Unit 10: Absolutism / English Revolution

The Execution of Charles I and of One of His Judges

From "Frontispiece. Execution of Charles I." "The true characters of. . . those Bloody and Barbarous persons, &c.". Ca. 1660.

While not exact portrayals, these woodcuts reproduce the drama inherent in the deaths of a king and one of his judges. The executioner of Charles I wears a mask over the top part of his face, for he knew that the execution of a king was a perilous business. The joyous scene which accompanies the hanging of the regicide reflects Restoration England’s reaction against the excesses of the English Revolution.

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