Charles i trial

There were no existing laws to deal with such a trial. In the end, Charles' accusers used an ancient Roman law that said a military group could try to overthrow a tyrant.

The king refused to accept that the trial was legal and would not answer the charges made against him. However, the commissioners of the court found Charles guilty and sentenced him to death.

The execution was carried out on the balcony of the Banqueting House, Whitehall, on 30th January. The trial and execution of Charles I came at the end of the English Civil War, which had broken out in The cause of the war was Parliament's opposition to Charles's policies, including his unlawful demands for taxation. When the judgment of the court was announced, Charles finally started to defend himself.

He was told that his chance had gone and the king of England was bundled out of the court by the guarding soldiers.

Charles was executed on a Tuesday. It was a cold day. His last meal was bread and wine. However, there was a delay in his execution. The man who was to execute Charles refused to do it. So did others. Very quickly, another man and his assistant was found. At nearly 2. He had asked to wear thick underclothes under his shirt as he was very concerned that if he shivered in the cold, the crowd might think that he was scared. Charles gave a last speech to the crowd but very few could hear him.

He said:. It is said that when he was beheaded a large groan went up throughout the crowd. Even in death, Charles found no dignity. President Bradshaw wore a steel-lined bullet-proof hat in case of an assassination attempt. T he trial opened on the afternoon of 20 January , with further sessions on the 22nd and 23rd. With quiet dignity the King exasperated the Commissioners by refusing to answer the charges against him.

He did not recognise the jurisdiction of the High Court and challenged the basis on which the purged House of Commons could claim to represent the people of England. Each session ended with Bradshaw ordering the soldiers to remove the King—thus emphasising the overriding presence of the Army in the proceedings and underlining the King's claim that the present administration was a worse threat to the liberty and welfare of the people of England than he had ever been.

On 24 January, thirty-three witnesses against the King were heard by a sub-committee of the High Court and the following day their depositions were read out in a public session. The depositions proved the King's personal participation in the wars, gave evidence of his approval of various atrocities and demonstrated his intention of stirring up and continuing the wars.