Book
Killers of the King
Killers of the King follows the men who brought Charles I to trial and execution in January 1649 and then faced the consequences when the monarchy was restored. Charles Spencer explains how Parliament’s victory in the civil wars produced the unprecedented decision to prosecute a reigning king, focusing on the judges, lawyers, officers and political leaders who took responsibility for the regicide.
The second half of the story turns to Charles II’s Restoration in 1660 and the search for those held responsible for his father’s death. Some were prosecuted and executed, some had already died and were punished posthumously, and others escaped into exile. By tracing individual fates, Spencer presents the regicide as both a constitutional rupture and a personal story of conviction, fear, revenge and survival.