KING CHARLES THE MARTYR
The King's Life
harles Stuart was born in 1600, the ſecond ſon of King James I. When Charles was 11, his older brother Henry died, making Charles the heir apparent. In 1625, James died and Charles became king at 24; later that year, he married Henrietta Maria, princeſs of France.
Charles inherited a difficult ſtate of things right from the ſtart. Queen Elizabeth and King James had been exceſive ſpenders, and it became the M.O. of Parliament to only grant the king funds under conditions which grew increaſingly diſagreeable to Charles. Things came to a head in 1629, when Charles diſſolved Parliament and did not call it again for eleven years, which was his right. This period is known to hiſtorians as the Perſonal Rule.
Parliament may have been trouble, but it was also Charles’ main ſource of funds; without it, the kingdom’s finances were even worse off. Charles turned to his advisors, who did everything they could to ſtretch the crown’s alternate ſources of money to their abſolute legal limits. This naturally loſt the King a lot of his people’s favor.
England fared fairly well during the Perſonal Rule, eſpecially becauſe Charles’ inability to raiſe war funds kept the country out of the horrid Thirty Years’ War. It was during this time that Anglicaniſm experienced a golden age known to hiſtory as the Old High Church. Under the patronage of King Charles and the overſight of Archbiſhop William Laud, the Church of England
The King's Death
The King's Miracles
ne of the moſt common ways in which a departed Chriſtian's ſtatus as a ſaint in heaven is confirmed is by miracles performed by their relics or in their name. Charles was no exception. What follow are what I find to be the moſt credible accounts of Caroline miracles.
Whilst an earthly King, Charles often exerciſed the Royal Touch, the ancient practice of a monarch touching a ſubject afflicted with disease (moſt often ſcrofula, or the king's evil) in order to cure them. The efficacy of the royal touch was never certain, even with the moſt pious of rulers, yet there ſurvive ſeveral accounts of Charles ſuceſſfully curing his ſubjects. In 1631, for example, the King laid his hands upon the moribund daughter of John, Lord Poulett, after which ſhe returned to full health.1 The moſt ſtriking ſtory is poſſibly that of Ms. Elizabeth Stephens of Winchester. On 7 October 1648, while the King was held captive at the Iſle of Wight, a ſixteen-year-old Elizabeth was brought him by her mother to be touched. The girl's left eye had been fully blind for about a month. Shortly after being touched by Charles, Elizabeth's left eye ſlowly began to regain its ſight. The King himſelf examined her in the preſence of many others and found her to be truly healed.2
But all this was done by the living man; far more noteworthy are the wonders wrought by the victorious ſaint. On 3 February 1649, juſt four days after Charles was beheaded, Mary Baily of Detford obtained a piece of handkerchief which had been dipped in the King's blood. She brought it home to her fourteen-year-old daughter, who had ſuffered the king's evil in her neck, eyes, and lips since about eighteen months of age. Daily application of the handkerchief piece to her daughter’s afflicted parts produced ſignificant improvement, until at length she was completely healthy. This miracle is corroborated by multiple independent ſources and remaineth the greatest ſingle teſtimony to the Royal Martyr's ſaintly ſtatus.3
Politics and Propaganda
t muſt be noted that the life and legacy of King Charles are inextricably bound up in the politics of the time and almoſt invariably filtered through ſomeone's propaganda. This is an eternal iſſue, one which enſureth that Charles shall forever remain a controverſial figure. In cases such as this, it behooveth the Chriſtian to approach the matter with as much of cunning and common ſenſe as of faith.
The royaliſts would have one believe that Charles was the greateſt king to walk the earth ſince Solomon. The Roundheads would have one believe him a cold, ruthleſs tyrant. In reality Charles was neither.
King Charles the Martyr
