ABSTRACT
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, European countries divided politically into two camps. In some countries, the political power of the monarch became virtually unlimited, and the government tended toward absolute monarchy, which reached its height in France under King Louis XIV. In other countries, like Britain, the elected representatives of the people insisted that the monarch should share power with them. The end of the eighteenth century held a surprise for the mighty British Empire: a rebellion by the Thirteen Colonies in North America would lead to the foundation of the United States. From 1642 to 1646, the English Civil War was fought between Cavaliers, also known as Royalists, who were supporters of the king and the Church of England, and Roundheads, who were supporters of Parliament, and often Puritans. The term Cavalier was derived from the French word for knight, whereas the term Roundheads referred to the unfashionably short haircuts sported by some backers of Parliament.
