I, II, III, Charles…
As we mourn the passing of a cherished sovereign, the eldest son of Elizabeth II has become king and will be known as King Charles III. But who were Charlie I & II?
Let’s go back to the 17th century to meet King Charles I, a king who battled with parliament over money and religion. A king who stuck to his beliefs, and paid for it with his head. A king who left the country without a monarch for 11 years.
Charles I was king from 1625 until 1649. This portrait was painted just 6 years into his reign, and the emphasis here is all about the King’s power; it very is hard to see that he was quite small at just 5’4” (1.62m)
Charles I was our second Stuart king. The second son of James I, he was never born to be king, and only accessed the throne due to the death of his older brother Henry Prince of Wales.
Charles was known to be silent and reserved, however always courteous in manners. His lack of vices impressed all those who knew him, however he lacked the common touch and never really mixed with the ordinary people.
When Charles became king, many catholic rituals were still being used. The king was married to a Catholic, Henrietta Maria of France, and he wasn’t keen to banish Catholicism from his realm. Many members of parliament were Puritans (extreme Protestants) and Charles’s religious tolerance began to offend these powerful men.
So he clashed with parliament, having many disagreements about religion, and about money too, with Parliament refusing to grant him money to fund his wars and his lavish lifestyle.
For 11 years, Charles ruled without calling Parliament. Despite inflicting heavy taxes on his subjects, he still needed more money. So he recalled Parliament into session, but the conflict continued, and the ‘Grand Remonstrance’, a list of over 200 grievances passed in the House of Common by 52% to 48%.
Charles refused to accept it, and the country slid into a brutal and bloody civil war between the monarchy/Royalists and the Parliamentarians. The Parliamentary Army was lead by a very effective leader, Oliver Cromwell, and eventually they captured the king.
The end result – Charles was charged with high treason.
The king refused to argue his case, because after all he was king, and normally no court in the land could put him on trial.
When his indictments were being read, Charles attempted to stop the Speaker by poking him with his cane. Yes, that is the exact same cane that you can see in the portrait!
Being ignored, he poked again. Several times. Each time a bit harder, with the last poke striking the speaker hard across the shoulders. So hard in fact that the silver tip of the cane broke off and fell to the floor!
There were huge gasps from the court room, but nobody attempted to pick it up for poor Charles I ! So the king was seen scrambling on the floor trying to retrieve it. Can you imagine?
Charles I was found guilty and sentenced to death.
So on a cold January morning in 1649, Charles left St James’s Palace to make his final journey to Banqueting House. He was wearing an extra shirt, so as not to be seen shaking in the cold as he didn’t want the crowd to think he was scared.
He certainly had to walk through the large banqueting hall, where 13 years earlier, he had commissioned the celebrated Flemish painter Peter Rubens to paint the Union of the Crown to glorify the divine right of kings. It is somewhat ironic that Charles would have viewed this for the last time as a condemned man.
Oh and one more thing : Can you see in the portrait, the crown jewels on the table? This is the last time you will see those, as they are soon to be melted down during the Commonwealth.
But that is another story…
Tracey
