A guide to the key names from the Charles I episode:
Royal Family
Charles I – the King!
Henrietta Maria – Charles’s wife (a French Catholic)
Prince Charles – Charles’s eldest son, the future Charles II
Charles’s Supporters
George Villiers/Duke of Buckingham – Favourite and lover of James I who was an early (and bad) influence on Charles
Thomas Wentworth/Earl of Strafford – the heavy-handed Lord Deputy in Ireland who urged Charles to be similarly robust in Scotland and England ahead of the Civil War(s)
William Laud/Archbishop of Canterbury – a high church opponent of Puritanism who upset the religious balance in England and Scotland by his attempts to impose uniformity of worship
Prince Rupert – Charles’s nephew, a dashing soldier who provided capable leadership for the royalist forces in the Civil War.
Charles’s Enemies
Sir John Eliot – Parliamentary leader in the 1620s-30s who opposed the Duke of Buckingham and assaults on parliamentary privilege
Sir John Pym – Chief parliamentarian in the Long Parliament who led opposition against Charles and was the most prominent of the 5 MPs that Charles failed to arrest in 1642.
Oliver Cromwell – Puritan MP whose military leadership made him the chief opponent of Charles during and after the Civil War.
Thomas Fairfax – Became head of the New Model Army after Cromwell’s reforms, leading the Roundheads to victory against Charles.
Terminology
Cavaliers – the Royalists (i.e. Charles I’s lot)
Roundheads – the rebels/parliamentarians (i.e. Cromwell’s lot)
Rex Factor 