Charles I, English king, 1600-49, overthrown and beheaded in English Revolution
Fishburn and Hughes: "King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1625, who came into conflict with the Commons over divine right. Defeated in the Civil War, he was executed in 1649. Eye-witnesses of his execution paid tribute to his demeanour on the scaffold: for example Andrew Marvell, who wrote, 'He nothing common did or mean / Upon that memorable scene' ('Upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland'). Borges described the execution in a poem entitled 'A Morning in 1649'. Its poignancy lies in the irony of the final verse. Fearlessly approaching death, the king greets the crowds with the same smile with which he had responded in previous years to their ovations: 'Lightly he nods his head / And smiles. He has done it so many times'." (45)