Reliquiae Sacrae Carolinae

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The Reliquiae Sacrae Carolinae is a 1650 collection of writings about Charles I. It brings together the Eikon Basilike (the “sacred” book) with the King’s civil speeches and letters from the years leading to and during the Civil War. It is sometimes called The King’s Works and was published to arouse sympathy for the king and the Royalist cause. Parliament banned its printing, and early imprints tried to dodge punishment; the first edition claimed to come from The Hague, but it was actually compiled in London by Richard Royston and printed by Richard Norton.

The Eikon Basilike proved extremely popular, with many editions in the first six months. Later editions added other Royalist material such as the King’s prayers, his reasons against the court that tried him, and related letters and epitaphs.

The Reliquiae has two parts: a First Part on civil matters and a Second Part on sacred matters. It includes 33 speeches, 40 messages for peace, and 33 letters, along with private letters to the Queen and others that Parliament published. Notable speeches cover early appeals to Parliament for funds, the King’s defense of Protestant religion, and the dramatic attempt to arrest five MPs in Parliament; as the war widened, speeches were made in other places, and the final speeches come from the King while a prisoner on the Isle of Wight.

Contents also include His Majesty’s Messages for Peace, Letters to various people, and papers about church government, including exchanges with the Presbyterian minister Alexander Henderson. The volume ends with the King’s Prayers and his last words from the scaffold. It also lists the 73 people who passed sentence on him, with Oliver Cromwell named first.

Scholarly work on the Reliquiae began with Edward Almack’s Bibliography (1896) and was later advanced by Francis Madan (1950). The dates used are Old Style; for example, the execution is listed as 30 January 1648, which modern counting would call 1649. The 1650 publication could be 1650 or 1651 depending on the calendar, and England’s Julian calendar at the time means dates shifted when compared with the Gregorian system. The article’s dating and details draw from the first edition described in Almack and Madan.