1. Showcase of Learning
Louise Liao
Jan 18th 2012

2. Charles I Said…

3. “I would know by what power I am called hither
... I would know by what authority, I mean
lawful; there are many unlawful authorities in
the world; thieves and robbers by the high-ways
... Remember, I am your King, your lawful King,
and what sins you bring upon your heads, and
the judgement of God upon this land. Think
well upon it, I say, think well upon it, before
you go further from one sin to a greater ... I have
a trust committed to me by God, by old and
lawful descent, I will not betray it, to answer a
new unlawful authority; therefore resolve me
that, and you shall hear more of me.”

4. In other words…
 By saying this it proves how much Charles believed in
the Divine Rights of the King like his father
- “Remember, I am your King, your lawful King”
 God gave him the right to rule
- “I have a trust committed to me by God”
 Wanted absolute monarchy
 He did not like the parliament imposing rules and
telling him what to do
- “…I will not betray it, to answer a new unlawful
authority”

5. About Charles I
 Succeeded James VI and I in 1625
 Not popular at all
 Needed lots of money for himself
- Imposed lots of taxes such as ship money, tonnage
and poundage etc without parliament approval
 Court of Star Chamber
- He could basically do whatever he wanted here
- Tried people spoke out against him (Seditious libel)

6. About Charles I cont…
 Lost patience with Parliament
- Attacked them
- Beginning of Civil War
 Charles defeated by Parliament after 7 years
 Oliver Cromwell takes over
 Executed Charles for treason after Trial of the King in
1649
 More about Charles I: Conrad’s post and Julie’s post

7. Today…
 Though absolute monarchy doesn’t exist anymore ,
many countries are still led by dictators
 Leaders who like Charles still believe it is their
birthright to rule
- “I have a trust committed to me by God, by old
and lawful descent” –Charles I
- Jonathan’s blog about Charles and dictatorship
 One example is North Korea’s Kim family
 When Kim Jong-il died on Dec 17th 2011 the title of
supreme leader went to his son Kim Jong-un

8. Today cont…
 He has control and command of all North Korea’s
military (KPA)
 Direct authority and command over the KPA’s other
security organizations (Ministry of State Security,
Ministry of People’s Security, Guard Command,
country’s civilian reserve forces etc)
 Basically …. the dictator of a country by birthright
 People in this country have limited freedom of speech
and say over their rights

9. In Conclusion
 Just because you have absolute power doesn’t mean
you can do whatever you want
 If you anger enough people they will rebel