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Charles and his sister Elizabeth mourned Henry together, which created a bond between them that affected English foreign policy after Elizabeth married the Elector of the Palatinate. Henry's death made Charles heir to the throne of the Three Kingdoms: England, Scotland and Ireland. By strength of will, he overcame his physical weaknesses to become a good horseman and huntsman.He developed sophisticated tastes in the arts and earnestly applied himself to his religious devotions. Created Prince of Wales in 1616, he was instructed by King James in every aspect of ruling a kingdom. With a profound belief that Kings were appointed by God to rule by Divine Right, Charles succeeded as the second Stuart King in 1625. Charles came to the throne amid pressure from English Protestants for intervention against Spain and the Catholic powers in the religious wars raging in Europe (the Thirty Years War, 1618-48). He allowed England's foreign policy to be directed by the unpopular Duke of Buckingham, who launched a series of disastrous military expeditions against Spain and France with the aim of indirectly assisting the Palatinate. Charles dissolved his first two Parliaments when they attempted to impeach Buckingham but he was forced to call a third because he needed funds to pursue his warlike policies. In 1628, Charles' opponents formulated the Petition of Right as a defence against the King's arbitrary use of his powers. Charles grudgingly accepted the Petition in the hope that Parliament would grant him subsidies, but in practice he ignored its provisions.He hoped that the Monarchy would be seen as a beacon of stability amongst the political turmoil, but his obstructiveness and duplicity in negotiations alienated Cromwell and others who had been anxious to reach a settlement. Believing that Army radicals were planning to murder him, Charles escaped from Hampton Court in November 1647. However, he ignored the advice of the Earl of Lauderdale to go north to Berwick where the Scots would support him and went instead to the Isle of Wight to seek the protection of the governor, Colonel Hammond, intending to take ship from there to France. Torn between loyalty to the King and his duty to Parliament, Hammond confined King Charles at Carisbrooke Castle. Refusing to compromise over a settlement with the Army or with Parliament, Charles turned once again to the Scots. Under the terms of the Engagement signed in December 1647, Charles promised to impose Presbyterianism in England in exchange for a Scottish army to fight against Parliament. The Marquis of Argyll and the Scottish Kirk opposed the Engagement because Charles refused to take the Covenant personally or to impose it upon his subjects, but Argyll's rival the Duke of Hamilton put himself at the head of the Engager army and prepared to invade England. The Scottish invasion and simultaneous Royalist uprisings in England and Wales resulted in the short but bitterly-fought Second Civil War, culminating in Cromwell's victory over the Scots at the battle of Preston in August 1648.The King's execution shocked the whole of Europe. He was buried on 9 February at Windsor rather than at Westminster Abbey to avoid the possibility of public disorder at his funeral. Charles' personal dignity during his trial and execution had won him much sympathy. His death created a cult of martyrdom around him, which was encouraged by the publication of a book of his supposed meditations during his final months, Eikon Basilike. The ideal of Charles the Martyr helped to sustain the Royalist cause throughout the Commonwealth and Protectorate years. After the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, it was sanctified in the Anglican Church. To this day, wreaths of remembrance are laid on the anniversary of King Charles' death at his statue, which faces down Whitehall to the site of his beheading.
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