August 22, 1642

First English Civil War

Charles I raises the royal standard at Nottingham

The royal standard reportedly blew down in a storm on the very night it was raised.

Monday, 22 August 1642

On 22 August 1642 Charles I had his royal standard raised at Nottingham — the conventional formal opening of the First English Civil War.

The ceremony summoned the king's supporters to arms against the forces commanded for Parliament by Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. It was a symbolic declaration of war rather than the first violence: localized seizures of arms and fortified places were already under way.

What a witness remembered

An eyewitness later testified that gentlemen carried the standard from the castle to the adjoining hill, preceded by a herald, and that it was erected amid shouting, drums, and trumpets, with Charles present. Contemporary narratives name Sir Edmund Verney, the Knight Marshal, as its bearer.

The later paintings of a grand ceremony are not eyewitness images, and the testimony suggests a poorly attended event.

Few came

Charles attracted few recruits at Nottingham, and the standard reportedly blew down in the storm that night. He soon moved west in search of a stronger recruiting base.

The date itself carries a wrinkle: 22 August is confirmed by the title of a contemporary pamphlet, but Clarendon's narrative produced a long-running 25 August variant, and some accounts distinguish an initial raising inside the castle precincts from a later one on nearby Standard Hill.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited

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What the sources leave uncertain

The date 22 August is confirmed by the title of a contemporary pamphlet and is the accepted date. Clarendon's narrative produced a long-running 25 August variant; some accounts distinguish an initial raising inside the castle precincts on the 22nd from a later raising on nearby Standard Hill.
The precise spot—castle tower, Castle Hill or the adjoining Standard Hill—is described differently in later sources.