John Carew (politician, 1622)

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John Carew (born July 3, 1622 - † October 15, 1660 in London ) was an English politician. He was one of the so-called Regiciden , who sentenced King Charles I to death, which is why he was executed after the re-establishment of the monarchy in England.

The High Court of Justice , of which John Carew was a member, at the trial of King Charles I. 17th century illustration.

Origin and education

John Carew came from the family Carew from Antony , a distinguished family of the gentry of Cornwall . He was the second son of Richard Carew from his second marriage to Grace Holle. His father was a Puritan and had his children raised religiously. From March 9, 1638 Carew studied at Gloucester Hall in Oxford and from November 1639 in the Inner Temple in London, but he did not obtain a formal degree. His father died in 1643 during the English Civil War. His elder half-brother Alexander , who had inherited his father's estates, was arrested, convicted and executed in late 1644 for conspiracy against Parliament.

Co-signer of the death sentence against the king

A staunch Puritan, Carew was elected to the Long Parliament at the end of February 1647 as a Member of Parliament for Tregony in Cornwall . There he voted as an independent MP, but had little influence until Pride's Purge in December 1648. In 1647 he was one of the MPs to whom the Scots handed over the captured King Charles I at Holdenby House . Carew was involved in the preparation of the trial of the king, and although initially attempting not to serve on the High Court of Justice , he eventually defended the legality of the trial, eagerly participating in the negotiations, and eventually co-signing the death warrant against the king.

Role throughout the Commonwealth

During the Commonwealth of England , Carew participated actively in the sessions of the Rump Parliament. In February and November 1651 he was elected to the Council of State. He campaigned for the dissolution of the crown property and the church property, but also took part in negotiations against suspects and criminals. He enthusiastically called for legal reform and was involved in the selection of the commission headed by Matthew Hale to reform the judiciary. Carew advocated religious tolerance and wanted social improvements for the poor and the indebted. During the First Anglo-Dutch Sea War , he demonstrated expertise in both negotiations and naval issues. Along with his friend Thomas Harrison , he became one of the leaders of Millenarianism and the Fifth Monarchy Men . He represented Devon in the Parliament of the Saints and was called back to the Council of State in July and November 1653. Because of his work in the naval committee, he was not allowed to play an active role in parliament. Carew had so far accepted the leading role of Cromwell , but when he dissolved the Parliament of the Saints at the end of 1653 and appointed himself lord protector, he rejected the latter's power. In his The Grand Catastrophe , published in 1654, Carew suspected that Cromwell might inherit his office. He is believed to have been implicated in the John Wildman plot against Cromwell, and in February 1655 he requested the release of Christopher Feake and John Rogers . When he was supposed to answer before Cromwell, he did not comply with this summons because he no longer accepted him as the rightful ruler because of the dissolution of parliament. Carew was arrested in mid-February 1655 and held in Pendennis Castle until October 1656 .

The death sentence of Charles I, co-signed by John Carew.

Withdrawal from politics, arrest and execution

After his release, Carew retired to Antony . In 1657 he refused to support the revolt planned by Thomas Venner of the Fifth Monarchy Men against Cromwell. In early 1658 he was one of the millennialists who sought an alliance with the Baptists . In May he attended a Baptist meeting in Dorchester , but the Baptists ultimately rejected the alliance. In May 1659 Carew should again belong to the rump parliament and on May 26 he was again appointed to the naval committee. Apparently, however, he did not attend the meetings and was therefore charged a £ 100 fine for his absence. When, after the end of the Commonwealth in the spring of 1660, Charles , the son of the executed king, returned to England and the monarchy was restored , Carew did not flee into exile, although he was threatened with being charged as regicide and executed. However, his arrest was delayed until October. On October 10, 1660, he was indicted at the Old Bailey . On October 12, 1660, he witnessed his signature on the death sentence against the king, but insisted on obedience to both God and Parliament. The angry judges sentenced him to death, and on October 15, 1660 he was executed at Charing Cross by hanged, drawn and quartered . Carew calmly went to the scaffold, expecting God to punish his persecutors. Although his family had promised that his body would be handed over to them for burial, Carew's naked body was first dragged through the streets and publicly displayed on Newgate before being handed over to the family for burial.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bernard Capp: The Fifth Monarchy Men. A Study in Seventeenth-Century English Millenarianism . Faber, London 1972, ISBN 0-571-09791-X . P. 269
  2. ^ The National Trust: Antony, Cornwall . The National Trust 2010. ISBN 978-1-84359-015-6 , p. 30
personal data
SURNAME Carew, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English politician, Member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1622
DATE OF DEATH October 15, 1660
Place of death London