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Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) wasKing of England,Scotland, andIreland from 27 March 1625 untilhis execution in 1649. He was born into theHouse of Stuart as the second son ofKing James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603 (as James I), he moved to England, where he spent much of the rest of his life. He becameheir apparent to the kingdoms ofEngland,Scotland, andIreland in 1612 upon the death of his elder brother,Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. An unsuccessful and unpopular attempt to marry him to theSpanish Habsburg princessMaria Anna culminated in an eight-month visit to Spain in 1623 that demonstrated the marriage negotiations' futility. Two years later, he married theBourbon princessHenrietta Maria of France.

After his succession in 1625, Charles quarrelled with theParliament of England, which sought to curb hisroyal prerogative. He believed in thedivine right of kings, and was determined to govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent, and perceived his actions as those of a tyrannicalabsolute monarch. His religious policies, coupled with his marriage to aRoman Catholic, generated antipathy and mistrust fromReformed religious groups such as the EnglishPuritans and ScottishCovenanters, who thought his views too Catholic. He supportedhigh churchAnglican ecclesiastics such asRichard Montagu andWilliam Laud, and failed to aid continentalProtestant forces successfully during theThirty Years' War. His attempts to force theChurch of Scotland to adopt high Anglican practices led to theBishops' Wars, strengthened the position of the English and Scottish parliaments, and helped precipitate his own downfall.

From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in theEnglish Civil War. After his defeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament (the "Long Parliament"). Charles refused to accept his captors' demands for aconstitutional monarchy, and temporarily escaped captivity in November 1647. Re-imprisoned on theIsle of Wight, he forged an alliance with Scotland, but by the end of 1648 the ParliamentarianNew Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles wastried, convicted, andexecuted forhigh treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and theCommonwealth of England was established as arepublic. The monarchy wasrestored to Charles's son,Charles II, in 1660.

1. ↑^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3}Charles I of England, inWikipedia:The Free Encyclopedia.
2.  Charles I, inFind A Grave.
3.  Charles I Stuart, King of Great Britain, inLundy, Darryl.The Peerage:A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe.
4.  Cokayne, George Edward, and Vicary Gibbs; et al.The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant [2nd ed.]. (London: St. Catherine Press, 1910-59)
   Volume 3 page 176.