Was the beheading of Charles II justified?

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I was looking on wikipedia for another Charles II, thinking maybe I missed something.

I'll answer only because I'm awake. I don't know much about him except that he was a bit arrogant and lost a civil war and then tried to start a new one. So, it was not so much justified or not, it was necessary.

Anyway, how can justice be measured in this situation? A divine right king tried by the "winners," sort of. Whose judging?

(I don't think you can edit or delete a thread, sorry.)

Yes, that is my confusion. There is no legitimate authority in this case. The king, an absolute monarch, has lost. Now who judges him? Since Charles I ruled by divine right and hasn't deposed himself, he theoretically is still king and should be judging himself. So, maybe he was right...

But, I'm confused as to the legitimacy. If one country conquers another, the winning King gets the new country. The loser, by divine right or not, loses all. Now, if a country conquers itself and the winning side doesn't have king, it still gets the country, right? So, it gets to make it's own laws.

But, then Charles I was left as king after losing (I'm getting this from wikipedia). So, is he still the divine monarch, or does he now "rule" only within a new system defined by the winner? If the latter, then no, he was wrong. He lost and needs to play by the winners rules.

I'm partial to the later, now I think it was fair.

Not sure I would call Charles I's stand heroic...bold maybe, or suicidal.

Isn't that kind of what Saddam tried, 'I'm the ruler of this country and what I say goes, and is legal, therefore I did nothing illegal, and you have no authority over me either." (paraphrasing)

I thought it was W. who said that...

I've been looking for an old movie about Charles II starring Alec Guinness which I've been unable to find in the US. There's alleged to be a great scene towards the end where he drops his walking cane and takes a moment to realize that there's no one around anymore to pick it up for him. Does anybody know the title?

The movie is called Cromwell (1970) and it is available on DVD. You can purchase it HERE.