First English Civil War: Charles I surrendered himself to Scottish Covenanter leader David Leslie near Newark, England.

The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point between 1639 and 1653, while around 4% of the total population died from war-related causes. These figures illustrate the widespread impact of the conflict on society, and the bitterness it engendered as a result.

Charles I was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649.

1646 was the fifth and final year of the First English Civil War. By the beginning of 1646, military victory for the Parliamentary forces was in sight. A Royalist army was defeated in the field at the Battle of Torrington on 16 February and the last Royalist field army was defeated at the Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold on 21 March. From then on the New Model Army cleared the remaining Royalist strongholds. The politics moved into a post-war phase with all the major factions in England and Scotland trying to reach an accommodation with King Charles I that would further their own particular interests.

Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son Charles I over church organisation and doctrine, but expanded into political conflict over the limits of royal authority.