The Trial of Charles I – II

                Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

                Content: Charles was not the ideal monarch. He was a shy man, whose personal insecurities were intensified by the physical impediment of a stutter when he spoke. He had a view of the monarchy that was increasingly out of sync with his people. He wanted to be like the rest of Europe's royalty which was acquiring more and more power. Charles had the misfortune of being King at time when the English ruling class wanted to share power with their King. Parliament, particularly the House of Commons, after 1625 began demanding the King respect the rights of that body, consult with it on a regular basis, and stop collecting taxes without Parliamentary sanction. Thus, as the years passed Charles became more isolated from the people he most needed to help him govern the country. So acrimonious had relations between King and Parliament grown, that in 1629 he sent them home and for eleven years, during the so-called period of personal rule, he did not call them back.