Henry Marten, the son of
a lawyer, was born in Oxford in 1602. Educated
at Oxford University he was elected to
the House of Commons where he represented
Berkshire. A Puritan,
he was a strong opponent of Charles
I.
During the Civil War Martin served as
a commander in the Parliamentary army.
Marten was a staunch republican
and in 1643 he advocated the destruction of the royal family. As a
result he was expelled from the House of Commons
for three years.
After the overthrow of
the monarchy Marten served on the High Court of Justice and signed
the king's death warrant in 1649. During the Commonwealth
Marten was increasingly critical of Oliver
Cromwell and opposed the dissolution of the House
of Commons. Marten, who argued that Cromwell was undermining the
establishment of a republic, was forced into retirement in 1653.
On 3rd September 1658,
Oliver Cromwell died. Parliament
and the leaders of the army now began arguing amongst themselves about
how England should be ruled. General George
Monck, the officer in charge of the English army based in Scotland,
decided to take action, and in 1660 he marched his army to London.
When Monck arrived he reinstated
the House of Lords and the Parliament of
1640. Royalists were now in control of Parliament. Monk
now contacted Charles
II, who was living
in Holland. Charles agreed that if he was made king he would pardon
all members of the parliamentary army and would continue with the
Commonwealth's policy of religious toleration. Charles also accepted
that he would share power with Parliament and would not rule as an
'absolute' monarch as his father had
tried to do in the 1630s.
This information was passed
to Parliament and it was eventually agreed to abolish the Commonwealth
and bring back the monarchy. In
August 1660, Charles
II and Parliament
agreed to pass the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion. This resulted in
the granting of a free pardon to anyone who had supported the Commonwealth
government. However, the king retained the right to punish those people
who had participated in the trial and execution of Charles
I.
A special court was appointed
and in October 1660 those Regicides
who were still alive and living in Britain were brought to trial.
Ten were found guilty and were sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered.
Marten was also found guilty and was imprisoned in Chepstow Castle
where he died on 9th September 1680.
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
