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Authors: Michael Walsh, Don Jordan
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that no one but the Lord President should speak. Rising from his seat, he asked,
‘Have we hearts of stone? Are we men?’ 22
Cromwell, who was sitting in the row in front of Downes, turned round and swiftly rebuked him. ‘Art thou mad?’ he asked. Bradshaw
ordered an adjournment. The king was escorted back to Sir Robert Cotton’s house. The sixty-seven commissioners present filed
out of the hall and through to the Court of Wards, situated just beyond the south door.
Phelps appears to have made no record of what occurred in the Court of Wards. Most likely, Downes was stoutly put down by
Cromwell so that the court could regain its united face and go back into the great hall to pronounce sentence.
Half an hour later, the judges filed in and the king was called. Once Charles was seated, Bradshaw told him that the court
was resolved to proceed to judgment. In response Charles asked that they consider delaying – ‘a little delay of a day or two
further may give peace, whereas an hasty judgment may bring on that trouble and perpetual inconveniency for the kingdom’ –
so that he might be heard in the Painted Chamber before the Commons and the Lords.
Bradshaw tersely answered that if the king had no more to say the court would proceed to judgment. To this, Charles replied,
‘I have nothing more to say.’
Broughton rose, unrolled a parchment and began: ‘He, the said Charles Stuart, as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and a public
enemy, shall be put to death by the severing of his head from his body.’
Charles listened in dignified silence while the sentence was read out. When it was finished, Bradshaw said, ‘The sentence
read andnow published is the act, sentence, judgment and resolution of the whole court.’
At this, on a prearranged signal, the whole body of judges rose as one to show their unanimous agreement with the sentence.
After they had sat down, the king spoke very quietly:
‘Will you hear me a word, sir?’
Bradshaw replied, ‘Sir, you are not to be heard after the sentence.’
For the first time, Charles reacted with passion and cried, ‘No, sir!’
Then Bradshaw said, ‘No, sir, by your favour, sir. Guard, withdraw your prisoner!’
By refusing to allow the king to speak after the sentence was read, Bradshaw was correctly, but brutally, applying the rules
of the time. In seventeenth-century England, last words were reserved for the scaffold. 23 Hacker ordered his men to form a guard around Charles to take him away. Charles again said, ‘I may speak after the sentence.
By your favour, sir, I may speak after the sentence ever.’
As the guards clustered around him, Charles became clearly distressed. He shouted, ‘By your favour, the sentence, sir … I
say sir, I do … I am not suffered for to speak: expect what justice other people will have!’
In this pitiful manner, the trial ended. Charles was escorted from the hall. Soldiers lining the stairs and corridors shouted
‘Justice! Justice!’ and jeered at him. Some soldiers blew smoke from their pipes in his face. Others spat on him. Regaining
his composure, Charles said, ‘Poor souls, for a piece of money they would so for their commanders.’
He was led to Sir Robert Cotton’s house and then to Whitehall Palace to await his execution. The following day, the public
galleries, the commissioners’ benches and the king’s velvet chair were taken away. The booksellers and lawyers reclaimed their
places, stalls were set up and people gossiped where history had just been made. The court received notice that the king wished
to see his children, the Duke of Gloucester and Lady Elizabeth, and Dr Juxon, the Bishop of London. In its final decision,
the court granted the king’s wishes.
When the trial ended, a committee of the court met in the Painted Chamber to agree on arrangements for the execution. A warrant
was drawn up, instructing three colonels – Hercules Huncks, Robert Phayre and Francis
‘Have we hearts of stone? Are we men?’ 22
Cromwell, who was sitting in the row in front of Downes, turned round and swiftly rebuked him. ‘Art thou mad?’ he asked. Bradshaw
ordered an adjournment. The king was escorted back to Sir Robert Cotton’s house. The sixty-seven commissioners present filed
out of the hall and through to the Court of Wards, situated just beyond the south door.
Phelps appears to have made no record of what occurred in the Court of Wards. Most likely, Downes was stoutly put down by
Cromwell so that the court could regain its united face and go back into the great hall to pronounce sentence.
Half an hour later, the judges filed in and the king was called. Once Charles was seated, Bradshaw told him that the court
was resolved to proceed to judgment. In response Charles asked that they consider delaying – ‘a little delay of a day or two
further may give peace, whereas an hasty judgment may bring on that trouble and perpetual inconveniency for the kingdom’ –
so that he might be heard in the Painted Chamber before the Commons and the Lords.
Bradshaw tersely answered that if the king had no more to say the court would proceed to judgment. To this, Charles replied,
‘I have nothing more to say.’
Broughton rose, unrolled a parchment and began: ‘He, the said Charles Stuart, as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and a public
enemy, shall be put to death by the severing of his head from his body.’
Charles listened in dignified silence while the sentence was read out. When it was finished, Bradshaw said, ‘The sentence
read andnow published is the act, sentence, judgment and resolution of the whole court.’
At this, on a prearranged signal, the whole body of judges rose as one to show their unanimous agreement with the sentence.
After they had sat down, the king spoke very quietly:
‘Will you hear me a word, sir?’
Bradshaw replied, ‘Sir, you are not to be heard after the sentence.’
For the first time, Charles reacted with passion and cried, ‘No, sir!’
Then Bradshaw said, ‘No, sir, by your favour, sir. Guard, withdraw your prisoner!’
By refusing to allow the king to speak after the sentence was read, Bradshaw was correctly, but brutally, applying the rules
of the time. In seventeenth-century England, last words were reserved for the scaffold. 23 Hacker ordered his men to form a guard around Charles to take him away. Charles again said, ‘I may speak after the sentence.
By your favour, sir, I may speak after the sentence ever.’
As the guards clustered around him, Charles became clearly distressed. He shouted, ‘By your favour, the sentence, sir … I
say sir, I do … I am not suffered for to speak: expect what justice other people will have!’
In this pitiful manner, the trial ended. Charles was escorted from the hall. Soldiers lining the stairs and corridors shouted
‘Justice! Justice!’ and jeered at him. Some soldiers blew smoke from their pipes in his face. Others spat on him. Regaining
his composure, Charles said, ‘Poor souls, for a piece of money they would so for their commanders.’
He was led to Sir Robert Cotton’s house and then to Whitehall Palace to await his execution. The following day, the public
galleries, the commissioners’ benches and the king’s velvet chair were taken away. The booksellers and lawyers reclaimed their
places, stalls were set up and people gossiped where history had just been made. The court received notice that the king wished
to see his children, the Duke of Gloucester and Lady Elizabeth, and Dr Juxon, the Bishop of London. In its final decision,
the court granted the king’s wishes.
When the trial ended, a committee of the court met in the Painted Chamber to agree on arrangements for the execution. A warrant
was drawn up, instructing three colonels – Hercules Huncks, Robert Phayre and Francis
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