Death and Retribution: The Bloody Fate of the Men Who Killed a King - History Tools (2024)

"I never heard that any who appeared on the scaffold, died with more resolution and manliness than those did, all acknowledging their crimes, but claiming that misguided conscience had led them." – Sir Philip Warwick, English writer and politician, upon witnessing the executions of the regicides on October 17, 1660

Introduction

The execution of King Charles I on January 30, 1649 was a shocking and unprecedented event in English history. Never before had a reigning monarch been tried and executed by his own subjects. The "regicides" – those who signed the King‘s death warrant and participated in his trial – had committed the ultimate act of treason and rebellion against the Crown. Their actions would have profound and far-reaching consequences, ultimately leading to their own brutal demise.

The Road to Regicide

The events that led to Charles I‘s execution were rooted in the long-simmering conflicts between the King and Parliament. Charles I, a believer in the divine right of kings, frequently clashed with the House of Commons over issues of taxation, religion, and royal prerogatives. Tensions boiled over in 1642 when Charles attempted to arrest five members of Parliament, leading to the outbreak of the English Civil War.

After years of bloody conflict, the Parliamentarian New Model Army led by Oliver Cromwell emerged victorious over the Royalist forces. Charles I, defeated and captured, faced trial for treason and other high crimes against his people. In a revolutionary tribunal, a specially-appointed court of 135 commissioners found the King guilty of being a "tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy". On a bitterly cold day, Charles I was beheaded in front of the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace, forever altering the course of English history.

The Commonwealth and Protectorate

In the wake of Charles I‘s execution, England entered into a period of republican rule known as the Commonwealth. The monarchy and House of Lords were abolished, and the country was governed by the House of Commons and a Council of State. Oliver Cromwell, the leading general and statesman of the Commonwealth, later assumed the role of Lord Protector, ruling as a virtual dictator until his death in 1658.

Despite the efforts of Cromwell and his supporters to establish a stable and lasting republican government, the Commonwealth and Protectorate were plagued by political, religious, and economic turmoil. The nation remained deeply divided between Royalists and Parliamentarians, Anglicans and Puritans, conservatives and radicals. Without the unifying figure of the monarch, the government struggled to maintain legitimacy and control.

The Restoration and the Regicides‘ Fate

After Oliver Cromwell‘s death and the brief rule of his son Richard, the republican experiment collapsed. The exiled Charles II, son of the executed king, was restored to the throne in 1660 amid a wave of Royalist sentiment and nostalgia for the stability of the monarchy. The Restoration marked the end of the Interregnum and the beginning of a new era in English history.

One of Charles II‘s first acts as king was to seek revenge against those responsible for his father‘s death. The Indemnity and Oblivion Act, while granting general amnesty to most Parliamentarians, specifically excluded the regicides and others directly involved in Charles I‘s trial and execution. The Regicides were hunted down, arrested, and put on trial for high treason.

The Fate of the Regicides:

On October 17, 1660, the first batch of condemned regicides met their grisly end at Charing Cross. Colonel Thomas Harrison, the fiery Puritan who had escorted Charles I to trial, was the first to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Before his execution, Harrison declared, "I have not the least trouble on my spirit, for I do affirm to all the world that what I have done, I have done in the fear of God. I bless God I have no trouble on my own spirit."

Next came Adrian Scrope, John Carew, Thomas Scot, and Gregory Clement, all of whom had signed the King‘s death warrant and played active roles in the trial. Scot, ever defiant, gave a speech declaring his lack of repentance and steadfast belief in the righteousness of his actions. Clement, in contrast, went to his death with more humility and resignation. The elderly John Jones, hated in his native Wales for his fervent republicanism, faced his gruesome execution with remarkable courage and dignity.

Over the next few days, more regicides and their associates would suffer the traitor‘s death. John Cook, the solicitor-general who had relentlessly prosecuted Charles I, and Hugh Peter, the radical preacher who had influenced public opinion against the King, were executed on October 16. Daniel Axtell and Francis Hacker, the officers who had overseen security during Charles I‘s trial, met their end on the 19th.

Other regicides managed to escape the executioner‘s blade through exile, like John Dixwell, Edward Whalley, and William Goffe who fled to New England. Some, like Edmund Ludlow and Henry Marten, were able to negotiate pardons or commutations. Many more had already died before the Restoration, including Oliver Cromwell himself, whose body was exhumed and posthumously beheaded as a symbolic act of vengeance.

The Legacy of the Regicides

The regicides‘ actions and their subsequent punishments have been interpreted in various ways by historians and observers. To the Royalists, they were traitors and murderers who deserved the most brutal form of execution for their unforgivable crimes against God‘s anointed king. The spectacle of public hanging, drawing, and quartering served as a powerful deterrent and a reassertion of monarchical authority.

But to others, the regicides were principled men who had fought against tyranny and sacrificed their lives for the cause of liberty and republicanism. Their willingness to face death with courage and conviction has been seen by some as a testament to the depth of their beliefs and the strength of their revolutionary ideals.

The legacy of the regicides is inextricably tied to the larger questions of the English Civil War and Interregnum period. The failure of the republican experiment and the restoration of the monarchy reflected the deep political, religious, and social divisions that continued to plague England for generations. The regicides‘ actions, while extreme and ultimately unsuccessful, can be seen as part of a longer tradition of resistance to absolute monarchy and a struggle for parliamentary rights and freedoms.

In the end, the bloody fate of the regicides serves as a reminder of the high stakes and harsh consequences of rebellion against the established order. Their deaths satisfied the vengeance of a grieving son and king, but the ideals that drove them to commit treason would continue to inspire and challenge English society for centuries to come. The complex and controversial legacy of the regicides endures as a subject of fascination and debate for historians and the public alike.

Sources and Further Reading:

• "The Regicides and the Execution of Charles I" edited by Jason Peacey (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001)
• "The English Civil Wars 1642-1651" by Peter Gaunt (Osprey Publishing, 2003)
• "The Tyrannicide Brief: The Story of the Man Who Sent Charles I to the Scaffold" by Geoffrey Robertson (Vintage, 2007)
• "The Regicides: The Murder of Charles I" by Rowena Davis (Manchester University Press, 2020)
• "The Regicides" – Britain Express
• "The Fate of the Regicides" – British Library