The English Civil War was a series of conflicts in the mid-1600s between the king and Parliament. Supporters of the king were called Cavaliers, while MPs were called Roundheads. The Cavaliers adopted the term for themselves, while the Roundheads used it as a pejorative. The Cavaliers lost the war, but the monarchy was later restored. The term cavalier still carries negative connotations in modern English.
In the English Civil War, supporters of King Charles I were pejoratively referred to as “Cavaliers,” a word that had charged meanings in 17th-century England. The Knights generally called themselves “Royalists,” referring to their support for the King of England in his fight against the Parliamentarians. The term “Cavalier” has certainly caught on and many references to Cavaliers and Roundheads can be heard in discussions of the English Civil War.
The English Civil War was actually a series of wars, not just a single conflict, in the mid-1600s in which the king struggled for power against Parliament. The MPs disapproved of the monarchy’s actions and wanted to give themselves the power to make better decisions for England. There were three conflicts in all; the second English Civil War actually ended with the regicide of King Charles I, and the third was triggered by rebellion in Ireland and Scotland before it was finally stopped by the Parliamentarians.
MPs called their opponents Cavaliers in the hope of demeaning their position. The term comes from the French chevalier, knight, and was meant to imply a certain sense of self-righteousness and fashion awareness. The Knights were perceived as thoughtless supporters of the king, and the term was supposed to suggest negligence, alcoholism and an ungodly life. The term was also a reference to a line by Shakespeare, in which knights are implied to be swashbuckling and arrogant individuals.
Eventually, the Cavaliers began adopting the term for themselves, seeking to turn it into a commanding and honorable title rather than a demeaning one. As contemporary writings suggest, several Knights spoke eloquently in defense of the royalist position and their ways of life. They also retaliated with their own pejorative: Roundhead, for plainly dressed, plainly styled Puritan MPs. The term “Roundhead” is said to be a reference to the well-trimmed hairstyles of many MPs, which were markedly different from the carefully coiffed, flowing locks of the Cavaliers.
Ultimately, the Cavaliers lost the English Civil War, but they did not long resist Parliamentarian rule. Just 12 years after Oliver Cromwell and his fellow Roundheads founded the republican Commonwealth, Charles II was brought back from exile and the monarchy was restored. The sense of cavalier as reckless or haughty lives on in modern English.
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