The 377th Anniversary of the King's execution took place on Friday 30th January from 2 pm for 2:30 pm in the King Charles I Room, Kidderminster Town Hall, hosted by President David Simons.
We were very fortunate that our service in memory of the execution of Charles, King and Martyr, was presided over by the Very Reverend Mark Badger, Archdeacon of Worcester. Mark is a former pupil of King Charles I Grammar School. The service was held, as was always the case before the period of closure for the restoration of Kidderminster Town Hall, in the King Charles Room. The service started with prayers and there then followed a reading from the Gospel according to St Matthew, referring to the 'Princes of the Gentiles'. A prayer in memory of Charles, King and Martyr, followed.
In his address to members, our President, David Simons, gave his personal view of King Charles, and I will quote therefrom.
David was not aware of any previous Old Carolian President who was a member of 'The Society of King Charles the Martyr', and so perhaps he was the first. David's interest in King Charles started early, as he was intrigued to be a pupil at an apparently unique school that took its name from a King who had been executed! Many years later, he found out as much as he could about the King and the Civil War period, and came to the view that Charles was a Christian Martyr whose defence of his church outshone his deficiencies as King.
David referred to a similar case in history, in which Richard III's legacy was tainted by the prejudice of victors who sought justification by destroying the reputation of the vanquished. In the case of Charles I, David considered that this could also be true even though Charles I was far from being one of our best monarchs. Like his Tudor predecessor Henry VII, he was never meant to be king and acceded to the throne only as a result of the death of his elder brother, having never been raised or trained for the task.
Charles was a thoughtful, intelligent and good-natured man, who was deeply religious with an unshakeable belief in an episcopal Church of England and in his divine right to rule. He had inherited these beliefs from his father, James I, but they were stubbornly held in an era of religious turmoil. The rise of Puritanism and Presbyterianism challenged Charles's ideas and commitments.
His wedding to Henrietta Maria, a French Catholic Princess, in 1625, the first year of his reign, set Puritans in Parliament against him, and he never enjoyed their full support.
There was a Puritan Junta in the English Parliament that stood against Charles throughout his reign, and was probably the source of discontent and a chasm that eventually led to civil war; in particular, his High Church Anglicanism was politically misinterpreted as Catholicism, and the zeal of Archbishop William Laud was perhaps unhelpful in mitigating the religious differences of the time.
David described Charles as intelligent and amiable, but also stubborn, quick tempered, incapable of finding or following good advice, and naïve in his decision-making. Weakness in the King's personal administration led to predictable consequences of war, defeat, imprisonment and finally his execution. However, when on trial for his life, Charles lost his characteristic stammer, and powerfully and sympathetically argued that it was not he who had destroyed the liberties of England, but his captors. One argument from the King at his trial is worthy of quotation:
'And you pretend what you will, I stand more for their liberties – for if power without law may make laws, may alter the fundamental laws of the kingdom, I do not know what subject in England can be sure of his life or anything that he calls his own.'
In facing his opponents, Charles stood firm and would not abandon his position as head of the episcopal Church of England, even later when it was hinted that his life might be spared if he compromised that position in favour of Calvinism. The King died bravely on 30th January 1649, and the regime that replaced him collapsed after less than a dozen years. It can, therefore, be argued that the institutions Charles stood for had final victory.
In the remainder of his address, David referred to the Restoration, books written about Charles, a connection with Worcester, and how Charles became canonised as the Church of England's only formal Saint. In summary, David stated that King Charles I is rightly considered to be an Anglican Christian Martyr, and, although he may not have been England's greatest King, it can, perhaps, be argued that he was its greatest Defender of the Faith. He was neither traitor nor tyrant, and we may all justifiably be very proud to be associated with his school as 'Old Carolians'!
The traditional wreath was laid beneath the portrait of the King by the President and his two Vice-Presidents, Nigel Geary and Nigel Worton.
The service, which was attended by about a dozen old boys plus friends, concluded with final prayers.
This was a special event made even more so by our President's address.
Richard Woolley – Proud to be an Old Carolian!