Charles I at Carisbrooke
1647-1648
Context: The English Civil War between king and Parliament reached a critical phase in 1647-1648, with Charles I seeking to play off competing factions while imprisoned.
The imprisonment of Charles I at Carisbrooke Castle is one of the most dramatic episodes in the Isle of Wight's history and a pivotal moment in the English Civil War. The king arrived on the island in November 1647, having fled from Hampton Court in the hope of finding sympathetic allies who might help him negotiate a settlement with Parliament. Instead, he found himself a prisoner of Colonel Robert Hammond, the island's Parliamentary governor, who confined him within the walls of Carisbrooke for the next fourteen months.
Charles had miscalculated badly. He believed that Hammond, who was related to one of the king's chaplains, might be sympathetic to the royal cause. Hammond was in fact a committed Parliamentarian, though he was uncomfortable with the role of jailer and struggled with the moral implications of imprisoning his sovereign. The king was initially treated with courtesy and allowed considerable freedom within the castle grounds. He was permitted servants, correspondence, and the use of a bowling green for exercise. But the courtesies were deceptive. Charles was a prisoner, and the walls of Carisbrooke were his cage.
During his imprisonment, the king engaged in secret negotiations with the Scots, agreeing to impose Presbyterianism on England in exchange for military support. This double dealing, when it was discovered, hardened Parliamentary opinion against him. At the same time, Charles attempted to escape from the castle on at least two occasions. The most famous attempt, in March 1648, ended in humiliating failure when the king became stuck between the iron bars of his chamber window. He had tested the gap with his head but failed to account for his shoulders. The bars remained in place, and the king remained a prisoner.
A second escape attempt, in May 1648, was betrayed by one of the accomplices before it could be carried out. After this, the king's conditions were tightened. His servants were reduced, his correspondence was monitored more closely, and his movements within the castle were restricted. Hammond was replaced as governor by the sterner Colonel Sydenham, and the last months of Charles's time at Carisbrooke were bleak.
The king was removed from the island in November 1648, taken to Hurst Castle on the mainland, and thence to London for his trial. He was found guilty of treason and executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649. The trial and execution were unprecedented: no English king had been publicly tried and put to death by his own subjects. The events at Carisbrooke were a crucial stage in the process that led to this outcome. It was during his time on the island that the king's refusal to compromise, his secret dealings with foreign powers, and his repeated escape attempts convinced many in Parliament that no settlement was possible while he lived.
Carisbrooke Castle preserves the memory of these events. The window through which Charles attempted to escape can still be seen, and the rooms he occupied have been identified, though they have been altered over the centuries. A small museum within the castle displays artefacts connected to the king's imprisonment. For the Isle of Wight, the episode is a reminder that the island has been caught up in the greatest crises of English history, its position and its fortress making it a stage for events of national and indeed European significance.
Impact
The king's failed escape attempts and secret negotiations at Carisbrooke hardened Parliamentary resolve, contributing directly to the decision to try and execute him in January 1649.