Who Wanted to Execute Charles I?

Britain – The Trial and Execution of Charles I, 1648-49

In this course, Professor John Morrill (University of Cambridge) examines one of the most extraordinary events in British political history: the execution of the king, Charles I, in January 1649. We begin in the first module by thinking about who it was that actually wanted to get rid of the king, before turning in the second module to the role of the army in the regicide. After that, we think about how the international context may have figured in the decision to execute the king, focusing in particular on the level of support for the king in Scotland, Ireland, and (especially) Europe, where several monarchs were related to the king by marriage. In the fourth module, we think about the process that was used to get rid of the king, before turning in the fifth module to the aftermath of the king’s execution and asking, ‘Was this the only possible outcome to the events of late 1648?’

Who Wanted to Execute Charles I?

In this module, we think about who it actually was that wanted Charles I to be executed, focusing in particular on the general lack of support for the king’s execution in almost every section of society, even among some of the staunchest supporters of the Republican cause.