Everything about Charles I Of Scotland totally explained
Hammond, however, was opposed to Charles, whom he confined in
Carisbrooke Castle.
From Carisbrooke, Charles continued to try to bargain with the various parties, eventually coming to terms with the Scottish Presbyterians that he'd allow the establishment of
Presbyterianism in England as well as Scotland for a trial period. The Royalists rose in July 1648 igniting the
Second Civil War, and as agreed with Charles the Scots invaded England. Most of the uprisings in England were put down by forces loyal to Parliament after little more than skirmishes, but uprisings in
Kent,
Essex and
Cumberland, the rebellion in
Wales and the Scottish invasion involved the fighting of pitched battles and prolonged sieges. But with the defeat of the Scots at the
Battle of Preston, the Royalists lost any chance of winning the war.
Trial
Charles was moved to
Hurst Castle at the end of 1648, and there after to
Windsor Castle. In January 1649, in response to Charles's defiance of Parliament even after defeat, and his encouraging the second Civil War while in captivity, the House of Commons passed an Act of Parliament creating a court for Charles's trial. After the first Civil War, the parliamentarians accepted the premise that the King, although wrong, had been able to justify his fight, and that he'd still be entitled to limited powers as King under a new constitutional settlement. It was now felt that by provoking the second Civil War even while defeated and in captivity, Charles showed himself incorrigible, dishonourable, and responsible for unjustifiable bloodshed.
The idea of trying a king was a novel one; previous monarchs had been deposed, but had never been brought to trial as monarchs. The High Court of Justice established by the Act consisted of 135 Commissioners but only about half of that number ever sat in judgement (all firm Parliamentarians); the
prosecution was led by
Solicitor General John Cooke.
His trial on charges of high treason and "other high crimes" began on
20 January 1649, but Charles refused to enter a plea, claiming that no court had jurisdiction over a monarch. He believed that his own authority to rule had been given to him by God when he was crowned and anointed, and that the power wielded by those trying him was simply that which grew out of a barrel of gunpowder. In fact, when urged to enter a plea stated his objection to entering a plea: "I would know by what power I'm called hither, by what lawful authority...?" on
29 January 1649.
When Cooke began to read the
indictment, Charles I tried to stop him using the poke of his cane. The ornate silver tip of the cane fell off and Cooke refused to pick it up. After a long pause, King Charles I stooped to retrieve it. This is considered an important moment that may symbolize the divine monarch bowed before the human law.though at the time the new year didn't occur until March, so his death is often recorded as occurring in the year
1648. At the execution it's reputed that he wore two cotton shirts as to prevent the cold weather causing any noticeable shivers that the crowd could have mistaken for fear or weakness. He put his head on the block after saying a prayer and signalled the executioner when he was ready; he was then beheaded with one clean stroke. His last words were, "We shall go from a corruptible to an incorruptible Crown, where no disturbance can be." In 1661, two people identified as "Dayborne and Bickerstaffe" were arrested but then discharged. Henry Walker, a revolutionary journalist, or his brother William, were suspected but never charged. Various local legends around England name local worthies. An examination performed in 1813 at Windsor suggests that the execution was done by an experienced headsman.
It was common practice for the head of a traitor to be held up and exhibited to the crowd with the words "Behold the head of a traitor!"; although Charles's head was exhibited, the words were not used. In an unprecedented gesture, one of the revolutionary leaders,
Oliver Cromwell, allowed the King's head to be sewn back on his body so the family could pay its respects. Charles was buried in private and at night on
7 February 1649, in the Henry VIII vault inside
St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The royal retainers Sir Thomas Herbert, Capt. Anthony Mildmay, Sir Henry Firebrace, William Levett Esq. and Abraham Dowcett (sometimes spelled Dowsett) conveyed the King's body to Windsor. The King's son,
King Charles II, later planned an elaborate royal mausoleum, but it was never built.
Ten days after Charles's execution, a
memoir purporting to be from Charles's hand appeared for sale. This book, the
Eikon Basilike (Greek: the "Royal Portrait"), contained an
apologia for royal policies, and proved an effective piece of royalist propaganda. William
Levett, Charles's groom of the bedchamber, who had accompanied Charles on the day of his execution, was quoted in a statement swearing he'd watched the King writing the
Eikon Basilike.
John Cooke published the speech he'd have delivered if Charles had entered a plea, while Parliament commissioned
John Milton to write a rejoinder, the
Eikonoklastes ("The Iconoclast"), but the response made little headway against the pathos of the royalist book.
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Various prodigies were recorded in the contemporary popular press in relation to the execution - a beached whale at
Dover died within an hour of the King; a falling star appeared that night over Whitehall; a man who had said that the King deserved to die had his eyes pecked out by crows.
Legacy
With the monarchy overthrown, power was assumed by a Council of State, which included
Oliver Cromwell, then Lord General of the Parliamentary Army. The Long Parliament (known by then as the
Rump Parliament) which had been called by Charles I in 1640 continued to exist until Cromwell forcibly disbanded it in 1653. Cromwell then became
Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland; a monarch in all but name: he was even "invested" on the royal coronation chair. Upon his death in 1658, Cromwell was briefly succeeded by his son,
Richard Cromwell. Richard Cromwell was an ineffective ruler, and the Long Parliament was reinstated in 1659. The Long Parliament dissolved itself in 1660, and the first elections in twenty years led to the election of a
Convention Parliament which restored Charles I's eldest son to the monarchy as
Charles II.
The
Colony of Carolina in
North America was named for Charles I. Carolina later separated into
North Carolina and
South Carolina, which eventually declared independence from Great Britain during the formation of the
United States. To the north in the
Virginia Colony,
Cape Charles, the
Charles River,
Charles River Shire, and
Charles City Shire were named for him. Charles personally named the Charles River after himself. Charles City Shire survives almost 400 years later as
Charles City County, Virginia. The Virginia Colony is now the
Commonwealth of Virginia (one of the four
U.S. states that are called
commonwealths), and retains its official nickname of "The Old Dominion" bestowed by Charles II because it had remained loyal to Charles I during the English Civil War.
English
furniture produced during the reign of Charles I is distinctive and is commonly characterised as
Charles I period.
Sainthood
Upon the
Restoration, Charles II added a commemoration of his father — to be observed on
30 January, the date of the execution — to the
Book of Common Prayer making him the only post-reformation
Saint of the
Church of England. However, in the time of
Queen Victoria, this feast was removed, due to popular discontent with the commemorating of a dead monarch with a major feast day of the Church. Now,
30 January is only listed as a "Lesser Festival".
There are several Anglican and Episcopal churches dedicated to Charles I as "King and Martyr", in England,
Canada,
Australia and the
United States. The
Society of King Charles the Martyr was established in 1894 by one Mrs. Greville-Negent, assisted by Fr. James Fish, rector of
St Margaret Pattens, London. The objectives of the SKCM include prayer for the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, promoting a wider observance of
30 January in commemoration of Charles's "martyrdom", and the reinstatement of his feast day in the Book of Common Prayer. King Charles is regarded as a
martyr by some Anglicans for his notion of "Christian
Kingship", and as a "defender of the Anglican faith". He is also regarded as a martyr by some due to the unfairness of "deriving guilt from a refusal to recognize the court."
Ralph Dutton says - "In spite of his intelligence and cultivation, Charles was curiously inept in his contacts with human beings. Socially, he was tactless and diffident, and his manner wasn't helped by his stammer and thick Scottish accent, while in public he was seldom able to make a happy impression."
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles and styles
During his time as heir-apparent, Charles' full titles were:
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Duke of York, Duke of Albany, Marquess of Ormond, Earl of Carrick, Earl of Ross, Baron Renfrew, Lord Ardmannoch, Lord of the Isles, Prince and Great Steward of Scotland
The official
style of Charles I was "Charles, by the Grace of God,
King of England,
Scotland,
France and
Ireland,
Defender of the Faith, etc." (The claim to
France was only nominal, and was asserted by every English King from
Edward III to
George III, regardless of the amount of French territory actually controlled.) The authors of his death warrant, however, didn't wish to use the religious portions of his title. It only referred to him as "Charles Stuart, King of England".
Honours
KG: Knight of the Garter, 24 April 1611 – 27 March 1625
Arms
Whilst he was King, Charles I's arms were: Quarterly, I and IV Grandquarterly, Azure three fleurs-de-lis Or (for France) and Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for England); II Or a lion rampant within a tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland); III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland).
Ancestry and descent
Ancestry
Marriage and Issue
Charles was father to a total of nine legitimate children, two of whom would eventually succeed him as king. Several other children died in childhood.
Charles is also believed to have had a daughter, prior to his marriage with Henrietta Maria. Her name was Joanna Brydges, born 1619-20, the daughter of a Miss Brydges ("a member of a younger branch of the ancient Kentish family of that name"), possibly from the line of Brydges of Chandos and Sudeley. Joanna Brydges who was provided for by the estate of Mandinam, Carmarthenshire, was brought up in secrecy at Glamorgan, Wales. She went on to become second wife to Bishop Jeremy Taylor, author of Holy Living and Holy Dying and chaplain to both Archbishop Laud and Charles I. The Bishop and his wife Joanna Brydges left for Ireland, where Jeremy Taylor became Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore in 1660. Joanna Brydges and Jeremy Taylor had several children, including two daughters, Joanna Taylor(Harrison) and Mary Taylor (Marsh).
See also Descendants of Charles I of England.
| Name |
irth |
eath |
otes |
| Charles James, Duke of Cornwall |
13 March 1629 |
13 March 1629 |
Stillbirth. |
| Charles II, King of England |
29 May 1630 |
6 February 1685 |
Married Catherine of Braganza (1638 - 1705) in 1663. No legitimate issue. Believed to have fathered such illegitimate children as James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, who later rose against James II. |
| Mary, Princess Royal |
4 November 1631 |
24 December 1660 |
Married William II, Prince of Orange (1626 - 1650) in 1641. Had issue. |
| James II, King of England |
14 October 1633 |
16 September 1701 |
Married (1) Anne Hyde (1637 - 1671) in 1659. Had issue;
Married (2) Mary of Modena (1658 - 1718) in 1673. Had issue. |
| Elizabeth, Princess of England |
29 December 1635 |
8 September 1650 |
No issue. |
| Anne, Princess of England |
17 March 1637 |
8 December 1640 |
Died young. No issue. |
| Catherine, Princess of England |
29 January 1639 |
29 January 1639 |
Stillbirth |
| Henry, Duke of Gloucester |
8 July 1640 |
18 September 1660 |
No issue. |
| Henrietta Anne, Princess of England |
16 June 1644 |
30 June 1670 |
Married Philip I, Duke of Orléans (1640 - 1701) in 1661. Had issue |
Further Information
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