alone was executed on 25 April 1649, being the victim selected by lot. Of five prominent Royalist peers who had fallen into the hands of Parliament, three, the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Holland, and Lord Capel, one of the Colchester prisoners, were beheaded at Westminster on 9 March. Above all, after long hesitations, even after renewal of negotiations, the Army and the Independents conducted "Pride's Purge" of the House removing their ill-wishers, and created a court for the trial and sentence of King Charles I. At the end of the trial the 59 Commissioners (judges) found Charles I guilty of high treason, as a "tyrant, traitor, murderer and public enemy". He was beheaded on a scaffold in front of the Banqueting House of the Palace of Whitehall on 30 January 1649. (After the Restoration in 1660, the regicides who were still alive and not living in exile were either executed or sentenced to life imprisonment.) Capitulation of Pontefract Castle Pontefract Castle was noted by Oliver Cromwell as "[...] one of the strongest inland garrisons in the kingdom". Even in ruins, the castle held out in the north for the Royalists. Upon the execution of Charles I, the garrison recognised Charles II as king and refused to surrender. On 24 March 1649, almost two months after Charles was beheaded, the garrison of the last Royalist stronghold finally capitulated. Parliament had the remains of the castle demolished the same year. Aftermath Following Charles's execution, the Commonwealth of England was established. In Scotland, Charles II became the new king, the resulting tensions leading to the Third English Civil War in 1651. See also Chronology of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms Notes, citations and sources Notes Citations Sources Attribution Further reading House of Lords Journal Volume 10 19 May 1648: Letter from L. Fairfax, about the Disposal of the Forces, to suppress the Insurrections in Suffolk, Lancashire, and S. Wales; and for Belvoir Castle to be secured House of Lords Journal Volume 10 19 May 1648: Disposition of the Remainder of the Forces in England and Wales (not mentioned in the Fairfax letter) English Civil War Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1648 in England 1649 in England Conflicts in 1648 Conflicts in 1649