Charles Spencer - Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I

The subject of this book came to me when reading an On this day website recording the 350th anniversary of John Barkstead, Miles Corbet and John Okeys execution for their part in the death of Charles I. Okeys name jumped out at me, as I wrote a little about his Civil War exploits in an earlier work. Wondering what happened to the rest of the killers of the King, and who they all were, led to this book.

I am grateful for the wholehearted encouragement of Andrew Kidd and Gillon Aitken, my literary agents, to pursue the topic. Also to Michael Fishwick, Anna Simpson and their colleagues at Bloomsbury, for their enthusiasm for it all.

My wife, Karen, has been the most intelligent and receptive of sounding boards, enduring my passion for this subject with grace and humour, and always giving superb advice.

Final thanks to the extremely brave men who put a defeated and distrusted king on trial, and saw through what they sincerely believed had to be done. Charles I had many personal qualities many of which he displayed at his noble and dignified end but I believe he was, in his final years, an execrable ruler. It is striking how many fascinating and notable figures colluded to end his life. They deserve, in my view, to be remembered with respect for their sacrifices: this book is my tribute to them.

Spellings: For ease of reading most of the letters and other documents here transcribed are given with the spelling corrected to correspond with modern usage. Many of the main characters names were spelled in a number of ways (Ludlowe, Cooke, etc.) in the seventeenth century, but I have plumped for their modern version.

Sources: The original writings of Edmund Ludlow have been edited by many writers for their political ends, with his Puritanism often downplayed and those views that chimed with radical Whig philosophy frequently amplified. However, as A. B. Worden, the pre-eminent historical expert on Ludlow, affirms, The work, which supplies vivid accounts of Ludlows military and political career, can still be profitably consulted.

Charles Spencer was educated at Eton College and obtained his degree in Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a reporter on NBCs Today show from 1986 until 1995, and is the author of four books, including the Sunday Times bestseller Blenheim: Battle for Europe (shortlisted for History Book of the Year, National Book Awards) and Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier .

Manuscript and Archive Sources

Anglice , Mercurius Poeticus , 28 February 1659, eebo.chadwyck.com

Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, America and West Indies, 166168 , British History Online, www.british-history.ac.uk

Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 1650 ; 165465 ; 1660 ; 1661 , British History Online, www.british-history.ac.uk

Clarendon State Papers , Bodleian Library, Oxford, www.bodley.ox.ac.uk

Declaration on their Just Resentment of the Horrid Murther of Isaac Dorislaus , E. Husband, Printer to the House of Commons, 1649

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Mercurius Pragmaticus , 512 December 1648, The Bodleian Library Record, Volume 17

PRO, SP 29/71, fol. 20, The National Archives, Kew

Proclamation by the King for Apprehension of Edward Whalley and William Goffe , London, 22 September 1660, printed by Christopher Barker and John Bill, London, 1660

Proclamation of King Charles , Whitehall, 6 June 1660, printed by Christopher Barker and John Bill, London, 1660

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A Salt Teare: or, the Weeping Onion at the Lamentable Funerall of Dr Dorislaus , London, 1649

Account of Charles Is Conduct on the Scaffold from: King Charles His Execution , London, 1649

An Exact and Most Impartial Accompt of the Indictment, Arraignment, Trial, and Judgment (According to Law) of Twenty-Nine Regicides , London, 1660

A Compleat Collection of the Lives, Speeches, and Prayers of those Persons Lately Executed , London, 1660

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