Regicide And Republic

An engaging range of period texts and theme books for AS and A Level history. The period from 1603 to 1660 is characterised by complex religious and political developments, and dramatic events such as the execution of Charles I, civil war and the introduction of a republican form of government. In this clearly argued account, Graham E. Seel identifies the main political, religious and economic factors that help explain the events of this turbulent period, and assesses the role of leading personalities such as James VI and I, Charles I, Buckingham and Cromwell. Regicide and republic includes the additional document study The Civil War, 1637-49.

This work analyzes Charles I's overthrow, showing that those who believed in government by-laws became republicans, while those who believed in people-made laws attacked the king rather than the monarchy itself.

The events surrounding the trial of Charles I have been remarkably understudied by historians, despite a wealth of information regarding both the proceedings and personalities involved, and contemporary responses and reactions. These essays submit one of the most momentous events in English history to rigorous scholarship, contextualise it in the light of recent historiography, not least regarding relations between the three kingdoms of Britain.

Graham Seel explores the period of turmoil in British history from 1637 and the latter part of the reign of Charles I to the restoration with Charles II in 1660. He discusses the political and religious crises as well as the key personalities.

On an icy winter's day in January 1649, a unique event in English history took place on a scaffold outside of Whitehall: Charles I, King of England, was executed. The king had been held to account and the Divine Right of Kings disregarded. Regicide, a once-unfathomable act, formed the basis of the Commonwealth's new dawn.The killers of the king were soldiers, lawyers, Puritans, Republicans and some simply opportunists, all brought together under one infamous banner. While the events surrounding Charles I and Cromwell are well-trodden, the lives of the other fifty-eight men - their backgrounds, ideals and motives - has been sorely neglected.Their stories are a powerful tale of revenge and a clash of beliefs; their fates determined by that one decision. When Charles II was restored he enacted a deadly wave of retribution against the men who had secured his father's fate. Some of the regicides pleaded for mercy, many went into hiding or fled abroad; others stoically awaited their sentence. This is their shocking story: the ideals that united them, and the decision that unmade them.

This biographical history of the English Civil War profiles the lives and ultimate fates of the nearly 60 men who sentenced their king to death. On January 30th, 1649, King Charles I was executed on a scaffold outside the Banqueting House of Whitehall. The parliamentarian High Court of Justice declared him guilty of treason, disregarding the Divine Right of Kings. Fifty-nine commissioners signed his death warrant. These killers of the king were soldiers, lawyers, Puritans, Republicans—and some mere opportunists—all brought together under one infamous banner. In Charles I’s Executioners, James Hobson explores the lives of these men, shedding new light on their backgrounds, ideals, and motives. Their stories are a powerful tale of revenge and clashing convictions; their futures determined by their one fateful decision. When Charles II was restored, he enacted a deadly wave of retribution against the signatories. Some pleaded for mercy, many went into hiding or fled abroad, while others stoically awaited their sentence.

Maintaining that the trial and public execution of Louis XVI was an absolutely essential part of the French Revolution, Walzer discusses two types of regicide: the first, committed by would-be kings or their agents, left the monarchy's mystique and divine right intact, while the second was a revolutionary act intended to destroy it completely. Walzer defends the trial and execution of Louis XVI as necessary, since it not only tried to destroy the monarchy's mystique and divine right, but also required the deputies to fully explain their guiding philosophies and applied the rules of judicial process to establish equality before the law. New to this edition is an appendix containing "Revolutionary Justice," Ferenc Feher's classic rebuttal to Walzer's thesis, and Walzer's response, "The King's Trial and the Political Culture of the Revolution."

This work analyzes the diplomatic, military, political, religious and intellectual developments of the period, trying to determine the real significance of the Interegnum. The author also presents a study of Cromwell, and how contemporary research has brought more light to his life.