After the restoration of the monarchy, Charles II reigned down with an iron fist on those men
who were responsible for beheading and executing his father. The restoration of the monarchy is
perceived as a time in which Britain was returned to a more carefree society, with the release of
the Puritan rules enforced by Oliver Cromwell. However the executions and brutal capital
punishment continued, especially with regards to those men who were seen as being being the
execution of the former King Charles I. Charles II wished to enact bloody revenge on those men,
and those specifically who signed the death warrant of the King were targeted. However a
number of the most high profile signatories had died, which led to the King even ordering the
public executions of dead corpses. Join us today as we look at ‘The Executions Of Dead Bodies,
Charles I’s Regicides.’ Remember to support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
When Charles II came onto the throne, Parliament passed the Indemnity and Oblivion Act, which gave
those guilty of crimes committed during the Civil War and afterwards Amnesty. However,
of those who had been involved in the trial and execution of the King
104 were excluded from the relief, and these were then subject to punishment.
However of those 104, 49 of the named individuals and 2 unknown executions, (the men who carried
out Charles I’s death) were to face capital charges. Charles would have probably been okay
with the number of those punished being lower, but parliament wished to go further.
Many of the men who were exempt from the act feared their lives, and many of them
fled across to Europe leaving England forever, with others heading further afield. For example,
Edward Whalley ran to the New Haven Colony to avoid trial, and he was looked for by agents of
Charles II, however he was protected by colonists. He was at the time in rather poor health. A number
of the men died in exile having successfully lived their last days out in relative peace, but those
who were found were given different fates. Some were pardoned, being given a reprieve from death,
and some were brought to trial. At trial after being found guilty of being a regicide,
different sentences were handed out. Some of the men were imprisoned and sentenced to the rest
of their lives in prison, for example Peter Temple who died inside the Tower of London.
There were a number who died inside the Tower, but for some unfortunate members of the council
that were responsible for Charles I’s death, they were executed in bloody fashion.
Many of the men were sentenced to death and in fact executed. On the 17th October 1660,
4 prominent regicides were hung drawn and quartered in front of huge crowds. Thomas Scott,
Gregory Clements, Colonel John Jones, and Colonel Adrian Scrope were dragged through
the streets of London on hurdles, before being taken to Charing Cross. They were then subject
to a horrific traitors death, being hanged, drawn and quartered. All four of the men were killed in
quick succession in this barbaric way. However things were to get much more bizarre and bloody.
Of those who were listed to receive punishment for the involvement of the King’s execution,
24 of them had already died. There were three in particular who had passed away who were very
prominent behind the King’s execution. Oliver Cromwell had passed away, as had Henry Ireton
and John Bradshaw. Each of these were heavily involved in Charles I’s bloody death, so
Charles II targeted them as did Parliament. Their bodies were dug up, Cromwell’s had been laying in
Westminster Abbey, and the decaying remains were then taken to the posthumously executed. Their
remains were taken on hurdles throughout the city of London, which would have been
incredibly shocking to have seen. They were taken to Tyburn, where they were then hanged in chains,
and beheaded in bloody fashion, with their heads then being placed on poles. Cromwell’s was placed
outside Westminster Hall for around 4 years, to remind the people of his crime against the King.
Samuel Pepys documented what happened with the regicides in London, writing,
on the 15th October 1660, ‘This morning Mr Carew was hanged and quartered at Charing Cross,
but his quartered by a great favour are not the be hanged up.’ He wrote five days later,
‘I saw the limbs of some of our new traitors set upon Aldersgate which was a sad sight to see,
and a bloody week this and the last have been, there being ten hanged, drawn and quartered.’
The regicides continued, and 19 served life imprisonment. Most of them had their property
seized and taken, and many were banned from holding any office in the future or title.
So the regicides were a bloody purge and revenge mission of those men who were responsible for the
execution of King Charles I. Charles II sought to impose some justice of his own
for his father’s death, which still remains one of the most shocking parts of English History.
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