CHARLES I (r. 1625-49)

Born at Dunfermline, Fife on 19 November 1600, Charles I was the second son of James VI and Anne of Denmark.

Brought up in the south after his father inherited the throne of England in 1603, Charles was highly educated and deeply serious, with a sensitive appreciation of fine paintings, but he lacked James' first-hand knowledge of Scottish affairs.

Charles left Scotland at the age of three, and his only visit to Scotland after his accession was in 1633, when he was crowned King of Scots. In the meantime, Scotland was administered by the Scottish Privy Council; the Scottish Parliament was overshadowed by the General Assembly of the Kirk.

James had introduced bishops into the Church of Scotland without too much opposition, but Charles' attempts to strengthen their position met with much resentment.

Suspicious of his marriage to the French Roman Catholic Henrietta Maria, and his insistence on an Anglican form of worship during his short coronation visit, the Scottish Presbyterians viewed Charles' efforts to impose a new Prayer Book as an attempt to revive what they saw as 'popery' in Scotland. The introduction of the Prayer Book provoked a riot in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh.

In February 1638 his opponents drew up a National Covenant, professing loyalty to the crown but refusing to have anything to do with his ecclesiastical changes, until they had been approved by a free General Assembly and by Parliament.

Charles remained obstinately determined to press ahead with his plans, and so when the General Assembly, the governing body of the Church of Scotland, met in Glasgow in November 1638, the delegates abolished episcopal government. The bishops fled, and Charles decided to use force.

The Bishops' Wars then broke out. However the 'Short' Parliament in England, which was sympathetic to Scottish religious demands and shared the Scots' suspicions of Charles' aims, declined to pay for the campaign in Scotland. Charles capitulated in the end and peace was concluded with the Treaty of Ripon, 1640.

However, when Civil War erupted in England the following year, both the king and the English Parliament realised that the Scots could tip the balance.

Although Charles had formally accepted the establishment of a Presbyterian form of government and a severely limited monarchy in 1641, Parliament reached agreement with the predominant Presbyterian group in the Scottish Parliament.

The Solemn League and Covenant provided for an armed alliance, leaving Charles little choice but to back Montrose and his force of Highlanders (traditional opponents of the Presbyterians). Despite initial successes at Perth, Aberdeen and Inverlochy, Montrose's forces were crushed at Philiphaugh in 1645.

After his defeat at Naseby, Charles surrendered to the Scots in 1646 and entered into negotiation with them. However, he refused to give an undertaking that he would establish Presbyterianism in England, as it would mean 'the absolute destruction of the Monarchy'.

The Scots handed him over to his English enemies in return for arrears of payment. After further abortive negotiations with the English Parliament, Charles returned to his talks with the Scots in December 1647.

Under the 'Engagement', the Covenant was to be imposed on England with the establishment of a Presbyterian system and the army disbanded. The Scots' agreement to provide an army to restore Charles led to the second Civil War in the spring of 1648, which ended in Cromwell's victory at Preston.

Charles was tried, and executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649.