Charles II (May 29, 1630 – February 6, 1685) was the King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland from January 30, 1649 (de jure) or May 29, 1660 (de facto) until his death. His father Charles I had been executed in 1649, following the English Civil War; the monarchy was then abolished and England, and subsequently Scotland and Ireland, became a united republic under Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector (see Commonwealth of England and The Protectorate), albeit with Scotland and Ireland under military occupation and de facto martial law. In 1660, shortly after Cromwell's death, the monarchy was restored under Charles II. He was popularly known as the "Merry Monarch" in reference to the liveliness and hedonism of his court.
The exact date that Charles became king is vague due to the uncertain political situation of the time. His father was executed on January 30, 1649, making him in theory King Charles II from that moment. He was immediately proclaimed king in Scotland on February 5 and Jersey on February 16, 1649, but was also recognized in a few British colonies (especially the Colony and Dominion of Virginia). In Scotland Charles was for some time king in title only. It took two years of negotiation with the Presbyterians before he was finally crowned King of Scots in Scone on January 1, 1651. However, his reign there was short lived as he was soon driven out by the republican armies, led by Oliver Cromwell. His coronation in England would not be until after Cromwell's death and the monarchy's restoration in May 1660; Charles spent most of the intervening time exiled in France.
Much like his father, Charles II struggled for most of his life in his relations with Parliament, although the tensions between the two never reached the same levels of hostility. He was only able to achieve true success toward the end of his reign, by dispensing with Parliament and ruling alone. Unlike his father's policy, however, this policy did not lead to widespread popular opposition, as he avoided the imposition of any new taxes, thanks in part to money he received as a result of his close relationship with the French king, Louis XIV. The principal conflicts of his reign revolved around a number of interlinked issues in domestic and foreign policy, most of which were related to the conflict between Protestants and Catholics then raging across Europe. As a consequence of this, Charles's reign was racked by political factions and intrigue, and it was at this time that the Whig and Tory political parties first developed.
Charles II famously fathered numerous illegitimatechildren, of whom he acknowledged 14, but no legitimate children who lived. Charles was also a patron of the arts, and he and his court were largely responsible for the revival of public drama and music known as the Restoration literature, after their virtual prohibition under the earlier Protectorate. Some historians, such as Maurice Ashley, believe that Charles was secretly a Roman Catholic for much of his life like his brother James while others, such as Antonia Fraser, disagree. All that is known for certain is that he had converted to Roman Catholicism by the time of his death.
Early Life
Charles, the eldest surviving son of Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France, was born Charles Stuart in St. James's Palace on May 29, 1630. At birth, he automatically became (as the eldest surviving son of the Sovereign) Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay; shortly after his birth, he was crowned Prince of Wales. Due to the disruption caused by the English Civil War, he was never formally invested with the Honors of the Principality of Wales.
| British Royalty |
|---|
| House of Stuart |
 |
| Charles II |
| Illegitimate sons included |
| James Scott, Duke of Monmouth |
| Charles FitzRoy, Duke of Cleveland and Southampton |
| Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Grafton |
| George FitzRoy, Duke of Northumberland |
| Charles Beauclerk, Duke of St Albans |
| Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond and Lennox |
During the 1640s, when the Prince of Wales was still young, his father Charles I fought Parliamentary and Puritan forces in the English Civil War. The prince accompanied his father during the Battle of Edgehill and, at the age of 15, participated in the campaigns of 1645, when he was made titular commander of the English forces in the West Country. In 1647, due to fears for his safety, he left England, going first to the Isles of Scilly, then to Jersey, and finally to France, where his mother was already living in exile. (His cousin, Louis XIV sat on the French throne.) In 1648, during the Second Civil War, Charles moved to The Hague, where his sister Mary and his brother-in-law Prince of Orange seemed more likely to provide substantial aid to the Royalist cause than the Queen's French relations. However, Charles was neither able to use the Royalist fleet that came under his control to any advantage, nor to reach Scotland in time to join up with the Royalist "Engagers" army of the Duke of Hamilton before it was defeated at the Battle of Preston.
At The Hague, Charles II had an affair with Lucy Walter (whom, some alleged, he secretly married). Their son, James Crofts (afterward Duke of Monmouth and Duke of Buccleuch), was to become the most prominent of Charles's many illegitimate sons in English political life, and famously led a rebellion on Charles's death, aimed at placing himself (a staunch Protestant) on the throne instead of Charles's Catholic brother James.
Charles I was captured in 1647. He escaped and was recaptured in 1648. Despite his son's efforts to save him, Charles I was executed in 1649, and England was proclaimed a republic.
At the same time, however, Scotland recognized Charles as his father's successor—even the Covenanters (led by the Archibald Campbell, Marquess of Argyll), the most extreme Presbyterian group in Scotland, proved unwilling to allow the English to decide the fate of their monarchy. Consequently, on February 5, 1649, Charles II was proclaimed King of Scots in Edinburgh. He would not be allowed to enjoy the powers that followed from his title until such time as he signed the Solemn League and Covenant (an agreement between England and Scotland that the Church of Scotland should not be remodeled on Anglican lines but should remain Presbyterian—the form of church governance preferred by most in Scotland—and that the Church of England and the Church of Ireland should be reformed along the same lines) (see also Treaty of Breda (1650)). Upon his arrival in Scotland on June 23, 1650, he formally agreed to the Covenant; his abandonment of Anglicanism, although winning him support in Scotland, left him unpopular in England. Charles himself soon came to despise his Scottish hosts (or "gaolers," as he came to see the dour Covenanters), and supposedly celebrated at the news of the Covenanters' defeat at the Battle of Dunbar in September 1650. Nevertheless, the Scots remained Charles's best hope of restoration, and he was crowned King of Scots at Scone, Perthshire on January 1, 1651. With Oliver Cromwell's forces threatening Charles's position in Scotland, it was decided that an attack should be mounted on England. With many of the Scots (including Argyll and other leading Covenanters) refusing to participate, and with few English Royalists joining the force as it moved south into England, the invasion ended in defeat at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651, following which Charles is said to have hidden in the Royal Oak Tree at Boscobel House, subsequently escaping to France in disguise. Parliament put a reward of £1,000 on the king's head, and the penalty of death for anyone caught helping him. Through six weeks of narrow escapes Charles managed to flee England.
Impoverished, Charles could not obtain sufficient support to mount a serious challenge to Cromwell's government. Despite the Stuart familial connections through Henrietta Maria and the Princess of Orange, France and the United Provinces allied themselves with Cromwell's government, forcing Charles to turn to Spain for aid. He attempted to raise an army, but failed due to his financial shortcomings.
Restoration
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After the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658, Charles's chances of regaining the Crown seemed slim. Oliver Cromwell was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son, Richard Cromwell. However, the new Lord Protector, with no power base in either Parliament or the New Model Army, was forced to abdicate in 1659. The Protectorate of England was abolished, and the Commonwealth of England re-established. During the civil and military unrest that followed, George Monck, the Governor of Scotland, was concerned that the nation would descend into anarchy. Monck and his army marched into the City of London and forced the Long Parliament to dissolve itself. For the first time in almost 20 years, the members of Parliament faced a general election.
A predominantly Royalist House of Commons was elected. Soon after it assembled on April 25, 1660, the Convention Parliament received news of the Declaration of Breda (May 8, 1660), in which Charles agreed, among other things, to pardon many of his father's enemies. It also subsequently declared that Charles II had been the lawful Sovereign since Charles I's execution in 1649.
Charles set out for England, arriving in Dover on May 23, 1660 and reaching London on May 29, which is considered the date of the Restoration, and was Charles's 30 birthday. Although Charles granted amnesty to Cromwell's supporters in the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion, this made specific provision for people to be excluded by the indemnity through act of Parliament. In the end 13 people were executed: they were hanged, drawn, and quartered; others were given life imprisonment or simply excluded from office for life. The bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, and John Bradshaw were subjected to the indignity of posthumous executions.
Cavalier Parliament
The Convention Parliament was dissolved 
in December1660. Shortly after Charles's coronation atWestminster Abbey on April 23, 1661, the second Parliament of the reign—the Cavalier Parliament—assembled. As the Cavalier Parliament was overwhelmingly Royalist, Charles saw no reason to dissolve it and force another general election for 17 years.
in December1660. Shortly after Charles's coronation atWestminster Abbey on April 23, 1661, the second Parliament of the reign—the Cavalier Parliament—assembled. As the Cavalier Parliament was overwhelmingly Royalist, Charles saw no reason to dissolve it and force another general election for 17 years.
The Cavalier Parliament concerned itself with the agenda of Charles's chief advisor, Lord Clarendon (Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon). Lord Clarendon sought to discourage non-conformity to the Church of England; at his instigation, the Cavalier Parliament passed several acts that became part of the "Clarendon Code." The Conventicle Act of 1664 prohibited religious assemblies of more than five people, except under the auspices of the Church of England. The Five Mile Act of 1665 prohibited clergymen from coming within five miles of a parish from which they had been banished. The Conventicle and Five Mile Acts remained in effect for the remainder of Charles's reign. Other parts of the Clarendon Code included the Corporation Act of 1661 and the Act of Uniformity of 1662.
Charles agreed to give up antiquated feudal dues which had been revived by his father; in return, he was granted an annual income of £1,200,000 by Parliament. The grant, however, proved to be of little use for most of Charles's reign. The aforesaid sum was only an indication of the maximum the king was allowed to withdraw from the Treasury each year; for the most part, the amount actually in the coffers was much lower. To avoid further financial problems, Charles appointed George Downing (the builder of Downing Street) to reform the management of the Treasury and the collection of taxes.
Foreign Policy
In 1662 Charles married a Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza, who brought him the territories of Bombay and Tangier asdowry. During the same year, however, he sold Dunkirk—a much more valuable strategic outpost—to his first cousin, King Louis XIV of France, for £40,000.
Appreciative of the assistance given to him in gaining the throne, Charles awarded North American lands then known as the Carolina—named after his father—to eight nobles (known as Lords Proprietors) in 1663.
The Navigation Acts (1650), which hurt Dutch trade and started the First Dutch War (1652-1654), were also responsible for starting the Second Dutch War (1665-1667). This conflict began well for the English, with the capture of New Amsterdam (later renamed New York in honor of Charles's brother James, Duke of York, the future James II of England/James VII of Scotland), but in 1667 the Dutch launched a surprise attack upon the English (the Raid on the Medway) when they sailed up the River Thames to where the better part of the English Fleet was docked. Almost all of the ships were sunk except for the flagship, the Royal Charles, which was taken back to the Netherlands as a trophy. The ship's nameplate remains on display, now at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The Second Dutch War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Breda in 1667.
As a result of the Second Dutch War, Charles dismissed his advisor Lord Clarendon, whom he used as a scapegoat for the war. Clarendon fled to France when impeached by the House of Commons for high treason, which carried the penalty of death. Power passed to a group of five politicians known as the Cabal—Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford, Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley (afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury), and John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale.
In 1668 England allied itself with Sweden and its former enemy the Netherlands in order to oppose Louis XIV in the War of Devolution. Louis was forced to make peace with the Triple Alliance, but he continued to maintain his aggressive intentions. In 1670 Charles, seeking to solve his financial troubles, agreed to the Treaty of Dover, under which Louis XIV would pay him £200,000 each year. In exchange, Charles agreed to supply Louis with troops and to convert himself to Roman Catholicism "as soon as the welfare of his realm will permit." Louis was to provide him with six thousand troops with which to suppress those who opposed the conversion. Charles endeavored to ensure that the Treaty—especially the conversion clause—remained secret. It remains unclear if Charles ever seriously intended to follow through with the conversion clause.
Meanwhile, by a series of five acts around 1670, Charles granted the British East India Company the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops, to form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas in India. Earlier in 1668 he leased the islands of Bombay for a paltry sum of ten pounds sterling paid in gold.
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