On August 18, 1648, with no relief from the siege in sight, the royalist garrison holding Colchester Castle surrendered and Oliver Cromwell’s army firmly ended the rule of Charles I of England. To send a clear message to the fallen monarch, the rebels executed four of the senior officers captured at the castle. Yet still, the king refused to accept he had lost the war. As France and other allies mobilized in support of Charles, a tribunal was hastily gathered and a death sentence was passed. On January 30, 1649, the King of England was executed. This is the account of the fifty-nine regicides, the men who signed Charles I’s death warrant. Recounting a little-known corner of British history, Charles Spencer explores what happened when the Restoration arrived. From George Downing, the chief plotter, to Richard Ingoldsby, who claimed he was forced to sign his name by his cousin Oliver Cromwell, and from those who returned to the monarchist cause and betrayed their fellow regicides to those that fled the country in an attempt to escape their punishment, Spencer examines the long-lasting, far-reaching consequences not only for those who signed the warrant, but also for those who were present at the trial and for England itself. A powerful tale of revenge from the dark heart of England’s past, and a unique contribution to seventeenth-century history, Killers of the King tells the incredible story of the men who dared to assassinate a monarch. Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I by Charles Spencer – eBook Details First of all, this book is written in a highly readable narrative style. At it’s best moments, it can be a gripping read. Spencer has a gift for bringing certain scenes to life in vivid detail, taking a complicated and complex period of religious and political strife and turning it into a highly engaging and readable account. Without getting too lost in the weeds, Spencer does a commendable job in describing the basic political and religious climate of the era, including the apocalyptic worldviews of the Fifth Monarchists, who were an extreme Puritan sect that believed Christ would return in the year 1666. McNally, Victoria (July 19, 2013). "Rothfuss Fans, Your Time Has Come: The Kingkiller Chronicle Optioned for TV Series". Geekosystem. In 2012, Rothfuss sold three other books to his publisher, DAW. [26] He has discussed a standalone novel, centered on a legendary figure in the world, with the working title The Tale of Laniel Young-Again. [27] The project was two-thirds complete when it was shelved to focus on The Doors of Stone. [28] [29] In other media [ edit ] Film and television [ edit ] Those regicides – or tyrannicides, if you prefer – who had survived the interregnum were firmly in the new regime’s sights. A judge’s instructions to the jury in a trial of 1660 left little room for clemency. He reminded them that “you are now to enquire of Blood, of Royal Blood, of Sacred Blood ... This Blood cries for Vengeance, and it will not be appeased without a Bloody Sacrifice”. Spencer’s attention to the gruesome sights and smells of hanging, drawing and quartering is cinematic: throughout, he shows an eye for the details, gory or intimate.

Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I

Mastrangeli, Tony (2019-05-24). "Greater Than Games has acquired Cheapass Games". Board Game Quest . Retrieved 2021-11-04. Spencer is particularly adept at describing settings and narrative events in a cinematic way. Whether relaying the covert assisination of Isaac Dorislaus, describing the gruesome death of Thomas Harrison at the first public execution, or taking us through the harrowing, narrow escapes of Goffe and Whalley, Spencer has a keen eye for detail and storytelling. Short, particularized scenes such as these are where this book truly shines. Spencer also includes a collection of full-colored images and portraits in the center of the volume, which helps to put faces to the many names of the regicides that arise throughout the work. On Jan. 26, 1661, in Westminster Abbey, the tomb of Oliver Cromwell was broken open and his corrupted corpse was removed. Four days later, it was ritually hanged and beheaded at Tyburn before thousands of jeering onlookers. Cromwell’s severed head, encased in an iron cage, was then skewered on a pike and erected before the House of Lords. There it remained for a quarter century—an emblem of the wages of treason.Kit, Borys (2016-04-12). " 'Kingkiller Chronicle' Finds Its Writer (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2021-08-02. Lin-Manuel Miranda to Produce Feature Film, TV Series Adaptation of 'Kingkiller Chronicles' ". TheWrap. 2016-11-29 . Retrieved 2016-11-29. The series has received critical acclaim. George R. R. Martin called The Wise Man's Fear his favourite fantasy novel of 2011, and said he wished he had written it. [46] Authors such as Brandon Sanderson, [47] Ursula K. Le Guin, Robin Hobb, Tad Williams, Anne McCaffrey, [48] and Michael Chabon [49] have expressed their admiration for the series. Lin-Manuel Miranda credited the books for inspiring a song in his show Hamilton, as well as a story beat in the Walt Disney film Moana. [50] The Slow Regard of Silent Things (2014, ISBN 978-0756410438), a novella focusing on a secondary character that appears in The Kingkiller Chronicle 's main plot.

Killers of the King: the Men who Dared Execute Charles I by

verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ Christopher Paolini Interviews Pat Rothfuss, archived from the original on 2021-12-20 , retrieved 2021-07-31 In July 2013, 20th Century Fox optioned The Kingkiller Chronicle for a TV series. The production team included Arnon Milchan, Andrew Plotkin, Brad Weston, and Robert Lawrence. [30] Two years later in October, the rights to the books expired and were reverted to Rothfuss. [31] [32] At the same time, Rothfuss announced that Lionsgate would be involved in adapting the series through a film, TV series, and video game. [32] Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was attached to serve as executive producer of the television series, along with John Rogers, Jennifer Court, Robert Lawrence, and Rothfuss, with music composed by Miranda. [33] [34] [35] [36] Showtime began developing the series as of October 2017 but ended their involvement two years later in September, causing the rights to return to Lionsgate TV, which is shopping it around. [37] [38]

While much has been written about the reign and downfall of Charles I, the rise of Oliver Cromwell in his wake, and the ultimate restoration of the monarchy via Charles II, there’s been much less attention directed toward the men who conspired to put the king to death. In his 2014 book, Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I, Charles Spencer, the ninth Earl Spencer, historian, and brother of the late Princess Diana, seeks to follow the subsequent trails of these regicides. Painting them in a highly sympathetic light, Spencer tells the stories of what happened to those 80-some regicides as they fled for their lives from the revenge-bent Charles II in the wake of his restoration to the English monarchy. Nearly three years earlier, Cromwell had been interred with stately pomp. During the English Civil War he had commanded the victorious armies of Parliament against King Charles I. He had engineered the king’s public trial for treason and then his execution in 1649, eventually ruling all of Britain as Lord Protector. But this revolution did not survive his death, and in 1660 the monarchy was restored by the king’s eldest son, Charles II. Oliver Cromwell, once lionized by John Milton himself as “our chief of men,” was now the hated ringleader of the regicides. Bradley, Laura. "Secret Geek Lin-Manuel Miranda Might Be Making the Next Game of Thrones". Vanity Fair. Kroll, Justin (2018-01-29). "Sam Raimi to Direct 'Kingkiller Chronicle' for Lionsgate and Lin-Manuel Miranda (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved 2018-01-31. PDF / EPUB File Name: Killers_of_the_King_-_Charles_Spencer.pdf, Killers_of_the_King_-_Charles_Spencer.epub