January, 1649. After seven years of fighting in the bloodiest war in Britain's h
istory, Parliament had overpowered King Charles I and now faced a problem: what
to do with a defeated king, a king who refused to surrender? Parliamentarians re
solved to do the unthinkable, to disregard the Divine Right of Kings and hold Ch
arles I to account for the appalling suffering and slaughter endured by his peop
le. A tribunal of 135 men was hastily gathered in London, and although Charles r
efused to acknowledge the power of his subjects to try him, the death sentence w
as unanimously passed.
