At the beginning of 1645, King Charles I and Parliament had made an attempt to negotiate an end to the First Civil War, via the Treaty of Uxbridge. However, neither side was prepared to compromise sufficiently, in part because both felt they had a good chance of winning the war. What Charles did not know at the time, however, was the strength of the New Model Army, which was just being formed on the order of Parliament in winter 1645. Over the following year, they won a series of decisive battles, and, in alliance with the Scottish Covenanters, eventually forced the King into defeat. He surrendered at Newark on 5th May 1646. However, on secret terms negotiated by an envoy from Cardinal Mazarin, made sure he surrendered to the Covenanters rather than the Parliamentarians, so that he would…
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