The three English civil wars pitted brother against brother, ripped families and communities apart – and resulted in more than five per cent of the total population of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales being slaughtered. Relations between the King and Parliament had been deteriorating since the rule of King James the First. When James died, and Charles, his eldest surviving son, became King, relations between the crown and the people dipped to a new low. But rather than listen to the voice of Parliament, the King believed he was only answerable to God. So he permitted unpopular laws and allowed controversial 'popist' changes to the practices of the Church of England to be introduced. These were openly greeted with hostility by a traditionally loyal population.
By 1642, relations between the King and Parliament were so strained there could only be one outcome: an armed conflict.
Civil war was declared on 22 August 1642, when the King raised his standard in Nottingham. Nine years of bloody warfare would follow. During this period, Charles would lose his throne and his head; Oliver Cromwell would rise through the ranks to become the most powerful commoner in British history; and Francis Hacker – a Leicestershire landowner and gentleman – would emerge as one of the most formidable military leader figures of the era.