On a cold January morning of 1649, not a common criminal, but the king, who commanded his people for twenty-four years, climbed the scaffold in the center of London. On this day, the country completed the next stage of its history, and the final was the execution of Charles 1. In England, the date of this event is not marked on the calendar, but it has gone down in its history forever.
The offspring of the noble family of Stuarts
The Stuarts are a dynasty descended from an old Scottish house. Its representatives, more than once occupying the English and Scottish throne, like no one else left a mark in the history of the state. Their exaltation dates back to the early 14th century, when Earl Walter Stewart married the daughter of King Robert I of Bruce. This marriage was hardly preceded by a romantic story; most likely, the English monarch considered it good to strengthen this union with his Scottish aristocracy.
Charles the First, whose tragic fate will be discussed in this article, was one of the descendants of the Honorable Count Walter, and, like him, belonged to the Stuart dynasty. With his birth, he “made happy” future subjects on November 19, 1600, when he was born in the old residence of the Scottish monarchs - the Denfermlin Palace.
For the subsequent accession to the throne, little Karl was of impeccable origin - his father was the king of Scotland, James VI, and his mother, the Queen of England, Anna of Denmark. However, the case was spoiled by Henry's elder brother, the Prince of Wales, who was born six years earlier, and therefore had a priority right to the crown.
In general, fate was not particularly generous to Karl, of course, if this can be said about the boy from the royal family. As a child, he was a sickly child, somewhat delayed in development, and therefore later than his peers began to walk and talk. Even when in 1603 his father inherited the English throne, and moved to London, Karl could not follow him, as the court doctors were afraid that he would not be able to cross the road.
It should be noted that physical weakness and levity accompanied him all his life. Even in ceremonial portraits, the artists were not able to give this monarch even a majestic appearance. And the height of Charles 1 Stewart was only 162 cm.
Way to the royal throne
In 1612, an event occurred that determined the whole future fate of Charles. That year in London a terrible epidemic of typhoid broke out, from which it was impossible to hide even in the walls of the royal castle. Fortunately, he himself was not injured, since he was in Scotland at that time, but his elder brother Henry, who had been prepared to rule the country from birth and who had high hopes for him, was a victim of the disease.
This death opened Karl’s path to power, and barely in the Westminster Abbey, where Henry rested, the mourning ceremony ended, he was elevated to the rank of Prince of Wales - heir to the throne, and over the next years his life was filled with all kinds of preparations for the fulfillment of such a high mission.
When Karl was twenty years old, his father became preoccupied with the arrangement of his future family life, since the marriage of the heir to the throne is a purely political affair, and Gimeney is not allowed to shoot him. Jacob VI stopped his choice on the Spanish infante Anna. This decision provoked indignation of members of parliament who did not want a dynastic rapprochement with the Catholic state. Looking ahead, it should be noted that the future execution of Charles 1 will be largely religiously motivated, and such a reckless choice of the bride was the first step towards her.
However, at that moment, nothing foreshadowed the trouble, and Karl went to Madrid with the desire to personally intervene in the marriage negotiations, and at the same time to look at the bride. On the trip of the groom was accompanied by a favorite, or rather, his dad’s lover - George Villiers. According to historians, King James VI had a large and loving heart, which housed not only the court ladies, but also their honorable husbands.
To the disappointment of the English court, the negotiations in Madrid came to a standstill, as the Spanish side demanded that the prince accept Catholicism, which was completely unacceptable. Karl and his new friend George were so hurt by the obstinacy of the Spaniards that upon returning home they demanded that the parliament break off relations with their royal court, and even land an expeditionary force to conduct military operations. It is not known how it would all end, but, fortunately, at that moment a more accommodating bride turned up - the daughter of King Henry IV of France Henrietta-Maria, who became his wife, and the rejected groom calmed down.
On top of power
Charles 1 Stewart ascended the throne after the death of his father, which followed in 1625, and from the very first days began to conflict with parliament, demanding subsidies from him for all kinds of military adventures. Not getting what he wanted (the economy was breaking apart), he dismissed it twice, but each time he was forced to convene again. As a result, the king obtained the necessary funds by taxing the country's population with illegal and very burdensome taxes. History knows many similar examples when short-sighted monarchs plugged budget holes, tightening taxes.
Subsequent years also did not bring improvement. His friend and favorite George Villiers, who, after the death of Jacob VI, finally moved to Carl’s chambers, was soon killed. This bastard turned out to be unclean, for which he paid, collecting taxes. Without a clue in the economy, the king always considered new and new requisitions, fines, the introduction of various monopolies and the like measures as the only way to replenish the treasury. The execution of Charles 1, which followed in the twenty-fourth year of his reign, was a worthy ending to such a policy.
Soon after the assassination of Villersom, a certain Thomas Wentworth stood out from the circle of courtiers, who managed to make a brilliant career during the reign of Charles the First. He belongs to the idea of establishing absolute royal power in the state, based on a regular army. After becoming the governor of the king in Ireland, he successfully implemented this plan, suppressing dissent with fire and sword.
Scottish Reforms
Charles the First did not show foresight in the religious conflicts that were tearing the country apart. The fact is that the population of Scotland for the most part consisted of followers of the Presbyterian and Puritan churches, belonging to two of the many directions of Protestantism.
This often served as a cause for conflict with representatives of the Church of England, which dominated in England and supported by the government. Unwilling to seek a compromise, the king tried by force to establish its dominance everywhere, which provoked the extreme indignation of the Scots, and ultimately led to bloodshed.
However, the main mistake that led to the civil war in England, the execution of Charles 1 and the ensuing political crisis, should be considered his extremely ill-conceived and mediocre policy towards Scotland. On this unanimously the majority of researchers converge on such a sadly ended reign.
The main focus of his activity was the strengthening of unlimited royal and church authority. Such a policy was fraught with extremely negative consequences. In Scotland, traditions have long been established that enshrined the rights of the estates and elevated the inviolability of private property to the law, and the monarch encroached on them in the first place.
The shortsightedness of royal politics
In addition, it should be noted that the biography of Charles 1 was tragically not so much because of the goals pursued by him, but because of the ways of their implementation. His actions, as a rule, overly straightforward and poorly thought out, invariably provoked popular outrage and contributed to the strengthening of the opposition.
In 1625, the king opposed the overwhelming majority of the Scottish nobility, issuing a decree that went down in history under the title “Act of Revocation”. According to this document, all the decisions of the English kings, beginning in 1540, on the transfer of land to the nobility were annulled. To preserve them, the owners were obliged to contribute to the treasury an amount equal to the value of the land.
In addition, the same decree ordered the return of the Anglican Church to its lands located on the territory of Scotland, and seized from it during the Reformation, which established Protestantism in the country, which fundamentally affected the religious interests of the population. It is not surprising that after the publication of such a provocative document, the king was sent many petitions of protest from representatives of various sectors of society. However, he not only defiantly refused to consider them, but also aggravated the situation by introducing new taxes.
The nomination of the episcopate and the abolition of the Scottish Parliament
From the first days of his reign, Charles I began to nominate Anglican bishops to the highest state posts. They were given the majority of the seats in the royal council, which significantly reduced the representation of the Scottish nobility in it, and gave a new reason for discontent. As a result, the Scottish aristocracy was removed from power and denied access to the king.
Fearing the strengthening of the opposition, the king practically suspended the activities of the Scottish Parliament from 1626, and by all measures prevented the convening of the General Assembly of the Scottish Church, in the service of which, by his order, a number of Anglican canons were introduced that were alien to him. This was a fatal mistake, and the execution of Charles 1, which was the sad end to his reign, was an inevitable consequence of such miscalculations.
The beginning of the first civil war
When it came to the infringement of the political rights of the nobility, such actions provoked protest only in their narrowly class circle, but in case of violation of religious norms - the king restored an entire nation against himself. This again caused a flood of indignation and protest petitions. Like last time, the king refused to examine them, and added fuel to the fire, executing one of the most active petitioners, presenting him with the usual charge of treason.
The spark that blew up Scotland’s gunpowder was an attempt to hold a service on July 23, 1637, based on the Anglican liturgy in Edinburgh. This caused not only indignation of citizens, but also an open revolt that swept most of the country, and went down in history as the First Civil War. The situation was heating up every day. The leaders of the noble opposition were compiled, and sent to the king a protest against the alien to the people of church reform, and the widespread exaltation of the Anglican episcopate.
The king’s attempt to defuse the situation by forcibly removing the most active opposition from Edinburgh only aggravated general discontent. As a result, under pressure from his opponents, Charles I was forced to make concessions, removing the bishops that the people hated from the royal council.
The result of general unrest, was the convening of the National Convention of Scotland, consisting of delegates from all social sectors of society, and led by representatives of the highest aristocracy. Its participants drafted and signed a manifesto on the joint actions of the entire Scottish nation against attempts to make any changes to their religious foundations. A copy of the document was handed over to the king, and he was forced to reconcile. However, this was only a temporary lull, and the lesson taught to the monarch by his subjects did not go in vain. Therefore, the execution of Charles 1 Stuart was the logical conclusion of the chain of his mistakes.
New civil war
This arrogant, but very unlucky ruler scoffed in another part of his subordinate kingdom - Ireland. There, for a certain and very substantial bribe, he promised patronage to local Catholics, however, having received money from them, he immediately forgot about everything. Offended by this attitude towards themselves, the Irish took up arms in order to refresh the king's memory with their help. Despite the fact that by this time Charles I had finally lost the support of his own parliament, and with it the bulk of the population, he tried with a small number of regiments loyal to him to change the situation by force. So, on August 23, 1642, the Second Civil War in England began.
It should be noted that the commander Charles I was as mediocre as the ruler. If at the beginning of hostilities he managed to gain some fairly easy victories, then on July 14, 1645 his army was utterly defeated at the battle of Nesby. Not only was the king imprisoned by his own subjects, but also in his camp an archive was seized, containing a lot of any dirt. As a result, many of his political and financial frauds, as well as appeals for military assistance to foreign countries, became public.
Crowned prisoner
Until 1647, Charles I was held in Scotland as a prisoner. However, in this unenviable role, he continued to make attempts to come to an agreement with representatives of various political groups and religious movements, generously giving promises to the right and left that no one else believed. In the end, the jailers got the only possible benefit out of him by transferring (selling) for four hundred thousand pounds to the English parliament. The Stuarts are a dynasty that has seen a lot in its lifetime, but it has not yet experienced such a shame.
Once in London, the deposed king was placed in the Golmbi castle, and then transferred to the Hampton Court Palace, under house arrest. There Karl had a real opportunity to return to power, having accepted the offer that was addressed to him by a prominent political figure of that era, Oliver Cromwell, for whom the execution of Charles 1, which had become quite real by that time, was unprofitable.
Under the conditions proposed to the king, there were no serious restrictions on royal authority, but even then he missed his chance. Wanting even greater concessions, and having started secret negotiations with various political groups of the country, Karl shied away from a direct answer to Cromwell, as a result of which he lost patience and abandoned his plan. Thus, the execution of Charles 1 Stuart was only a matter of time.
A tragic denouement was accelerated by his escape to the Isle of Wight, located in the English Channel, not far from the British coast. However, this adventure ended in failure, as a result of which house arrest in the palace was replaced by imprisonment in a prison cell. From there, Baron Arthur Capel tried to rescue his former monarch, whom Karl had once made a peer and elevated to the very top of the court hierarchy. But, not having sufficient strength, he soon found himself behind bars.
The trial and execution of the deposed king
There is no doubt that the most characteristic feature of this offspring of the Stuart family was a tendency to intrigue, which as a result destroyed him. For example, giving vague promises to Cromwell, he simultaneously conducted behind-the-scenes negotiations with his opponents from parliament, and while receiving money from Catholics, he supported Anglican bishops. And the execution of King Charles 1 itself was largely accelerated due to the fact that, even under arrest, he did not stop sending out calls for insurrection everywhere, which in his position was completely insane.
As a result, most regiments filed a petition in parliament demanding the trial of the former king. It was 1649, and the hopes with which British society greeted his accession to the throne were long gone. Instead of a wise and far-sighted politician, he received a proud and limited adventurer.
The Parliament appointed one hundred and thirty-five commissioners to conduct the trial of Charles I, headed by prominent lawyer of the time John Bradshaw. The execution of King Charles 1 was a foregone conclusion, and therefore the whole procedure did not take much time. The former monarch, a man who commanded a mighty power yesterday, was unanimously recognized as a tyrant, traitor and enemy of the fatherland. It is clear that the only possible sentence for such serious crimes could be death.
The execution of the English king Charles 1 took place in the early morning of January 30, 1649 in London. We must give him his due - even having ascended the scaffold, he retained the presence of spirit, and addressed the crowd with a dying speech. In it, the convict stated that civil liberties and freedoms are ensured solely by the presence of the government and laws guaranteeing citizens life and inviolability of property. But at the same time, this does not in any way give the people the right to apply for governing the country. The monarch and the crowd, according to him, are completely different concepts.
Thus, even on the verge of death, Charles defended the principles of absolutism, adherents of which were all Stuarts. England had a long way to go before the constitutional monarchy was fully established, and, contrary to his opinion, the people got the opportunity to participate in government. However, the foundation for this has already been laid.
According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the execution of the English king Charles 1 gathered a huge crowd of people who were in a state close to shock throughout this bloody performance. The climax came when the executioner lifted the severed head of their former sovereign by the hair. However, the words traditional in such cases that she belonged to a state criminal and a traitor did not sound.
So, 1649 put a bloody point in the reign of this king. However, another eleven years have passed, and in the history of England there will come a period called the Restoration of the Stuarts, when again representatives of this ancient family ascend the throne. The Second Civil War and the execution of Charles 1 were his eve.