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You are here: UK History > Royal History > House of Stuart > Charles I | The abolition of the monarchy
Charles I of England and Scotland was the King of England, Scotland and Ireland from his father’s death until his own execution in 1649. He is probably best remembered for his part in the English Civil War between Parliamentarians and Royalists which temporarily saw the end of the monarchy in Britain.
Born: 19th November 1600, Dunfermline Palace, Scotland
Died: 30th January 1649 (aged 48), Whitehall London
Reign: 27th March 1625 – 30th January 1649 (England and March)
Parents: James I/ VI and Anne of Denmark
Predecessor: James I/ VI (father)
Successor: Council of State (defacto rulers in England) Charles II (son, first in...Read More
Charles I of England and Scotland was the King of England, Scotland and Ireland from his father’s death until his own execution in 1649. He is probably best remembered for his part in the English Civil War between Parliamentarians and Royalists which temporarily saw the end of the monarchy in Britain.
Born: 19th November 1600, Dunfermline Palace, Scotland
Died: 30th January 1649 (aged 48), Whitehall London
Reign: 27th March 1625 – 30th January 1649 (England and March)
Parents: James I/ VI and Anne of Denmark
Predecessor: James I/ VI (father)
Successor: Council of State (defacto rulers in England) Charles II (son, first in Scotland and then England)
Spouse: Henrietta Maria of France
Children: Charles II; Mary ,Princess of Orange; James II & VII; Elizabeth; Anne; Henry, Duke of Gloucester; Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans
Royal House: Stuart
Charles, much like a surprising amount of British monarchs, was never intended for a life on the throne. He was the second son of James I of England and VI of Scotland. He was born at Dunfermline Palace in Fife, Scotland, and in comparison to his older brother, was a small and sickly child. In fact, when James was made king of England as well as Scotland on the death of his cousin, Elizabeth I, young Charles was left in Scotland because he was deemed too frail to make the journey into England. James, his wife Anne of Denmark and the rest of the family headed to London leaving the baby Charles under the guardianship of Lord Fyvie, where he stayed for three years.
As an infant, Charles suffered with poor mobility, likely because of rickets, and was unable to join the rest of the family in London until he was able to prove he could walk the length of Dunfermline Palace’s great hall. He then set off for England and was placed under the care of Sir and Lady Carey, who sourced special shoes to help strengthen his ankles, he would remain in England for pretty much the rest of his life, rarely visiting his native Scotland.
His health issues appeared to be temporary, as although he never did reach the same strength and stature of his brother, Henry, he did become an adept horseman, fencer and marksman, but did continue to have a stammer for the rest of his life. As the second son, Charles had a low public profile, only really coming into the public eye after the death of his older brother, who passed away at the age of eighteen of suspected typhoid. Charles was just 12 at the time and would wait another four years before officially being given the title of Prince of Wales.
Image: Statue of Charles I
While Charles was still Prince of Wales, a religious war broke out between Catholic and Protestant factions across Europe, something that became known as the 30 Years War. The English Parliament were keen to be involved and show support for the protestants on the continent, likely as a way of further establishing Britain as being a majority protestant country. King James wanted to keep the peace and so instead, attempted to secure an armistice by negotiating a marriage between Charles and the Spanish princess, Maria Anna. The policy, known as the Spanish Match, proved to be hugely unpopular with both parliament and the public, with parliamentarians being actively hostile against an allegiance. Spain was a Catholic country and marrying Charles to Maria Anna, would unite a Protestant and Catholic kingdom, which James hoped would cause a cease fire. The policy led to the Lord Chancellor of England’s Parliament being impeached, the first time since the 1450s that such an act was done without the king’s consent. It would set a precedent that would prove fatal for Charles years later.
It wasn’t just parliament and the public who were against the match, Charles wasn’t overly keen himself and so travelled to Spain in secret with George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, who was his father’s favourite courtier and would go on to be a huge influence on Charles and his later reign. The pair were said to have made the journey in order to reach an agreement on the Spanish Match, but only ended up proving the futility of such a policy. Anna Maria was said to have despised Charles on sight and refused to even consider the match unless he converted to Catholicism. The Spanish demanded additional amendments to the wedding treaty, which Charles knew would never be accepted in England. He and the Duke returned home, the news of their discoveries travelling before them, to a rapturous welcome and James was forced to bring England into the war.
It wasn’t long before James was too ill to govern effectively, becoming a king in name only, he allowed Charles and the Duke of Buckingham to rule on his behalf until his death, when Charles officially became the ruler of England, Scotland and Ireland.
After failing to gain a Spanish bride, Charles and the Duke of Buckingham turned their attentions elsewhere, eventually settling on Henrietta Maria, a French princess. Charles and Henrietta, who was just 15 at the time, were married by proxy and met for the first time a month later. Much like Maria Anna, Henrietta Maria was a Catholic, leading to Charles delaying the opening of his first parliament. He reasoned that delaying the meeting of parliament until after the marriage was consummated would avoid any opposition, but parliament continued to voice their displeasure, as in their eyes, the new king marrying a Roman Catholic would undermine the reformed Church of England. It is likely that they were also a little upset that Charles took it upon himself to sign a secret pact with his new brother-in-law, the King of France, which promised the loan of seven war ships. Charles’ belief in the Divine Right of Kings and that his word was law was what ultimately led to his fall from support and power.
Once the marriage was completed, Charles had his coronation in Westminster Abbey, something he did alone, as his new wife refused to take part in a protestant ceremony.
It would appear that the match was not a happy one. The domestic issues between Charles and Henrietta have been well documented and soured the early years of their marriage. After initially promising military and naval aid for France, Charles headed up a naval mission, which took place off the French coast. If that wasn’t enough, he expelled the vast majority of his wife’s French attendants and disputed her religious practises, not allowing her to freely practise Catholicism. Their relationship had improved by November 1628 however, when the couple announced their first pregnancy. Over the course of the marriage, they would go on to have seven surviving legitimate children and formed a court that became a model of formality and morality. Historians believe that improvements in the relationship came from the removal of the Duke of Buckingham.
Buckingham’s downfall was sparked by a poorly executed naval mission against Spain, which he led. It resulted in parliament beginning impeachment proceedings against him, but Charles refused to dismiss him, dismissing parliament instead. Buckingham was then assassinated in August of 1628, Charles was said to have been deeply distressed and refused to leave his personal chambers for two days. The public, parliament and Charles’ own wife however rejoiced at the news, which contributed further to the widening divide between the king and his nation.
Throughout most of Charles’ reign there was civil unrest in both England and Scotland mainly provoked by the king raising funds for the 30 Years’ War through a forced loan, which basically amounted to a tax being levied without parliamentary consent. The King gave himself the right to imprison anyone who didn’t pay the loan without trial, something that parliament continued to reject. Eventually they got Charles to agree that he couldn’t levy taxes or imprison his subjects without due process, but it didn’t take him long to prorogue parliament and reassert his right to collect duties without authorisation. This coupled with distrust of his religious policies continued to cause issues.
Without the ability to raise funds for the war without parliament or the Duke of Buckingham, Charles instated a Personal Rule and negotiated a peace with France and Spain. He would continue to rule in this manner for eleven years, which is known to some as the Eleven Years of Tyranny, however, it should be noted that ruling without parliament wasn’t exceptional and was supported by precedent. It wasn’t the perfect solution for Charles though, as only parliament could legally raise taxes, so his ability to raise funds was severely limited.
The country’s financial burdens can’t all be blamed on Charles, however. In the reigns of both James and Elizabeth, the country had a large fiscal deficit, so even using legal ways to obtain funds, it didn’t give him much capacity to wage war and Charles often had to rely on volunteer forces and charitable donations to support him and his siblings. By the mid 1640s, the king’s personal finances were also so bad that he faced bankruptcy and couldn’t get any loans. This led him to take a silver bullion from the mint at the Tower of London, promising to return it later.
After eleven years of Personal Rule, Charles worked with parliamentarians to create what become known as the Short Parliament, though this only ran for three weeks before being disbanded. A Long Parliament was then set up and sat for 8 years before being purged by the Parliamentarian army, when it became known as the Rump Parliament.
Both versions of parliament were difficult for Charles, as both wanted to impeach his closest advisors. Eventually, Charles was forced to assent to an act that forbade the dissolution of parliament without its consent. Parliament also brought in policies which made ways of personally raising money illegal.
Much like his predecessors, The English Reformation was at the forefront of Charles’ reign. He introduced reforms in an attempt to promote religious uniformity, something that he had more success with in England. He did attempt to impose the same reforms in Scotland, introducing a new prayer book which was similar to the English Book of Common Prayer, however he did so without consulting the Scottish Parliament. Charles may have wrongly believed that as Scotland was his birthplace, he would have unrelenting support from the Scottish people, however, as he rarely spent any time there, he saw resistance to several of his new policies. It resulted in riots in Edinburgh and unrest spread leading to the first Bishops’ War in 1639.
Charles raised an army without parliamentary aid and marched to the borders, however neither his or the Scottish army engaged, as Charles believed he was significantly outnumbered. The Treaty of Berwick was signed, which allowed Charles to regain custody of his forces and to dissolve the interim government. By 1641, Charles had made concessions on his reform in England and improved his position in Scotland, however he soon had issues in Ireland resulting in riots there.
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was caused by a split of three main socio-political groups, including the indigenous Catholic population and the protestant colonisers from England and Scotland. Conflicts sprang up all over Ireland with some believing that Charles was involved and was deliberately aggravating the situation. Parliament also raised concerns that he was planning to use the funds raised for suppressing the rebellion against them, which led them to intending to impeach his wife on the grounds of colluding with the rebels. In retaliation, Charles decided to arrest five members of parliament on the grounds of high treason. Fellow MPs refused to hand them over, so Charles attempted to arrest them personally, however they were able to escape before he arrived. It was the first time a reigning monarch had entered the House of Commons, something that was considered a huge breach of parliamentary privilege. This was the beginning of the end for Charles and was the catalyst for the start of the Civil War.
After breaching parliament with his armed guards, Members of Parliament retaliated by seizing London. Charles fled the capital for Hampton Court, before moving to Windsor Castle. His wife and eldest daughter fled to Europe and Charles decided to travel up north.
The English Civil War between the king and his royalist supporters and parliament began in 1642 and continued over the next few years. At various points, the King controlled most of the midlands, Wales, the West Country and based himself in Oxford where he set up a new court. The Parliamentarians however had control of the Navy and areas of importance like London, the South East and East Anglia.
Eventually, the balance was tipped firmly in favour of the parliamentarians, Charles disguised himself and escaped a siege of Oxford, joining the Scottish Presbyterian Army and attempting to negotiate a freedom for himself.
Charles was put under house arrest in Northamptonshire and then later in Hampton Court, he tried to escape, however was betrayed and imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle. During this time, he signed a secret treaty with Scotland for them to invade and restore him to the throne. This resulted in the Second Civil War which saw the Scots invading England, however, the parliamentarians consolidated control and after nine months of negotiations, the Scottish finally agreed to the English parliament’s demands, handing over Charles and withdrawing their army in exchange for £100,000.
Once in captivity, Charles tried further negotiations, this time with Oliver Cromwell, who had taken control of the government, however Cromwell opposed further talks, moving the king first to Hurst Castle and then Windsor, where he was under house arrest while he was indicted on a charge of high treason.
Charles was accused of high treason against the country on the grounds of using his power to pursue his personal interests rather than for the good of the country. His trial took place at Westminster Hall on 20th January 1649, with only 68 parliamentarians attending. On the third day of proceedings, Charles was removed from court to allow for witnesses to speak against him. The following day, he was declared guilty and condemned to death.
Charles’ execution was scheduled for Tuesday, 30th January 1649 in a semi public ceremony in London. A scaffold was erected in front of Banqueting House at the Palace of Whitehall and two of his children, Elizabeth and Henry, who were put under control of parliament, were granted permission to visit him for the final time.
On the day of his execution, Charles was escorted from St James’ Palace where he was being held, to Whitehall. Historians continue to debate on the identity of the executioner, who had his face concealed under a mask and was not required to speak. Many of the known executioners of the day denied being involved and their name is still largely unknown. As was common with those convicted of treason, the king’s severed head was removed and displayed to the waiting crowd, it was then sewn back onto his body and he was placed in a led coffin, he was later buried in a private service alongside Henry VIII and Jane Seymour.
Following the death of the king, England and Scotland became a commonwealth and the Rump Commons took control, abolishing the House of Lords. If MPs thought that this would end years of tyranny, they were mistaken. Oliver Cromwell, the country’s new de-facto leader, defeated his military opposition in Britain and Ireland, forcibly disbanded parliament and established himself as Lord Protector. Cromwell remained in power until his death when he was succeeded by his unpopular son Richard, however, both parliament and the monarchy were reinstated, with Charles’ oldest son, also Charles, being reinstated as monarch in 1660.
Ashdown House, Berkshire
The former home of Charles’ sister Elizabeth of Bohemia.
Banqueting House, London
The site of Charles’ execution
Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight
Charles was imprisoned here during the Civil War
Coleman Street, London
There was once a church that sat here, the politicans Charles wanted to arrest hid there in 1642.
Diana Fountain, Bushy Park, London
The statue here was commissioned by Charles I
Dunfermline Palace, Scotland
Charles was born here.
Ham House, London
Some of Charles' personal art can be found here.
Hampton Court Palace, London
Another of Charles' prisons, some of his personal art collection can also be seen here.
Museum of London
The clothes worn by Charles to his execution are kept here.
Paternoster Square, London
A statue of Charles can be seen here.
Shoe Lane, London
Charles lived here at one time.
Temple Bar, London
There is a statue of Charles here.
Tower of London
The Royal Armoury features the gilded armour worn by Charles.
Westminster, London
Charles' death warrant was signed at the original Palace of Westminster
Whitehall, London
A statue of Charles I on top of a horse can be found here.
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