Charles, I convened Parliament after a hiatus of more than a decade. The parliament was led by the Puritan MP John Pym who immediately called for the king to make concessions and meet their demands before they would agree to release any funds. The king refused to submit. The parliament refused to release funds for the war. In the face of the stalemate, the parliament moved to pass laws without the king's signature, heightening the rift between the two parties. 

The parliament's demands ranged from political initiatives to religious reforms, many of them put forward by Oliver Cromwell, a leading member of the Commons.  Cromwell called for the abolition of the Anglican prayer book. His petitions against the authority of Anglican bishops promoted parliament to pass the Grand Remonstrance which took away relieved Anglican bishops of their voting rights in the House of Lords.

Incensed by the parliament's dealings Charles ordered the arrest of John Pym and four other MPs accusing them of plotting treasons against the government with the Scots. Royal guards marched from Whitehall Palace to Westminster to make the arrest, but Pym and his colleagues felt the chamber, finding refuge somewhere in Westminster. The guards conducted a fruitless house-to-house search which yielded nothing.