Charles Stuart (Charles I) was beheaded at 2pm on Tuesday, 30 January 1649 at Whitehall in front of the Banqueting House*. I know because I was there and even though the soldiers tried to prevent us reaching the scaffold we slipped in and out of the grown-ups and the cattle till we came to the edge of the crowd. There we watched the whole thing while we ate our trenchers**. Well they weren’t originally ours but the monks were handing out alms*** as we passed by them. The trenchers had obviously come from a noble house being thick and large and were now softened with the juices and gravies of the meal they had held which I think was some kind of fish stew. They were still fresh or at least there was nothing crawling across, (or in) them. Whilst nobody doubted that the alms were handed out in good faith, it was true that many a poor soul had come to a bad end after eating one that was rancid or worse still; poisonous. But such are the offerings of charity and we poor must be thankful. Well that’s what they keep telling us at any rate.

Poor King; he looked calm and dignified as they walked with him to the scaffold but it seemed he was stupefied as though he couldn’t quite imagine the deadly charade was to be played out for the first time in his life, for the satisfaction of others. How could he be judged by his inferiors? Was he not God’s appointed ruler and so who but God, may remove him from office****. The axe fell but we didn’t actually see anything because the guard caught us and led us away. But in the spirit of charity I gave what was left of my trencher to the pig that was grubbing around in the dirt beside me.

 
* The Palace of Whitehall (or Palace of White Hall) was the main residence of the English monarchs in London from 1530 until 1698 when all except Inigo Jones's 1622 Banqueting House was destroyed by fire. Before the fire it had grown to be the largest palace in Europe, with over 1,500 rooms, overtaking both the Vatican and Versailles. The palace gives its name, Whitehall, to the road on which many of the current administrative buildings of the UK Government are situated.

 

** Trencher - A piece of thick stale bread used as a plate. At the end of the meal, the trencher could be eaten with sauce, but was more frequently given as alms to the poor. At the end of the meal, the trencher could be eaten with sauce, but was more frequently given as alms to the poor. Later the trencher evolved into a small plate of metal or wood. People used this utensil to eat the many stews and porridges that made up their daily diet.

***The giving of 'alms' is an act of charity toward those less fortunate.

****Republicanism had brief 11 year tenure in Britain between the death of Charles I and the usurpation by Cromwell (who assumed title of Lord Protector for 5 years) against the Long Parliament. In the final analysis the monarchy never regained the heights of power it had experienced under the Tudors and early Stuarts and nor was a pure republican form of government ever to be in full effect even to the current day.