The Execution of Charles 1 (January 30, 1649) in London. The Second Civil War in England

On the cold January morning of 1649, on the scaffold set in central London, not an ordinary criminal arose, but a king who had commanded his people for twenty-four years. On this day, the country was completing another stage of its history, and the final was the execution of Charles 1. In England, the date of this event is not marked in the calendar, but it has forever entered into its history.

Scion of the noble kind Stewarts

Stuarts - a dynasty, derived from an old Scottish house. Her representatives, more than once occupying the English and Scottish throne, like no one else left a trace in the history of the state. Their elevation dates back to the early 14th century, when Count Walter Steward married the daughter of King Robert I Bruce. Hardly this marriage was preceded by a romantic story, most likely, the British monarch considered it good to strengthen this alliance with his relationship with the 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 Stuarts dynasty. His birth, he "made happy" future subjects on November 19, 1600, appearing in the old residence of the Scottish monarchs - Denfermlinsky Palace.

For the subsequent accession to the throne, little Karl was of immaculate origin - his father was the king of Scotland Jacob VI, and the Queen of England, Anna Danish. 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 it can be said about the boy from the royal family. As a child, he was a painful child, somewhat delayed in development, and therefore later than his peers who began to walk and talk. Even when his father inherited the English throne in 1603, and moved to London, Carl could not follow him, as the court physicians feared that he would not pass the road.

It should be noted that physical weakness and lethargy accompanied him all his life. Even in the ceremonial portraits, the artists could not give this monarch any majestic appearance. And the growth of Charles 1 Stuart was only 162 cm.

The Way to the Royal Throne

In 1612, an event occurred that determined the entire fate of Charles. In that year in London a terrible epidemic of typhus broke out, from which it was impossible to hide even in the walls of the royal castle. Fortunately, he himself was not injured, as he was at that time in Scotland, but the victim of the disease was his older brother Henry, who was born to manage the country from birth, and to whom the whole of higher society had high hopes.

This death opened Karl's way to power, and as soon as Westminster Abbey, where Henry's ashes were resting, mourning ceremonies ended, he was elevated to the rank of Prince of Wales, heir to the throne, and in the following years his life was filled with all sorts of preparations for such a high mission.

When Carl was twenty years old, his father became concerned about the organization of his future family life, since the marriage of the heir to the throne was purely political, and Hymeny was not allowed to shoot him. His choice of Jacob VI stopped on the Spanish infantry Anna. This decision provoked outrage among 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 have a largely religious background, and such a reckless choice of the bride was the first step towards it.

However, at that time, nothing foreshadowed trouble, and Charles went to Madrid with the desire to personally intervene in the marriage negotiations, and at the same time and look at the bride. On the trip, the groom was accompanied by a favorite, or rather, his lover's dad - George Villiers. According to historians, King James VI had a large and loving heart in which not only court ladies could fit , but also their esteemed husbands.

To the disappointment of the English court, the negotiations in Madrid were at an impasse, since the Spanish side demanded that the prince accept Catholicism, and this was completely unacceptable. Carl and his new friend George were so hurt by the obstinacy of the Spaniards that on their return home they demanded that the parliament break off relations with their royal court, and even disembark the expeditionary corps for combat operations. It is not known what would have ended, but fortunately, at that moment a more pliant bride - the daughter of Henry IV of France Henrietta IV, who became his wife, turned up and the rejected groom calmed down.

At the peak of power

Charles 1 Stewart ascended the throne after the death of his father, who followed in 1625, and from the very first days began to conflict with the parliament, demanding from him subsidies for all kinds of military adventures. Not having received the desired (the economy was cracking at the seams), he twice dismissed it, but each time was forced to call again. As a result, the king obtained the necessary funds, imposing the population of the country on illegal and very burdensome taxes. History knows many such examples, when short-sighted monarchs plugged budget holes, tightening taxes.

The following years also did not bring improvements. His friend and favorite George Villiers, after the death of Jacob VI, finally moved to the chambers of Charles, was soon killed. This scoundrel turned out to be unclean by the hand, for which he paid, collecting taxes. Not having the slightest idea in the economy, the only way to replenish the treasury of the king, always considered new and new fees, fines, the introduction of various monopolies and the like. The execution of Charles 1, which followed the twenty-fourth year of his reign, was a worthy ending to such a policy.

Shortly after Villiersom's murder, a certain Thomas Wentworth distinguished from the circle of courtiers, who managed to make a brilliant career during the reign of Charles the First. He owns the idea of establishing in the state of absolute royal power, relying on a regular army. Later becoming governor of the king in Ireland, he successfully implemented this plan, with fire and sword suppressing dissent.

Reforms that caused social tension in Scotland

Charles the First did not show foresight in the religious conflicts that tore the country apart. The fact is that the population of Scotland in the majority consisted of followers of the Presbyterian and Puritan churches, belonging to two of the numerous directions of Protestantism.

This often served as a pretext for conflicts with representatives of the Anglican Church, which was dominant in England and supported by the government. Unwilling to seek a compromise, the king tried by forceful measures to establish her dominance everywhere, which caused extreme outrage of the Scots, and eventually led to bloodshed.

However, the main mistake, which resulted in the civil war in England, the execution of Charles 1 and the subsequent political crisis, should be considered his extremely ill-considered, and mediocre policy towards Scotland. On this unanimously agreed the majority of researchers of such a sadly ended government.

The main direction of his activity was the strengthening of unlimited royal and ecclesiastical authority. Such a policy was fraught with extremely negative consequences. In Scotland, traditions that established the rights of the estates and built the inviolability of private property were formed from ancient times, and the monarch encroached on them in the first place.

Shortsightedness of royal policy

In addition, it should be noted that the biography of Charles 1 has developed tragically not so much because of the goals pursued by him, but because of the ways of their implementation. His actions, as a rule, are excessively straightforward and poorly thought out, invariably provoked popular outrage and contributed to the strengthening of the opposition.

In 1625, the king set against himself the vast majority of the Scottish nobility, issuing a decree, which went down in history as the "Revolt Act." According to this document, all the rulings of the English kings, since 1540, were annulled on the transfer of land to the nobles. 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 that were in the territory of Scotland, and confiscated from it during the Reformation, which established Protestantism in the country, which radically affected the religious interests of the population. Not surprisingly, after the promulgation of such a provocative document, the king was given many petitions of protest from representatives of the most diverse strata of society. However, he not only refused to consider them demonstratively, 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 for high government posts. They were given the majority of seats in the royal council, which significantly reduced the representation of the Scottish nobility in it, and gave new grounds for discontent. As a result, the Scottish aristocracy was removed from power and lacked access to the king.

Fearing the strengthening of the opposition, the King from 1626 virtually stopped the activities of the Scottish Parliament, and by all means prevented the convening of the General Assembly of the Scottish Church, whose divine service, at his disposal, introduced a number of alien Anglican canons. It was a fatal mistake, and the Execution of Charles 1, which became the sad end of his reign, was the inevitable consequence of such miscalculations.

The beginning of the first civil war

When talking about the infringement of the political rights of the nobility, such actions provoked a protest only in their narrowly class circle, but in case of violation of religious norms, the king restored an entire people against himself. This again caused a stream of outrage and protest petitions. Like last time, the king refused to consider them, and added fuel to the fire, having executed one of the most active petitioners, presenting to him the accusation of high treason usual in such cases.

The spark that blew up Scotland's gunpowder was an attempt to conduct a July 23rd, 1637, service in Edinburgh, based on the Anglican liturgy. This caused not only indignation of citizens, but also an open riot that swept the greater part of the country, and went down in history as the First Civil War. The situation was getting worse every day. Leaders of the noble opposition were drafted and sent a protest to the king against the church reform, which was alien to the people, and the universal elevation of the Anglican episcopate.

The King's attempt to defuse the situation by forcibly removing the most active oppositionists from Edinburgh, only aggravated the general discontent. As a result, under the pressure of his opponents, Charles I was forced to make concessions, removing the bishops hated by the people from the royal council.

The result of general unrest was the convening of the National Convention of Scotland, consisting of delegates from all social strata of society, and headed 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 introduce any changes in their religious beliefs. A copy of the document was handed to the king, and he was forced to resign himself. However, this was only a temporary lull, and the lesson taught to the monarch by his subjects did not go ahead. Therefore, the execution of Charles 1 Stewart became a logical end to the chain of his mistakes.

New Civil War

This arrogant, but very unlucky ruler scandalized in another part of his subordinate kingdom - Ireland. There, for a certain and very solid bribe, he promised patronage to local Catholics, however, having received money from them, he immediately forgot about everything. Insulted in this attitude, the Irish took up arms to refresh the King's memory. Despite the fact that by this time Charles I had finally lost the support of his own parliament, and with him of the bulk of the population, he had tried with a small number of regiments loyal to him, to change the situation by force. Thus, on August 23, 1642, the Second Civil War began in England.

It should be noted that the commander Charles I was as incompetent as the ruler. If at the beginning of the hostilities he managed to win some fairly easy victories, then on July 14, 1645 his army was completely defeated in the battle of Nesby. Not only that the king was captured by his subjects, so in his camp an archive containing a lot of compromising material was seized. As a result, many of his political and financial machinations became public, as well as appeals for military assistance to foreign states.

Crown Prisoner

Until 1647, Charles I was held in Scotland as a prisoner. However, even in this unenviable role, he continued to make attempts to agree with representatives of various political groups and religious movements, generously distributing to the right and left promises that no one had already believed. In the end, the jailers extracted from him the only possible benefit, having transferred (sold) for four hundred thousand pounds sterling to the British Parliament. The Stuarts are a dynasty that has seen a lot in its time, but it was not necessary to experience such shame.

Once in London, the deposed king was placed in Holby's castle, and then transferred to the Hampton Court palace, under house arrest. There, Karl had a real opportunity to return to power by accepting a proposal that was addressed to him by a prominent politician of that era, Oliver Cromwell, for whom the execution of Charles 1, which by that time was quite real, was unprofitable.

Under the conditions proposed to the king, there were no serious restrictions on monarch powers, but even then he missed his chance. Wanting even more concessions, and having started secret negotiations with various political groupings of the country, Karl avoided a direct answer to Cromwell, as a result of which he lost patience and refused to conceive. Thus, the execution of Charles 1 Stewart was only a matter of time.

The tragic denouement was accelerated by his escape to the Isle of Wight, located in the English Channel, near the British coast. However, this adventure also ended in failure, as a result of which the house arrest in the palace was replaced by imprisonment in a prison cell. From there, his former monarch tried to rescue Baron Arthur Capel, whom Karl once made a peer and raised to the very top of the court hierarchy. But, not having enough strength, he soon found himself behind bars.

The judgment and execution of the deposed king

There is no doubt that the most characteristic feature of this offspring of the Stuart family was a penchant for intrigue, which, as a result, destroyed it. For example, giving vague promises to Cromwell, he simultaneously conducted behind-the-scenes negotiations with his opponents from parliament, and receiving money from Catholics, also supported Anglican bishops. And the very execution of King Charles 1 was speeded up in many respects due to the fact that, even being under arrest, he did not cease sending out calls for insurrection everywhere, that in his position was complete madness.

As a result, the majority of the regiments submitted a petition to parliament demanding the trial of the former king. It was 1649, and the hopes with which the British society met his ascent to the throne are long gone. Instead of a wise and far-sighted politician, it received an ambitious and limited adventurer.

To administer the trial of Charles I, the parliament appointed one hundred and thirty-five commissioners, led by a prominent lawyer of the time, John Bradshaw. The execution of King Charles 1 was predetermined in advance, and therefore the entire procedure did not take much time. The former monarch, a man who yesterday commanded a mighty power, was unanimously recognized as a tyrant, traitor and enemy of the fatherland. It is clear that the only possible sentence for such grave crimes could be death.

The execution of the English King Charles 1 took place on the early morning of January 30, 1649 in London. We must give him credit - even climbing the scaffold, he retained the presence of the spirit, and addressed the assembled crowd with a pre-death speech. In it, the convict stated that civil liberties and freedoms are provided solely by the existence of government and laws guaranteeing citizens life and inviolability of property. But at the same time it does not give the people the right to claim control of the country. The monarch and the crowd, he said, are completely different concepts.

Thus, even on the verge of death, Karl defended the principles of absolutism, of which all Stuarts were adherents. England had yet to go a long way before the constitutional monarchy was fully established, and the people, contrary to his opinion, had the opportunity to participate in the government of the state. However, the foundation for this was already laid.

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the execution of the English King Charles 1 gathered a huge crowd of people, who throughout the whole bloody play in a state close to shock. The culmination came when the executioner picked up the severed head of their former sovereign by the hair. However, traditional in such cases, the words that she belongs 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 will pass, and in the history of England there will come a period called the Restoration of the Stuarts, when again representatives of this ancient family will rise to the throne. The second civil war and the execution of Charles 1 were his vestibule.