Charles II

(Charles II of England)

1630–1685

CHARLES II

Charles II was a personally charming, but irresponsible monarch. In an age of great ideas and conflicts, where thousands of lives had been lost promoting or defending the rights and privileges of parliament, conscience, tradition, the church, and the monarchy, he continued on a frivolous path, seemingly unaffected by the entire drama. Part of his charm was exactly this—the country was exhausted by years of taking politics and religion seriously, and there was a certain amount of relief in the prospect of returning to a "normal" state of incompetent rule, after nearly twenty years of earnestness and bloodshed. Nevertheless, Charles squandered an opportunity to provide strong leadership at a time the country could have benefited from a wise sovereign.

Charles's father was executed when he was nineteen, and Scotland immediately declared in favor of him, although England remained under control of the Parliamentary army. Charles landed in Scotland but within a year was defeated at the Battle of Worcester, and nearly captured. He returned to France and spent the entire decade of the Commonwealth in Europe. He was restored to the throne after the death of Cromwell, after agreeing to deal leniently with the regicides. By the time he returned to power parliament had turned against Puritanism, and was strongly supportive of the institutions of the Anglican Church so for the early years of his reign, the king was actually more favorable toward religious toleration than the parliament. Yet he did nothing to effectively advance the cause of religious freedom for either Catholics or dissenting protestants during this time.

During the years that England had been embroiled in civil wars, the Dutch, who had finally won their independence from Spain, began to take a leading role in maritime commerce, and to threaten England's position as a dominant sea-power. As a result, there were two naval wars with Holland during Charles' reign, in spite of the fact that Protestant Holland had long been one of England's strongest allies. Two other disasters hit England during the same period—the Great Plague, and the Great Fire of London, in 1665 and 1666 respectively. Yet even these terrible crises did not long subdue the king's lively nature. He shocked the nation, however, when he converted to Roman Catholicism on his death bed, and was succeeded on the throne by his Catholic brother James II.

Key events during the life of Charles II of England:

Year	Event
1630	Birth of Charles II.
1649	Death of Charles I. Scotland declares for Charles II.
1651	Flees Scotland after the Royalists are defeated at Battle of Worcester.
	Family of Charles in exile in France.
1659	Death of Cromwell. End of Commonwealth. Monck negotiates the Restoration.
1661	Returns to England. Crowned king of England and Scotland.
1662	Marries Catherine of Braganza of Portugal.
1665	Break-out of Second Anglo-Dutch War.
1665	Great Plague of London kills at least 70,000.
1666	Great Fire of London destroys much of the city.
1672	Break-out of Third Anglo-Dutch War.
1685	Converts to Catholicism on death-bed.

Other Resources

Story Links	Book Links
Charles II and the Royal Oak  in	Cambridge Historical Reader—Primary  by  Cambridge Press
Royal Oak  in	Stories from English History, Part Third  by  Alfred J. Church
Charles II. and the Stuart Restoration (1660-1685)  in	The Story of England  by  Samuel B. Harding
Crowning Mercy  in	Through Great Britain and Ireland With Cromwell  by  Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall
Commonwealth—The Adventures of a Prince  in	Our Island Story  by  H. E. Marshall
Charles II—The Story of How London was Burned  in	Our Island Story  by  H. E. Marshall
Charles II.—How the King came to his Own  in	Scotland's Story  by  Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall
Adventures of a Royal Fugitive  in	Historical Tales: English  by  Charles Morris
Charles II: The 'Merrie Monarch'  in	The Tudors and the Stuarts  by  M. B. Synge

Book Links
Charles II  by  Jacob Abbott

Image Links
Landing of Charles II  in Charles II	The King at Boscobel  in Charles II	Charles the Second  in Charles II
The Bridal Party at Lisbon  in Charles II	Catharine of Braganza  in Charles II	Charles II  in Cambridge Historical Reader—Primary
The Children of Charles I  in  The Story of the English	King Charles Spaniels  in  The Story of the English

Contemporary	Short Biography
Oliver Cromwell	Military leader of Parliament who headed the Commonwealth government after death of Charles I.
Henrietta	Daughter of Henry IV of France, and Queen of Charles I, and mother of Charles II and James II.
James II	Catholic king of England, deposed by his daughter Mary and William III.
Marquess of Montrose	Leader of the Royalist cause in Scotland during the English Civil War. Eventually betrayed by Charles II.
George Monck	Puritan general who negotiated the terms of the Restoration of Charles II.
Catherine of Braganza	Portuguese princess, and wife of Charles II
Daniel Defoe	Author of Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders.
Christopher Wren	English Scientist and Architect during the reign of Charles II. Rebuilt St. Paul's after the London Fire. Founded the Royal Society.
Samuel Pepys	Kept a diary during the reign of Charles II; mentions the plague, the great fire, and much else.