Charles I by Jacob Abbott

I downloaded this book in MP3 format from http://www.librivox.org/. It is by the same author as Mary Queen of Scots. I wish he'd written a book on her son James VI who became King of Scotland on her death when he was only 13 months old. He then also became James I of England on his aunt Elizabeth I's death. Since she had no children James was first in line for the crown of England. However there is a bit about him at the beginning of this book.

James was baptised Catholic because of Mary's religion but was brought up reformed protestant of Scotland. He married Anne of Denmark and they had 6 or 7 children but only 3 lived past infancy. Henry was the oldest and expected heir to the throne. Charles was his second son and was quite ill as a child. Charles was paid little notice and, as a matter of fact, when the family left to move to London when James was crowned King on Elizabeth's death, Charles was left behind in Scotland because he was considered too delicate to make the journey.

Many Scottish people were considered to have the gift of "second sight". A man who claimed to have this gift came to visit James in Scotland and bowed down to Charles who he declared would be the next King, not Henry. His prediction came true when the stronger Henry died as a child and Charles was the one who ultimately became King.

This story is amazing. I had no idea of the turbulance surrounding Charles I. If he wanted funds and parliament didn't agree with him he would parogue the house and rule himself levying taxes to raise the monies he wanted. This happened a number of times during his rule. His wife was a Catholic and the British Protestants felt that Charles was bringing the Protestant Church too closely in line with the Catholics. He travelled to Scotland with the Archbishop of Cantebury tried to reform the Scottish Presbyterians and this created the Bishops Wars.

There were two Civil Wars during his reign. In the second war he was captured and eventually beheaded, accused of high treason. The monarchy was disolved and Oliver Cromwell ruled England for 11  years before the monarchy was restored and Charles II was placed on the throne. 

There are just too many incidents to even begin to mention them here so it would be best to download the book - it's free - and listen to it for yourself. I highly recommend it.