On 30 January 1649, King Charles I was beheaded on a scaffold at Whitehall in London. The Regicide of King Charles I came after a long and bloody civil war. The country was not totally united in the killing of the king, but Parliament went to great lengths to give the judicial proceedings the force of law.
Background
After putting the country through the English Civil War from 1642-1646 that his Royalist forces lost, Charles I launched another attempt in in 1647 which was quickly, but bloodily put down. The New Model Army, under Oliver Cromwell, which wielded enormous power at the time was furious, so when they captured Charles I, they proceeded to try him. Charles I would not answer to the court as he felt it was unfit to try him. The King claimed “No learned lawyer will affirm that an impeachment can lie against the King… one of their maxims is, that the King can do no wrong.” The court proceeded anyway. They convicted and sentenced him to death on 27 January 1649.
King Charles I Executed
On the day of his beheading, it was so cold that Charles I put on two shirts to ward off the cold, lest he be thought to be trembling at his fate. Charles I dignity in his execution made him a martyr to the Royalist cause. Some subjects in England still vociferously hold that Cromwell was the traitor, not their King. Read here for the Charles I speech and actions on the scaffold.
King Charles I Executed – Motorcycle Ride Recommendation
Start at Windsor Castle
, ride past Runnymede (where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215)and into central London to Buckingham Palace, along the Mall, into Whitehall, on to Parliament and ending up at the National Army Museum in Chelsea. For maximum enjoyment, I recommend this ride early in the morning in mid-June when the sun rises before 5 AM. You can see everything and avoid the atrocious London traffic. At the National Army Museum in Chelsea, you can find a Full English Breakfast at the nearby King’s Road and wait for the museum to open to find out more about the English Civil War.
Image Attribution – Paul Delaroche [Public domain] , via Wikimedia Commons
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