John Milton (1608–1674) The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates ... (London: printed by Matthew Simmons, 1649). Ee.3.24, title page.
In January 1649, King Charles I was put on trial for treason and for his life. During this time Milton wrote The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, a closely argued work of political theory defending a subject’s right to tyrannicide. The work’s title page contends that ‘it is lawful … for any who have the power, to call to account a Tyrant or wicked King and after due conviction, to depose, and put him to death’. It was published within a fortnight of Charles’s execution.