ABSTRACT
For four years Oxford became Charles's chief garrison, the seat of his Court, Mint and Government. One of Charles's first acts on taking up residence was to disarm the citizens. Their task, as the King saw it, was to provide for the wants of the Court and garrison. The map by Agas gives a good idea of the form of the castle as it probably appeared at the time of the Civil War. The coins of the reign were the Unite, the half-Unite, the Angel in gold; and the crown, half-crown, shilling, sixpence, threepence, twopence and one penny in silver. On 20 June 1643 the King opened the paper battle with a broadside which bade all members of Parliament join him at Oxford. The hard core of the garrison consisted of regular soldiers of the 'Oxford Army'. The Parliament estimated the strength of the garrison on 6 June 1644 as 1,500 regular soldiers, 2 regiments of auxiliaries and 300 horse.
