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Charles I: Downfall of a King

Factual: History

How Charles I’s rule collapsed in just fifty tempestuous days.

Historian Lisa Hilton discovers how, in just fifty tempestuous days, Charles I’s rule collapsed, laying the foundations for civil war, the loss of royal power and, ultimately, the king’s head.

Series 1

BBC Four

Lisa Hilton

Will O'Connell

Brian McCardie

Doireann McKenna

Caroline Tinsley

Justin Champion

Jessie Childs

Jonathan Healey

Charles Spencer

Catrin L Evans

Charles I: Downfall of a King: Series 1: The Final Showdown

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The Final Showdown

BBC Four - Charles I: Downfall of a King, Series 1, The Final Showdown

The stakes are raised as Charles marches on Westminster.

Having failed to bring round Pym, Charles accuses the 'Five Members' of high treason and marches on Westminster.

The beginning of 1642 has seen John Pym spurn the King’s attempt to bring him onside with a job offer and now Charles’s options are running short. He has just one chance left: arrest Pym and his colleagues. On Monday 3 January, Charles strikes, accusing the ‘Five Members’ of high treason. 

The Commons prevaricate. Pym hopes that Charles will throw caution to the wind and resort to violence. Pressure is mounting; rumours of the Queen’s imminent impeachment reach Charles. On 4 January, Charles marches on Westminster, backed by 500 troops.

Pym, however, has been tipped off by someone on the inside: the Queen’s lady-in-waiting, Lucy Hay. She is the viper in the nest. As Charles storms through the front door, Pym and his associates slip out by the back.

Charles enters the chamber of the Commons, breaching ‘parliamentary privilege’. Armed troops wait outside, pistols cocked. The atmosphere is tense, the politicians are silent; they fear a blood bath. The King soon realises that his quarry has escaped and is forced to retreat. MPs’ cries of ‘Privilege! Privilege!’ follow him. He has failed and leaves humiliated. 

Pym’s plan has worked; Charles looks like a tyrant to all in Westminster. Moderates now flock to Pym’s side.

Within days, Pym compounds his win by gaining the support of the Citizens’ Militia – a force of 10,000 men. Charles realises his wife’s life is in danger. On 10 January, he escapes with his family to Hampton Court Palace. He has lost his capital and his power. The next time he returns to London, it will be for his execution.

Charles I: Downfall of a King: Series 1

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Historian Lisa Hilton discovers how, in just fifty tempestuous days, Charles I’s rule collapsed, laying the foundations for civil war, the loss of royal power and, ultimately, the King’s head.

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Charles I: Downfall of a King

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