![]() ![]() ![]() He would rule closely with parliament, and returned to popular acclaim. It was decided that Charles' son should return to his rightful role, and become king. However Richard lacked the leadership qualities of his father, and he was quickly resigned. Charles II's coronationĪfter the death of Oliver Cromwell, his son Richard became Lord Protector. But he would need all his guile to manoeuvre and survive the tempestuous times in which he ruled. In the end, the national experiment with republicanism had collapsed and the dour days of Cromwell and the Commonwealth were swept away with festivities and mirth.Ĭharles II was tall, handsome, sharp of mind, impeccably attired and charming. On his thirtieth birthday, he left all that behind and triumphantly returned to London as King. His twenties were spent hopping around continental courts, begging favours and finances. Fight and flight marked these years with the execution of his beloved father shattering his world. King Charles II was however, one of the nation’s most interesting and beguiling rulers.Īs a teen, his golden childhood was ripped away from him by the Civil War. Charles died on 6 February 1685, converting to Catholicism on his death bed.He was certainly mercurial and brilliant, and quite possibly lustful and in the grip of dark and foreign powers. From then until his death he ruled alone.Ĭharles's reign saw the rise of colonisation and trade in India, the East Indies and America (the British captured New York from the Dutch in 1664), and the Passage of Navigation Acts that secured Britain's future as a sea power. Knowledge of his negotiations with France, together with his efforts to become an absolute ruler, brought Charles into conflict with parliament, which he dissolved in 1681. His Catholic brother James was thus his heir. Although Charles had a number of illegitimate children with various mistresses, he had none with his wife, Catherine of Braganza. In 1677, Charles married his niece Mary to the Protestant William of Orange, partly to re-establish his own Protestant credentials. He undertook to convert to Catholicism and support the French against the Dutch (Third Anglo-Dutch War 1672-1674), in return for which he would receive subsidies from France, thus enabling his some limited room for manoeuvre with parliament. In 1670, Charles signed a secret treaty with Louis XIV of France. Between 16 England was at war with the Dutch (the Second Anglo-Dutch War), ending in a Dutch victory. The early years of Charles's reign saw an appalling plague (1665) and the Great Fire in 1666 which led to the substantial rebuilding of the city of London. He made a number of attempts to formalise toleration of Catholics and Non-conformists but was forced to back down in the face of a strongly hostile parliament. His desire for religious toleration, due in large part to his own leanings towards Catholicism, were to prove more contentious. Although those who had signed Charles I's death warrant were punished, the new king pursued a policy of political tolerance and power-sharing. He again escaped into exile and it was not until 1660 that he was invited back to England to reclaim his throne. With a Scottish army he invaded England but was defeated by Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. In 1650, Charles did a deal with the Scots and was proclaimed king. He was in the Netherlands when, in 1649, he learnt of his father's execution. With the parliamentary victory he was forced into exile on the continent. He was 12 when the Civil War began and two years later was appointed nominal commander-in-chief in western England. © Charles II was king of England, Scotland and Ireland, whose restoration to the throne in 1660 marked the end of republican rule in England.Ĭharles was born on, the eldest surviving son of Charles I. ![]()
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