Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I
    Unavailable
    Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I
    Unavailable
    Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I
    Ebook432 pages7 hours

    Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I

    By Charles Spencer

    4/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this ebook

    Charles Spencer tells the shocking stories and fascinating fates of the men who signed Charles I's death warrant in this Sunday Times bestseller

    'Seamless, pacy and riveting ... exceptional'     ALISON WEIR
    'The virtues of a thriller and of scholarship are potently combined' TOM HOLLAND
    'Outstanding: a thrilling tale of retribution and bloody sacrifice' JESSIE CHILDS
    __________________
    January, 1649. After seven years of fighting in the bloodiest war in Britain's history, Parliament faced a problem: what to do with a defeated king, a king who refused to surrender?

    Parliamentarians resolved to do the unthinkable, to disregard the Divine Right of Kings and hold Charles I to account for the appalling suffering and slaughter endured by his people. On an icy winter's day on a scaffold outside Whitehall, the King of England was executed.

    When the dead king's son, Charles II, was restored to the throne, he set about enacting a deadly wave of retribution against all those – the lawyers, the judges, the officers on the scaffold – responsible for his father's death.

    Bestselling historian Charles Spencer explores this violent clash of ideals through the individuals whose fates were determined by that one, momentous decision. A powerful tale of revenge from the dark heart of royal history and a fascinating insight into the dangers of political and religious allegiance in Stuart England, these are the shocking stories of the men who dared to kill a king.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateSep 11, 2014
    ISBN9781408851715
    Unavailable
    Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I
    Author

    Charles Spencer

    Charles Spencer was educated at Eton College and obtained his degree in Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a reporter on NBC’s Today show from 1986 until 1995, and is the author of four books, including the Sunday Times bestseller Blenheim: Battle for Europe (shortlisted for History Book of the Year, National Book Awards) and Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier.

    Read more from Charles Spencer

    Related to Killers of the King

    Related ebooks

    European History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Blanche Of Castile

      May 5, 2023

      lanche of Castile proved a remarkable queen regent of France during the minority of Louis IX from 1226 to 1234, and then again during Louis IX’s crusade between 1248 and Blanche’s death in 1252. Blanche was arguably the most successful woman ruler of

      8 min read

    • Article

      The People’s Republic Of Britain

      Mar 17, 2022

      On 5 March 1650, early in the life of the new Commonwealth of England, a state funeral was held. There was a stellar turn-out for Roland Wilson, army officer and politician. Almost the whole of the new political establishment was there: the head of t

      6 min read

    • Article

      Ruling WITHOUT ROYALTY

      Jun 7, 2019

      Ruling WITHOUT ROYALTY
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Making Of A Monarch

      Nov 24, 2022

      The Making Of A Monarch
      6 min read

    • Article

      Killing The King

      Dec 29, 2020

      Killing The King
      2 min read

    • Article

      10 Key Battles Of The Civil Wars

      Dec 29, 2020

      Between 1637 and 1640, Charles I had tried to enforce Anglican religious observances on the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland, including a new prayer book. National Scottish resistance and defiance of the King’s orders resulted in the so-called Bisho

      6 min read

    • Article

      Worcester

      Jan 21, 2021

      Worcester
      11 min read

    • Article

      Battle Of Worcester

      Oct 7, 2021

      Battle Of Worcester
      8 min read

    • Article

      Charles… The Cursed?

      May 7, 2023

      Long before St Edward’s Crown was officially placed on King Charles’ head at his coronation, the new sovereign was facing intense scrutiny over the British monarchy. From the minute he took the throne, staunch republicans and even the Duke and Duches

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Curse Of Cromwell

      Nov 6, 2020

      The Curse Of Cromwell
      6 min read

    • Article

      Our Chief of Men

      Aug 2, 2019

      Our Chief of Men
      4 min read

    • Article

      CHARLES II's CURSED REIGN

      Apr 20, 2023

      CHARLES II's CURSED REIGN
      11 min read

    • Article

      Fortean Traveller

      Oct 6, 2022

      Following the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, thousands of people will make a pilgrimage to Windsor to pay their last respects to a muchloved monarch. My own journey began a few years earlier, just after King Richard III turned up in a Lei

      7 min read

    • Article

      A Royal Treasure Trove

      May 5, 2023

      A Royal Treasure Trove
      2 min read

    • Article

      Hero Of The Highlands

      Aug 14, 2020

      Hero Of The Highlands
      4 min read

    • Article

      The King Crowned Twice

      Apr 14, 2023

      The King Crowned Twice
      2 min read

    • Article

      The First Tabloid Hack

      Aug 24, 2022

      August 22nd marked the 380th anniversary of the day King Charles I declared war on Parliament in 1642. He raised his standard at Nottingham Castle. It blew down overnight. The English Civil War – which I like to think of as Brexit with swords – was t

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Siege

      May 12, 2022

      The Siege
      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Killers of the King

    4/5

    40 ratings6 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Call this an examination of how the wheels of regime change are lubricated with blood, as the hard men of New Model Army, unable to reach a satisfactory settlement with Charles Stuart, solved their problem the direct way, only to find themselves caught up in the recoil of events when their efforts to create a republic failed. As a group portrait this is an interesting enough work, but the more thoughtful reader might want more consideration of how the failings of the commonwealth generated such resentment that the House of Stuart could gain another chance at power.
    • 5/5
      A great read. Spencer is one of those historians who can retell history as a great story without comprising scholarship.
    • 4/5
      This book provides a brief account of the trial and execution of Charles I in 1649 in the English Civil War, and more specifically the roles and later fates of the 80 or so prominent men involved in some way in the death of Charles I, whether as part of the commission that tried him, being a signatory to the death warrant or being involved in the mechanics of the execution itself. This was well researched, with some interesting individual life stories, but it made for quite depressing reading, with the unslakeable desire for vengeance on the part of the restored Monarchy from 1660 in pursuing this group of people throughout England, across the continent and even to the New World in some cases, bringing them back, in most cases, to face the most hideous execution of being hanged, drawn and quartered, after a perfunctory or even no trial. There were huge political issues at stake here on both sides of course, with the Divine Right of Kings on the one hand, versus the right of Parliament to circumscribe the powers of a monarch and develop some sort of parliamentary democracy and liberty, on the other. Some might assume that the author, being related to the royal family, will instinctively be on the side of the royalists, but in fact he regards the regicides as "extremely brave" people who "deserve...to be remembered with respect for their sacrifices."
    • 3/5
      The aftermath of the English Civil War is explored in Killers of the King. Charles I, captured and placed on trial by the anti-Royalists, is found guilty and executed. The men who signed his death warrant, the Regicides, feel they have done the right thing and hope for a new, fairer England under the Parliament.But it doesn’t end up like expected. Dozens are executed or exiled, Oliver Cromwell takes over as dictator, the Parliament is marginalized and the anti-Royalists feel the tide turning.The Royalists, exiled in Ireland, make their way back and install Charles’ son the new king , Charles II. The retributions begin.This book follows the fate of the Regicides, from horrendous executions (hanged, cut down alive, cut open, entrails pulled out and burned in front of the still-alive prisoner, then finally beheading and chopping up into five pieces) to exile in Holland, France and across the sea in New England.As the Regicides faced their fates bravely, the crowds grew less and less bloodthirsty and the executed began to be regarded as martyrs for a cause they still believed in.It’s a fascinating and little-told slice of the English Civil War, when the chance at a Republic was destroyed by greed, and the retribution again tainted the Royalty.You'll get swept up in the brave and foolhardy men who dared to rise up against the king, and in their fates after the tide turned.I received this book through a GoodReads First Reads giveaway.
    • 4/5
      This non-fiction work has as its theme the execution of deposed English King Charles I, the subsequent Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, the Restoration of the monarchy and the resulting manhunt for those responsible for the late King’s murder. For those not familiar with this era of English history, it is a good overview of the events leading up to the manhunts. For those well versed in the history, it will appear a bit simplistic and too brief. Once the Restoration is complete, however, everyone is pretty much on the same ground, as I have never seen an account of the arrests, executions and attempted rounding up of the key figures in the trail and execution of Charles I. The detailed description of those hung, drawn and quartered might be little bit too much for the weak stomached, and the scene is repeated about a dozen times as the arrest, trials and executions of each of the traitors is set out in detail. Likewise, those that fled in the face of arrest are followed and the lengths to which the Royalists sought them, sometimes successfully, are set out as well. Overall, this is an interesting account, though not exhaustive or even fully presented. While the focus is on those that participated in the trial and execution, some background is helpful and even necessary. This is a relatively short book, at under 300 pages, and Oliver Cromwell is barely even mentioned, either in the events leading to the deposition of the King or the resulting Protectorate. A more fully fleshed out presentation of the history of the era would not have been out of line, even though not the focus of the book, given its brevity.
    • 4/5
      This book follows the fortune of the regicides, after the restoration. It is an interesting story, a real reversal of fortunes, and there are a lot of individual characters to follow. I would have liked a little more background on the English civil war, and the politics of the time to make more sense of what was going on: I struggled to fully understand why the restoration happened.