BattlefieldsAttempt on the Five Members — Westminster January 1642
English Civil War

Attempt on the Five Members — Westminster January 1642

1642
England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Charles I
Forces
Parliament with popular London support
VS
Victor
Parliament
Forces
Charles I with armed escort of approximately 400 cavaliers
Outcome
Five members escaped; Charles I humiliated and forced from London; constitutional breakdown complete; war effectively inevitable
The Battle

History & Significance

Charles I entered the House of Commons on 4 January 1642 with armed guards to arrest five members of Parliament for treason. The members had fled and the king famously found the birds flown. The constitutional outrage of a monarch entering the Commons with soldiers triggered mass London demonstrations, driven the king from London, and made civil war a matter of when rather than if.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around this battlefield

Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.

Research a location near this battlefield