History - Charles I of England - Stormed Parliament Today (373 Years Ago)

ꕤ History Charles I Charles I - On Trial  | Wikipedia 1883 painting /  Photo: BRIDGEMAN ART LIBRARY Charles I  - Execution via Telegraph Charles I 4 January 1642 King Charles I attacks the English parliament with 400 soldiers [TDH] monarch x3 kingdoms English, Irish and Scottish thrones on death of his elder brother Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, 1612 issues: religion tyrannical rule taxes etc unpopular Civil War - 1642 Charles 1 fights: English parliament army Scottish parliaments army Charles I was defeated:  1645 / Charles 1 captured Surrendered to English parliament / refuses to accept demands for a constitutional monarchy Charles 1 Parliament sought to curb Charles I royal prerogative [comment:  ie  aristocracy wanted more power to themselves] Charles 1 forged an alliance with Scotland, / but by end 1648 Oliver Cromwell 'New Model Army' = consolidated control England Charles I tried, convicted, & executed for high treason 30 January, 1649 (age 48) / monarchy abolished / Commonwealth of England established Charles 1 executed in front Banqueting House, Palace of Whitehall surrounded by soldiers /  beheaded with one clean stroke Charles I - last words: "A subject and a sovereign are clean different things" Said going to:   "incorruptible Crown" public beheading: crowd dipped their handkerchiefs in the king's blood as a memento. confirmed clean strike:   execution carried out by an experienced 'headsman' / head exhibited / 'traitor' not used. day after execution king's head sewn back onto his body / corpse of king embalmed & placed in lead coffin burial at Westminster Abbey REFUSED / rests at Windsor Castle Henry VIII vault next to Henry VIII & Jane Seymour https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Other Tyburn (close to Marble Arch LDN) 600 years executions first in:  1196 Tyburn Tree  3-sided gallows marked by stone Oliver Cromwell -->  body exhumed -->  symbolically, hanged at Tyburn in 1661 Tyburn Gallows over 1,000 hanged x3 connecting 9ft beam suspended 18ft high x24 condemned single hanging capacity Source | here ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- German Example 3-Sided Gallows Beerfelden, Germany, 3-Sided Gallows 1550 (refurbished 1597) condemned would stand at stone cross under linden tree to receive last rites last execution 1804 (gypsy stealing food) source of image & info Link | here ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Other: Charles I http://www.royal.gov.uk/historyofthemonarchy/kingsandqueensoftheunitedkingdom/thestuarts/charlesi.aspx ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT Looked at Charles I of England because he attacked Parliament today (373 years ago). I've only very quickly skimmed on Charles I. Sounds to me like the aristocracy just wanted more power to themselves. ꕤ

ARIZONA EXECUTION - Joseph Rudolph Wood

AP reporter's account of Arizona execution By ASTRID GALVAN — Jul. 23, 2014 11:38 PM EDT FLORENCE, Ariz. (AP) — Joseph Rudolph Wood looked around the death chamber and glanced at the doctors as they made preparations for his execution, locating the proper veins and inserting two lines into his arms. [...] Officials administered the lethal drugs at 1:52 p.m. Wood's eyes closed. About 10 minutes later, the gasping began. Wood's jaw dropped, his chest expanded, and he let out a gasp. The gasps repeated every five to 12 seconds. They went on and on, hundreds of times. An administrator checked on him a half-dozen times. He could be heard snoring loudly when an administrator turned on a microphone to inform the gallery that Wood was still sedated, despite the audible sounds. As the episode dragged on, Wood's lawyers frantically drew up an emergency legal appeal, asking federal and state courts to step in and stop the execution.

"He has been gasping for more than an hour," the lawyers pleaded in their filings. "He is still alive." The Arizona Supreme Court convened an impromptu telephone hearing with a defense lawyer and attorney for the state to decide what to do. Wood took his last breath at 3:37 p.m. Twelve minutes later, Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles L. Ryan declared Wood dead. The state court was informed of the death while its hearing was underway. It took one hour and 57 minutes for the execution to be completed, and Wood was gasping for more than an hour and a half of that time. The execution quickly re-ignited the death penalty debate as critics denounced it as cruel and unusual punishment and said it raised grave questions about the two-drug combination Arizona uses for lethal injections. Wood had waged an intense, last-minute legal battle that challenged the state over key information about who supplies the drugs and how they are administered. [...]  ... Full article ... @... Source - AP Big Story - here.

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I don't support government execution of its citizens.

However, if you're going to have a barbaric death penalty state, how about using a bullet to the back of the head instead of watching the condemned die gasping for almost 2 hours?

I also don't see how the US can play at presenting itself as some righteous, humanitarian saviour of the world, when this is how they treat their own citizens.