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Christopher Thompson (22 July, 2023)
 
I agree on all the points you have made. The use of petitioning as a means of pressurising Parliament goes back, I believe, to the Presbyterian campaigns of the 1580s in which the 3rd Lord Rich, the 2nd Earl of Warwick's father, had been engaged. One recourse available to the Junto post-1640 was to appeal to a version of the medieval past in which Kings were constrained by Magna Carta, statutes and ordinances but this could only be stretched so far. More radical groups appeared willing to use such forms of pressure later in the 1640s.
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Christopher Thompson
3 hrs ago
A point that I ought to have made yesterday concerns the 2nd Earl of Warwick's resources. His privateering interests are well known. But he also had more purely military resources at his disposal. Evidence from 1625 and 1648 indicates that he had a private armoury at his house at Leez Priory. Arthur Wilson's autobiography (composed in c.1649) indicates the presence of at least one military officer in his household. Warwick's periods as Lord Lieutenant of Essex in 1625-1636 and in the 1630s suggests an acquaintance with up-to-date military training methods and his links with Landguard Fort may indicate some knowledge of modern fortifications. He was present at the siege of Breda in 1625 and again in 1638 at Breda following its recapture. By 1640, despite being in harness with Lord Maynard as Lord Lieutenant of Essex, he had the loyalty of the trained bands, a point emphasised in the summer and autumn of 1642 when the trained bands followed his lead in supporting the Long Parliament. Warwick's 'running army' was an important element at Turnham Green in forestalling a Royalist attack on London in November, 1642. The county of Essex was, moreover, one of Parliament's key recruiting grounds well into 1643. Warwick's personal courage was demonstrated in the expedition to the Azores in 1627 and in dealing with the naval revolt of 1648. In view of the ease with which people from Essex could reach London, my view is that it was unlikely that he, at least, could have been threatened with any kind of mob violence in the 1640s and, probably, could have called on supporters in London and Essex to resist any such threats. How typical he was in this respect is quite another matter.

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