While the line of battle had yet to be invented, the Sovereign of the Seas represented an important step in the development of the ship-of-the-line. She also cost so much to build that Charles had to impose a ship tax (Ship Money) on his population – a levy that played a major part in the growing unrest that led to the outbreak of Civil War, and ultimately to Charles’s defeat and execution.
On 30 January 1649, with a single stroke of an axe, England became a
republic.