Review 'Charles I Executioners' by James Hobson
Civil War, Regicide, & The Republic
Author James Hobson has written such works as ''Dark Days of Georgian Britain', 'Following in the Footsteps of Oliver Cromwell'. and 'The English Civil War Fact and Fiction'. Mr Hobson runs an author's website called about 1816. The site is worth a look, showing Mr Hobson's interest in less obvious aspects of the 17th century, The Regency , 18th century and Victorian times. Just the list of blogs that he follows is quite intriguing.
Certainly rate this book highly. Some background knowledge to the British Civil Wars would be helpful, but not essential to get maximum benefit from it. The trial, sentencing, and execution of a reigning monarch was unprecedented in Britain's history, and the author has made a worthy contribution in our attempt to grasp what actually happened.
Have to agree with the author's overall approach to the subject. The killing of kings or their attempted assassination,occurred frequently in the history of both England and Scotland. If the reader wants to make a moral judgement about bringing the anointed king to trial, worth remembering that Charles I's opponents did so openly and put their names to the death warrant. It would have been so easy to have arranged Charles I's death via an 'accident' or 'attempt to escape' .The author reminds us that leading members of the Parliamentary side would have nothing to do with the trial, ranging from Thomas Fairfax, through to Leveller leader John Lilburne.
The book covers the major themes : The Act of Indemnity and Oblivion in 1660 supposedly cancelled prosecution for acts of treason during the Commonwealth era with around eighty exceptions. The regicides were exempt from pardon, along with a number of key participants in the trial of Charles I such as the chief prosecutors, John Bradshaw, John Cook and Daniel Axtell, the head of the guard . I would add that also exempt were leading parliamentarian Sir Harry Vane and General John Lambert who were prosecuted even though they took no part in the proceedings against Charles I. Vane was executed, Lambert was given life imprisonment, and survived another 24 years before dying in prison. The militant Puritan preacher, Hugh Peter who had justified the killing of the king in blood curdling sermons was also amongst those executed without participating in the trial.
This book focuses on the 59 men who signed the death warrant on 30th January 1649 and their fate during the Restoration . Nineteen had already died, so the trials that began in October 1660 could do little but order the confiscation of their property. James Duke of York was a major beneficiary. Nine regicides were subject to the full penalties of treason, being hung, drawn and quartered., two died in custody before being executed. Others who were tried faced a range of prison sentences.
The author ensures that each regicide is mentioned but avoids a mini-biography of each one. So adopts a cluster approach, for example Chapter 3 features 'The Gentry Soldiers' ( Oliver Cromwell, Richard Deane, John Okey), Chapter 10 concerns 'The Regicide Republicans' ( Thomas Chaloner, Thomas Scott, Valentine Walton) , Chapter 16 looks at the largely overlooked 'Committee Men ( William Purefoy, Miles Corbert, Vincent Potter) -behind the scenes administrators on the Parliamentarian side. Henry Ireton is held to be the main regicide
I quite admire the fact that the author attempts quite a difficult task : It would have been easy to stick to anecdotes about the regicides.And there are some interesting tales. Some regicides fled to Switzerland, North America, and three ended up in the Dutch Republic where they were effectively kidnapped and transported back to London by Sir George Downing who had a street named after him. But Mr Hobson decides to see if there is some common thread concerning their lives and beliefs. The regicides were from the side of Parliament, and obviously had enough status by 1649 to be in a position to sign said warrant. Yet were they committed to the idea of a Republic in principle, or was it just the personal reign of Charles I they couldn't stomach?
And have to admit that at times I began to lose the thread of the book. We learn that the regicides were gentry ( pages 39 and 52) but also many were engaging in the transatlantic trade ( page 3). The author stresses the importance of religious motivation in opposing Charles I, suggesting that it was his perceived affinity with Catholicism was held to be a danger to Protestant faith. Yet it would have been good to have expanded this theme. Did the gentry who were not Anglican feel excluded from the Court and other centres of power, the same way Catholic gentry did in the early 1600's? Is this part of an ongoing issue in English and perhaps Scottish history- the jealousy of the entitled nobility who feel that their ambitions are blocked? Mr Hobson also mentions that "By about 1655 most of the 1649 regicides were either opposed to Cromwell, apathetic or already dead (page 130).. Again. would like to have learnt more about this.
Just a minor quibble, was not so sure of Mr Hobson's view of the Levellers' Agreement of the People of 1647 being quite so democratic. He rightly acknowledges that women were excluded, but I am not so sure that the Levellers envisaged male employees being permitted to vote or their religious toleration extending to Roman Catholics.
But overall I recommend this book.I have a strong feeling that this will be a valuable reference work for a long time to come.
A couple of useful links
List of the Regicides from the British Civil War's Project
In Our Time Radio discussion on the trial of Charles I .Discussion broadcast on Radio 4, chaired by Melvyn Bragg
Other related works
'The Trial of Charles I' C V Wedgewood , Collins 1964
'The Killers of The King-The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I', Charles Spencer, 2014
Other blogs by Michael Bully
13th century blog Not particularly active at the moment.
Sincerely hope that all readers of this blog are staying safe and well during these chaotic times.
Michael Bully
30th November 2020
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