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| The statue of King Charles I - in memory of his execution. |
The
end of this month marks the 365th
anniversary of the execution of King Charles I. He was put on trial on
January 1st, 1640 and died on to 30th - charged with:
“[being
a] tyrant, traitor and murderer; and a
public and implacable enemy to the Commonwealth of England.”
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| The statue is mounted above the entrance to the Banqueting House, Whitehall |
Last summer I visited the Banqueting House, Whitehall and noticed a memorial statue to the dead king. It transpired that the scaffold on which he died was erected outside the Banqueting House and his final moments were spent inside that building. That gave me a real sense of being close to history and in this post I share some of the pictures I took – along with how things looked in Charles’ day.
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| The Banqueting House in the modern day |
Cromwell
was the victor in the English Civil War and his Parliamentarian army imprisoned
the reigning monarch, accusing him of treason.
“Out
of a wicked design to erect and uphold in himself an unlimited and tyrannical
power to rule according to his will, and to overthrow the rights and liberties
of the people of England.”
However, in English law there
was nothing applicable to deal with the trial of a king and so Cromwell called
in a Dutch lawyer Isaac Dorislaus. The later used a precedent in ancient Roman
law which stated a tyrant (the king) could be legally overthrown by a military
body (the government).
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| The Banqueting House - 30th January 1649 |
The Chief
Judge was John Bradshaw (it appears he feared assassination because he made a
special hat lined with metal to protect his head from attack.) Charles refused
to acknowledge the legality of the court and refused to remove his hat. To some
people, this confirmed the king’s arrogance that even when on trial for his
life, he thought himself superior.
Charles was
found guilty and sentenced to execution on Tuesday, 30th January,
1649. He had a last meal of bread and wine, and took a short walk around St
James’ Park with his favorite dog. One story says that his black cat, Lucky,
went missing on that day (not so lucky…)
Neither an
executioner nor the executioner’s block could be found, so a stranger had to be
enlisted – he was paid £100 and allowed to wear a mask to protect his
anonymity. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon Charles was led through the Banqueting
House, through a window and onto a scaffold draped in black, in Whitehall. The
king wore thick underclothes because he was worried if he shivered with cold,
the crowd would think him frightened.
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| Inside the Banqueting House - The last landing that Charles I saw before he died. |
He conducted himself with composure and
gave his cloak to Dr Juxon, the Bishop of London, saying.
“I go
from to corruptible to an incorruptible crown where no disturbance can be.”
He lay full length, placed his head on a low block and with
one strike the executioner severed his head from his body.
When he
died a great groan went through the crowd.
“Such a groan by thousands then present, as I never heard
before and I desire I may never hear again.”
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| Inside the Banqueting House - Charles would have used these very stairs in his final journey on his way to execution. |
The dignity
with which the king conducted himself on the scaffold and the realization that
God’s anointed sovereign had died by human hand, caused a great wave of
sympathy for the dead monarch. He was later recognized as a martyr and 30
January remembered as Charles the Martyr
day.
[With thanks to the Historic Royal Palaces organisation - http://www.hrp.org.uk/BanquetingHouse/ ]
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| A statue of Charles I in Whitehall All photographs taken by the author. |
Next week - Charles I's time imprisoned on the Isle of Wight.
Fascinating post!
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting, Icy!
DeleteG x
Though I know little about why Cromwell et al hated the king, I join in that groan.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a period of history I'm especially familiar with but even reading just a little about Charles' trial gives me some sympathy for him. It was evidently one big fix - one bully wielding power over a different sort of bully.
DeleteG x
My new book is about the early part of the civil war, so I understand quite a bit about the politics. Seems to me the pot was calling the kettle black! Parliament was as much about murdering and tyrannical laws (look at how they dealt with England under the Protectorate!) as the King, if not more. My view is that the King did not act wisely in anything, particularly in trying to impose episcopacy to the Presbyterians in Scotland, and if he had made better military decisions he might have won the war. As for legality, Cromwell bent the rules left right and centre! But history is as it is. We cannot change it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not on one side or the other (thank goodness I don't have to choose - both as bad as each other.) One of the fascinating things about history is having the distance of time and being able to see unfairness and unjust behaviour...If only mankind learnt from it!
DeleteG x