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00:04Game of Kings, the Stuarts is an evocation of the extraordinary era when these four Stuart Kings lived through turbulent
00:15times.
00:18Catholic versus Protestant.
00:22Parliament against King.
00:24The English Civil War.
00:28Europe torn apart by religious conflict.
00:32The plague. The Great Fire of London.
00:36And finally, a Catholic King fled his country and his throne.
00:47Charles I succeeded James I, who had inherited the throne from his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, which had brought
00:54the two kingdoms together, but at such a bloody cost.
00:57Charles struggled to be the king that everyone longed for.
01:02In the very beginning of Charles' reign, Charles plunges England into two simultaneous wars.
01:08To fight both of the superpower simultaneously is crazy, and the result, of course, is that all the campaigns are
01:13failures.
01:13He did believe in the divine right of kings. He believed he was placed there by God.
01:21Through history, we think Charles I lost his head, having lost the Civil War.
01:26But we forget the years when he was seen as the luckiest monarch in Europe.
01:30He was a highly sophisticated king. He really put British visual culture on the map, both in terms of what
01:39he commissioned in the form of Rubens and Van Dyck, but also what he collected.
01:44Charles II, the restoration would bring unity and glamour back to the country.
01:50The people were worn out by the austerity of Cromwell in the parliamentarian era, and ecstatically welcomed the new king.
01:59James II, the Catholic king of a Protestant country, was a disaster waiting to happen.
02:09In this series, we're looking at the reign of the Stuart kings through the lives of the Wynne family, who
02:15lived here at Gwydir Castle in North Wales.
02:18The Wynne's rather prospered during the Stuart era.
02:21Sir John, the head of the family, had been knighted during the reign of King James I, and was later
02:26elevated to the position of Baronet.
02:29But it was during the reign of King Charles I that the connection between the two families grew closest.
02:57The Wynne's rather prospered during the reign of King James I.
03:04Charles I became king of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1625, succeeding his father
03:10King James, the second Stuart monarch. Like his father, Charles believed in the divine
03:16right of kings and shunned parliament as irrelevant. As a result, he had a tempestuous reign and
03:22eventually led to the outbreak of a civil war. Sir Richard Wynne was a confidant of
03:28the new King Charles I and he was appointed groom of the bedchamber and gentleman of the
03:33privy chamber. Sir Richard Wynne and King Charles were long acquainted. Richard had even joined
03:40his future king on a pretty disastrous trip to Spain in 1623. Charles had hoped to negotiate
03:47his marriage to the Spanish infanta Maria Anna, daughter of King Philip III, but he was forced
03:53to return home humiliated. Charles's abject failure in Spain was an absolute delight to
04:01many back home. They did not want their future king marrying a Catholic. This was supposed
04:05to be a Protestant country now. However, Charles still ended up marrying a Catholic despite all
04:11of their protests. As he'd made his way to Spain on that fateful journey in 1623, he'd been to Paris
04:19and
04:19there he met Henrietta Maria, daughter of the King of France, Henry IV. So that hopeless journey abroad
04:26trying to get the Spanish infanta had not been in vain. Charles and Henrietta Maria would be married
04:33in Canterbury in 1625.
04:39Henrietta Maria got married on the understanding with Pope Urban that she would try and do her best to
04:44bring England back to the true faith of Roman Catholicism and also the sort of understanding
04:49that she would do her best to influence the royal family itself, the children that she would produce.
04:55The real problem was she was very zealously Catholic, so she flaunted her Catholicism even to
05:01the extent that she refused to take part in the coronation because she would not have the proceedings
05:06overseen by a Protestant. It was something that was anathema to her.
05:09It's very puzzling if you're a modern person to find the answer to why it should have been
05:14such a source of contention that Charles, the first ever monarch to be brought up as a member of
05:22the Church of England, shouldn't have been married to a Roman Catholic. She was French.
05:26So you have really strong religious prejudices on the side of Queen Henrietta Maria and of a lot of
05:33people in political power in England and it was, it would have needed somebody to back down and it
05:38wasn't going to be the politicians.
05:42In the year of the coronation and marriage 1625, Sir Richard Wynne is supposed to have planted out
05:47these 12 saplings that he brought back from Spain in 1623, which are the famous cedars here at Wydda.
05:55There are three that survived. These are the earliest statement of royalism, which is going to be a feature
06:01throughout the 17th century of the relationship between the Wynnes and the House of Stuart.
06:17This is the Queen's House in Greenwich. The building was designed by the great architect
06:22Inigo Jones and it was intended as a gift from King James I to his wife, Anne of Denmark. However,
06:29she died during its construction and the building was put on hold. Construction recommends on the
06:35Queen's House when King Charles decided it would make a wonderful gift for his new wife, Henrietta
06:40Maria. A second level was even added by Inigo Jones and Henrietta became one of Inigo's key benefactors.
06:48Just like her husband, Henrietta Maria was a devoted patron of the arts. Fortunately for the Queen,
06:54she had Sir Richard Wynne as a treasurer to help fund her artistic endeavours. Sir Richard would sign off
07:01her payments and often paid with funds from his own estate. Sir Richard Wynne was now a firmly established
07:08figure in the Royal House of Stuart. Treasurer to the Queen consort, groom of the bedchamber to the King.
07:15This meant he had the right to touch the King, a rare honour. Of course, this also meant he prepared
07:21the new King
07:22for his many portraits. One of the King's very favourite artists was the exceedingly popular Anthony van Dijk.
07:33Have you sat for many portraits yourself, Richard? One or two, sire. No, never for as skilled
07:39a man as Master van Dijk. The better sort are no faster. Let us try that one.
07:51There is majesty in art. If there be a lesson I took from Spain, it is that my court should
07:59outshine
07:59all others, just as England should outshine all nations. Except in Wales, sir. Of course, except in Wales.
08:10It's difficult to understate the impact that this genius of portraiture had. He was like an impresario,
08:19crying action. And for the first time, people genuinely began to move in pictures. There was
08:25a feeling of illusion and realism in a way that Daniel Muitens had slightly prepared the English for,
08:33but van Dijk swept the board with. I mean, one of the first things that
08:38he did. And Charles I, of course, was highly aware of the possibilities of an artist like van Dijk.
08:45He collected the works of Titian. He was familiar and through osmosis of contact with the works of
08:53the High Renaissance. He knew that there were ways of portraying him and his court in a way that was
09:00different from the past. No. No, it will not do. Take it away.
09:09Forgive me, sire.
09:11Did you fashion the collar, Richard? No, sire. Purchase it for my wardrobe?
09:16No, sire. Never make defence or apology before you be accused. Advice fit for statesmen,
09:25courtiers and husbands. We shall try another.
09:33Physically speaking, he was not prepossessing. He had a slightly gnomish face, very pronounced,
09:40slightly goggly eyes. He was also very small. He was five foot four. He had bow legs. He had rickets
09:46when he was young. And so he needed an artist to transform this rather unprepossessing human form
09:54into something magnificent. And I genuinely feel that when you look at those portraits of Charles
10:02I, van Dijk has elevated him with a subtle manipulation of the brush into an almost Christ-like
10:10figure. Van Dijk brought with him this box of tricks from the High Renaissance and he dumped them
10:17down in London. And with all the tools, all the insights, all the technical brilliance and
10:24proficiency, all the sort of poetic mood that he was able to imbue his sitters with, he transformed
10:32the way we looked. Despite a whirlwind start to his reign, Charles faced the same difficulties as his
10:39father, King James I. A strange relationship with Parliament and an urgent need to raise funds
10:46through unpopular taxes, would force his reign into extreme tensions. With a 30 years war raging on
10:53the continent, it wouldn't be long before the country plunged into its own civil war and blood would flow.
11:11Sir Richard Wynne, the owner of Gwydir Castle here in North Wales,
11:15inherited his property and his titles from his father, Sir John Wynne. Richard's brother Owen was
11:21a ruckish type, interested in a variety of subjects, including the mysterious business of alchemy.
11:28Owen preferred to stay here at the family home of Gwydir, while Richard was busy in the court of the
11:34new
11:34King Charles I. King Charles' reign had started at a frantic pace. He married Henrietta Maria, daughter of
11:45the King of France, just a couple of months after gaining the throne and was already planning a war
11:50with Spain after those failed attempts to marry the Spanish Infanta. But Charles inherited the same
11:56problems as his father, a poor relationship with Parliament and a misplaced trust in a particular
12:03figure at court, the Duke of Buckingham. He'd been a favourite of King James and had retained a
12:09considerable amount of influence over King Charles as well. There was a sort of intense friendship which I
12:16think started on both sides from a mutual regard of how powerful the other one was, you know,
12:21Buckingham because of his royal favour, which he said he didn't want to lose with the change of ruler,
12:27and Charles because he wanted to be loved by his father and what better way of being loved than to
12:33show favour for his favourite. There was a sort of element of intelligence on both parts that
12:39diplomatically they should make the most of each other, because it was going to further their own
12:44interest. But after James's death, Buckingham maintained this extraordinary hold over the
12:50throne for the remaining three years of Buckingham's life. From the very beginning, Charles and Parliament
12:56don't get on. Distrust builds very, very quickly, not least because Charles is pouring money into failed
13:04military campaigns led by Buckingham, and Parliament doesn't see why it should continue to give money.
13:09He starts raising money under his prerogative in ways which are truly controversial. It is one of the
13:17major issues which generates the distrust of Charles that he's going to be the background of factors for a civil
13:24war a few years later.
13:28Despite a lack of finances, Charles pressed ahead with his intervention in the Thirty Years' War,
13:33and an expedition was launched against Spain. Buckingham oversaw an alliance with the Dutch,
13:39and the plan was effectively to engage in piracy by raiding Spanish treasure ships returning from the
13:44New World with gold, and then to attack Spanish towns in order to drag the country out of the Thirty
13:51Years' War.
13:52It was a complete disaster. Through bad luck and incompetence, at least 1,000 English soldiers died,
14:00with nothing to show for it. People blamed the already unpopular Duke of Buckingham. The recalled
14:06Parliament mooted impeaching him, and Charles dismissed them, spare his friend. But he couldn't
14:11protect the Duke of Buckingham from all the threats. On the 23rd of August 1628, Buckingham was stabbed to
14:19death in Portsmouth by a disgruntled army officer. Charles and the court mourned Buckingham deeply,
14:25but the rest of the country pretty much celebrated his death. The rift between king and country was growing deeper.
14:36One of the officers, Felton, who had been on his first mission, stabbed him to death,
14:42and Buckingham knew the wound was fatal. He actually called it out. The shock in this country of the
14:48greatest non-royal in the country being just commonly assassinated was something absolutely astonishing.
14:56A lot of people didn't like the influence Buckingham had, but the thought of him suddenly
15:00being gone at the blade of an assassin was something that took a lot of coming to terms with.
15:13Once Buckingham was dead, Sir Richard Wynne was one of King Charles's most trusted advisors,
15:18but he could also be viewed as one of the king's greatest benefactors. Richard's father, Sir John Wynne,
15:24had been offered a baronetcy by King James and bought it at a hefty price. Only Parliament could
15:31levy taxes, so Stuart monarchs had to find new inventive ways of acquiring funds if they were
15:37going to ignore Parliament, as King Charles liked to do. He generated new income through the highly
15:42unpopular ship money levy. This was essentially a tax intended for wartime, but it was now levied
15:49during peacetime. It had only been imposed on counties that lay on the coast, but it was now implied
15:55inland as well. Families like the Wynne's would be the one's footing this massive tax bill.
16:08Drawn up by Master Inigo Jones himself. It's a bridge. By the surveyor to his majesty.
16:16I'm surprised the king can spare him. He must be a man much occupied.
16:20A generosity typical of his character. 25 shillings and fourpence. What?
16:2725 shillings and fourpence. That's the king's demand, oh, apologies, generosity,
16:33that arrived this morning courtesy of the sheriff. Ship money owed on our rectory.
16:38Are we to dispute over 25 shillings? That is but the latest demand, brother. We bear the queen's debts,
16:45we pay the king's ship money, were it not for the Irish estates. The king must have means.
16:51To gild his palace while our roofs fall in. Whitehall is dilapidated. It shames the nation.
16:57The nation has other concerns. I've seen the pamphlets. The printing press may echo a voice
17:02a thousand times over. It is still but one man. Do not be swayed by malfactors in London. The nation
17:10is happy.
17:13I think one of the tragedies for the Stuarts is that they never had enough money.
17:17And parliament wasn't prepared to give enough or to tax enough in their own way. Charles I was very
17:23keen to get round this problem and to use whatever device he could come up with. Anything connected to
17:30the crown to raise money he would look at. And ship money was the first really big disaster in terms
17:36of
17:37confrontation with people who were not prepared to put up with what they saw as an abuse of kingly
17:42power. There is a case for it. There is a big European war going on. 20,000 English young people
17:49mainly are being captured by pirates coming from North Africa and taking them off to be slaves in North
17:56Africa. Charles I, in fairness, was building up the navy in a very dramatic way which was good for the
18:04nation.
18:05But to impose a tax on internal counties of England for the growing of the navy was a really
18:12difficult concept for people who are being asked to pay it. He will not recall parliament then?
18:18Why let that disputatious gathering disturb the peace?
18:21I have conducted alchemic investigations these many years. Vapours foul and copious are a near constant.
18:30In the naivety of my youth I sought once to contain those airs, lest father catch upon the breeze a
18:35hint of my designs.
18:36I remember.
18:38I capped a fermenting bottle. Yet my attempts at amelioration only worsened the explosion when it came.
18:46Parliament is the bottle?
18:47The country is the bottle.
18:50I fear the long containment of grievance without safe release will bring us all to greater misfortune.
18:56The king may rule without parliament so ever long he wishes.
19:01It's not his prerogative, I doubt brother, but his wisdom.
19:09It is a very fine bridge.
19:12To do it without consulting parliament and then say well I have a right in a national emergency
19:19to raise these sorts of monies when in fact there's time to call a parliament
19:26is to abuse your power.
19:29It was just the first major step of Charles being seen as an absolutist monarch in an unacceptable,
19:37very un-British way.
19:43The Thirty Years' War had begun as a religious conflict between Catholic and Protestant states
19:49and although King Charles disengaged from the conflict, the religious divisions within his own kingdoms
19:55did not disappear. England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland all had their own unique and combustible mix
20:03of Catholics and Protestants. Many also suspected Charles of secret Catholic sympathies.
20:09His wife was French. His attempts to help Protestant allies in Europe were seen as half-hearted
20:15and together with his Archbishop of Canterbury, William Lord, Charles passed a series of anti-Calvinist reforms.
20:22These were particularly unpopular in Scotland. In 1639, the church and public there rebelled.
20:30Charles couldn't stand this affront to his authority, but he didn't have the funds to raise an adequate army.
20:36Scottish forces swept into England, seizing Northumberland and forcing the King to pay them for the privilege.
20:42Charles had no choice but to recall parliament. Humiliated by the Scots and backed into a corner by his
20:48finances. Charles could not dismiss the members this time and the men of parliament quickly moved
20:54against Charles' government. Advisors were impeached and new acts were passed preventing the King from
21:01ruling alone in the way he had done. The times seem as a man with the ague. Some days good,
21:09some days bad.
21:09I see not the good. The remedy, as ever, is best found at home.
21:19Executing Chief Minister Stratford has purchased not a moment's respite. Had His Majesty not called
21:25parliament last year, I do believe the Earl of Warwick would have marched on London. Now, bit by bit,
21:32they gnaw away at his prerogative. An act for preventing the long intermission of parliaments.
21:39An act declaring ship money unlawful and void. An act for the regulation of the Privy Council.
21:47His Majesty is most sensible of the disrespect. He will brook it though.
21:53He says it is but a few malcontents goading and leading the rabble on. I'm sure he has it right.
22:02Come home, brother. If it turns to conflict, I would not have you here in London.
22:09My place is with His Majesty.
22:16Tensions were reaching boiling point in Ireland. Terrible killings took place between Catholics
22:21and Protestants. Rumours abounded. Parliament wanted to impeach Charles' Catholic wife,
22:28Hemietta Maria, for collusion with the rebels. That, for the King, was the last straw. Charles
22:34marched on the House of Commons with an armed guard to arrest who he thought were his enemies,
22:38the opposition ringleaders. But the Speaker refused to surrender the MPs. Not long afterwards,
22:45Charles left London, which was increasingly hostile to him. Further negotiations with the Parliament
22:51failed. Soon, both sides were raising armies. At Nottingham, on the 22nd of August, 1642,
22:59Charles raised the royal standard. The English Civil War had begun.
23:08In order for there to be an English Civil War, there has to be a collapse of authority in Ireland
23:14and
23:14Scotland first. You have to send an army to Ireland in order to safeguard the Protestants who've not
23:21been massacred. You can't trust the King with that army, but the King can't possibly be expected to, as King,
23:30to give over the power to control armies to a Parliament that is a legislative body. It's not an
23:35executive body. So that becomes the non-negotiable issue in which all the tensions in England burst forth
23:42into violence. I see the Civil War coming from a shifting of tectonic plates to do with politics,
23:50society and religion. There were very, very bloody things going on in the continent which show the
23:57intensity of religious feeling on both sides. There was a similar feeling over here about what
24:03is right religiously, and people believe passionately to the point of death in their particular brand of
24:08Christianity. I think one of the things about Charles I, almost his besetting sin, was tactlessness.
24:14They were so in love with their idea of what the church was and how it would be beautified that
24:20they were stupidly intolerant of the Puritans. Definitely there was a class of people in the
24:27political sphere of England who believed that they should be representing the interests of the country
24:34versus the court. And equally vehemently you have Charles I and before him James I believing absolutely
24:42rigidly in the divine right of kings. So there's a sort of religious conflict and a philosophical
24:48one about who's actually in charge of this country and what is it about.
24:54Come.
24:59Everything is read, Your Majesty. Do you know what they say of me, Richard, in these pamphlets?
25:05I do not read them, sire. They say I plot with Rome,
25:11that I conspire for the propagation of popery in my kingdoms.
25:15They are seditious, sire. They are bane, lewd, and wicked.
25:23But fire must with fire be matched.
25:27I have ordered a printing press be conveyed to Oxford with the court.
25:31Very wise, sire.
25:32Our own newsletter.
25:35Where they entice with empty falsehood, we shall nourish with the truth.
25:41So equipped will the people shake off their current sickness and better affection be to their king.
25:49I shall return, Richard.
25:53And to such a welcome.
25:57The stage was set for civil war. Charles on one side, Parliament on the other.
26:03Charles' belief in the divine right of kings was about to be severely tested.
26:08Charles set up his capital in Oxford. His strength lay in the north and west,
26:14whereas Parliament had the wealthy London and the south-east, and control of the navy.
26:19The initial battles of the civil war were pretty much a draw, alongside intermittent and futile peace talks.
26:30Father?
26:33Father?
26:39Is it from Uncle Richard?
26:41Father, what news of the war?
26:43Well, it's from one of our tenants.
26:45A clothier.
26:47He cannot pass army lines to reach market in Shrewsbury.
26:51Our drovers cannot take their cattle into England, either.
26:54Perhaps they should fight instead, if their lord would not forbid it.
26:58Wisely, they keep themselves apart.
27:00And no matter if people think they're cowards, if people talk of them so.
27:04Were I to hear such a word, I would correct it very seriously.
27:10I think the Royalists were in the Ascendant from the summer of 1642 until Marston Moor in 1644, marginally.
27:19I think the energy of the Royalists was quite impressive.
27:23But the fundamentals were against the Royalists the longer the war went on.
27:29The navy being for Parliament and London being for Parliament.
27:34And then when the Scots came in, that was really the turning point.
27:36He did believe in the divine right of kings.
27:39He believed he was placed there by God.
27:42It was his destiny, as an anointed king, to be the supreme head of the British state.
27:51Whereas the Puritans, fed with this Hebraic idea that there is only one king, namely Almighty God,
28:02disputed the idea that Charles Stewart, that man of blood, as they called him, should make any such claim.
28:08I am a man grown.
28:11We've spoken about this.
28:12Is it not my duty to serve the king?
28:15These people live in the mountains.
28:16They sow no crop.
28:18Their livelihood is in cloth, in cattle.
28:21Only by reaching market can they pay the rent.
28:23Only with their rent can we support the king.
28:25That is our duty.
28:27It is yours.
28:28You cannot stop me.
28:30But most of these drovers, these clothiers are too old for the fight.
28:35They are perhaps fearful of losing what they hold dear.
28:37That does not mean that they have forgotten what it is to be young and eager.
28:42I want to fight.
28:491645 was a turning point in the civil wars that had so far been a stalemate.
28:54Many in Parliament were unhappy that their advantage in resources hadn't translated into victory.
29:01They suspected some commanders of half-hearted leadership.
29:05They demanded change.
29:07So, in January 1645, the New Model Army was founded.
29:12It was to be professional, well-trained, a national army not limited to one geographical area like the old militia.
29:20And promotion was to be based on merit, not on social status.
29:25The New Model Army first took to the field in late spring 1645,
29:32under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.
29:36Its first major battle was on 14th of June at Naseby, where it faced the King's smaller but more experienced
29:45force.
29:46The result? A stunning victory for the new parliamentary force.
29:51Naseby in Northamptonshire, that's the one which really settles it because once the King's main marching army has been destroyed
30:00and his wonderful, wonderful infantry,
30:03there's no way to combat for him.
30:05The amount of territory he now occupies is too little to support the war effort.
30:09The emergence of the New Model Army in its first great victory at Naseby is a clear sign that Parliament
30:16now has an instrument that will ensure that they will not lose the benefits of their great victory in the
30:23middle of Northamptonshire.
30:26That Naseby defeat robbed Charles of his best men, his artillery, his stores and his grip over the royalist heartland
30:34of the West Country.
30:35Charles retreated to his capital, Oxford.
30:39Later, Charles headed for Conway Valley in North Wales, where he had loyal support.
30:45It's believed that he came here to Gwydir Castle upon the invitation of Sir Richard Wynne.
30:53Sir Richard Wynne was at the side of King Charles as his brother, Owen, received this message at Gwydirne.
31:08He ever was an unfortunate king.
31:12Had the winds been otherwise in 28, a fine victory might have been his in France.
31:17Instead, he was garlanded with humiliation.
31:23Now, defeat hurries quick upon defeat.
31:27His last port is besieged and his force is spent.
31:31And word comes he would seek refuge here at Gwydir.
31:38To receive a king.
31:40That is an honour even I can recognise.
31:44Yet, danger slips through an open door.
31:50Offer your hand to a drowning man.
31:53You may be pulled down with him.
31:59Paint ourselves too lurid a royal hue.
32:02We mark ourselves as the victor's prize.
32:09But will Gwydir at the last reject Caesar?
32:18Should peace be struck, his kingdom retained,
32:21He may remember the friends that betrayed him with more rancour than the enemies that fought him.
32:34Alchemic reaction, once begun cannot so easily be undone.
32:42yet they will have an answer
32:51there was this king who was a charming man had lots of good qualities religious thoughtful very
32:58good family man but a terrible king and one who had taken very poor advice at a lot of key
33:07junctures
33:08the problem with charles was he was just so weak and it used to drive henrietta mariah mad you see
33:15her letters to him from the safety of the continent saying you agreed to do this but you did that
33:21yet
33:21again what are you doing and he couldn't help himself he just was easily swayable and this was
33:28not a decade the 1640s where you could have a weak king and hope for a good outcome for the
33:36country
33:46all for him
33:47king charles was running out of options he was forced to surrender to the scottish army
33:52on the 5th of may 1646 and after months of negotiation charles was given up into the
33:58custody of the english parliament essentially taken to prison charles didn't give up hope
34:04he knew about growing divisions between the scots and the english and between parliament and the
34:11new model army so he had a plan he made a secret agreement with the scots they would invade england
34:17and with the help of the remaining royalist forces return charles to the throne in return charles would
34:24establish a scottish presbyterian religion in england
34:31the king having lost the war tries to win the peace i mean he tries to play off his enemies
34:36against one another but it's not impossible that couldn't have worked if he'd been a little bit
34:42more flexible in 1647 he could probably have made a deal with the army and the army would have put
34:46him
34:47back on the throne uh in return what they were demanding was complete religious freedom
34:52um that there should be complete liberty and that was better for him i think than having a presbyterian
34:58strict scottish style um church government he could have had an a weak um episcopalian system
35:06you know church of england the weak church of england with complete freedom outside and he
35:09he doesn't take that opportunity
35:14the second civil war flamed into life in 1648 but it was brief the new model army put down the
35:23royalist rebellions before defeating the scottish forces at preston in august charles was forced to
35:30negotiate but those divisions between the new model army and parliament had not gone away parliament voted
35:38narrowly to continue negotiating with the king but by now the army and oliver cromwell thought charles
35:46a tyrant who had to be removed
35:53choosing between the radical demands of the army and a king who surely is chastened and wiser than he
35:59was when we first fought him faced by that the army has a choice and the army decides that god
36:06will
36:07not forgive them if they put man of blood this man who had caused all the suffering for his people
36:14and they put him back on the throne so the army occupies london it purges parliament removes a
36:20majority of mps and it puts the king on trial when finally the king is taken it's interesting that sir
36:29richard wynne of course as well as his royal duties was an mp he then has to watch the the
36:35slow unraveling
36:36of the royalist cause and he'd been in his service for all these years and already when he was prince
36:43and going all the way through having carried his robes at the coronation having been with him on a
36:49drunken jaunt in spain having done all those things with the king and then ultimately with the queen later
36:55it must have been terrifyingly difficult for anyone to cope with there was a strong element of parliament
37:02who were not in favor of the king being tried on any level it was a huge jump for people
37:10mentally to
37:11go from the king that they had always been taught as being a representative of god and a figure of
37:18great
37:19awe even though he had been defeated in battle repeatedly even though he was reneging on agreements
37:25he was still the king and to a lot of loyalist members of parliament they could understand a way
37:34forward where the king might be persuaded to be a more acceptable form of himself
37:42the trial of a king was something new in england no existing court thought the trial legal so parliament
37:49had to create a special body to try charles and it met for the first time in westminster hall on
37:55the
37:5520th of january 1649 charles was accused of high trees and held responsible for all the death and
38:02destruction caused by the war of course charles didn't recognize the court's authority he refused to
38:08enter a plea insisting the trial was not only illegal by english law but against god as well
38:16the colonels of the new model army were the dominant force really in the trial of charles the
38:22first they had seen too much bloodshed and they could then only see charles as this famous phrase this
38:29man of blood he was no longer charles king of england on a pedestal he was just another man who
38:35had caused this appalling bloodshed and i think it's always worth remembering that the english civil
38:40wars they caused the heaviest loss of life percentage of population in this country ever including the
38:46first world war and the casualties were even worse in scotland and considerably worse in ireland
38:52so i think that with all that in mind people thought those who hated the king by this stage or
38:59who
38:59suddenly loathed the bloodshed that went with the king's cause i think they thought that if we could
39:04just lock the head off literally the the crown then we could have a fresh start and and no more
39:12blood
39:15the court sentenced charles to death he bade farewell to his children who were with him to the end
39:22he requested two shirts so that he would not shiver from the cold and so give the impression of being
39:30afraid the king was beheaded on a scaffold outside banqueting house in whitehall on the 30th of january 1649
39:55you look tired are you there when they richard
40:03may we all meet our deaths in so steadfast a spirit
40:09did they grant him any last words
40:13the soldiers kept us at a far remove
40:16a scaffold had been erected it was at the banqueting house designed by master jones back our bridge
40:27i could not hear what he said
40:31i saw him speak a prayer and kneel at the block hands outstretched before him
40:42when the axe fell the crowd gave out a moan as i never heard before and desire i may never
40:51do so again
40:58charles king and martyr
41:20it's interesting that serrated wind just sort of fizzles out and a few months
41:24after the execution of the king he's dead he's dead himself in the 19th century they would have
41:31romantically said he died of a broken heart but he really had no purpose he sort of fizzled out
41:36it's a sort of unspecific illness i think just wasted away probably through grief
41:45the house of lords was abolished an executive power wielded by parliament and its council of state
41:51the new model army was the most powerful force in britain with oliver cromwell in command it swept
41:58aside all remaining military opposition in 1653 cromwell disbanded parliament he thought it quarrelsome
42:05and ineffective and seized power as lord protector in the end the bloody english civil war between king
42:13and parliament and parliament saw both sides lose all the while across the sea charles's son and heir
42:21waited in exile
42:26in the next episode of the stewarts a bloody reign the heir to the throne charles ii goes into hiding
42:33on the continent where he is stunned by the news that his father has been put to death
42:37for over a decade charles travels in exile around the royal houses of europe planning to overthrow cromwell's
42:45commonwealth and restore the house of stewart but his attempts are in vain and it seemed all hopes are
42:52lost however the tides begin to turn back in the stewart's favor with the death of cromwell and soon
43:00charles ii will be welcomed with open arms by an adoring public in london
43:07the restoration of the monarchy sees a return to prominence for the win family as well
43:12but there are many enormous obstacles to overcome including a huge outbreak of the dreaded plague
43:19and the great fire of london
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