Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I

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Cowles, Gregory (2014-12-05). "Inside the List". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-07-31. The Lightning Tree, a novella, was published in Rogues (2014), edited by George R. R. Martin& Gardner Dozois. The Lightning Tree takes place in the frame setting of The Kingkiller Chronicle, and includes characters from the trilogy. Spencer is particularly adept at describing settings and narrative events in a cinematic way. Whether relaying the covert assisination of Isaac Dorislaus, describing the gruesome death of Thomas Harrison at the first public execution, or taking us through the harrowing, narrow escapes of Goffe and Whalley, Spencer has a keen eye for detail and storytelling. Short, particularized scenes such as these are where this book truly shines. Spencer also includes a collection of full-colored images and portraits in the center of the volume, which helps to put faces to the many names of the regicides that arise throughout the work. On August 18, 1648, with no relief from the siege in sight, the royalist garrison holding Colchester Castle surrendered and Oliver Cromwell's army firmly ended the rule of Charles I of England. To send a clear message to the fallen monarch, the rebels executed four of the senior officers captured at the castle. Yet still, the king refused to accept he had lost the war. As France and other allies mobilized in support of Charles, a tribunal was hastily gathered and a death sentence was passed. On January 30, 1649, the King of England was executed. This is the account of the fifty-nine regicides, the men who signed Charles I's death warrant.

Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I

Sanderson, Brandon (2011-03-01). "Review of THE WISE MAN'S FEAR". Brandon Sanderson . Retrieved 2021-07-31.Nearly three years earlier, Cromwell had been interred with stately pomp. During the English Civil War he had commanded the victorious armies of Parliament against King Charles I. He had engineered the king’s public trial for treason and then his execution in 1649, eventually ruling all of Britain as Lord Protector. But this revolution did not survive his death, and in 1660 the monarchy was restored by the king’s eldest son, Charles II. Oliver Cromwell, once lionized by John Milton himself as “our chief of men,” was now the hated ringleader of the regicides. Kit, Borys (2016-04-12). " 'Kingkiller Chronicle' Finds Its Writer (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2021-08-02. The metafictional strategic board game Tak: A Beautiful Game was released by Rothfuss and Cheapass Games in 2016 and designed by James Ernest. [42] In 2019, Cheapass Games, including Tak, was sold to Greater Than Games. [43] In March 2021, Greater Than Games re-released Tak: A Beautiful Game (2nd Edition) under its own brand, with new box art and board designs co-created with Rothfuss. [44] There are no differences in the rules between the original and second edition. [45] Reception [ edit ] Parliamentarians resolved to do the unthinkable, to disregard the Divine Right of Kings and hold Charles I to account for the appalling suffering and slaughter endured by his people. On an icy winter's day on a scaffold outside Whitehall, the King of England was executed. At the start of the book, we are brought in media res, just after the events of the English Civil War and the immense bloodshed that it wrought upon the fields of England. Spencer paints a picture of Charles I as a king who had a grandiose view of his authoritative powers, and after the fighting against the armies of Parliament, he began to be viewed increasingly as a tyrant. The narrative begins with the captivity and trial of King Charles I, as he repeatedly shows his contempt for Parliament and the courts, asserting that they have no right to try a king. Despite all of his protestations and sincere belief in his own divinely appointed authority, many of Charles’s judges were former soldiers, still bitter over the bloody events of the English Civil War. In a brief account, Spencer speeds through the execution of King Charles I in January of 1649 in the second chapter, which is followed by a brief account of the 10-year Interregnum (the republic Commonwealth government in England during the rule of Cromwell), as well as eventual restoration of the monarchy under Charles I’s son, King Charles II in 1660.

Killers of the King (Hardback) - Charles Spencer Killers of the King (Hardback) - Charles Spencer

For all Spencer’s attempts at objectivity – he is relatively clear-eyed about parliamentarian atrocities, and avoids painting Charles as a monster – this is still a story about heroes and villains. Following John Milton, who wrote that the killing of Charles had been “an action so distinguished, so worthy of heroic ages”, Spencer sees the regicides as “courageous men who dared to kill a king in the hope of bringing peace to their traumatised land”. Even if Charles’s execution was a good day’s work, it need not mean that the men behind it were any less bigoted or controversial than the king they chopped down. Kroll, Justin (2018-01-29). "Sam Raimi to Direct 'Kingkiller Chronicle' for Lionsgate and Lin-Manuel Miranda (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved 2018-01-31.

While much has been written about the reign and downfall of Charles I, the rise of Oliver Cromwell in his wake, and the ultimate restoration of the monarchy via Charles II, there’s been much less attention directed toward the men who conspired to put the king to death. In his 2014 book, Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I, Charles Spencer, the ninth Earl Spencer, historian, and brother of the late Princess Diana, seeks to follow the subsequent trails of these regicides. Painting them in a highly sympathetic light, Spencer tells the stories of what happened to those 80-some regicides as they fled for their lives from the revenge-bent Charles II in the wake of his restoration to the English monarchy. Those regicides – or tyrannicides, if you prefer – who had survived the interregnum were firmly in the new regime’s sights. A judge’s instructions to the jury in a trial of 1660 left little room for clemency. He reminded them that “you are now to enquire of Blood, of Royal Blood, of Sacred Blood ... This Blood cries for Vengeance, and it will not be appeased without a Bloody Sacrifice”. Spencer’s attention to the gruesome sights and smells of hanging, drawing and quartering is cinematic: throughout, he shows an eye for the details, gory or intimate. McNally, Victoria (July 19, 2013). "Rothfuss Fans, Your Time Has Come: The Kingkiller Chronicle Optioned for TV Series". Geekosystem. Lin-Manuel Miranda to Produce Feature Film, TV Series Adaptation of 'Kingkiller Chronicles' ". TheWrap. 2016-11-29 . Retrieved 2016-11-29. However, one of the more glaring issues from a historian’s perspective is the issue of sources, and just which sources are used to build a particular historical narrative. While I must plead that I was rather ignorant of the historical execution of Charles I before reading this work, I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that the narrative, which pits the heroic, brave regicides against a villainous, bloodthirsty monarchy, might be a bit too simplistic. Accordingly, I have since done a bit of research into these events, comparing Spencer’s notes and bibliography to contemporary scholarship.

Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to [PDF] [EPUB] Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to

As such, this book serves as an intertwined biography of the many men who had a hand in killing King Charles I, and it is strangely fascinating to read about their various paths that led them either to freedom or death. Along the way, we are able to learn a few details about their multifaceted (and sometimes divergent) motivations, and what prompted them to make their decision to execute their sovereign. In this end, Spencer’s work gives a fairly good historical narrative of the events that led to the death of the king and what eventually happened to his killers. Yet, in some of the finer historical details of this account, Spencer’s work falls a bit short. In 2002, Rothfuss entered and won a Writers of the Future contest, which led him to a workshop with author Tim Powers. [8] This eventually led him to meeting his agent, who helped Rothfuss revise the first third of the story—now entitled The Name of the Wind—and sold it to DAW, [9] which published the book in March 2007. The Doors of Stone is unreleased as of 2023, [15] a point of contention online. [16] Rothfuss has said that the book would "conclude Kvothe's story", closing off the current arc, [17] but that further stories in the world of Temerant would be forthcoming. [18] He also said that the book presented challenges different from The Wise Man's Fear 's. [19] In 2020, Rothfuss's publisher and editor Elizabeth Wollheim expressed frustration with the delay, stating she had not read "a word" of the book nine years on. [20]Rothfuss began writing the series in 1994, [5] under the working title The Song of Flame and Thunder; the name was changed because he disliked it, as well as to avoid confusion with the George R. R. Martin series A Song of Ice and Fire. [6] The first draft of the trilogy was completed in 2000, [7] a draft he described as "a hot mess". [5] Mastrangeli, Tony (2019-05-24). "Greater Than Games has acquired Cheapass Games". Board Game Quest . Retrieved 2021-11-04. Shapiro, Lila (2017-10-30). "Lin-Manuel Miranda on How The Kingkiller Chronicles Inspired Moana". Vulture . Retrieved 2021-07-31. The remaining bulk of the book then traces the movements and eventual fates (most of them bloody) of the regicides, those men who made the decision to execute their king. Although Charles II had promised a pardon to those who recognized his rule, such measures of grace did not extend to those who had a hand in beheading his dear father. What follows is a bloody and chaotic manhunt for the regicides. Spencer details the internal politics as some figures within the new government scrambled to prove their loyalty to the new king, while others fled to the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the colonies in North America. We read accounts of regicides hunted down and brutally assassinated by bounty hunters as the long arm of the new monarchy stretched across nations. We see Cromwell’s body exhumed and posthumously executed on the twelfth anniversary of the king’s death. Spencer likewise details many of the gory ends that several regicides endured, as they were hung, drawn, and quartered. This is described in vivid detail, which reads much like Foucault’s infamous introduction to Discipline and Punish. As these retributive executions went on, however, Spencer argues that they became less effective tools for the Royalists, and the regicides began to be shaped into the image of martyrs. Kain, Erik. " 'The Name Of The Wind' Could Be The Next 'Game Of Thrones' With New Movie, TV And Video Game Deal". Forbes.

Killers of the King by Charles Spencer | Goodreads Killers of the King by Charles Spencer | Goodreads

In July 2013, 20th Century Fox optioned The Kingkiller Chronicle for a TV series. The production team included Arnon Milchan, Andrew Plotkin, Brad Weston, and Robert Lawrence. [30] Two years later in October, the rights to the books expired and were reverted to Rothfuss. [31] [32] At the same time, Rothfuss announced that Lionsgate would be involved in adapting the series through a film, TV series, and video game. [32] Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was attached to serve as executive producer of the television series, along with John Rogers, Jennifer Court, Robert Lawrence, and Rothfuss, with music composed by Miranda. [33] [34] [35] [36] Showtime began developing the series as of October 2017 but ended their involvement two years later in September, causing the rights to return to Lionsgate TV, which is shopping it around. [37] [38] Christopher Paolini Interviews Pat Rothfuss, archived from the original on 2021-12-20 , retrieved 2021-07-31

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Kingkiller Chronicle" editor believes author hasn't written anything for years". Newsweek. 2020-07-27 . Retrieved 2021-07-31.