Every so often, fashion and our views change with regards to history. After the Civil War, the Church of England made the King a martyr and Cromwell had been dug up and hanged. In Victorian times, the King’s martyrdom was removed and Cromwell and the Roundheads received good press. This has changed little and the King continues to be portrayed as the greedy, arrogant, autocratic Monarch who forced the nation to civil war. Charles stood at just over five foot. He had shown enormous willpower to overcome the weakness in his limbs, but had always had a stammer. By nature, Charles was very shy and reserved, hiding it behind a mask of Kingly dignity and coldness. Being self-disciplined, he lived his life to a strict timetable where religion played an enormous part. Charles’ actions portrayed his sense of self-discipline. He drank only a little beer and wine, but mostly water, never swore and kept faithful to the Queen. He could not take a quick decision at all, but once he had, stubbornness dictated he would never change it. Usually this was bad, he was guided by stronger willed men, who didn't have such sense or intuition as Charles. Responsibility Charles held himself responsible for his people’s lives. He believed himself to be appointed by God, which was widely believed and this made him take his responsibilities seriously. When Parliament demanded his power, he saw it as an attack on himself and his people. Charles’ inner self was harder for anyone to see. His shy reserve made it difficult to know him, always holding people at arms length, making him appear haughty. He always went out of his way to reinforce that Parliament was subservient to him. Autocratic? - He ruled without Parliament and dug up ancient laws in order to improve the Royal Navy. Ruling without Parliament was not uncommon, James I and Elisabeth I had done so. Charles was only following custom when he said Parliament was there to grant money and advice, nothing more. He was horrified at the casualties in the war and always did his best to keep them to a minimum. He refused to storm Gloucester in 1643, because casualties would be high, allowed Essex's army to march away freely after he beat them in the battle of Lostwithiel and sent his own physician to John Hampdons side, an enemy since the 1630’s, after he was mortally wounded. Royalist Wave of Support At the end of it all, he paid his life to save his people and the monarchy. Rather than submitting to demands and keeping his life, Charles died knowing that his death would create a Royalist wave of support. His son would give the people a King again, stopping the possibility of being ruled by the sword. In the end, Charles’ murderers handpicked 135 commissioners, but only 59 could bring themselves to agree to his murder. The people of England soon saw what, “freedom,” a republic would give them. Cromwell and the army overran Parliament to impose their rule, the power of the sword. Cromwell taxed immensely higher, overturned the church and slaughtered civilians and soldiers alike in Ireland. Back to Table of Contents -- King or Parliament #1 Back to King or Parliament List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Mark Turnbull. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com