Eikon Basilike: the pourtraicture of his sacred Majesty King Charles II :with his reason for turning Roman Catholick

Published K. James, 1694.- 8vo.

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This anonymous work is a parody of the work Eikon Basilike which had been published in the aftermath of Charles I’s execution. The original “Eikon Basilike” was supposedly a collection of Charles I’s own meditations on duty, death and royal prerogative, but a more likely compiler was John Gauden, Bishop of Exeter and Worcester (1605-1662). The original Basilike presented Charles I as a martyr and many editions were published in both England and Ireland. It begged a parody and this volume published in 1694 treated the life and reign of Charles II with derision. This can be seen in the following extracts. “On his majesty’s defeat at Worcester” the text reads: “I was lately guarded by a Forest of Spears, and now I am glad to skulk in a Forest of Trees.” Referring to the illegitimacy of the Duke of Monmouth, Charles II declares “It’s known to the world that I have violated those oaths which I made to God, then why should I scruple to deny that I was ever under a Matrimonial Vow to any woman but Queen Catharine? I had rather be esteemed wicked than weak, and have it said, that I was unchaste than foolish...”

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