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The National Archives
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Civil War
Civil War > Why did people go to war in 1642? > 1640-42 > Source 8
Voluntary payments to help Charles I’s armies, June 1642
(Catalogue ref: SP 16/491/29)
This is part of a list of lords and officials who agreed to help Charles with his war effort against Parliament.
It lists the various men who were prepared to help pay for horses for the king’s army. Horses were expensive to buy and feed. They were also essential for an effective army in the 1600s.
By now relations between Charles and Parliament were a disaster. The war officially began on 22 August 1642, two months after this document was written.
In the months leading up to war:
Although we talk about Charles fighting Parliament, we should remember that the country was divided in many ways and the great majority did not want any war at all.
By 1642 many MPs were against Charles. Some MPs were on Charles’s side because they felt that his opponents had gone too far. Many people supported Charles from loyalty, rather than because they believed he was in the right. Others, such as many of the men on this list, were convinced that the king’s cause was just.
What was James trying to say? Try to identify parts of the speech showing that:
