To Kill a King

Charles I

The English Civil War fought out in two sequences, the first during 1642-45 and the second 1648-49. In the second part the King, Charles I (1600-1649) was captured by the combined forces of the English and Scotish Parliaments.

An extraordinary good movie when it comes to turn a monarchy into a republic is To Kill A King (2003), starring Tim Roth as Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), and directed by Mike Barker. The movie is focused on the English Revolution and the execution of Charles I. The story is centring on the process where Cromwell and his associates de-thrown the king and finally execute him. The story ends bad as monarchy is restored and Cromwell’s body is dug up from his grave and hung up in the gallows outside a London city gate.

Oliver Cromwell

The events here discribed marks the end of the attempts towards absoultism in England and the gradual transformation into a constitutional monarchy. But still it could have been much more. The English people however was described as tired after the years of Cromwell's rule and wanted to go back to normality. Therefore the heir of Charles I, Charles II (1630-1685) was invited back to England where monarchy was restored in 1660.

Charles II

Furthermore, monarchy ought to be abolished!