Clubmen

Clubmen were bands of local defence vigilantes during the

cudgels, flails, scythes and sickles fastened to long poles. They were otherwise unarmed.^[1]

Initially Clubmen gatherings came together spontaneously in response to the actions of soldiers in their localities but as the war went on Clubmen in some areas were organised by the local gentry and churchmen and were a force which both sides in the war had to take into account when planning a campaign and garrisoning some areas, particularly in the south and west. The Clubmen, distinguishing themselves by white ribbands,[2] were of a third party, neither Royalist nor Parliamentarian, and they were repressed severely by the authorities on both sides. Though Lord Fairfax met with Clubmen and negotiated with them, eventually he moved against them.

Woodbury Declaration

Organised Clubmen in

Sheriff of Worcestershire.^[4]

Dispersing the Clubmen

In theory, the Clubmen of Dorset and Wiltshire operated as a single group, but in practice they were divided, with the Clubmen from the Langport area explicitly dissociating themselves from other areas within the broad region. This division contributed to differing reactions to the arrival of the Parliamentarians and their New Model Army in mid-1645; the Langport Clubmen assisted the Parliamentarians, while the broader Dorset-Wiltshire Clubmen rose up against them.^[5]

Historian Ronald Hutton theorizes that the reason for the different reaction is due to their differing experiences within the war. The Langport Clubmen had only experienced occupation by the "underpaid and unruly royalists", while the Dorset-Wiltshire Clubmen had experienced occupation by both the Royalists and by the Parliamentarians.^[5]

In

Covenant were subsequently released, the others sent to London.^[6]

Failure of peace negotiations

As the Civil War continued, the Clubmen began to grow increasingly impatient with the lack of seriousness in the approach of both King and Parliament to signing any relevant or significant peace treaty.[7] The longer the war continued, the more substantial the negative impact on local communities, via plundering and heavy taxation.^[8] A peace treaty was therefore highly sought after by ordinary people and so Parliament and Charles I's failure in establishing one only served to increase tension and give further motivations and aims to the Clubmen.^[9] These were demonstrated largely through physical demonstrations and print culture, particularly in pamphlets.^[8]

References

^ Godwin, George (1904). The Civil War in Hampshire (1642–45) (2nd ed.). p. 314.
^ Rev. Hugh Peters, riding with Fairfax in July 1645, found the Clubmen out in force at Salisbury, "wearing white ribbands in their hats, as it were in affront of the army, not sparing to declare themselves absolute neuters, or rather friends to the enemy" (quoted in Godwin (1904), p. 315).
^ "The Worcestershire Clubmen". Worcestershire County Council. Archived from the original on 27 March 2009., "Historic Environment and Archaeology Service". Worcestershire County Council. 4 October 2005. Archived from Worcestershire the original on 2 January 2007. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
^ "The Woodbury Declaration of the Worcestershire Clubmen". Worcestershire County Council. 5 March 1645. Archived from the original on 14 October 2006., "Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service". Worcestershire County Council. 14 October 2005. Archived from the original on 2 January 2007.
^
ISBN 9780415218009
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^ Godwin 1904, p. 317.
^ Hutton, Ronald (1998). The Royalist War Effort 1642-1646 (First ed.). London: Longman Group UK Ltd. p. 155.
^
S2CID 159714942
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^ Hutton 1998, pp. 155–166.

Clubmen

Woodbury Declaration

Dispersing the Clubmen

Failure of peace negotiations

See also

References

Further reading