Charles I: Killing a King (Part 2)

Part 2: January, 1649.

On Tuesday 9 January 1649, crowds gather in Cheapside, London as a proclamation is read out. King Charles I will be put on public trial at Westminster Hall in ten days’ time. It sends shockwaves through the city.

The next day, commissioners - senior judges from around the country - gather to prepare for the unprecedented trial of the king. Their meeting is recorded in surviving transcripts. Words like ‘wicked’, ‘tyrannical’ and ‘cruel’ are all used to describe the monarch. Although the consensus is that Charles is a tyrant, only half of the commissioners appointed actually attend the meetings at Westminster Palace, in fear of being indicted as traitors. Support is on thin ice and many parliamentarians are uneasy about the process of a treason trial, for the outcome is plain for all to see. Lord Fairfax, the lord general of the New Model Army, is representative of the view of many parliamentarians. He believes a compromise should be made and declares he will have no part in the King’s trial. However, Fairfax’s counterpart - Oliver Cromwell is going full steam ahead. He allegedly states, ‘We will cut off his head with the crown upon it!’

Part 3: https://rumble.com/v6fb3vp-charles-i-killing-a-king-part-3.html