‘How far was the English Civil War caused by religious divisions in English society.’ Refer to the period 1509-1642 in your answer.

The core dispute between historians concerning the principle cause of the English civil war is whether they attribute the tensions between King Charles and parliament to short or long-term factors. Whig historians like Burke argue that the Civil War was a continuous process to achieve greater democracy, opposed by Tory historians who defended Charles I’ s actions; both arguments centre on the struggle for greater power. Marxists such as Hill attribute this struggle to the underlying economic and social change of the Kingdom as illustrated by the growing “new Middle Class”.The struggle for financial control was the most important cause of the English Civil War as political power and religious divisions were used to best control the capital that the Crown had access to.Hill, a Marxist, dismissed the Whig and Tory theories as “one-sided” in The English Revolution 1640, stating that the civil war was ultimately part of a cultural, social and economic shift facilitated by religion to “overthrow the feudal state.” In his view, religion was a facilitator in the “revolution” because the Church was the centre of not only religion but also education, politics and determined culture as evidenced by how Elizabeth...