The Execution of Charles I, A Guest Post By Lissa Bryan ~

 ~ The Execution of Charles I, A Guest Post By Lissa Bryan ~

January 30, 1649 was a bitterly cold day. That morning, a king asked to be dressed in two shirts, lest people see him shiver and take it for fear.

Charles was born in 1600, three years before the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth I. His father was James VI King of Scotland. James was the son of Mary Queen of Scots, whom Elizabeth had executed. 

Elizabeth and James had a bit of unease over that, as one can imagine. But James had grown up without knowing his mother and had likely been raised to see her as an immoral woman, since he was Protestant and she was Catholic … and she had been accused of murdering his father.

James married Anne of Denmark and Charles was their second son. (The first died of typhoid when Charles was 12.) James became King of England after Elizabeth I’s death in 1603. 

Charles was likely raised with very strict notions of the rights of the monarchy. James had once written a book about the divine right of kings entitled The True Law of Free Monarchies in which he reiterated the then common belief that kings had been ordained to their station by God, who created the order of the world.

James died on March 25, 1625, and Charles became king of England and Scotland. But his reign was doomed to be difficult. The English parliament was fractious. They opposed his proposed marriage with Spain, which Charles found incredibly presumptuous and impudent. In his opinion, they didn’t get to have an opinion. It was his royal prerogative to marry as he saw fit. 

The Spanish declined the match and he ended up marrying the French princess Henrietta-Maria, but Parliament equally opposed this match because the bride was Catholic. Parliament feared Charles would ease restrictions on Catholics (which he had secretly promised to do in his marriage treaty.)

Quarrels increased over taxes, religious issues, and Charles’ decision to enter the House of Commons to arrest members for treason, seen as a shocking violation since no monarch had ever entered the chamber. Both sides took up arms, the royalists against Parliament.

 

Charles eventually sent Henrietta-Maria and his heir out of the country for their own safety. There, Henrietta-Maria pawned the crown jewels to fund her husband’s campaign. After this, many of the famous gems, such as the Mirror of Naples, vanish into the mists of history.

Charles was taken captive in 1647. Two years later, Parliament indicted him on a charge of treason, claiming that the "wicked designs, wars, and evil practices of him, the said Charles Stuart, have been, and are carried on for the advancement and 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.”

Charles, obviously, refused to recognize that the court even had the authority to charge him. He refused to plead before them. No earthly court had authority over a monarch. His grandmother, Mary Queen of Scots, had said the same thing when Elizabeth I tried her for treason. By the laws and mores of the era, both Mary and Charles were right — they were legally above mortal men’s judgment and accountable only to God. But in both cases, the verdict was the same: guilty.

Two of Charles’s children were still in England and they were permitted to say goodbye to their father the night before his execution.

His daughter, Elizabeth, later wrote:

"𝐻𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ, 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ, 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒. 𝐻𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑒 – 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛.

"𝐻𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝐵𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑝 𝐴𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑠'𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝐻𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝐸𝑐𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑝 𝐿𝑎𝑢𝑑'𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝐹𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑦. 𝐻𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜; 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝐻𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡. 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑙, ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑖𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠. 𝑆𝑜, 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒.

"𝐹𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚; 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑠; 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑦𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑; 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟."

He then said to his youngest son:

"𝑆𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡, 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟'𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑; 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘, 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑎 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔; 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑦, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠, 𝑑𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒; 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠' ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 (𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚), 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡; 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑎 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚."

On January 30th, clad in his two shirts, Charles walked to the scaffold which had been erected in front of the Banqueting House at the palace of Whitehall. He made a lengthy speech defending his divine right as king.

"...𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝐼 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑠𝑜𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑤𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛. 𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝐴 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑠𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑦, 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠.

"𝑆𝑖𝑟𝑠, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑎𝑤𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑, 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑦𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒.

"𝐼𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ, 𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑠, 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑒.

"𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝐼 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛."

He asked the executioner if his hair was in the way and tucked it up inside a sleeping cap to keep it from blocking the executioner’s view of his neck. He disrobed, taking off his cloak and his doublet, which were now the property of the executioner. He wore a pale blue vest over his shirts.

It’s recorded that he put his cloak back on, perhaps because of the cold. No one stopped him. He spoke again. "I go from a corruptible, to an incorruptible Crown, where no disturbance can be, no disturbance in the world."

He looked at the block and said that it should have been set fast, or firmly. The executioner assured him it was. Charles said that he wished it would have been a little higher, perhaps because he would be forced to bend down so low. The executioner said it couldn’t be set any higher.

Charles knelt, but asked the executioner to hold for the signal. The executioner said, "Yes, I will, and it please Your Majesty."

Charles paused for a moment, and then stretched out his hands, the signal to the executioner to strike. With one blow, it was over.

A moan went through the crowd, according to a witness, who described it as a sound he’d never heard before and hoped never to hear again.

The head was sewn back onto the king’s body and he was embalmed as he would have been if it was a natural death. His body was wrapped in cerecloth and placed into a coffin. Permission was refused for his burial in Westminster Abbey, and so he was taken to Windsor. Henry VIII’s vault was in the chapel. Henry VIII’s sister, Margaret, had been Mary Queen of Scotts’ grandmother, and so that family connection may have suggested itself as an appropriate place to lay the king to rest.

As an interesting aside, when the tomb was opened to admit his coffin, a foot soldier guarding it reached in through a hole in Henry VIII’s coffin and nicked a bone, which he intended to have crafted into a knife handle. He was caught and the bone was returned.

Charles was placed in the vault to the left of Henry VIII. (Henry is in the middle in the drawing attached. Jane Seymour is to his right.)

The location of the little vault was forgotten as years passed. In 1813, it was accidentally discovered during excavations to build a tomb for George III.

The people of the era were always delightfully ghoulish. Despite the engraved band on the coffin identifying the occupant as Charles, they decided they really needed to be sure it was him and not an imposter. The coffin was opened and the remains were examined. 

They took the king’s remarkably well-preserved head out of the coffin. They were even able to examine his eyes for a moment before exposure to the air began to rapidly decompose the remains.

Some of his hair, a tooth, and a vertebrae were removed and some were presented to the Prince of Wales in an ebony display case. In 1888, Queen Victoria gave permission for the vault to be opened again so the “relics” could be returned. The box was encased in one of lead, which had an inscription:

"The relics enclosed in this case were taken from the coffin of King Charles I on April 1st, 1813, by Sir Henry Halford, Physician to King George III. They were by his grandson, Sir Henry St. John Halford, given to H.R.H. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. On December 13th, 1888, they were replaced by H.R.H. in this vault, their original resting place."

You can see the box in the drawing above, the light colored rectangle resting on Charles’s coffin to the left. The tiny coffin on top of Charles’s coffin contains the remains of an infant child of Queen Anne.