Qualla: Siege of Bristol (1645) https://qualla.com/siege-of-bristol-1645 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:14 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/h/siege-of-bristol-1645-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Siege of Bristol (1645) https://qualla.com/siege-of-bristol-1645 Siege of Bristol (1645): Introduction https://qualla.com/siege-of-bristol-1645/ Photo credit Edward Weller, Public domain. Prince Rupert had captured Bristol from the Parliamentarians on 26 July 1643, and his uncle, King Charles I, had set great store by it. Two years later, in the summer of 1645, the city was the most important port still in Royalist hands - the place where troops from Wales would land, where the king's depleted army might be rebuilt, where Charles even thought of moving his headquarters from Oxford. By the night of 9 September, Sir Thomas Fairfax's New Model Army surrounded the walls. By eight o'clock the next morning, less than six hours after the assault began, the city had fallen. Rupert rode out under safe conduct toward Oxford, talking quietly with his escort about peace.

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Image: Edward Weller | Public domain

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/h/siege-of-bristol-1645-wp/gcnh-siege-of-bristol-1645-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Siege of Bristol (1645): After Naseby https://qualla.com/siege-of-bristol-1645/ Photo credit Edward Weller, Public domain. The Battle of Naseby, in June 1645, had broken the Royalist field army. By the end of July, Rupert - whose reputation as the war's most brilliant cavalry commander had once been unassailable - was writing to Charles urging him to seek peace by treaty. The king refused. He still h...

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Image: Edward Weller | Public domain

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/h/siege-of-bristol-1645-wp/gcnh-siege-of-bristol-1645-after-naseby.mp3 0:06 2 full Siege of Bristol (1645): The army Fairfax brought https://qualla.com/siege-of-bristol-1645/ Photo credit Edward Weller, Public domain. On 22 August, the first of Fairfax's units arrived under harassment from Royalist patrols, one of which captured Colonel John Okey. The main body came up on the 23rd and dug in at Stapleton. Fairfax did something unusual for an army of the period: he insisted his troops pay in ca...

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Image: Edward Weller | Public domain

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/h/siege-of-bristol-1645-wp/gcnh-siege-of-bristol-1645-the-army-fairfax-brought.mp3 0:06 3 full Siege of Bristol (1645): Negotiations that went nowhere https://qualla.com/siege-of-bristol-1645/ Photo credit Edward Weller, Public domain. On 31 August, Fairfax intercepted a letter from Lord Goring saying he could not arrive to relieve the siege for at least three weeks. On 4 September, Fairfax sent Rupert a formal summons to surrender, with a personal note appealing to factions within the king's court that opposed...

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]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/h/siege-of-bristol-1645-wp/gcnh-siege-of-bristol-1645-negotiations-that-went-nowhere.mp3 0:06 4 full Siege of Bristol (1645): Six hours https://qualla.com/siege-of-bristol-1645/ Photo credit Edward Weller, Public domain. At two o'clock in the morning on 10 September, four great guns opened fire and the assault began. The outer walls fell quickly, as everyone had known they would. Priors Hill fort held for three hours - the defenders there fought from a strongpoint with scaling ladders coming up a...

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]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/h/siege-of-bristol-1645-wp/gcnh-siege-of-bristol-1645-six-hours.mp3 0:06 5 full Siege of Bristol (1645): A king and a nephew https://qualla.com/siege-of-bristol-1645/ Photo credit Edward Weller, Public domain. Charles was stunned. He had told himself Bristol would hold for months. Now it had held for hours. He dismissed Rupert from all his offices and ordered him to leave England. 'You assured me you would keep Bristol for four months,' the king wrote bitterly to his nephew. 'Did you k...

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]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/h/siege-of-bristol-1645-wp/gcnh-siege-of-bristol-1645-a-king-and-a-nephew.mp3 0:06 6 full Siege of Bristol (1645): The end of the cause https://qualla.com/siege-of-bristol-1645/ Photo credit Edward Weller, Public domain. The fall of Bristol left Chester as the only major port still connecting English Royalists to Ireland. Resistance in the south collapsed. The king clung to a few fortified towns for nine more months before surrendering to the Scots. When news of the surrender reached London, the ...

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]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/h/siege-of-bristol-1645-wp/gcnh-siege-of-bristol-1645-the-end-of-the-cause.mp3 0:06 7 full