The education of Charles I of England was overseen by Sir Thomas Murray, who taught Charles "the usual subjects: the Classics, French, Italian, arithmetic and theology" and supervised other tutors to the future king—Charles Guerolt, who taught fencing; John Beauchesne (who taught fine penmanship), and John Norton (who oversaw the library). Charles's education "has been praised and blamed for forming his personality and political conduct" in the lead-up to the English Civil War.Pollnitz, p. 315. Samuel Rawson Gardiner and Conrad Russell believed that Charles's education had not taught him empathy or the ability "to identify both sides of a political or religious question, a skill that could have taught him to appreciate both his opponents' perspectives or at least to anticipate their arguments and negotiate with them effectively".
