On 22 August 1642, England was plunged into civil strife as King Charles I raised his royal standard in Nottingham, signalling the onset of the English Civil War.
This conflict, borne out of deep-seated tensions between the monarchy and Parliament, set the stage for a brutal struggle over the governance of the kingdom. Royalists, loyal to the King, stood in opposition to Parliamentarians, who sought to curb the monarch's absolute power.
The war, marked by shifting allegiances and devastating battles, would ultimately reshape the political landscape of England, leading to the temporary overthrow of the monarchy and the rise of Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth.
