Charles I is often thought of in polarised terms, as a martyr or a murderer. Mark Turnbull, author of a new biography of the king, argues that by more closely examining Charles’s personal relationships a more three-dimensional image of the man can be built up. Here he writes about the boy who would become a king.
The past is full of anchor points and legendary facts. Henry VIII’s marital record, for example, snags many history enthusiasts, helping the 118-year Tudor rule flourish in books, films, and television. By comparison, at 111 years, the Stuart era often flounders because this stormy period has so many complicated threads – most especially the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
The monarch during the Civil Wars was King Charles I. His death is probably the most well-known fact about him that sticks in our minds. On a cold January afternoon, wearing two shirts lest shivering give the appearance of fear, he was executed outside his palace. In the aftermath of his death, his enemies were keen to portray him as a tyrant responsible for the deaths and atrocities.
King Henry’s divorce had given birth to the Church of England, but it was Charles’s defence of it that led to his veneration as a martyr when the monarchy was eventually restored.
Over the centuries he has increasingly become a two-dimensional martyr or murderer; an anachronism to many today. History has almost severed his personal character, life, and loves.
Charles I’s Private Life digs deep into the man behind the crown, to better understand him, and in turn, the wars that dominated his reign. With emphasis on his personal relationships, I have aimed to produce a most intimate biography. One of the fresh aspects is closer examination of his overlooked childhood – years that formed his character and beliefs.
Born in 1600, the second son of King James VI of Scotland had a sickly start. In 1603, when James acceded to the English throne, the royal family hurriedly crossed the border. Charles was not deemed to be up to the journey for another year. He initially struggled to walk and talk but fought and overcame this restrictive existence.
After the 1605 Gunpowder Treason broke, he would have known that his own death had been part of the plot. Aged five, whilst traversing Whitehall Palace, the hub of Stuart government, he was no stranger to gossip and fear. On one occasion, he wandered into one of his father’s meetings, only for James to hold him aloft in jubilant relief at their survival.
While plague had wiped out many, it helped save the Stuarts. The opening of Parliament had been postponed on account of it, causing delays that saw the plot unravel. Pestilence also helped foster a strong bond between Charles and his elder brother, Henry, when the pair were packed off to the country to escape it.
Charles hero-worshipped his brother. When Henry was absent on progresses, a pining Charles would visit his brother’s stables and ride his horses. He offered to give “anie thing that I have” to his eldest sibling, whether it be horses, crossbows or books.
One particular gem of research was a short poem Charles penned in 1608, aged seven, whilst preparing for a jaunt on Henry’s miniature vessel, named Disdain. There is a timeless innocence and excitement in the simplicity of the request for gunpowder for the cannons:
“Saterday is the day
let 4 great barrels of pouder cume away”
Many suggest Charles was overshadowed by Henry. The latter’s numerous talents, which he had no qualms of showing off, certainly made him a legendary figure. Athletic and good looking, he was paraded as the embodiment of honour, courage and princely virtue. The hopes of vast swathes of people were placed in him and as a result it is easy to write Charles off as irrelevant.
The elder, however, was not a good scholar and Charles was held up as an example to follow. Indeed, King James once threatened to leave the crown to Charles who was “far quicker at learning”. Despite his slim physique, Charles proved himself adept at running at the ring, handling a pike, hunting and riding.
His future had seemed mapped out from a young age. Many references pointed, surprisingly, to a military career. It was one that Charles seemed to relish, and on one occasion the six-year-old marched up to the Venetian Ambassador with a ‘harquebus’ on his shoulder to declare he was thus armed for the Republic’s service.
Though numerous siblings followed Charles (Robert, Mary and Sophia) they all perished at tragically young ages. As a result, Charles’s father called him ‘Baby Charles’ well into manhood.
Apart from being embarrassing, the sobriquet must have been a constantly reminder of royal mortality. Considering Charles’s rushed christening and fragile early years, it seemed as though God had preserved him. But for what?
The sudden death of Prince Henry at the age of 18 was a momentous turning-point that shocked the three kingdoms. King James retreated to the country, while Queen Anna shut herself away and refused to eat. Princess Elizabeth was also inconsolable. The 12-year-old Charles was left to lead the nation, whilst shouldering an impossible burden of expectation.
I was struck by the similarities between Henry’s funeral in 1612 and that of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. For Charles, who led the former through central London, it must have been traumatic to say the least.
A teenage sonnet Charles penned to his mother between the years 1613 and 1619 hints at innermost thoughts over the way his life and character changed forever. He wrote the sonnet to help explain their construction, but the contents are extremely poignant. The daily ‘fascherie’ [troubles] had, he wrote, quenched the heavenly furious fire that once burned inside him.
“In place whereof came sad & thorny cares
Which restlesly no time nor season spares.”
From that moment on, Charles pretty much had to take on the guise of his dead brother. His own personality was often suppressed and stifled. Peeling back the layers of propaganda (that of his own and his enemies) reveals a man with faults and foibles, courage and charisma. New evidence also sheds light on key events such as the start of civil war in England and his death upon the scaffold.
Charles I’s Private Life by Mark Turnbull is published on 30 August, 2023.
After a visit to Helmsley Castle at the age of 10, Mark bought a pack of ‘top trump’ cards featuring the monarchs of England. The card portraying King Charles I fascinated him. Van Dyck’s regal portrait of the King and the fact that he was executed by his own people were the beginnings of a passionate interest in the Civil Wars that has lasted ever since.
Mark also produces a podcast called CavalierCast – The Civil War in Words. This is the first podcast solely dedicated to the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and explores a variety of topics with leading historians, archaeologists, and re-enactors.
Mark lives in County Durham with his wife and two children.
You may also be interested in Killing a king: the execution of Charles I by Leanda de Lisle and James Burge‘s review of Charles I: Downfall of a King.
And Elizabeth Fremantle asks: Are the Stuarts the New Tudors?
Images:
- Charles I by Robert Peake, c1610: National Galleries of Scotland (CC BY NC)
- Charles I when Duke of York by Robert Peake, c1605: © Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives via Art UK
- Charles Stuart, Prince of Wales, by Peter Oliver, c1629: Rijksmuseum (public domain)
- King James I of England and VI of Scotland, and his consort Anne of Denmark, in a landscape by Jan Wierix, c1610–20: Wellcome Collection (CC BY 4.0)