"A strange destiny had engulfed this King of England. None had resisted with more untimely stubbornness the movement of his age. He had been in his heyday the convinced opponent of all we now call our Parliamentary liberties. Yet as misfortunes crowded upon him he increasingly became the physical embodiment of the liberties and traditions of England. His mistakes and wrong deeds had arisen not so much from personal cravings for arbitrary power as from the conception of kingship to which he was born and which had long been the settled custom of the land. In the end he stood against an army which had destroyed all Parliamentary government, and was about to plunge England into a tyranny at once more irresistible and more petty than any seen before or since."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Winston Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Volume Two: The New World (1956), p. 280-281
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Charles I of England
1707 β 1714
Charles I (November 19, 1600 β January 30, 1649) was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. After his succession in 1625, Charles quarrelled with the Parliament of England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Charles believed in the divine right of kings, and was determined to govern according to his own conscience.
64 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Charles I of England β
Related Quotes
"Princes are not bound to give an account of their Actions but to God alone."
"You desire a preservation of the liberties; it is good, but for God's sake do not spend so much time that a foreign eβ¦"
"Being by God's ordinance, according to our just title, Defender of the Faith, and Supreme Governor of the Church, witβ¦"
"That the Articles of the Church of England (which have been allowed and authorised heretofore, and which our clergy gβ¦"
"And whereas, for several ill ends, the calling againe of a Parliament is divulged, howsoever Wee have shewed, by Our β¦"
"There be two things in your Letter that require Answer, to wit, the Answer to their Petition, and concerning the Explβ¦"
"And though it should perhaps cast all loose, (as you express;) yet We take God to witness, We have permitted them to β¦"
"If you find, that what We have commanded you to doe is likely to cause a Rupture, their impertinent Motions give you β¦"
"Our Father of blessed memorie immediately after his comming into England, comparing the decencie and uniformitie of Gβ¦"
"Be your holiness persuaded that I am, and ever shall be, of such moderation as to keep aloof, as far as possible, froβ¦"