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CHARLES I

Date of Birth: November 19, 1600

Date of Death: January 30, 1649

Crime: High Treason

 

Biography

King Charles I reigned from 27 March 1625 to 30 January 1649. His long reign was characterized by a power struggle with Parliament and religious conflicts. Many of his English subjects opposed his actions because they saw them as actions of a tyrannical, absolute monarch. Some of the actions that the English people despised were Charles’ failing to successfully aid Protestant forces during the Thirty Year’s War, his marriage to Henrietta Maria of France (who was Roman Catholic) and he allied himself with controversial ecclesiastic figures. Many English people thought this brought the Church of England too close to the Roman Catholic Church and it turned Puritans (such as Cromwell) against him.

During his last years as king, the English Civil Wars were happening. Charles was defeated in the first war and instead of listening to Parliament; he remained defiant by attempting to forge an alliance with Scotland and escaping to the Isle of Wight. Because of this defiance, the second civil war was brought on in 1648. During the second English Civil War Charles was defeated, captured, tried, convicted and executed for high treason.

 

Trial and Execution

Charles I was the first English king to be put on trail. He was supposed to be tried by 135 judges but only 68 showed up. Even of the 46 men allowed in Parliament by Cromwell, only 26 voted to try to the king. Clearly, this was a very controversial subject and many men did not want to be associated with the trial of a monarch.

However, Charles' treason was stated as,

“[his actions had been] carried on for the advancement and upholding of a personal interest of will, power, and pretended prerogative to himself and his family, against the public interest, common right, liberty, justice, and peace of the people of this nation”1  

This statement of evidence for Charles’ treason shows that the English people were very upset by Charles’ tyrannical actions and saw the second English Civil War as the breaking point.

Charles was asked to plead guilty to his charges three times and he did not because he refused to recognize the authority of the High Court. He also did not defend himself during his trial for the same reason. Nevertheless, Charles I was declared guilty of 27 January 1649 and was beheaded on 30 January 1649. His beheading took place at Whitehall in front of the Banqueting House. The executioner that was supposed to behead Charles refused to do so, as did many others. A replacement was found because he was paid a large sum of money and was allowed to wear a mask. It is said that when Charles was beheaded, he wore warm under-clothes so that the crowd would not mistake his shivers for fear.

 

Historic Significance

On 30 January 1649 (the day of Charles' beheading) an Act was passed forbidding the proclaiming of another monarch to avoid the automatic succession of Charles’ son. Both Charles' beheading and the Act passed directly after were very symbolic of the changes happening in England during this time. The monarchy was losing power quickly. The English people were very up set with their king because of the second English Civil War, which they viewed as Charles' fault and a complete waste of English lives. They were also very upset with Charles for his religious stands--he married a Roman Catholic and allied himself with the Arminians. These two issues were mainly what caused the English people to view Charles I as an absolute monarch and then in turn allowed Parliament to come to power and convict the King for high treason. 

On February 6, 1649 the monarchy in England was abolished and the Commonwealth became the government of England until Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate was set up in 1653. For the first time in English history, the King no longer held the power because Parliament and the people took it away.