). Reviews in History, Institute of Historical Research, no. 1256.
Cultures it ended or changed
Meanwhile, elsewhere in
Sources
- National Army Museum. "British Civil Wars."
- Cartwright, Mark. "English Civil Wars." World History Encyclopedia.
- BCW Project. "Cromwell in Ireland: Overview."
- BCW Project. "The Irish Uprising, 1641."
- Perceval-Maxwell, Michael. "Rebellion of 1641." Encyclopedia of Irish History and Culture, via Encyclopedia.com.
- Historic Environment Scotland. "Battle of Dunbar II (BTL7)." Inventory of Historic Battlefields.
- Wikipedia (English). "Wars of the Three Kingdoms."
- Wikidata. "Wars of the Three Kingdoms" (Q2577772).
- BCW Project. "Owen Roe O'Neill, c.1590–1649" (landed July 1642; commander in Ulster).
- Wikipedia (English). "Owen Roe O'Neill."
- BCW Project. "Thomas Preston, Viscount Tara, c.1585–1655" (commander of the Leinster army).
- Wikipedia (English). "Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara."
- BCW Project. "Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, 1591–1646" (captain-general 1642; resigned 2 April 1645).
- Wikipedia (English). "Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex."