Skip to main content

Primary sourceDocument29 January 1649

Death Warrant of King Charles I

High Court of Justice commissioners · 29 January 1649

The legal order authorising the execution of Charles I in 1649, signed and sealed by 59 commissioners of the High Court of Justice.

This is the actual legal order that condemned Charles I to death, signed by the men who sealed his execution.

Ask Charles I about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Photograph of a parchment document with handwritten text in brown ink, a column of signatures on the lower half, and rows of red wax seals hanging down the signature area. The text begins 'Whereas Charles Stewart'. The parchment lies on a grey background.
Death warrant of King Charles I, 29 January 1649. Signed by 59 commissioners including Cromwell.

About this source

What it is

This parchment document, dated January 1649, ordered that Charles Stuart, King of England, be beheaded in the open street before Whitehall. It carries the handwritten signatures and red wax seals of the 59 commissioners of the High Court of Justice, including John Bradshaw, Thomas Grey and Oliver Cromwell.

Why it matters

This single sheet of parchment ended a kingdom's reign and a king's life. It shows that the execution of Charles I was not a mob action but a deliberate, collective legal act, carried out in the name of the people of England by named men willing to put their own signatures to it.

Look closer

  • Why might the commissioners have wanted so many signatures and seals on one document?
  • What does the formal, legal language of the warrant tell you about how the court wanted this act to be seen?
  • What does this document leave out about the reasons for Charles's execution?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Charles I on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Charles I sources

Meet the AI Charles I →
Title page of a 1649 printed pamphlet, 'King Charls his Speech made upon the Scaffold at Whitehall-Gate', printed by Peter Cole in London. A library stamp from the Royal Irish Academy overlays the text. Decorative floral borders frame the page.Speech

Primary source

King Charles his Speech made upon the Scaffold at Whitehall-Gate

Charles I · 30 January 1649

Title page of Eikon Basilike, 1648 reprint. Greek heading 'Eikon Basilike' above English title 'The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in His Solitudes and Sufferings', with Romans 8 'More then Conquerour, &c.', a Latin motto 'Bona agere, & mala pati, Regium est', and 'Reprinted In R.M. Anno Dom. 1648'.Book

Secondary source

Eikon Basilike

Attributed to Charles I (possibly John Gauden) · 1649

Scan of the handwritten Petition of Right manuscript on aged parchment. Ornate decorated initial letters begin with the words 'To the King's most Excellent Majestie' at top. Dense brown ink script fills most of the page, with a larger decorated 'H' initial starting the lower paragraph.Document

Primary source

Petition of Right

Edward Coke (drafting committee) · 7 June 1628

Scanned title page of 'A Perfect Narrative of the Whole Proceedings of the High Court of Justice in the Tryall of the King', printed text in black on white paper, with handwritten number 12 at top left. Imprimatur by Gilbert Mabbot, printed for John Playford, London, dated Jan. 23, 1649.Document

Primary source

A Perfect Narrative of the Whole Proceedings of the High Court of Justice in the Tryal of the King

Published by order of the High Court of Justice · 23 January 1649

Title page of a printed document in black type on a light background with an ornate decorative border. Text reads: Nineteen Propositions Made By both Houses of Parliament, to the Kings most Excellent Majestie: With His Majesties Answer thereunto. By the King. Printed by his Majesties special command at Cambridge, by Roger Daniel, printer to the famous University, 1642.Document

Primary source

Nineteen Propositions

Long Parliament · 1642

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Charles I now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions