The next day, soldiers commanded by Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly excluded from the Long Parliament those MPs viewed as their opponents, and arrested 45.

[3] Having won control of Scotland in the 1639 to 1640 Bishops' Wars, the Covenanters viewed the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant as a way to preserve their dominance by preventing a Royalist victory in England.

[4] In 1646, most Parliamentarians assumed military defeat would force Charles I to comply with their terms, but his refusal to make any substantial concessions frustrated allies and opponents alike.

Although quickly suppressed, it created a political grouping within the New Model Army who believed Charles had proved he could not be trusted and only his removal could end the conflict.

On 10 November, Henry Ireton presented the draft Remonstrance to the Army General Council, which set out a constitutional vision of a state with Charles replaced by an elected monarch.

[9] As the MPs arrived, Pride checked their names against a list of those considered enemies of the Army, assisted by Lord Grey of Groby, who helped identify them.

Even those who wanted him removed did not necessarily support his execution; this included Fairfax, who refused to take part in his trial, and initially Cromwell, who returned to London from the siege of Pontefract Castle in early December.

In return for sparing his life, he hoped Charles would order the Duke of Ormond to end negotiations with the Irish Confederacy, and prevent a new war in Ireland.

[16] The trial was backed by republicans like Edmund Ludlow, who argued Charles must die to "appease the wrath of God for the blood shed during the wars", and supported the Purge as the only way to ensure this.

[18] Charles was executed on 30 January, but in a society that placed enormous emphasis on the rule of law, the circumstances of his death, and the military coup that preceded it, tainted the subsequent Protectorate from its inception.