1646–8. The king played for time, refusing several proposals and seeking to exploit divisions on the Parliamentarian side. The Parliamentarians disagreed among themselves about how to reform the monarchy, the extent of religious freedoms and what to do with the New Model Army. Some feared the influence of the New Model Army, which had a wide variety of political groups with differing aims and loyalties, and its own list of demands over religious practice, the political settlement, arrears of pay, pensions for bereaved families, and legal indemnity for wartime conduct.

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