Pinning down the king

While well-heeled, self-preserving lawyers of eminence and rank fled to London to avoid a perilous undertaking, John Cooke, a low-born Puritan of great courage, submitting himself to God’s purposes and remaining true to his Roundhead convictions, accepted the brief to prosecute Charles I in the High Court established by an act of parliament for the purpose. In telling his story Geoffrey Robertson has redeemed from obscurity an unsung hero of true greatness, a selfless champion of the poor and a law reformer of rare distinction. More important, he has shed invigorating light on the course of the English Civil War, especially on its legal aspects and consequences.

Charles’ unshakable belief in the divine right of kings threatened the liberty of the English people and the religious toleration inherent in the Elizabethan settlement. He made war on his own subjects and, defeated in the field, appealed to Scottish and Irish arms rather than reach a constitutional settlement.