The Martyrdom of St. King Charles I

Today is the anniversary of the martyrdom of King Charles, I of England, the only person to ever be canonized a saint bythe Church of England. I am also grateful to good St. King Charles because in 1629 he erected into a province all the land from the Albemarle Sound on the north to the St. John’s River on the south, and called it Carolina-creating the territory which would become the land of my birth. The word Carolina is from Carolus, the Latin form of Charles. When Carolina was divided in 1710, the southern part was called South Carolina and the northern, or older settlement, North Carolina. Thus the nickname the “Old North State.

This portrait of King Charles was painted by Van Dyck in 1635.

Execution of King Charles I- German print

King Charles I on His Way to Execution, by Ernest Crofts