Profile
Photos
Comments
King Charles 1st was executed on Tuesday January 30th 1649.
It was a cold day. Charles was allowed to go for a last walk in St James’s park with his pet dog.
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 were found. They were paid £100 and were allowed to wear masks so that no-one would ever know who they were.
At almost 2.00 o’clock in the afternoon, Charles was led to the scaffold which was covered in black cloth.
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:
“I have delivered to my conscience; I pray God you do take those courses that are best for the good of the kingdom and your own salvation."
It is said that when he was beheaded a large groan went up throughout the crowd. One observer in the crowd described it as:
"such a groan by the thousands then present, as I never heard before and I desire I may never hear again."
This sad event, paved the way for Oliver Cromwell’s ‘Commonwealth’ – for a few years at any rate, then ‘Sense’ prevailed once more, when Charles’ son returned from exile in France and was Crowned in Westminster Abbey as Charles 2nd .
- oh well, hopefully the missing pics will show up by the morning
Rest well, sweet dreams!