King Charles the Martyr
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Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was the second son of King James I of England and Anne of Denmark. Charles's reign was marked by religious and political conflicts that ultimately led to the English Civil War and his trial and execution for high treason. His execution marked the only time in English history that the monarch, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, was killed by his own subjects.
Anglicans who venerate him have called him Saint Charles the Martyr, or Charles, King and Martyr. His cult is upheld by societies such as the Society of King Charles the Martyr.
Early life and accession
Charles was born at Dunfermline Palace in Fife, Scotland. As the second son, he was not initially expected to inherit the throne, but became heir apparent after the death of his elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1612. Charles was a sickly child who suffered from weak ankles and a stammer, but he grew into a cultured and refined man with a deep appreciation for the arts.
Upon his father's death in 1625, Charles inherited three kingdoms in a state of religious and political tension. Unlike his father, who styled himself a mediating theologian, Charles possessed firm convictions about the nature of monarchy and the Church that would prove uncompromising.
Anglican convictions and church polity
Charles was a devout Anglican who held a high view of the sacraments and the episcopacy. He believed profoundly in the divine right of kings and saw himself as responsible before God for the spiritual welfare of his subjects. His vision of the Church of England included beauty in worship, the importance of ceremony, and the continuity of the Church with its Catholic past while maintaining its reformed Protestant character.
Laudian Reforms
Charles appointed William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, and together they pursued what they understood as a restoration of reverence and order in Anglican worship. These reforms helped recover the Catholic heritage of the English Church while maintaining its Protestant theology. Charles and Laud believed they were defending the via media, the middle way between Rome and Geneva, which had been established under Elizabeth I. These reforms, often called the Laudian or Arminian program, included (but are not limited to) moving communion tables to the east end of churches and railing them off as altars, enforcing liturgical uniformity according to the Book of Common Prayer, requiring clergy to wear surplices and emphasizing ceremonial aspects of worship, beautifying church interiors with stained glass, carvings, and other ornamentation, and suppressing Puritan practices such as weekday lectures and unauthorized preaching.
Theological Position
Charles's theological outlook was shaped by a sacramental understanding of Christianity and a belief in the apostolic succession of bishops. He rejected both papal supremacy and Presbyterian church government, insisting a jure divino episcopacy. His chaplains and the bishops whom he appointed generally held what would later be called High Church views, believing in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist (though not transubstantiation), the necessity of episcopal ordination for valid ministry, the Church of England as a true branch of the Catholic Church, the importance of tradition alongside Scripture, and the possibility of salvation through faithful adherence to the sacraments and the teachings of the Church. Charles viewed Puritans who rejected these principles as threats to the very fabric of the established Church and, by extension, to divinely ordained social order.
Conflict with Parliament and the Puritans
Charles's religious policies alienated powerful Puritan factions in Parliament and among the gentry. Many Anglicans feared that the Laudian reforms were a step toward reconciliation with Rome, though Charles himself remained firmly opposed to Roman Catholicism. His marriage to the Roman Catholic Henrietta Maria of France, while a diplomatic necessity, added to these suspicions. The king's attempts to impose Anglican liturgy on Presbyterian Scotland through the 1637 Book of Common Prayer proved disastrous, sparking the Bishops' Wars. The Scottish resistance demonstrated that Charles's vision of a unified Anglican Church throughout his kingdoms was unachievable without a military force which he could not sustain.
The Civil War
The breakdown of relations between Charles and Parliament over taxation, religious policy, and the extent of royal prerogative led to the outbreak of civil war in 1642. Charles fought for the preservation of the Church of England as he understood it. The parliamentary cause was dominated by Puritans who threatened to dismantle the episcopal Church and impose a rigid Presbyterian system. During the war, areas under parliamentary control saw widespread iconoclasm, with stained glass windows smashed, organs destroyed, and clergy ejected from their livings. The Book of Common Prayer was eventually banned in favor of a Presbyterian Directory of Worship. These acts were the desecration and persecution of true religion. After his defeat and capture, Charles refused to recognize the legitimacy of the court which tried him, maintaining that no earthly power could judge an anointed king. He was convicted of high treason and martyred outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall on 30 January 1649.
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Veneration in Anglicanism
The king's dignity and piety in his final days, his steadfast defense of the episcopal Church, and his forgiveness of his executioners brought on comparisons to early Christian martyrs. Shortly after the Restoration in 1660, the Church of England began commemorating Charles as "King and Martyr," and his feast day of 30 January was added to the Book of Common Prayer. The Eikon Basilike (Image of the King), published shortly after his death and purporting to be Charles's own spiritual meditations, became one of the most influential books of the 17th century. It portrayed Charles as a pious sufferer for the true faith, a Christian prince who chose death rather than betray the Church committed to his care.
His commemoration as "Saint Charles the Martyr" in Anglican jurisdictions reflects how he died for principles central to Anglican identity: episcopal government, liturgical worship, and the establishment of the Church under the crown. Anglo-Catholics in particular have venerated Charles as a champion of Catholic order within Protestantism. His support for Laud's reforms and his sacramental piety align with the more Catholic strand of Anglican spirituality which emphasizes tradition, ceremony, and the objective presence of grace in the sacraments. However, even within Anglicanism, assessments of Charles have varied. Some Anglicans have viewed his inflexibility and poor political judgment as contributing to the temporary destruction of the Church he sought to defend. The Restoration settlement that followed the monarchy's return in 1660 was more moderate than Charles's own policies, suggesting that his vision, while sincerely held, may have been impractical given the religious diversity of his kingdoms.