by Jordan, Don
Smith, Henry, 237, 238, 239, 323
Smith, Major, 127
Somerset, Duke of, 213
Southampton, Earl of, 65, 213
Spain, 79, 80–3, 107–8, 119, 128, 152;
Spanish Netherlands, 78, 112, 152, 178, 182, 195;
Eighty Years’ War with Holland, 169, 265, 312*
Sparke, William, 82
Spavin, Robert, 186
Spottiswood, Sir John, 76, 78
St Albans, 24, 139–40
St James’s Palace, 54–5, 56–7, 65
St John, Oliver, 37, 104, 314
Star Chamber, 137
Stephens, Edward, 156
Stiles, Ezra, 319
Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, Earl of, 43–4, 48, 59, 61
Strickland, Walter, 76, 77, 78
Stuyvesant, Peter, 256, 259
Swinton, Sir John, 194
Switzerland, 182, 206, 284, 288–92, 293–301, 302–5, 311, 322, 324
Tangiers, 219, 246, 302
Taylor, Jeremy, 68
Taylor, John, Mercurius Melancholicus, 73
Temple, James, 237, 239
Temple, Peter, 237, 239, 323
Temple, Sir William, 319–20, 322
Temple, Thomas, 260, 306
Thurloe, John, 72, 88–9, 90, 99, 107, 193, 262, 264;
Ship Tavern plotters and, 91, 92;
Gerard plot (1654) and, 92, 93, 94–5;
1655 uprising and, 95, 96;
Sindercombe plot and, 101, 102, 103–4;
in final Protectorate Parliament, 114
Thynne, Sir Thomas, 157
Tichborne, Robert, 218, 237, 238, 239, 323
Titus, Silius, 106, 245–6, 305
Toleration Act (1650), 39
Tomlinson, Matthew, 41, 52, 56, 57, 60, 146, 173, 231, 233, 234
Tong Plot (1662), 285–6
Toope, John, 101, 102, 103
Tower of London, 172, 215–16, 267, 270, 281, 302
Treason Act (1351), 172, 214, 215, 230, 237–8
trial of Charles I: Cromwell and, 8, 23*, 29, 32, 38, 41–2, 48, 50;
judges chosen by Rump, 8, 35;
non-appearance of judges, 8, 36, 37–8;
debates over purpose of, 23*;
legal authority of, 29, 31, 32, 34–5, 46, 47, 48, 70;
Westminster Hall chosen as venue, 33, 34;
drawing up of charge, 35, 36, 38;
sittings in Painted Chamber, 36, 37, 48, 49;
preliminary sessions, 36–8;
Bradshaw and, 37, 38, 39–40, 42, 45–7, 48–51, 111;
first day of, 38–46;
as true ‘glorious revolution’, 39, 325;
shouting woman incidents, 41, 49–50, 184, 228, 229, 231;
charge against king, 44–5;
‘Justice! Justice!’ shouts, 46, 51, 184, 220, 229, 231;
king’s refusal to recognise court, 46, 47, 48, 70;
second day of, 46–8;
third day of, 48–9;
judgement and sentence, 49, 50–1;
final days of, 49–51
trial of the regicides (9-19 October 1660): fixing/rigging of, 4, 210, 216, 226;
accused tried under 1351
Treason Act, 172, 214, 215, 230, 237–8;
weakening of rules of evidence for, 172, 209, 215, 231;
former republicans as judges/commissioners at, 209, 214, 222, 223, 230;
judges and commissioners, 209, 213–14, 222, 223, 230;
as political show trial, 209;
Charles II and, 210, 211;
non-regicide defendants, 210, 215, 227, 228–31;
list of accused, 212–13, 213*;
court record, 213;
preliminary business (8 October 1660), 213;
absent accused, 215;
hand-picked jury at, 215, 233;
daily procedures, 215–16;
beginning of (9-10 October 1660), 215–20;
layout of Sessions House, 216;
indictment and pleading, 216–19;
defendants refused legal representation, 217, 218, 223, 224;
legal issues raised by accused, 217, 218, 230;
unfair nature of, 217, 218, 226, 228, 231;
opening of prosecution (11 October 1660), 219–24;
attempts to make a defence by accused, 222–3, 224, 225–6, 230, 237–8;
constitutional issues raised during, 223, 224, 225–6, 230;
Rump ruled illegal at, 223, 238;
verdicts and sentences, 223–4, 225, 226, 231, 239–40;
second day of prosecution (12 October 1660), 224–7;
third day of prosecution (13 October 1660), 228–32;
enquiries into identity of executioners, 232–4;
pardoning of Hulet at, 233;
executions during/following, 235–7, 240–1, 243, 248, 249, 290;
secondary list defendants, 237–9, 240;
sparing of Heveningham, 239–40;
ending of, 241–2;
Stuart vengeance not sated by, 242;
news reaches Ludlow, 290
Turner, Sir Edward, 172, 225
Twyn, John, 280
Tyburn execution site, 160, 161, 241, 250, 280;
posthumous dismemberments at, 244, 245, 252
Uniformity Act (1662), 250
Van Dyck, Anthony, 58
Vane, Sir Harry, 22, 27, 48, 87*, 99, 111, 117, 249, 280–1, 297;
in final Protectorate Parliament, 114, 115;
in Rump Parliament (May-October 1659), 118, 122, 123, 124;
Committee of Safety and, 122, 123, 133, 136;
banishment of, 136, 143;
Monck’s letter (11 February 1660) and, 142;
placed on partial exception list, 189;
placed on death list, 203, 204, 205;
king agrees to remit execution of, 205, 281;
trial of, 282–4;
king breaks word on pardon of, 283–4;
execution of, 284, 291–2, 293
Venner, Thomas, 249–50
Verney, Sir Ralph, 285
Vevey (Canton of Bern), 294–301, 302, 322, 324
Villiers, Barbara (Barbara Castlemaine), 211, 282, 318
Villiers, Edward, 90, 93
Villiers, George, Duke of Buckingham, 198
Voisin, Monsieur, 291
Vowell, Peter, 93–4
Wagstaffe, Sir Joseph, 96–7, 98
Waite, Thomas, 237, 239
Walker, Clement, 118*
Waller, Sir Hardress, 136, 147, 182, 196, 246;
trial of, 212, 216–17, 218, 239;
life saved by cousin William, 246, 322–3
Waller, Sir William, 246, 323
Wallop, Robert, 280
Walter, Lucy, 32, 64, 321
Walton, Valentine, 207, 271, 322
Wariston, Archibald Johnston, Lord, 122, 194, 284–5, 286–7
Wariston, Lady, 286, 308
Warwick, Earl of, 268
Warwick Castle, 4
Wassenaer Obdam, Jacob van, 271
Watson, Dr Richard, 75
Weekly Intelligencer (government-controlled news sheet), 93
Weekly Post, 119
Wentworth, Thomas, Earl of Strafford, 43–4, 48, 59, 61
Westminster Abbey, 65, 78, 107, 110, 164, 244–5, 250–1;
removal of republican corpses from, 245, 251–2, 273
Westminster Hall, 33, 34, 37, 38–43, 44–8, 49–51, 107, 252
Whalley, Edward, 20, 116, 175, 207, 257–9, 261, 318;
escape to America, 167–8, 182, 202–3, 244, 255–6;
royalist hunt for in America, 255–61, 322–3;
cave on Providence Hill, 258–9, 261, 306, 307, 319;
hides in Milford cellar, 261, 306;
revival of search for (1664), 306–10
Whalley, Mary, 286
Wharton, Sir Thomas, 164
Whitchcott, Colonel, 66
White, Andrew, 312
White, Thomas, 248
Wh
ite Plot (December 1660), 248, 285
Whitehall Palace, 51, 57–8, 60–1, 92, 103, 109
Whitelocke, Bulstrode, 4, 22, 23, 28–9, 32, 110, 191–2;
Committee of Safety and, 122, 130, 133, 190, 191;
powerful enemies of, 190–1, 193
Whitford, Walter, 76, 77, 78, 263
Whitley, Roger, 91, 92
Whorwood, Jane, 20
Widdrington, Sir Thomas, 28, 29, 32
Wildman, John, 93
William of Orange (future William III), 321, 322
William of Orange (husband of Charles II’s sister), 32, 63, 263
Williams (or Gwilliams), John, 81, 82
Williamson, Joseph, 297, 298, 302, 303, 306, 315, 316
Willys, Sir Richard, 90, 93, 94–5
Wilmot, Henry, Earl of Rochester, 96–7, 98, 99
Windsor Castle, 23, 31–2, 33, 65–6
Winnington Bridge, Battle of (23 August 1659), 121–2, 127, 148
Wiseman, John, 92
Wood, Anthony, 213
Woolrych, Austin, Britain in Revolution, 119
Worcester, Battle of (3 September 1651), 85–6, 109, 194
Worden, Dr Blair, 4–5, 296
Wren, Christopher, 314
Wyndham, Christabella, 13
Young, William, 189
Zurich, 288
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Don Jordan is a writer and filmmaker who has won, among other awards, two Blue Ribbons at the New York Film and Television Festival. He has worked widely in television current affairs, documentaries and drama. He co-wrote and co-produced the award-winning feature film, Love is the Devil, about the painter Francis Bacon.
Michael Walsh is a writer and filmmaker. After twelve years as a reporter/presenter on the ITV series World in Action, he has made many other films, most recently a documentary on the Holocaust. His programmes have won six national and international awards.
Together they have written three books, including White Cargo, acclaimed by Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison as ‘an extraordinary book’.
The trial of Charles I in Westminster Hall in January 1649. The king sits facing two clerks at a table, with his back to the viewer. Behind the clerks sit the ranks of the commissioners, or judges, who would become known as ‘regicides’. INTERFOTQ/Sammlung Rauch/MEPL
The death warrant of Charles I, which was signed by fifty-nine judges. The signature of Richard Ingoldsby (inset) is particularly clear and assured, despite his later claim that Oliver Cromwell held his hand and made him sign. INTERFOTQ/Sammlung Rauch/MEPL
A contemporary woodcut of the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649. The illustration was far from accurate – not unusual for the time. The executioner wore a mask and a false beard, and he had an assistant, also disguised. British Museum
This engraving by Wenceslaus Hollar is of a brooding Charles II, the year after his father was executed. The text asserts his claim to the thrones of Great Britain, France and Ireland, even though he was living in exile on the charity of others. University of Toronto
The frontispiece of Eikon Basilike (‘The King’s Image’), a royalist propaganda publication, which appeared within days of Charles I’s execution. Here Charles is portrayed as a holy martyr, envisaging a heavenly crown. His temporal crown is lying abandoned at his feet. British library 077713
A contemporary portrait of John Milton by Wenceslaus Hollar. Milton was an active opponent of the monarchy. After the restoration, his life was in jeopardy. Authors’ collection
Radical lawyer John Cook led the prosecution of Charles I. Following the restoration, he was charged with high treason in a notorious show trial, despite protesting that he had only done his legal duty. NPG
George Monck, the enigmatic general whom republican leaders saw as their saviour. The former royalist had other plans, however, and was later rewarded with a dukedom. Authors’ collection
John Lambert, the republicans’ last hope, led his troops against Monck and was humiliated. Authors’ collection
Charles II was crowned king of Scotland by the Marquis of Argyll at Scone in 1651. Charles promised to make Argyll a duke but ten years later consigned the great Covenanter to the gallows. Private collection/Bridgeman Art library
This group portrait depicts eleven prominent regicides, with Oliver Cromwell in the centre. In fact, only eight sat in judgment on the king. Two, Daniel Axtell and Francis Hacker, were merely officers of the guard, while a third, Hugh Peters, was a Puritan cleric who preached to the court. Their lowly station did not save them from Charles II’s revenge. British Museum
Sir George Downing, the arch-turncoat, who entrapped old comrades and sent them to the brutal deaths reserved for traitors. Private collection/London Library
The exhumed head of Oliver Cromwell was displayed on a spike for Londoners to gape at. Pennant’s London
John Barkstead, Miles Corbet and John Okey, the fugitive regicides, who were kidnapped by Downing and dispatched to London to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Cromwell Museum
The posthumous ‘execution’ of Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton. Their heads can be seen on the roof of the Banqueting House. Private collection/Bridgeman Art Library
This contemporary woodcut depicts the butchering of three of the regicides: John Jones, Gregory Clement and Adrian Scroop. A horse-drawn sledge brings two other condemned men to the gallows. British Museum
Edmund Ludlow, the republican general, blamed by royalists for every plot against Charles II. MEPL
When parliamentary grandee John Lisle fled abroad, he unwittingly placed himself in the sights of a royalist assassination squad. NPG
The brutal spectre of hanging, drawing and quartering became counterproductive thanks to the powerful speeches by the leading regicides on reaching the scaffold. MEPL
The story of the Angel of Hadley became an American legend. The angel was widely thought to be the regicide general William Goffe, who escaped to America. Peter Newark American Pictures/Bridgeman Art Library
The political theorist Algernon Sidney was at first opposed to Charles I’s treason trial but later changed his mind. He spent his later years in exile, pursued by royalist assassination squads across Europe. Authors’ collection
Aphra Behn, famous as a novelist and dramatist, was also a royalist spy. She successfully inveigled a former lover into becoming a double agent for the royalist cause. NPG
* For a full list of the regicides see Appendix 1.
* A radical movement that wanted sweeping electoral and constitutional reform along with equal rights for all men.
* There is some controversy over the intentions behind the decision to put the king on trial. Sean Kelsey has argued (in The Historical Journal, vol. 45, 2002, and the Law and History Review, vol. 22, 2994, and elsewhere), that ‘the king’s trial was contrived as a final bid for peaceful settlement and not as a prelude to king-killing’. This view is strongly refuted by Clive Holmes (The Historical Journal, vol. 53, 2010), who says of Kelsey’s argument: ‘It relies on an uncritical approach to the evidence’ and ‘misunderstands the significance of … the army’s November Remonstrance, the act of establishing the High Court of Justice, and the charge against the king’. We tend to side with Holmes’ interpretation of the purpose of the trial as being to bring to public justice ‘this man against whom the Lord hath witnessed’, as Cromwell had it.
* Fifth Monarchists believed that there were five historical periods, each ruled by a monarch. The fifth, or last, of these would be the reign of Christ. Hence, Charles I was the fourth and stood in the way.
* In 1646, Bradshaw and Cook persuaded the House of Lords to overturn the 1638 Star Chamber judgment against John Lilburne. In doing so, they argued that a defendant should not be put in the position of incriminating himself by signing an oath to answer all questions truthfully before knowing what charges had been levied against him. In time, this right to silence expanded to cover all charges of a criminal nature. However, since 1994 juries have be
en allowed to draw inferences from a defendant’s refusal to answer questions
* Henry Marten was a parliamentarian who relished the high life and was much hated by the Cavaliers.
* The Covenanters wanted to exclude the king and the bishops from control of the Church.
* The term ‘the Good Old Cause’, took on many meanings but covered, broadly, the republican aspirations of a wide assortment of people. It appears in the writings of such divergent personalities as the militant Puritan Harry Vane and the republican theorist Algernon Sidney, and in the rallying call of General John Lambert in attempting to save the Commonwealth in 1660. It also appeared in many pamphlets of the time.
* The courts of assize were criminal courts in England and Wales held in rotation around designated assize towns until 1972, when they were replaced by the Crown Court.
† Some sources put the strength of Penruddock’s force as high as 1500 men, but this seems highly unlikely, particularly in the light of what occurred later at South Molton.
* It is to the Puritans’ shame that they saw no reason to punish any of their own for war crimes, whether in Ireland or elsewhere.
* The MP Clement Walker called the remnants ‘the veritable rump of parliament with corrupt maggots in it’. Complete History of Independency (1661).
* ‘The Weekly Post truly communicating the chief occurrences and proceedings within the commonwealth (3-31 May 1659), the first unofficial newspaper published under the Commonwealth.
