Charles II

Charles II was born on 29 May 1630 and died on 6 February 1685. He was King of Great Britain, Scotland, and Ireland from 1660 until 1685 whose restoration to the throne marked the end of republican rule in England. The years of his reign are known in English history as the Restoration period. The Restoration marked the re-establishment of the monarchy in 1660 after the Interregnum. This period brought significant changes to British politics and can be seen a short-lived return to an autocratic royal influence.

Childhood and Exile Charles II eldest son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France was born at St. James’s Palace in London. Charles II spend most of his childhood in England and his care and education became an issue of political significance because his mother was known for promoting the interests of France and the Roman church which stood in contrast to England. Parliament was afraid that he converted to Catholicism. In 1642 when the English Civil War broke out Charles I took his son, who was 12 at that time, with him and send his wife to The Hague. Charles II spent then most of the war on his father’s side and fought for him. But in 1645 Charles I ordered him to escape capture and move to France to his mother. While he was in exile he learnt of his father’s execution and the parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II king due to the prerogatives. However, England did not accept it and entered the so-called English Interregnum, and the country was led by Oliver Cornwell. Charles II did not like that at all, felt betrayed by the English and wanted revenge for his father’s death. Therefore, in 1650 he made a deal with the Scots and invaded with their army England but was defeated by Cornwell at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. This defeat led him into exile again for nine years. Cornwell’s death in 1658 lead to political crises which resulted in the restoration of the monarchy and Charles II was invited back by England in 1660 to reclaim his throne.

Being King Charles II landed at Dover on May 25, 1660, and only four days later, on May 29, 1660, his 30th birthday, he returned to London with a rapturous public reception. His return was celebrated with street ceremonies and a parade, and it seemed that everyone was happy as they celebrated the return of his monarch. With Charles II acceptance to the throne, he agreed to the Declaration of Breda written in April 1660. This declaration was written by Charles II and three advisors and pardoned the crimes committed in the period of the Interregnum and the English Civil War. However, Charles wanted those who were directly responsible for his father’s death would not be pardoned. This included John Lambert and Henry Vane the younger. Charles II promised with his signature to rule in cooperation with parliament, the protection of the rights to land and ownership, and the toleration of the Anglican church policy. Charles was a king who had little to do with his kingdom's public affairs because he liked and enjoyed building palaces and ships and expanded vast sums on these plans. As a result, this lavish lifestyle exhausted his resources and kept him in straits for money. Therefore, he always urged parliament to make new grants and to lay more taxes, but they did not take the problem seriously. Parliament was unwilling to believe in his financial problems because of his extravagant lifestyle. They believed that public money was wasted than falling short. As a response, Charles launched an unprovoked attack upon the Dutch in 1664. He hoped to win plunder and prestige and claimed to his people that the Dutch were the aggressors, but the war ended in a Dutch victory. For many people, this invasion signalized his unfortune reign and laid the blame for the loss of the war on him because the money Charles received was used for his entertainment instead for building ships and other national defenses. Consequently, Charles struggled for four years to regain public confidence by appointing new ministers to manage his money and the parliamentary sessions and adopting a foreign policy which once again was to be bringing England into an alliance of powers determined to contain France. Behind the parliament backs Charles had been striking covert deals with France. He signed a secret treaty with Louis XIV which said that Charles converts to Catholicism and support the French against the Dutch in the third Anglo-Dutch war (1672-1674). In return he received subsidies from France. The result was three years of political crisis in which Charles only survived by hiring new ministers, offering concessions to divide his opponents, and avoiding any further adventures. He now ruled as an absolute monarch without a parliament and only financed by Louis XIV. During his reign, the rise of colonialization and trade in India, the East Indies and America and the Passage of Navigation Acts which secured Britain’s future as a sea power happened. Charles reign war marked with wars, defeats in naval battles, unlucky negotiations abroad, plots and conspiracies (Popish Plot 1678), the plague (1655) and the Great Fire (1666). But he took all these issues particularly good and allowed very little to influence his own personal pleasures. Whatever troubles or embarrassments affected reached him, he left the anxiety and care to his ministers and council and just enjoyed himself with his experiments, mistresses, dogs, and perpetual fun.

Death Charles died on February 6, 1685, at the age of 54 without any heirs. Although he married a Portuguese princess in May 1662, Catherine of Braganza, for political reasons, he had no children with her as she was barren. Instead, he had only several illegitimate children with various mistresses. Therefore, his Catholic brother James was his heir which did not like the parliament because he was catholic. Even though Charles had been all his life a protestant, but the Protestantism was to him only a political faith and had nothing to do with moral accountability or preparation for heaven. That is probably also one of the reasons why he converted on his death bed to Catholicism but also fulfilled his promised to the French King Louis XIV.

Memory of Charles II The arrival of Charles II saw many people as a return to power to a great relief after the highly turbulent period that preceded it. He was known as a tolerant ruler and granted religious freedom to Catholics and Protestants. The upper class profited a lot from him because indulgence, exuberance and pleasure became the new aspiration for them. Theatres were re-opened with women on the stage for the first time, public taverns were drawing, the court hosted parties and encounters and in general people were granted much more liberties. For all these reason Charles got the nickname ‘Merry Monarch’^{Superscript text} by Clarendon’ son, Laurence, First Lord of the Treasury. Although many people saw Charles’ return as a positive thing, there were many who saw him as an embarrassment to the country and to the monarchy. The reason for that was that Charles despised paperwork and whenever possible he passed on official administration to his ministers. Instead, he enjoyed the pleasure of his court and mistresses. He spent much money on them and his illegitimate children mostly drawing funds from the privy purse at the expanse of the country. In general, was his relationship to parliament seen as uneasy as many politicians considered him as too easily influenced by Catholics.