King Charles I argued with Parliament and it led to a Civil War and his eventual execution. His lack of empathy and refusal to consider opposing views led to his increasing unpopularity. Determined to maintain absolute power, Charles was out of step with the changing times. Charles inherited his father’s belief in the Divine Right of Kings, a doctrine upheld by the entire Stuart dynasty, one of the most powerful families ever to have ruled Scotland. They believed that kings were chosen by God to rule, and that only God could overrule them. Charles also believed that he had the sole right to make laws, so to oppose him was a sin against God. He genuinely believed that a dictatorship was the only effective form of government. The magnificent Rubens ceiling painting at the Banqueting House, completed in 1636, was commissioned by Charles to celebrate these divine principles. Tuesday 30 January, the King rose early and dressed for the icy weather, asking for a thicker than normal shirt, so that he wouldn’t shiver, and people wouldn't think he was quaking with fear. He then retired with Bishop Juxon to pray until a knock came on the door at 10am. Charles, the Bishop and his attendant Thomas Herbert walked across St James’s Park, the King wrapped in a black cloak, surrounded on all sides by guards. The King was taken to his bedchamber in Whitehall Palace, to await summons to the scaffold. This came three hours later. Charles walked across the floor of Banqueting House, beneath the Rubens ceiling painting which 20 years before he had commissioned from Rubens. A huge crowd had gathered in the bitter weather. But they were held so far away that the King's final short speech was lost in the freezing air. Erected against the Banqueting House in Whitehall, the scaffold was hung round with black cloth. In the centre of the blackened and sanded floor stood the axe and a lower quartering block of a kind used to dismember traitors. Two men, heavily disguised with masks, stood ready to perform the act. The King, his hair now bound in a white nightcap, took off his cloak and laid down. He told the executioner that he would say a short prayer, and then give a signal that he was ready. After a little pause, the King stretched out his hand, and the axe fell, the executioner severing his head in one clean blow. Many watching were aghast, with one witness commenting 'There was such a groan by the thousands then present as I never heard before and desire I may never hear again’. ##davidharry##thelondonspy##charles1##olivercromwell##englishcivilwar##17thcentury##royalhistory##englishhistory##londonhistory##banquetinghouse##kingcharles##whitehall