CHARLES II of ENGLAND
Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was king
of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
...
He was king of Scotland
from 1649 until his
deposition in 1651, and king
of England, Scotland and
Ireland from the 1660
Restoration of the monarchy
until his death in 1685.
Deposition= downfall of a
monarch
BACKGROUND :
Maria of France.
Charles II was the eldest surviving child of Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta
CHARLES I OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND HENRIETTA MARIA OF FRANCE (She was
IRELAND (he was king from 27 March 1625 until queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland as
his execution in 1649. He was born into the House the wife of Charles I. She was mother of his
of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of two immediate successors, Charles II and
Scotland) James II and VII)
HOW DID HE BECAME KING?
After Charles I's execution at
Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at
the climax of the English Civil
War, the Parliament of Scotland
proclaimed Charles II king on 5
February 1649.
(On 30 January 1649, King Charles
I was beheaded outside the
Banqueting House in Whitehall.
This German engraving ,on the
right side, was made that same
year.)
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
At the same time Charles II was crowned , England entered
the period known as the English Interregnum or the English
Commonwealth, and the country was a de facto republic led by
Oliver Cromwell.
ENGLISH COMMONWEALTH PERIOD
The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period
from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with
Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end
of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execution of
Charles I.
The republic's existence was declared through "An Act declaring
England to be a Commonwealth", adopted by the Rump Parliament on
19 May 1649. Power in the early Commonwealth was vested
primarily in the Parliament and a Council of State. During the
period, fighting continued, particularly in Ireland and
Scotland, between the parliamentary forces and those opposed to
them, as part of what is now referred to as the Third English
Civil War.
THE DEFEAT OF CHARLES II (1651-CROMWELL’S VICTORY)
Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3
September 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe.
Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and
Ireland. Charles spent the next nine years in exile in
France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands.
OLIVER CROMWELL
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 –
3 September 1658) was an English
general and statesman who led the
Parliament of England's armies
against King Charles I during the
English Civil War and ruled the
British Isles as Lord Protector
from 1653 until his death in
1658. He acted simultaneously as
head of state and head of
government of the new republican
commonwealth.
-● -Cromwell
- was born into a family that descended from the
sister of Henry VIII's minister Thomas Cromwell.
● Little is known of the first 40 years of his life, as
only four of his personal letters survive along with a
summary of a speech that he delivered in 1628
● He was an intensely religious man, and he fervently
believed that God was guiding his victories. He was
elected Member of Parliament for Huntingdon in 1628 and
for Cambridge in the Short (1640) and Long (1640–1649)
Parliaments.
● He demonstrated his ability as a commander and was
quickly promoted from leading a single cavalry troop to
being one of the principal commanders of the New Model
Army
RESTORATION OF THE STUART MONARCHY
A political crisis that followed
the death of Cromwell in 1658
resulted in the restoration of
the monarchy, and Charles was
invited to return to Britain. On
29 May 1660, his 30th birthday,
he was received in London to
public acclaim. After 1660, all
legal documents stating a regnal
year did so as if he had
succeeded his father as king in
1649.
CHARLES II AND THE RESTORATION
The Restoration brought significant changes to British
politics.
On his acceptance of the Crown Charles II issued the
Declaration of Breda, which formally recognised religious
toleration, protected rights to land ownership and
subordinated control of the Army to the sovereign. Ever wary
of how his father’s uncontrolled tyranny had created years
of bloodshed, Charles was eager to achieve a new settlement
between the monarchy and Parliament. A mutual – though wary
– respect thus emerged between the two institutions.
.. .
Many of the restrictions imposed on public life during the
Commonwealth were also lifted, creating more liberal
circumstances in which the arts and politics could flourish.
Theatres reopened, religious festivals were reinstated and
the natural rhythm of life was resumed. This was the great
era of Restoration plays, poetry and comedy (many works
written with a bawdy edge), with writers such as John
Dryden, Andrew Marvell, John Milton and Aphra Behn gaining
recognition and acclaim.
CHARLES II’s REPUTATION
The king was known for his many love affairs (most famously
with the actress Nell Gwynne), and his reign gained
something of a reputation for scandal owing to his
extravagant lifestyle.
Yet Charles II was held in high esteem by many of his
subjects, a position earned through his compassionate
responses to the two great disasters that marked his reign:
the arrival of plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London,
which devastated the capital the following year.
CHARLES II AND THE PARLIAMENT
Charles II’s relationship with Parliament was always an
uneasy one. In spite of formal acts recognising religious
toleration, many politicians considered the king as too
easily influenced by Catholic forces. Throughout the later
Stuart period the country remained deeply divided on
sectarian lines, and several plots emerged (though mostly
fabricated) in which Catholic agents were implicated in
attempts to overthrow the state.
CHARLES II DEATH
On 2 February 1685, after suffering a sudden fit, Charles
died unexpectedly, aged 54.
With no surviving male heirs, Charles’s natural successor
remained his overtly Catholic brother, James, Duke of York.
Though several attempts were made to exclude James from the
line of succession, no clear settlement was ever reached.
Bibliography
https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articl
es/the-turbulent-17th-century-civil-war-regicide-the-restora
tion-and-the-glorious-revolution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_England
BY Ana Lucía
CHineppe Martínez
