Happy Oak Apple Day!

Charles Stuart, the eldest son of Charles I, returned to London on his birthday, May 29, in 1660, and received quite a present on his 30th birthday: the Crown. He succeeded his father as King of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. He had been in exile since 1651, residing at the Hague for a time. After Oliver Cromwell's death, his son Richard succeeded him as Lord Protector but wasn't able to lead as his father had. Parliament called Charles Stuart back to England in accord with the Declaration of Breda and other agreed terms.

The next day in Parliament the House of Commons proposed that a bill be prepared to remember that occasion:

Anniversary of the Restoration.

Resolved, That a Bill be prepared for keeping of a perpetual Anniversary, for a Day of Thanksgiving to God, for the great Blessing and Mercy he hath been graciously pleased to vouchsafe to the People of these Kingdoms, after their manifold and grievous Sufferings, in the Restoration of his Majesty, with Safety, to his People and Kingdoms: And that the Nine-and-twentieth Day of May, in every Year, being the Birth Day of his Sacred Majesty, and the Day of his Majesty's Return to his Parliament, be yearly set apart for that Purpose.

Ordered, That Mr. Pryn, Mr. John Stephens, Serj. Maynard, Mr. Finch, Mr. Skipwith, Mr. Charleton, Mr. Turner, and Serj. Glyn, be the Committee to prepare the said Bill.

Restoration Day was also called Oak Apple Day. This website explains why:

In Worcester lies the key to understanding why this public holiday became known as the Royal Oak Day, or Oak Apple Day. Not only does the Royal Oak symbolize England itself, but the future Charles II hid in an oak tree following the Battle of Worcester to escape from Parliamentarian troops who searched the woodland beneath him. Being a tall man, a tree would have offered him a very immediate form of disappearance, until he was able to hide in a priest-hole in the attic at the house at Boscobel in Shropshire before ultimately continuing to Moseley Old Hall. Tellingly, a painting was commissioned by Charles II of Whiteladies and Boscobel after the Restoration of the monarchy, as a reminder of his experiences.

Boscobel House was on the site of the former Augustinian House of the White Ladies dedicated to St. Leonard of Limousin, dissolved in 1538. The Giffard family, in whose oak tree Charles hid, were a recusant family, thus the priest-hole in their house. 

In spite of the fact that Charles had been aided by Catholics and had escaped capture by hiding in a priest-hole, he had promised to uphold the Church of England, and so among the other efforts in Parliament on May 29 and 30, the House of Commons proposed bills against Catholics. On the 29th:

Papists and Recusants.

Col. King reports a Proclamation against Jesuits, Seminaries, and Popish Recusants; which was read the First and Second time; and, upon the Question, agreed unto, to be the Form of a Proclamation, to be presented to the King's Majesty.

Ordered, That the Lords Concurrence be desired to this Proclamation.

Col. King to carry it to the Lords.

On the 30th:

Papists, &c.

Col. King brings Answer from the Lords, that, as to the Proclamation against Papists, which, by Command of the House, he had carried this Day to the Lords, the Lords will return Answer by Messengers of their own.

Seventeen years after the Restoration, Charles wasn't even able to save Blessed John Gavan, SJ, who had taken his final vows as a Jesuit in front of the Royal Oak at Boscobel House--he did arrange for Gavan and his companions, victims of the Popish Plot, to be hanged until dead, on June 20, 1679.

Heads Roll on January 30 in 1649 and 1661

On January 30, 1649, King Charles I was executed in London outside the Banqueting House at Whitehall. Because of the cold, he wore two shirts so that he would not be seen to tremble, which could be interpreted as fear. I blogged about the start of his trial on January 20; this execution was the inevitable result. There are conflicting reports about crowd reaction to his beheading: one mentions a loud groan and people dipping their handkerchiefs in the blood at the scaffold as either relics or mementos. There is also some uncertainty about who the masked executioner was. Soon after his execution, the pamphlet Eikon Basilike (Royal Image) appeared, building up the image of Charles I as martyr for Anglicanism--John Milton wrote Eikonoklastes (The Iconoclast) as a Parliamentary reaction, attempting to destroy that image in popular imagination.

On January 30, 1661, the body of Oliver Cromwell was exhumed from its grave in Westminster Abbey and was posthumously executed by hanging, drawing and quartering as punishment for his crimes of treason and regicide. His body was left hanging at Tyburn and his head displayed outside Westminster Hall until 1685. Other regicides were either hunted or dug up, as the son exacted vengeance.

In London this morning, a service of commemoration is planned at the site of King Charles the Martyr's execution. According to the Society of King Charles the Martyr (SKCM):

Commemoration at the place of the Martyrdom
Noon High Mass with Sermon
Inside the Banqueting House, Whitehall
Celebrant: The Chaplain to SKCM
The Preacher: The Bishop of Richborough
Followed by Veneration of the Relic

The service is held at the site of S.Charles’s martyrdom, The Banqueting House in Whitehall, London. Wreath laying and prayers near the place of the martyrdom are offered at 11.40 a.m. followed by High Mass (sic) and sermon at noon within the Banqueting House itself.

When the 30th January falls on a Sunday it is customary to transfer the observance to the preceding Saturday.

The Society’s relics of S. Charles are placed upon the altar for the Mass and may be venerated and viewed after the service. A choir, usually from King’s College, London sings at the Mass. The Banqueting House is where S. Charles was kept for several hours on the day of his decollation. It is a magnificent setting for the Mass: the architect was Inigo Jones and the ceiling adorned by the great paintings of Rubens. There is an exhibition on the ground floor describing the events of 30th January 1649.

The Society is very grateful to the Royal Palaces Agency for their permission to hold the Mass. Access to the Banqueting House for the commemoration and Mass is free of charge. The costs of the service are considerable and donations gratefully received. SKCM also provides a bookstall after the Mass.

If you wish to attend, here are some travel notes. One of the SKCM's patrons is Lord Nicholas Windsor, who joined the Catholic Church in 2001 and then got married in the Vatican in 20006--he has thus lost his place in the succession (great-grandson of King George V, younger son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, the latter of which became a Catholic in 1994 with Elizabeth II's approval.

Decollation. That's a fine Latinate term for beheading!