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Motion · S6M-16963 · 26 Mar 2025

400th Anniversary of the Accession of King Charles I

Lodged by Murdo Fraser (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party) Standard Motion 24 supporters

The motion

That the Parliament recognises that 27 March 2025 marks the 400th anniversary of the accession to the throne of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland, on the death of his father, King James VI, who had ascended to the throne of England and Ireland as James I in 1603; notes that Charles was born in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1600 and became heir to the throne in 1612 on the death of his elder brother, Prince Henry; notes that his belief in the Divine Right of Kings and his ambition to align religious practices in Scotland with those in England led to conflict with the Kirk, nobility and people, leading to the signing of the National Covenant in 1638, the Scottish Revolution and the Bishops’ Wars; understands that his disagreements with the English Parliament would contribute to the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, where the Royalist forces were defeated; notes that Charles’ subsequent attempt to ally with the Scottish Estates led to the Second Civil War, which ended when the Scottish invasion force was defeated by Cromwell’s New Model Army at Preston in 1648, and that, thereafter, he was put on trial for treason by the English Rump Parliament, convicted, and then executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, the only British monarch to face judicial execution, and believes that Charles’ legacy today is either as a "Christian martyr" or as "the Man of Blood", depending on one’s view of history.

Supporters (24)

Source: the Scottish Parliament motions and amendments record.