Lesson Y8-U01-L03

Y8-U01-L03 The Road to War, 1640-1642 Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 7

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson Y8-U01-L03, The Road to War, 1640-1642: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 7: Year 8: English Civil War, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. Which war against Scotland left Charles I short of money and forced him to recall Parliament?

    • The Wars of the Roses
    • The Hundred Years' War
    • The Bishops' Wars
    • The Anglo-Dutch Wars

  2. How long did the Short Parliament of 1640 last?

    • Three weeks
    • Eleven years
    • Three years
    • Twenty years

  3. Who led the opposition to the King in the House of Commons?

    • Thomas Wentworth
    • William Laud
    • Oliver Cromwell
    • John Pym

  4. What happened to the Earl of Strafford in May 1641?

    • He was made Archbishop of Canterbury and given the church's lands and royal favour
    • He was executed after Parliament passed an Act of Attainder
    • He fled to Scotland and lived there quietly under an assumed name until his death
    • He was crowned King of Scotland by the Scottish lords in a ceremony at Edinburgh

  5. What was the Grand Remonstrance of November 1641?

    • A royal order to raise an army in Scotland to put down the rebellious Covenanters
    • A long list of the King's wrongdoings published to the whole nation
    • A law giving the King the power to rule alone without any Parliament at all
    • A treaty ending the Bishops' Wars, signed with the Scottish leaders at Ripon

  6. By how many votes did the Grand Remonstrance pass in Parliament?

    • By a unanimous vote
    • 1,100 votes
    • 11 votes
    • 110 votes

  7. What did the Triennial Act of 1641 require?

    • Parliament to meet only in London
    • Parliament to meet at least every three years
    • The king to hold a parliament every eleven years
    • Every MP to be elected for life

  8. When did Charles enter the House of Commons to arrest five MPs?

    • 10 January 1641
    • 5 November 1605
    • 4 January 1642
    • 22 August 1642

  9. What did Charles say when he found the five MPs had escaped?

    • 'God save the King'
    • 'I see the birds have flown'
    • 'Parliament is dissolved'
    • 'I will never call a Parliament again'

  10. Which Speaker refused to betray the House to the King?

    • John Pym
    • Thomas Wentworth
    • William Laud
    • William Lenthall

  11. What was the Militia Ordinance of March 1642?

    • A treaty with Scotland to end the war and restore peace between the two kingdoms
    • A ban on Puritan preaching in all parish churches and public meeting houses across England
    • A law passed by Parliament claiming control of the army without the King's signature
    • A royal order raising Ship Money from every county in England for the navy's use

  12. Where and when did Charles raise his royal standard, marking the start of the Civil War?

    • At Nottingham, on 22 August 1642
    • At York, on 5 November 1640
    • At London, on 4 January 1642
    • At Hull, on 1 March 1642

  13. Which town refused to admit Charles in April 1642, keeping the north's biggest arsenal under Parliament's control?

    • Hull
    • Calais
    • Oxford
    • Edinburgh

  14. Why was Charles forced to recall Parliament in November 1640?

    • Scotland had asked him to hold an election for a new Parliament in its own capital
    • He had lost the Bishops' Wars and needed money that only Parliament could grant
    • The Pope demanded that a Parliament be held in London to settle the church's affairs
    • Parliament had won the Bishops' Wars for him and now asked him to thank its members

  15. Why was the attempt to arrest the Five Members such a blunder for Charles?

    • He was praised by the London crowds for his bravery in facing down the rebellious MPs
    • He made Parliament agree to pay all of his debts and cancel the Ship Money tax
    • He won the arrests, but the five MPs were executed the following week at Tower Hill
    • He used armed force, gained nothing, and made MPs fear for their lives

  16. Source A has the Speaker saying he serves 'the House'. What does this show?

    • The Speaker put Parliament's authority above the King's command
    • The Speaker had been appointed by the Pope to supervise the English Parliament
    • The Speaker was secretly a Royalist who had been paid by the King's ministers
    • The Speaker was refusing to speak at all in the chamber on that day of protest

  17. Why should historians be careful when using Source B, a London pamphlet?

    • It was written to stir up the crowd against the King, so it may exaggerate
    • It was a neutral account written by a foreign diplomat who observed the events
    • It was an official court record of the arrests, copied out by a royal clerk
    • It was printed by the King's own government to praise the monarch's great deeds

  18. Why was the narrow vote on the Grand Remonstrance important?

    • It ended the Long Parliament and sent every member back to his county estate
    • It proved the King had won over most MPs and the Commons supported his position
    • It showed Parliament was splitting and a Royalist party was forming
    • It showed Scotland had surrendered and accepted the terms of the English king

  19. Which action best shows Parliament seizing military power in 1642?

    • The Bishops' Wars, fought against Scotland in 1639 and 1640 over the prayer book
    • The execution of Archbishop Laud, who was tried and put to death in London in 1645
    • The Militia Ordinance, passed without the King's signature
    • The Triennial Act, which required Parliament to meet at least once every three years

  20. Which factor is a LONG-TERM cause of the Civil War rather than a short-term trigger?

    • The Militia Ordinance of March 1642, which passed Parliament without the King's agreement
    • The Five Members incident of January 1642, when armed soldiers entered the Commons chamber
    • Charles's belief in the Divine Right of Kings, which made him refuse to share power
    • The raising of the royal standard in August 1642, at Nottingham on a stormy evening

All KS3 History quizzes