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After [[English Civil War#The First English Civil War|The First English Civil War]] King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] was a prisoner of the [[Parliamentarian]]s. They tried to negotiate a compromise with him but he stuck steadfastly to his view that he was King by [[Divine Right of Kings|Divine Right]] and attempted in secret to raise an army to fight against them. When it became obvious to the leaders of the Palimentarians that they could not negotiate a settlement with him and they could not trust him not to raise an army attack them, they reluctantly came to the conclusion that they would have to kill him. The House of Commons on [[13 December]] [[1648]] broke off negotiations with the King. Two days later, the Council of Officers of the [[New Model Army]] voted that the King be moved from the [[Isle of Wight]], where he was prisoner, to [[Windsor]] "''in order to the bringing of him speedily to justice''". In the middle of December the king was moved from Windsor to [[London]]. The [[Rump Parliament]] set up a High Court of Justice in order to try Charles I for [[high treason]] in the name of the people of England. But this bill of Parliament was not passed by the [[House of Lords]] and it did not get royal consent, so it was not lawful.
At his trial in front of The High Court of Justice on Saturday [[20 January]] [[1649]] in [[Westminster Hall]] Charles asked "'' would know by what power I am called hither. I would know by what authority, I mean lawful [authority]''". In view of the historic issues involved both sides based themselves on surprisingly technical legal grounds. Charles did not dispute that Parliament as a whole did have some judicial powers, but the House of Commons on its own could not try anybody, and so he refused to plead. At that time under [[English law]] if a prisoner refused to plead then this was treated as a plea of guilty, although this has been changed to treat it as a plea of not
He was found guilty on Saturday [[27 January]] [[1649]] and his death warrant was signed by [[List of regicides of Charles I|59 Commissioners]]. To show their agreement with the sentence of death all of the Commissioners who were present rose to their feet.
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