King Charles I has the unfortunate title of being the only King of England to have been
executed by his own people.
The King was criticised heavily during his ring, but his problems led to the English
Civil War.
Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army spearheaded the Parliamentarian’s assaults against the
King’s royalist forces and with this he shockingly defeated the King.
But very few people could have predicted what would have happened in final moments of his
life, as Charles I in front of a huge crowd in London was executed on a cold January morning
in 1649.
But what was the story of Charles I’s execution and who took the head of the King?
Join us today to find out and to support our channel please make sure to subscribe.
Charles I was having a number of issues with Parliament during his reign.
They became fierce enemies, and the King believed he had been given a divine right to rule by
God, and that no one could challenge him.
But Parliament were concerned about a number of policies the King had, and the fact he
was spending large amounts of money and making terrible decisions.
With this Parliament quickly seized London, and Charles fled London for Hampton Court
Palace, but within a few months in mid 1642 Parliament and the King had began to arm,
and they both raised armies to fight against each other.
Negotiations broke down and Charles raised the royal standard in Nottingham, going to
war with Parliament.
After a number of battles, it was key that things were going poorly for the King and
Parliament managed to seize the King.
He was held under house arrest, and did managed to escape Hampton Court at one point, but
he was then quickly arrested again and was held on the Isle of Wight.
Charles I had no chance of winning the war, and Oliver Cromwell refused any further talks
with the King they regarded as a bloody tyrant and with this were acting quickly to secure
their own power.
Charles I was moved to a number of castles, and was sent to Windsor Castle where he was
indicted for treason and he was then brought to trial.
He was accused of using his power for his own gain rather than what was good for his
country.It was said that he, ‘for accomplishment of such his designs and for the protecting
of himself and his adherents in his and their wicked practices, to the same ends hath traitorously
and maliciously levied war against the present Parliament, and the people therein represented,
and that ‘wicked design, wars and evil practices of him, the said Charles Stuart have been
and are carried on for the advancement of 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.’
It was estimated that around 300,000 people and 6% of the population died during the Civil
War, and parliament thought he was, "guilty of all the treasons, murders, burnings, spoils,
desolations, damages and mischiefs to this nation, acted and committed in the said wars,
or occasioned thereby."
Charles refused to plead and claimed the trial was illegal and he said, ‘no earthly power
can justly call me (who am your King) in question as a delinquent ... this day's proceeding
cannot be warranted by God's laws; for, on the contrary, the authority of obedience unto
Kings is clearly warranted, and strictly commanded in both the Old and New Testament ... for
the law of this land, I am no less confident, that no learned lawyer will affirm that an
impeachment can lie against the King, they all going in his name: and one of their maxims
is, that the King can do no wrong ... the higher House is totally excluded; and for
the House of Commons, it is too well known that the major part of them are detained or
deterred from sitting ... the arms I took up were only to defend the fundamental laws
of this kingdom against those who have supposed my power hath totally changed the ancient
government.’
But he was removed from the court, and then over the next few days was sentenced to death.
59 commissioners signed Charles I’s death warrant including Cromwell.
Charles I did not have long before his death sentence would be carried out, and the execution
occurred on the 30th January 1649.
The Scaffold was built outside the banqueting house in Whitehall, and Charles spent his
final days praying.
He also burned his personal papers and correspondence, and he was allowed to see his two youngest
children Elizabeth and Henry for a last time.
He told Elizabeth to remain Protestant and stay true, and that Henry should not become
King if he is approached to do so by Parliament.
He split his jewels between his children, and then had a restless last night.
He woke up early on the day of his execution, and began to get dressed at 5am in all black
and his blue garter sash.
He spent a while getting dressed, and have further instruction as to what should happen
with his final artefacts and possessions.
He was given an extra shirt so the crowd would not see him shiver in the cold morning, and
at 10am he was summoned to go to Whitehall for his execution.
He drank a class of wine and ate some bread at noon, but outside the banqueting house
a huge crowd had gathered outside of the platform where Charles’ execution took place.
The scaffold was covered in black material and the execution block was very low, much
lower than a normal block.
This was so low that the King would have to practically lie on the floor for his head
to be taken off.
At 2pm the King was called to the scaffold, and he emerged through the window of the Banqueting
house and climbed onto the scaffold.
One on-looker stated it was ‘the saddest sight England ever saw.’
He looked at the crowd, and saw that a huge barrier of guards would prevent him being
heard if he made a speech, so he spoke to one of the attendants on the scaffold who
recorded the speech.
Charles said, ‘As for the People, truly I desire their liberty and freedom, as much
as any whosoever; but I must tell you, that their liberty and freedom consists in having
of government by those laws, by which their lives, and their goods may be most their own.
It is not for them to have a share in Government, that is nothing Sirs, appertaining unto them.
A Subject and a Sovereign are clean different things; and therefore until that be done,
I mean, until the people be put into that liberty, which I speak of; certainly they
will never enjoy themselves.’
He also said he would go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown in heaven.
He said one final word to an attendant who gave him a silk nightcap to put on so his
hair did not trouble the axeman.
Charles said, ‘remember,’ before he then laid his neck out on the low block, and then
he readied himself.
Quickly the executioner then struck, and in one clean blow the axe man took the King’s
head straight off.
The executioner then head up the head of the King to silence, and he did not declare the
King as a traitor, and following the execution it’s believed that there was an audible
groan, and that the people who witnessed it were not happy with the execution.
The King’s head was then dropped into the crowd and a number of soldiers rushed it and
dipped their handkerchiefs in Charles’ blood and they cut off his hair.
The body was then put into a coffin and this was covered with black velvet.
There are a number of people who are suspected of being the person who executed the King.
The most probably candidate for the job was Richard Brandon who was the common hangman
at the time.
Charles’ execution was done by clearly a man who was very skilled and who had cleanly
cut off a number of heads, as he did a successful job.
He also executed other key royalists, but Brandon did refuse that he did this, but allegedly
confessed to being the executioner on his deathbed.
The identity of the executioner and his assistant was kept private, and this was to protect
them as they believed there would be a significant backlash, and many of the usual axemen inside
of the capital refused to do the job of killing a King.
Many people in England believed that they had killed a martyr and a man who was sent
by God to rule over the country.
In Europe many people acted negatively to the event, and many claimed that Cromwell
was nothing but a regicide and a usurper who had committed a heinous act in organising
the King’s execution.
The event today is seen as still rather controversial and many consider Charles I to have been a
victim of Cromwell and the effects of the English Civil War, but others consider him
to have been an evil monarch who did nothing but act in his own interests.
But the execution of King Charles I has to be one of the most shocking and significant
in English history.
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