King Charles I

King Charles I 1600 - 1649. Charles I, king of Great Britain and Ireland, was born in the Royal Palace of Dunfermline on 19 November 1600. The second son of James VI & I and Anne of Denmark, he was the last king to be born in Scotland. Traditional tales report evel portents attending his infancy. In one of these a bloody cloak was said to have blown in through a window and rested on the child's cradle. Charles became heir to the throne in 1612 after the sudden death of his elder brother Henry and, in 1625, was crowned king in Westminster Abbey. In 1633, the year of his Scottish coronation, the month of July saw his first recorded visit to Dunfermline since childhood. During his brief residence in the palace he created Sir Robert Kerr an earl and conferred knighthoods on five more of his Scottish favourites. Charles' reign was characterised by bitter political and religious strife and culminated in civil war. Captivity and defeat led to his trial as the 'tyrant, traitor and murderer, Charles Stuart". On 30 January 1649 he was executed in front of the palace of Whitehall, meeting his death with dignity and courage. His remains were interred in the royal vault in Windsor.

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