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Rump Parliament - Execution of Charles I

Rump Parliament - Execution of Charles I: Encyclopedia II - Rump Parliament - Execution of Charles I

When it became obvious to the Grandees in the Army and Parliament that they could not negotiate a settlement with King Charles I and they could not trust him to resist raising an army to attack them, they reluctantly came to the conclusion that they would have to kill him. The House of Commons on 13 December 1648 broke off negotiations with the King. Two days later, the Council of Officers of the New Model Army voted that the King be moved from the Isle of Wight, where he was prisoner, to Windsor "in order to the bringing of him speedily to justice". In the mid ...

Rump Parliament: Encyclopedia II - Rump Parliament - Execution of Charles I

Rump Parliament - Execution of Charles I

When it became obvious to the Grandees in the Army and Parliament that they could not negotiate a settlement with King Charles I and they could not trust him to resist raising an army to attack them, they reluctantly came to the conclusion that they would have to kill him. The House of Commons on 13 December 1648 broke off negotiations with the King. Two days later, the Council of Officers of the New Model Army voted that the King be moved from the Isle of Wight, where he was prisoner, to Windsor "in order to the bringing of him speedily to justice". In the middle of December the king was moved from Windsor to London.

On 4 January 1649, an ordinance was passed by the House of Commons to set up a High Court of Justice in order to try Charles I for high treason in the name of the people of England. The House of Lords rejected it and as it did not get royal consent, Charles would ask at the start of his trial 20 January in Westminster Hall "I would know by what power I am called hither. I would know by what authority, I mean lawful [authority]", to which there no strong legal answer to be given under the constitutional arrangements of the time. Charles was found guilty with fifty nine Commissioners (Judges) signing the death warrant.

On 30 January, the execution of Charles I was delayed by several hours so that the House of Commons could pass an emergency bill to make it an offence to proclaim a new King, and to declare the representatives of the people, the House of Commons, as the source of all just power. On 6 February the House of Lords was abolished; the monarchy went the same way on 7 February, and a Council of State established on 14 February. This was followed up on 19 May 1649 with An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth which formally created the Commonwealth of England.