The English Civil War had been raging for ten years when Charles I, while defeated and a prisoner, was held responsible for unjustified bloodshed. More specifically the king was thought to have caused the deaths of thousands of people – with estimates ranging from just over 84,000 dead to as many as 100,000. Overall, it is estimated that war-related deaths amounted to about 3.6% of the population.
After the second civil war, the Independents in Parliament, along with part of the military, decided that the king should be punished – but they did not secure a majority. The king then, before these data, launched a war against the Parliament. On 6 December 1648 troops would march to ‘clear’ the House of Commons, led by Colonel Thomas Pride. 45 MPs were arrested and 146 were detained outside the parliament. On December 13, the now “cleansed” House of Commons broke off negotiations with the king, and two days later, it was decided that the latter would be taken to Windsor to stand trial.
As Charles was now in London, parliament passed a bill to establish a High Court in which he would be tried for high treason in the name of the people of England. More specifically, he was accused of treason against England because he used his power to serve his personal interest rather than the good of his country. The indictment found him guilty of all treason, murder, and any form of violence that broke out or was caused by the war. The trial began on 20 January 1649 at Westminster Hall. From the first moment of the trial it became clear that there was no respect for the person of Charles.
Faced with this reality, he himself refused to take the floor, claiming that no court had jurisdiction to judge a monarch, as he believed that his authority to rule was due to the divine right of kings which, when he was crowned king, was given to him by God and from the traditions and laws of England. For Charles, the trial was illegal. He argued that the House of Commons alone could not try anyone. The court, for its part, challenged the doctrine of “reign by God’s grace” and argued that the king of England was not a person, but an office according to which each holder had a limited power to rule, based on the laws of the land. There were witnesses, however, whom Charles never saw, as he was not present.
Finally, on January 27, 1649, he was found guilty and sentenced to death, as the court found him guilty of the crimes he had been accused of. He was judged a tyrant, traitor, murderer and public enemy of the “good people” of the nation, as is typically stated in the relevant decision. The death penalty was beheading. The Commissioners who were present accepted the decision, and the collection of signatures for his death warrant immediately began. Charles I was beheaded in front of the Palace of White Hall on January 30, 1649.
Column editor: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigone-Despina Poimenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis
