On this
day………….370 years ago, King Charles I raised his standard at
Nottingham, effectively kicking off the English Civil War of his Cavaliers against
the Parliamentary Roundheads.
The war is often portrayed in England as having been a
relatively gentlemanly affair, but it has been estimated that 85,000 people
died as a result of military action and at least another 100,000 from disease
caused by the disorder of war.
At least 150 towns were damaged, and 11,000 houses
destroyed. Villages such as Boarstall in Buckinghamshire
were razed to the ground. The
Royalists sacked Bolton and Liverpool, while the Parliamentarians plundered
Worcester ruthlessly.
At Beaminster in Dorset in 1644, a quarrel broke out among
Royalist troops occupying the town. A
house was set on fire, and within two hours, the flames, fanned by a strong
breeze, had burned down more than 140 homes, making this the most destructive fire in
England in more than 30 years.
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