Speaker 1: You're listening to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio and Aaron Minky. Listener discretion advised. In seventeen eighty six,
Speaker 1: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson visited the battlefield at Fort
Speaker 1: Royal Hill in Wooster, England. Adams was the ambassador to
Speaker 1: Great Britain, Jefferson was negotiating trade deals with Europe, and
Speaker 1: the two were political rivals, but they had traveled together
Speaker 1: in order to see the place where the Royalists had
Speaker 1: been utterly defeated by Oliver Cromwell and his army over
Speaker 1: two centuries prior. Adams and Jefferson found the place deeply moving.
Speaker 1: After all, like Oliver Cromwell, the pair had firsthand experience
Speaker 1: in waging war to overthrow a monarch. But to the
Speaker 1: shock and shame of the future presidents, Wooster locals seemed
Speaker 1: to barely note or care at all that they lived
Speaker 1: near the historic battle site, and so John Adams delivered
Speaker 1: what he called an impromptu lecture to the townspeople. Do
Speaker 1: Englishmen so soon forget the ground where liberty was fought for?
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbors and your children that this is holy ground,
Speaker 1: much holier than that on which your churches stand all
Speaker 1: England should come in pilgrimage to this hill once a year.
Speaker 1: To Adams and Jefferson, Worcester represented the place where liberty
Speaker 1: loving Englishmen had risen up to conquer a despotic would
Speaker 1: be king. But less than a decade after the battle,
Speaker 1: England had welcomed Charles the Second back to their shores
Speaker 1: with open arms, parades and celebration. He was a homecoming
Speaker 1: son the merry monarch who became synonymous with indulging in
Speaker 1: women and debauchery. Those familiar with Charles the Second tend
Speaker 1: to imagine him after the restoration of the monarchy as
Speaker 1: king in a flowing curly wig and surrounded by a
Speaker 1: fleet of spaniels. But just after the Battle of Worcester,
Speaker 1: he was a man on the run, haircut short and
Speaker 1: ill fitting shoes, always just an inch ahead of certain
Speaker 1: death at the hands of parliamentary soldiers searching for him.
Speaker 1: Charles would spend his young life doing whatever it took
Speaker 1: to win his crown back and avenge his father's execution,
Speaker 1: even if it meant sacrificing religion, friends, safety, and dignity.
Speaker 1: How much would he be willing to give up in
Speaker 1: order to win back his birthright. For Charles the Second,
Speaker 1: if it meant being king, the answer was everything. I'm
Speaker 1: Danish schwartz and this is noble blood. If Charles the
Speaker 1: Seconds father Charles the First believed in one thing, it
Speaker 1: was the divine right of kings to rule. Charles the
Speaker 1: First lived and breathed the notion that being king meant
Speaker 1: power bestowed upon him by God. After all, wasn't it
Speaker 1: God who made him king in the first place, And
Speaker 1: that belief was one he instilled in his young son
Speaker 1: from the very beginning. Remember, son, you were chosen by
Speaker 1: God to rule, and your will is God's will. That
Speaker 1: was the constant refrain for young Charles the Second in
Speaker 1: his father's court. That, and don't become a Catholic like
Speaker 1: your mother. Charles the Second mother, Henrietta Maria of France,
Speaker 1: had only been given permission by the Pope to marry
Speaker 1: the Anglican king Charles the First if she promised to
Speaker 1: be a force for Catholicism in Europe. Most of Charles
Speaker 1: the Second childhood was a Dylic cushioned by the luxury
Speaker 1: of court, even if that luxury demanded certain restrictions and
Speaker 1: ritual For eleven years his father ruled singularly until his
Speaker 1: taxes and continual dismissal of Parlia Mint ignited a rebellion.
Speaker 1: The parliamentarians, led by Oliver Cromwell, rose up in civil
Speaker 1: war against King Charles the First, who they accused of
Speaker 1: tyranny and treason. Even though he was only fourteen at
Speaker 1: the time, Charles the Second joined his father in the
Speaker 1: battles of the First English Civil War. Members of the
Speaker 1: army noticed the young prince's bravery. The boy, who was
Speaker 1: already so tall with the striking dark complexion of his
Speaker 1: French Italian mother. He stayed with his father on the
Speaker 1: front lines of battle on warships, refusing to retreat to
Speaker 1: the safety of below deck, fighting a more and more
Speaker 1: perilous war against Oliver Cromwell's new model army, until finally
Speaker 1: everyone knew that the cause was lost and the Prince
Speaker 1: would need to leave the country for his own safety.
Speaker 1: The prince's mother, the Queen, had already left, sobbing and
Speaker 1: calling out for her husband until her boat disappear here
Speaker 1: beneath the horizon. Charles the second, younger sister and brother
Speaker 1: were left behind, separated and hidden, but as heir to
Speaker 1: the throne. Charles the Second represented a massive threat to
Speaker 1: the new republic that the parliamentarians were building. His freedom
Speaker 1: meant royalists could still rally behind him, and so they
Speaker 1: needed him dead. Young Charles the second exile began in Jersey,
Speaker 1: an island off the coast of France, where his host
Speaker 1: attempted to maintain the royal pomp and ceremony that the
Speaker 1: young prince had been accustomed to back when he was
Speaker 1: the heir to a throne that still existed. Charles the
Speaker 1: Second would sit alone at elaborate banquet tables every night
Speaker 1: for dinner. Kneeling squires would offer each dish one at
Speaker 1: a time, while another servant carved a portion of the
Speaker 1: food to serve for the prince, and a third, on
Speaker 1: a bended knee, offered a silver bowl for him to
Speaker 1: rinse his hands. A cupbearer poured his wine, always tasting
Speaker 1: it first to check for poison, and lifted a silver
Speaker 1: basin under the Prince's chin while he drank, so a
Speaker 1: drop would never fall and soil his fine royal clothes.
Speaker 1: It was empty, pathetic pageantry. Charles the Second was a
Speaker 1: prince without a nation, a teenage exile surrounded by hollow
Speaker 1: ritual that no longer had any meaning. He had servants
Speaker 1: but no power. After Jersey, his exile brought him to
Speaker 1: Sicily and finally to France, where he was able to
Speaker 1: join his mother. In France, the prince, who had battled
Speaker 1: on warships alongside his father's army, was treated like a child.
Speaker 1: His only income was pocket money given to him by
Speaker 1: his mother. Although later in life Charles the Second would
Speaker 1: be famous for his lascivious flirtations and many mistresses. As
Speaker 1: a young man, he was gawky and awkward, especially compared
Speaker 1: to the sophistication of the French court. There was a
Speaker 1: princess there at court, Madame de Montpensier, titled and fabulously wealthy.
Speaker 1: In short, she would be a strategic match, and the
Speaker 1: two were set next to each other a feast to
Speaker 1: see if Charles might be able to woo her. Later,
Speaker 1: Madame de Montpensier would recount the evening back to her friend,
Speaker 1: who shrieked and laughter. The prince humiliated himself, and Madame
Speaker 1: de Montpensier was humiliated for him. He sat next to her,
Speaker 1: so paralyzed with fear that he didn't utter a single
Speaker 1: word for fifteen minutes. Not long after that banquet, Charles
Speaker 1: the Second left France to stay with his elder sister
Speaker 1: and her husband in the Netherlands, hoping that the Dutch
Speaker 1: might be more willing than the French to help his
Speaker 1: father in the fight still raging in England. But it
Speaker 1: was too late. The former King Charles the First was
Speaker 1: defeat did by the parliamentarians and brought into custody awaiting trial.
Speaker 1: It would be a trial for treason, and the penalty
Speaker 1: was death. Charles the Second went to extraordinary lengths to
Speaker 1: try to protect his father, engaging in every flavor of diplomacy,
Speaker 1: begging forging new allies, offering ransoms, writing to the new
Speaker 1: parliamentarian government, and all but begging for his father's life. Finally,
Speaker 1: he made the ultimate concession. Charles the Second sent the
Speaker 1: new English government a blank sheet of parchment with his
Speaker 1: signature at the bottom, a literal carte blanche, a moral
Speaker 1: blank check. It said, I will agree to anything to
Speaker 1: save my father Cromwell and his government ignored it. On
Speaker 1: an icy day at the end of January, the former
Speaker 1: King Charles the First was brought to the scaffolding for
Speaker 1: his execute Jian he put on two shirts before he
Speaker 1: left his prison cell so people wouldn't see him shivering
Speaker 1: in the cold and think that he was afraid. Even
Speaker 1: as he walked the steps to his death, Charles the
Speaker 1: First never denounced his faith or his belief in the
Speaker 1: divine right of kings. In his final words, Charles the
Speaker 1: First addressed the large crowd that had assembled to bear
Speaker 1: witness to the regicide. He called himself a martyr of
Speaker 1: the people, and one final time he proclaimed his innocence.
Speaker 1: But the crowd was held too far away, and Charles
Speaker 1: the First was blocked by a wall of parliamentary guards.
Speaker 1: The king's final address to his people went entirely unheard.
Speaker 1: Charles the First lowered his head onto the block and
Speaker 1: apologized for his long hair, in case it made the
Speaker 1: executioner's job more difficult, he gathered it beneath a silk cap. Then, finally,
Speaker 1: for the first and only time in British history, the
Speaker 1: executioner brought his blade down on the neck of a monarch.
Speaker 1: When the executioner held up the head to the crowd,
Speaker 1: he was expecting cheers, The crowd only gasped. It was
Speaker 1: very very quiet, it said. When Charles the second heard
Speaker 1: of his father's execution, he fell to the floor and
Speaker 1: screamed in agony. If Charles the Second was going to
Speaker 1: win back the English throne, he needed an army, and
Speaker 1: his best hope was Scotland. Though the deeply pious Presbyterian
Speaker 1: Scotland had nominally declared Charles the Second as king, they
Speaker 1: refused to let him enter the country unless he pledged
Speaker 1: to accept Presbyterianism and spread the faith across Britain when
Speaker 1: he had once again and become king. That would mean
Speaker 1: Charles the Second formally renouncing the faith of his Anglican
Speaker 1: father and the faith of his Catholic mother. He needed
Speaker 1: to negotiate. Fortunately for Charles the Second, he had a
Speaker 1: brilliant bargaining chip, the spectacular General Montrose, who had fought
Speaker 1: valiantly for Charles the First and won several spectacular, surprising
Speaker 1: victories for the royal forces. Montrose was loyal to Charles
Speaker 1: the Second and readily agreed when Charles the Second asked
Speaker 1: him to invade Scotland with a small force to attempt
Speaker 1: to raise the Highland clans in order to challenge the
Speaker 1: Scottish government on his behalf. But as Mantros fought, Charles
Speaker 1: privately continued his negotiations with the Scottish government until he
Speaker 1: finally agreed to the terms of the Scottish nobles. Charles
Speaker 1: wrote a letter to Mantros telling him that he was
Speaker 1: making him a Knight of the Garter, the most prestigious
Speaker 1: order of chivalry that could be granted by a monarch.
Speaker 1: It was as good as a kiss of death. While
Speaker 1: Mantros was still battling on his behalf, Charles secretly signed
Speaker 1: a treaty with the very people against whom Montrose was fighting.
Speaker 1: Montrose was captured, dragged through the streets, and hanged like
Speaker 1: a common criminal, not even receiving a nobleman's death of
Speaker 1: beheading with an axe. Charles the Second gave up Mantros,
Speaker 1: his father's finest general and a military hero, but he
Speaker 1: got his alliance to Scotland. After agreeing to uphold Presbyterianism.
Speaker 1: Charles the Second entered Scotland as their king. He and
Speaker 1: his men made their way from the coast into Edinburgh,
Speaker 1: passing through the North gates into the city. What's that,
Speaker 1: Charles asked, looking up an irregular shape on the gate.
Speaker 1: It was twisted and blackened, pecked at by birds and
Speaker 1: run through with a large nail. One of the Scottish
Speaker 1: guards answered him. It was one of Montrose's arms hung
Speaker 1: up on the city gate as a warning and deterrent
Speaker 1: to others. Charles was silent the rest of the ride,
Speaker 1: even though he was technically king in Scotland. Having signed
Speaker 1: the Presbyterian Covenant meant that that crown was almost more
Speaker 1: symbolic than anything it had, about the same power as
Speaker 1: a crown made a foil or a burger king paper
Speaker 1: crown a few hundred years too early. See. While his
Speaker 1: father had a foundational faith in the divine right of
Speaker 1: kings to rule as granted by God himself, the Presbyterian
Speaker 1: Scots saw a king as more of a magistrate than
Speaker 1: anything else. Charles was a king again, but with no
Speaker 1: real kingliness. In Scotland. The king was a man just
Speaker 1: like anyone else, and like other men, Charles the Second
Speaker 1: was required to obey the strict protocols of the religion.
Speaker 1: He was forbidden from walking about on Sundays and forced
Speaker 1: to sit through six hours of Sunday sermons. With the Covenant,
Speaker 1: Charles had signed away his religion and his divine power,
Speaker 1: but at least he had an army willing to go
Speaker 1: up against Oliver Cromwell in England, and on September three,
Speaker 1: six fifty, they got their chance. Cromwell and his men
Speaker 1: had advanced in a preemptive strike towards Edinburgh. When they
Speaker 1: met with the Scottish forces in the Battle of Dunbar.
Speaker 1: The Scots massively outnumbered the Englishmen, and they also occupied
Speaker 1: the high ground, leaving the English soldiers trapped between a
Speaker 1: hill and the north Sea. All the Scottish army needed
Speaker 1: to do was await them out, but the Scottish general
Speaker 1: believed that England was already fatally weakened, and so Scotland charged.
Speaker 1: Cromwell watched with amazement. The Lord hath delivered them into
Speaker 1: our hands. He said. It was a decisive victory for
Speaker 1: England that put the entirety of southern Scotland under their
Speaker 1: control and left Scotland completely humiliated. Needing a scapegoat for
Speaker 1: the victory, they forced their King, Charles the Second, to
Speaker 1: publicly declare that the outcome of the battle was God's
Speaker 1: punishment for the sins of his parents and his entire family.
Speaker 1: What could the young king do but agree he was
Speaker 1: a king in name only a puppet for the Scottish
Speaker 1: Presbyterian covenanters, and so Charles the Second swallowed his pride
Speaker 1: and did as they asked. Now, Charles the second path
Speaker 1: for winning back the English throne would require him doing
Speaker 1: it on English soil, and so he and a small
Speaker 1: army of Scottish men and the English royalists he could
Speaker 1: gather along the way, went down south to make their
Speaker 1: final stand against Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester.
Speaker 1: This time it was the English who had the advantage
Speaker 1: of numbers, nearly thirty thousand men, the largest army ever
Speaker 1: assembled on British soil, and double what Charles had been
Speaker 1: able to gather. Cromwell had predicted the movements of Charles
Speaker 1: and his armies and made a strategic decision to delay
Speaker 1: the charge three days, so it would occur on September third,
Speaker 1: sixteen fifty one, exactly one year to the day after
Speaker 1: he had beat Scotland in the ground in the Battle
Speaker 1: of Dunbar. Worcester was an instant massacre for Charles the
Speaker 1: Second and his army. Three thousand of his men were
Speaker 1: killed and another ten thousand were captured to pored it
Speaker 1: off to work as indentured servants or worse. As Charles
Speaker 1: and his close cadre of men rode away from the
Speaker 1: battle site, the king kept stopping his horse. His father
Speaker 1: had taught him to always fight on the front lines.
Speaker 1: We have to go back, Charles the second said, we
Speaker 1: have to keep fighting. His men looked at one another,
Speaker 1: but only first split second that was it. One of
Speaker 1: his men finally said, the battle is over. The parliamentarians
Speaker 1: needed Charles dead. Even though the Parliamentarians had won a
Speaker 1: decisive military victory, there were still those loyal to Charles,
Speaker 1: and as long as he lived, he was still a
Speaker 1: symbolic threat to the new Republic. Almost no one in
Speaker 1: Charles's army had escaped from Worcester. Cromwell's men had cast
Speaker 1: a wide net around the battle, and they assumed that
Speaker 1: the king, who had been on the front lines leading
Speaker 1: his army for most of the fight, would be among
Speaker 1: the many dead bodies left when the fighting was over.
Speaker 1: But by some miracle a brilliant stroke of luck, Charles
Speaker 1: had escaped, and so the would be king spent the
Speaker 1: next six weeks weaving through the English countryside in an
Speaker 1: increasingly perilous series of near captures. Trying to make it
Speaker 1: to safety while the parliamentary and guards searched for him.
Speaker 1: Escape was a risky and dangerous prospect. The king was
Speaker 1: six ft two at a time when the height of
Speaker 1: the average Englishman was closer to five ft six, and
Speaker 1: he had an astonishing price on his head, a thousand pounds.
Speaker 1: He had a few allies, a small network of England's
Speaker 1: secret Catholics, but anyone he meant could betray him and
Speaker 1: would certainly be tortured as to his whereabouts if soldiers
Speaker 1: discovered that they had been associated. Among that Catholic network
Speaker 1: were five brothers with a surname Pendril, who sought as
Speaker 1: a mission from God to protect their king against the
Speaker 1: enemy of Cromwell's Protestantism. One of the brothers, Richard, cut
Speaker 1: the King's hair so that it was short on top
Speaker 1: and long at the side, in the style of a
Speaker 1: common laborer. Charles was trained in the local dialect and
Speaker 1: given workmen's clothes and shoes for King Arles, the second,
Speaker 1: who had up until that point only ever won the
Speaker 1: finest footwear. The rough shoes left his feet bleeding and
Speaker 1: blistered thanks to his height. None of the shoes the
Speaker 1: Pendrols had on hand would fit him, and so Charles
Speaker 1: was forced to slice open the sides of a pair
Speaker 1: of shoes several sizes too small. Charles would go days
Speaker 1: without sleep, making escapes in the middle of the night
Speaker 1: to a state where he might be welcomed and smuggled in.
Speaker 1: Charles was hidden inside secret priest holds where Catholics hid
Speaker 1: priests to keep them safe from forced conversions after the
Speaker 1: religion had been outlawed. A captain named of all things
Speaker 1: William Careless had been one of the final royal soldiers
Speaker 1: to make it out of Worcester alive. He and Charles
Speaker 1: had made it to the boscobell estates, where the Pendril
Speaker 1: brothers were caretakers, only to hear of an approaching battillion
Speaker 1: of Puritan guards. Careless knew that if he brought the
Speaker 1: king inside, no matter how well hidden the houses, priests
Speaker 1: holes were, eventually the soldiers would find him, and so,
Speaker 1: at Careless's suggestion, William Pendril brought out a ladder. Careless
Speaker 1: and the king climbed high into an oak tree dense
Speaker 1: with leaves, and stayed there for an entire day while
Speaker 1: a troop of Cromwell's guards marched beneath them, searching the
Speaker 1: countryside for a king who, at that very moment was
Speaker 1: a dozen feet above their heads. The king was asleep
Speaker 1: in the branches when a pair of guards sat at
Speaker 1: the base of the tree, taking a break from their
Speaker 1: search to clear the rubble from their shoes. Careless was
Speaker 1: awake and came to a terrible realization his leg was
Speaker 1: asleep and Charles was lying on his leg. If the
Speaker 1: sleeping Charles didn't move, Careless's numb leg would caused them
Speaker 1: both to tumble from their perch directly onto the guards below, and,
Speaker 1: so covering Charles's mouth so he wouldn't yell, Careless pinched
Speaker 1: him and then pinched him again. Mercifully, Charles woke up
Speaker 1: and quietly shifted his weight, and the two remained safely
Speaker 1: hidden in their perch until the guards moved on. After
Speaker 1: the king successfully evaded troops at Basketball, two of the
Speaker 1: Pendril brothers went with him to the estate of mostly
Speaker 1: Old Hall, the home of a man named Thomas white Grave. There,
Speaker 1: Charles the second was given his first proper bed to
Speaker 1: sleep in since he had escaped from the Battle of Worcester.
Speaker 1: A family priest was also there, a man by the
Speaker 1: name of Father John Huddleston, who bathed and bandaged the
Speaker 1: King's torn and bloody feet. Charles had been shown so
Speaker 1: much generosity and loyalty by Father Huddleston, and by all
Speaker 1: of the Catholic Englishmen who had aided him along in
Speaker 1: his escape, that Charles pledged then and there that should
Speaker 1: he become King of England again, he would once again
Speaker 1: grant Catholics religious freedom. If it pleases God, I come
Speaker 1: to my crown, he told Father Huddleston, both you and
Speaker 1: all your persuasion shall have as much liberty as any
Speaker 1: of my subjects. Charles stayed relatively comfortably at mostly Old
Speaker 1: Hall for two days until parliamentary troops arrived on the
Speaker 1: afternoon of the third day. Charles and Father Huddleston's were
Speaker 1: quickly hidden in a priest hole, but the troops tortured
Speaker 1: and interrogated their host, Thomas Whitegrave, convinced that he had
Speaker 1: fought with Charles at Wooster, even though the truth was
Speaker 1: that he hadn't. Eventually, after hours of interrogation, the troops left,
Speaker 1: but the forces of danger were only closing in on
Speaker 1: Charles faster. The Pendril's brother in Law had already been
Speaker 1: haptured by English forces, interrogated, tortured, and hanged, but the
Speaker 1: entire time he had refused to give Charles up. For
Speaker 1: the final leg of his journey, Charles rode with a
Speaker 1: woman named Jane Lane, who had received a permit from
Speaker 1: the military to travel to Bristol with one of her
Speaker 1: servants in order to visit a family member. If he
Speaker 1: made it to Bristol, Charles could find a boat to
Speaker 1: take him to France, and so he adopted the alias
Speaker 1: William Jackson and rode on Jane's horse with her, maintaining
Speaker 1: the charade that he was her servant to anyone they met.
Speaker 1: When the two stopped at an estate for lodging, Charles,
Speaker 1: as William Jackson, was sent to the kitchens to work
Speaker 1: as any servant would have been. He was assigned to
Speaker 1: wind up the jack that would be used to roast
Speaker 1: meat in a fireplace, but Charles, having been royalty his
Speaker 1: entire life, had no idea how to do it. The
Speaker 1: cook was immediately suspicious. What kind of servants are you
Speaker 1: who doesn't know how to work a jack? He spat.
Speaker 1: Charles thought quickly and came up with an excuse. His
Speaker 1: family was so poor. He said that they so rarely
Speaker 1: ate meat that he had no experience with roasting it.
Speaker 1: The cook was satisfied. The entire escape lasted six weeks,
Speaker 1: and when Charles finally made it to Bristol, he was
Speaker 1: able to smuggle his way onto a French merchant ship
Speaker 1: and make his way to safety right under the noses
Speaker 1: of the parliamentary guards. It was the most heroic experience
Speaker 1: Charles the Second would have for the next decade. He
Speaker 1: was safe while he was abroad, but he was also
Speaker 1: politically impotent, relegated to attempting to beg for treaties with
Speaker 1: princes from surrounding countries who had little to no interest
Speaker 1: in his plate. But then something happened. A little less
Speaker 1: than ten years later, Oliver Cromwell died on the exact
Speaker 1: anniversary of the Battles of Dunbar and Stir. Cromwell's son, Richard,
Speaker 1: was milk toast and passive, and with no strong leader
Speaker 1: to take over, parliamentarians recognized that the country was on
Speaker 1: the verge of civil war. To stave off anarchy, the
Speaker 1: leaders of the government had secretly written to Charles the Second,
Speaker 1: who had been living in the Spanish Netherlands. Charles the
Speaker 1: Second agreed to their terms of forgiveness and leniency for
Speaker 1: those who had fought him, with the exception of those
Speaker 1: who had committed regicide against his father, and so in
Speaker 1: sixteen sixty Charles the Second was welcomed back to England.
Speaker 1: He hadn't won the crown. Really, this was, if anything,
Speaker 1: a victory of waiting and circumstance. But it didn't matter.
Speaker 1: Even if it was a role stripped of its power,
Speaker 1: even if he was a symbol, even if he was
Speaker 1: a puppet, none of it mattered. He was finally the
Speaker 1: king of an England. Charles would spend much of his
Speaker 1: later life for counting the story of those six weeks
Speaker 1: he had spent on the run, two wrapt audiences. It
Speaker 1: had been the only time in his life where he
Speaker 1: interacted with common people and lived by his wits, completely
Speaker 1: free of palace ritual and formality. They were weeks of
Speaker 1: piracy and adventure, of death, defying odds, and close calls
Speaker 1: that became closer the more often the stories were told.
Speaker 1: Charles the Second would be an indulged king, famous for
Speaker 1: his feasts and mistresses, known for his flamboyant fashions and
Speaker 1: general hedonism, and though he was a king, Parliament still
Speaker 1: retained much of the power that they had had in
Speaker 1: the interregnum. When Charles attempted to pass a rule permitting
Speaker 1: Catholic worship, as he had promised his loyal supporters, who
Speaker 1: had risked their live staid in his escape, Parliament instantly
Speaker 1: forced him to withdraw. Charles capitulated there was nothing he
Speaker 1: could do, or nothing he would be willing to do
Speaker 1: if it meant risking his position, the throne for which
Speaker 1: he had sacrificed so much to gain. When Charles was
Speaker 1: on his deathbed, suffering from oregon failure and internal bleeding
Speaker 1: that even the most dedicated blood letting efforts of the
Speaker 1: royal physicians couldn't care, his brother James came to comfort him.
Speaker 1: The Charles had over a dozen illegitimate children, he had
Speaker 1: none by his wife, and so James would be next
Speaker 1: in line for the throne. James brought his dying brother
Speaker 1: a priest sire. He said, this good man wants saved
Speaker 1: your life. He now comes to save your soul. It
Speaker 1: was Father John Huddleston, the very man who had once
Speaker 1: bandaged Charles feet when he was escaping from English soldiers
Speaker 1: so long ago. Though King Charles had outwardly portrayed himself
Speaker 1: as loyal to the Church of England for his entire
Speaker 1: adult life, he had secretly been Catholic, devoted to the
Speaker 1: faith of his mother and of the people who had
Speaker 1: shown such courage in helping him escape. Before Charles the
Speaker 1: Second died, father Huddleston performed the right to formally receive
Speaker 1: him into the Catholic Church. Charles was finally free to
Speaker 1: be loyal to his true beliefs when he had nothing
Speaker 1: left to lose. That might be where Charles died, but
Speaker 1: there's still a little more to the story. Stick around
Speaker 1: after a brief sponsor break to hear more about Charles
Speaker 1: the Second and his legacy. In sixteen nineteen, astronomer Edmund
Speaker 1: Haley of Haley's Common Fame named a new constellation in
Speaker 1: the southern skies with twelve stars. Haley drew a mighty
Speaker 1: tree with far extending roots and thick, leafy canopy. He
Speaker 1: called his new constellation Robber Carolina Charles is Oak. But
Speaker 1: this new constellation overlapped heavily with the constellation Argo Navis
Speaker 1: the Great Ship, and as astronomers mapped the stars of
Speaker 1: the area. In the years to come, they largely forgot
Speaker 1: or ignored Robert Carolina, such that now the constellation is
Speaker 1: considered obsolete. But just because it's no longer marked in
Speaker 1: the stars doesn't mean that Charles's Tree is forgotten. To
Speaker 1: this day, the Royal Oak remains a popular name for
Speaker 1: establishments frequented by the labors the king had once spent
Speaker 1: time with English pubs. Noble Blood is a co production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio and Aaron Minkey. The show was
Speaker 1: written and hosted by Danis Schwartz and produced by Aaron Mankey,
Speaker 1: Matt Frederick, Alex William and Trevor Young. Noble Blood is
Speaker 1: on social media at Noble Blood Tales, and you can
Speaker 1: learn more about the show over at Noble Blood Tales
Speaker 1: dot com. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit
Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.