It is as natural that the Church of England should keep this day as it is that Christ's universal Church should keep Saint Stephen's martyrdom.
John Keble, in a sermon on the Feast of Blessed Charles
On January 30, 1649, the "White King," Charles I of England was led to a scaffold outside of the palace of Whitehall in London to be executed. He was later buried inside St. George's Chapel within the grounds of Windsor where he rests in peace to this day.
One cannot boast membership in the Society of King Charles the Martyr and neglect his feast day in the blogosphere. Sadly, I'm away from Sewanee this weekend and unable to attend the Commemoration Mass for Charles. Perhaps an elucidation of Charles may serve as my penance...
Charles I, the martyred King of England, is remembered today in some parts of the Anglican Communion--depending on one's slant towards monarchy and high churchmanship. When the monarchy was restored under Charles II, the martyred king was added to the Kalendar for commemoration and stood firm on January 30th until the reign of Queen Victoria, when the Commons had petitioned the Queen for his removal. Charles has never been officially canonized, at least in the Roman sense, in the Anglican Communion simply because there is no known process of creating saints--a relic of the Reformation for sure. Thus, Charles receives the title, "Blessed Charles." According to John Moorman in his work, A History of the Church of England, Charles stood, "as a symbol of the patient sufferer who lays down his life for his creed and for his Church." Charles was a firm believer in the Divine Right of Kings and could be accredited, if for nothing else, for the appointment of William Laud to be Archbishop of Canterbury. Charles was not a savvy politician, his policies of enforcing the Prayer Book on the Scots proved disastrous. The effects could be easily sensed even in 2009 when I stepped inside St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh!
Whether or not you agree with Charles and the succeeding history surrounding his cause for inclusion on the Kalendar, he died a martyr's death, and certainly won the hearts of many of his countrymen.
Today, the Society of King Charles the Martyr exists 1) to pray for the Anglican Communion; 2) to promote a wide observance of 30th of January as the Feast day for this martyr; and 3) to work towards the reinstatement of Blessed Charles on the Kalendar of the Book of Common Prayer throughout the Anglican Communion.
According to the scholarly source, Wiki-pedia, The Church of England added Charles in the 1980 Alternative Service Book as well as a collect included in Common Worship. He is not contained in the Episcopal Church's Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
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Icon of Charles, King and Martyr, 2009.
Acrylic on Wood. Author's private collection.
