14:48 Jackson: The trial of Charles I in January 1649 is just such a surreal moment in history. I mean, you have a king who believes he’s only accountable to God being told he’s a "traitor" to his own people. The sources say he refused to even acknowledge the court’s authority. He wouldn't even take his hat off!
15:08 Nia: It’s a classic standoff of two completely different worldviews. Charles is there, clinging to the Divine Right of Kings, saying, "I would know by what power I am called hither." And the court, led by John Bradshaw, is basically saying, "By the power of the people of England, whom you’ve murdered and betrayed." It was the first time an English monarch was formally tried by his own government. It sent shockwaves through the whole of Europe.
15:32 Jackson: And it wasn't a foregone conclusion for everyone. Sir Thomas Fairfax, who’d been the architect of the New Model Army’s victory, refused to have anything to do with it. He was a constitutional monarchist at heart and he just couldn't cross that line. His resignation really cleared the path for Cromwell to take full control.
15:50 Nia: It’s interesting how the charges were framed. They called him a "tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy." It’s so heavy and final. Out of the 135 commissioners appointed to the court, only 67 actually showed up for the final judgment. There was so much fear and hesitation. But the 59 who did sign the death warrant—the "regicides"—they were committing themselves to a path with no return.
16:14 Jackson: I was reading about his final speech on the scaffold. Even at the very end, he was incredibly composed. He told the crowd he was going from a "corruptible to an incorruptible crown." He still believed he was a martyr for the true laws and liberties of the people—which is ironic, given that his refusal to compromise is exactly what led to the war in the first place.
16:36 Nia: It’s such a somber scene. January 30, 1649, outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall. He wore two shirts so he wouldn't shiver in the cold, because he didn't want people to think he was shaking from fear. He put his hair up, laid his head on the block, and with one blow, the monarchy was gone. The crowd supposedly let out this "dismal groan" that people remembered for decades.
17:00 Jackson: And then, just like that, England was a republic—the Commonwealth. But it was a republic born in blood and maintained by the sword. The execution didn't bring peace; it just shifted the conflict. Charles’s son, the future Charles II, was immediately proclaimed King in Scotland and parts of Ireland. The wars weren't over; they were just entering their third, and perhaps most brutal, phase.
17:25 Nia: Right, and Cromwell was the one who had to go and "pacify" those regions. His campaign in Ireland in 1649 is still one of the most controversial and bitter memories in Irish history. The massacre at Drogheda, where nearly 3,500 people were killed—soldiers and civilians alike—became a symbol of the sheer horror that the Civil Wars could produce. Cromwell justified it as a "righteous judgment of God," but it left a legacy of Protestant-Catholic strife that lasted for centuries.
17:54 Jackson: And then he had to turn north to Scotland. Even though the Scots had been Parliament’s allies in the First Civil War, they couldn't stomach the execution of the King. They crowned Charles II at Scone and prepared to fight for him. Cromwell defeated them at Dunbar in 1650—another "signal mercy" as he called it—and finally finished the job at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1751.
18:20 Nia: Worcester was the "crowning mercy." Charles II had to flee for his life, famously hiding in an oak tree before escaping to France. For the first time, one power—Cromwell and the New Model Army—had total control over England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were finally over, but the country they left behind was unrecognizable.
18:42 Jackson: It’s fascinating to think about the "Interregnum" period that followed. For eleven years, England was this laboratory for different forms of government. You had the Commonwealth, then Cromwell as "Lord Protector"—which, let’s be honest, looked a lot like a military dictatorship. He was a king in all but name, even though he refused the actual crown because he felt it would betray the revolution.
19:05 Nia: It’s the ultimate irony, isn't it? They killed a king to escape absolute rule, and they ended up with a Lord Protector who was arguably more powerful and more restrictive. The Puritans imposed this incredibly austere lifestyle—banning Christmas, Easter, theaters, even gambling. They wanted to "purify" the nation, but they ended up turning a lot of ordinary people against them. People missed the old ways, the certainty of the monarchy, even if they hadn't liked Charles I.