# Canonical recap data for Execution of King Charles I (1649)
# Source: https://recap.at/1649/charles-i-execution
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: charles-i-execution
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1649/charles-i-execution"
title: Execution of King Charles I
subtitle: The unprecedented trial and beheading of a reigning English monarch crystallized the revolutionary principle that no ruler stands above law.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1649-01-30
datePrecision: day
year: 1649
decade: 1640
country:
name: England
slug: england
summaryShort: Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, was publicly executed on 30 January 1649 outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall, London. The execution was the culmination of political and military conflicts between the royalists and the parliamentarians in England during the English Civil War, leading to Charles's
summaryLong: Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, was publicly executed on 30 January 1649 outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall, London. The execution was the culmination of political and military conflicts between the royalists and the parliamentarians in England during the English Civil War, leading to Charles's capture and his trial. On 27 January 1649 the parliamentarian High Court of Justice had declared Charles guilty of attempting to "uphold in himself an unlimited and tyrannical power to rule according to his will, and to overthrow the rights and liberties of the people" and sentenced him to death by beheading.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/The_execution_of_King_Charles_I_from_NPG.jpg/1280px-The_execution_of_King_Charles_I_from_NPG.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Execution of Charles I of England"
importance: 85
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_Charles_I_of_England"
  title: Execution of King Charles I
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
categories:
- war
- protest
metaDescription: "Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, was publicly executed on 30 January 1649 outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall, London. The execution was "
wikidataQid: Q65088700
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260606175324/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_Charles_I_of_England"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-06
  label: Execution of King Charles I
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_Charles_I_of_England"
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- invasion
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
impactRadius: regional
velocity: sudden
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: multi_domain
