Today is the anniversary of the death (some would say martyrdom) of King Charles I. This would have passed me by were it not for the Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley announcing that they have abandoned any normal liturgy for the day. Instead, they are remembering how the forces of nothing-being-much-fun won. Among other activities, they're having mince pies, Christmas cake and spaniel racing. Jolly sound - but that's just my view.
A revered Archbishop with whom I studied many years ago was part of the King Charles I Society at Oxford. He was the Chairman. As he said to me "We didn't have a President, you understand."
6 comments:
Good for these folk. Hopefully, they enjoyed their mince-pies, Christmass cake and dancing - all such things having been banned after the Regicide during the period of the Commonwealth.
However, the execution did not take place in the morning but shortly before 2:00pm. The clock of Horse Guards, opposite the Banqueting House, has a black disc behind the numerals for two on its face to mark that tragic hour in our history.
Many thanks for that information. I'll look out for that next time I am in Whitehall.
Not to mention the fact that the Book of Common Prayer devotes the entire Office of the day to the commemoration of 'King Charles the Martyr'. The prayers are pretty impressive, particularly those regarding the evil of rebellion.
Rubricarious you are absolutely right of course and I apologise for the historical inexactitude. Charles was kept waiting a long time for his execution while they tried to find someone who would do it.
On checking I realise the time of the execution was actually a little after two, not before.
There had been some frantic diplomatic activity to try and stop the execution along with disagreement between the parliamentarians and difficulty in finding an executioner which all contributed to the delay. King Charles had intended to eat nothing but Dr. Juxon persuaded him to eat some bread and drink some claret during the protracted wait.
John Nolan,
Sadly no longer. Queen Victoria was instrumental in removing the Service for January 30th (along with several other 'special' services from the BCP in the middle of the nineteeth century. The Society of King Charles the Martyr was founded, in the last decade of the nineteenth century, with the aim, inter alia, of restoring this former red letter day.
The 'Rocky Horror Service Book' (ASB) and 'Common Worship' both have a mention of King Charles in the calendar for January 30th but not much else of significance.
There is a delightful essay by the Rosminian Fr. Jean-Marie Charles-Roux, who many of us were privileged to know from his days at St. Etheldreda, Ely Place, 'The Sanctity of King Charles the Martyr'. I am sorry that I cannot find a link - it used to be available on the Society of King Charles the Martyr's website. Fr. Charles-Roux is both a Patron of and chaplain to the Society.
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