maintaining the castle was becoming increasingly expensive, and in 1614 king james sold the lease on clifford's tower and the surrounding land to john babington and edmund duffield, a pair of property speculators. in turn, babington and duffield sold clifford's tower to a york merchant family. in 1642, however, the english civil war broke out between the rival factions of the royalists and parliament. forces loyal to charles i, under the command of henry clifford, garrisoned york castle and the surrounding city in 1643. york effectively became the "northern capital" for the royalist cause. clifford repaired the castle and strengthened the walls to permit them to support cannon, placing his arms alongside those of the king above the entrance. clifford's tower's gatehouse was substantially remodelled, losing its original medieval appearance. baile hill, on the other side of the river, became a gun emplacement. the castle mint was reopened to supply the king's forces with coins.