Charles I of England

Charles I married French princess Henrietta Maria in 1625. The initial years of their marriage were fraught with quarrels and disagreements though their relationship improved over time. Eventually the couple formed a strong bond and had a happy married life. This marriage produced nine children.

Following the second English Civil War, Charles I was charged with high treason and “other high crimes against the realm of England.” He was put on trial, declared guilty and sentenced to death. He was beheaded on 30 January 1649 outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall, London.

Charles was born as the second son of King James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark on 19 November 1600. He was created Duke of Albany, the traditional title of the second son of the King of Scotland on 23 December 1600.

His father became the King of England in March 1603. His parents and older siblings left for England leaving behind Charles who was a sickly child as they feared that he might not survive the journey.

Charles left for England in mid-1604 when he was found to be strong enough for the journey. He would spend most of the rest of his life in England. In addition to being a weak child, he also developed a speech impediment.

In 1605, he was created Duke of York and made a Knight of the Bath.

He received his early education from Thomas Murray who taught him classics, languages, mathematics and religion.

King James started suffered from ill health in 1624 and was growing progressively weaker. He became so ill that he was not even able to control the Parliament properly. Eventually Charles, being the heir apparent, began taking up more responsibility in the governance.

The king died in March 1625 and Charles became the king. At the time of his succession he had a close friendship with George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who was a notorious figure in the English court.

Charles I proved to be an unpopular ruler from the very beginning. The initial years of his reign were marked by political turbulence and conflicts with the parliament. He engaged in wars with France and Spain at the same time and this kindled a general dislike for him in the minds of the citizens.

He was an authoritarian who believed in the absolute powers of the monarch. He dissolved the parliament three times between 1625 and 1629. After dismissing the parliament in 1629, he resolved to rule alone and because of this he had to raise revenue by non-parliamentary means which added to his notoriety.

Over the 1630s he primarily raised revenue from measures such as impositions, forced loans, wardship, ship money, and exploitation of forest laws. However, he became involved in a war against Scotland in 1639 and the need for extensive funding forced him to summon a parliament in 1640 in order to obtain funds to fight the Scots.