Charles,
the son of Charles I and Henrietta
Maria,
was born in 1630. As Prince of Wales during the Civil
War Charles
was placed in charge of the west of England and took part in the Battle
of Edgehill in 1642.
After
the defeat of the Royalist forces Charles went into exile to the Isles
of Scilly. Later he lived in Jersey and France. In 1649 Charles was
proclaimed king of Scotland. He arrived
in Edinburgh but after military defeats
at Dunbar and Worcester, he was forced to flee to France.
On 3 September 1658, Oliver
Cromwell died. A few months previously, Cromwell had announced
that he wanted his son, Richard Cromwell,
to replace him as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. The English
army was unhappy with this decision. While they respected Oliver as
a skillful military commander, Richard was just a country farmer.
In May 1659, the generals forced Richard to retire from government.
Parliament and the leaders
of the army now began arguing amongst themselves about how England
should be ruled. General George Monk, the
officer in charge of the English army based in Scotland, decided to
take action, and in 1660
he marched his army to London.
When Monck arrived he reinstated
the House of Lords and the Parliament of
1640. Royalists were now in control of Parliament. Monck
now contacted Charles, who was living in Holland. Charles agreed that
if he was made king he would pardon all members of the parliamentary
army and would continue with the Commonwealth's policy of religious
toleration. Charles also accepted that he would share power with Parliament
and would not rule as an 'absolute' monarch as his father had
tried to do in the 1630s.
This information was passed
to Parliament and it was eventually agreed to abolish the Commonwealth
and bring back the monarchy. Parliament raised nearly £1 million
and with this money soldiers in the army were paid off and sent home.
At the same time Charles was granted permission to form two permanent
regiments for himself, the Royal Scots and the Coldstream Guards.
As a reward for his action,
General George Monck became one of the
king's most important ministers. Many of the men who had fought as
Cavaliers against the Roundheads also became ministers and
advisers. Some of these
men wanted revenge against those who had killed their king. A large
number of the people responsible were now dead. However, many of those
who were still alive were punished. Eleven members of the House
of Commons who had signed Charles I's death warrant were hanged,
drawn and quartered. Royalists even dug up the body of Oliver
Cromwell and displayed it at Tyburn.
Charles and his pro-Royalist
Parliament now attempted to deal with the Puritans.
A new Act of Uniformity was passed that made Puritan acts of worship
illegal. Those that refused to obey this law became known as non-conformists
or dissenters. Large numbers of nonconformists went to prison because
they were unwilling to give up their religious beliefs.
Men who had been Anglicans
before the Civil War were appointed
to senior posts in the church. Bishops once again became members of
the House of Lords.
Puritans
also lost their power in
politics. In future Puritans would no longer be allowed to become
members of the House of Commons or local
counsellors. They were also excluded from universities and from teaching
in schools. Strict censorship was also imposed on books. All books
dealing with history, science or philosophy had to be checked by the
government and the leaders of the church before they were published.
Newspapers were also put
under the control of the government. Coffee-houses, where people often
discussed politics, were also closed down.
In 1662 Charles married
Catherine of Braganza, the daughter
of the King of Portugal. This failed to produce an heir but through
his affairs with Nell Gwyn, Barbara Villiers,
the Duchess of Portsmouth and Louise de Keroualle he fathered several
children.
In 1665 England became
involved in a war with Holland. The war did not go well, and in 1667
the Dutch fleet defeated the English navy. Charles
feared that a weakened
England was now likely to be invaded by the French. For hundreds of
years the French were seen as England's main European rivals. One
of the reasons for this constant conflict concerned the subject of
religion. Whereas England was a Protestant nation, France had always
remained loyal to the Catholic faith.
Charles, afraid that his
powerful neighbour might try and invade England, sent his sister Henrietta
to talk to Louis XIV of France. In their talks, Henrietta told Louis
XIV that Charles II wanted England and France to become allies. Louis
XIV replied that he was willing to help England but in return he demanded
that Charles become a Catholic. Charles agreed to this but argued
that he needed time before announcing his decision to the people of
England. Charles feared that the English Protestants might try to
overthrow him when they realised that they had a Catholic king.
In 1670 Charles
II and Louis XIV
signed the Treaty of Dover. In the treaty Louis XIV agreed to give
Charles a yearly pension. A further sum of money would be paid once
Charles announced to the English people that he had joined the Catholic
church. Louis XIV also promised to send Charles 6,000 French soldiers
if the English people rebelled against him. For his part, Charles
agreed to help the French against the Dutch. He also promised to do
what he could to stop the English Protestants
from persecuting Catholics.
This treaty was kept secret
from the English people while Charles tried to persuade Parliament
to become more friendly towards the French government. Charles used
some of the money to bribe certain members of Parliament. These MPs,
who supported Charles' pro-Catholic policies, became known as
Tories by their opponents in Parliament.
The Puritans lost control
of government after the Restoration
in 1660. However, the vast majority of members of House
of Commons remained loyal Protestants.
In 1670 Charles became
a Roman Catholic. However, as Parliament
and about 90% of the people in England were Protestants, Charles had
to keep this a secret. After becoming a Catholic, Charles tried very
hard to protect other Catholics from Protestant persecution. However,
he was unable to stop Parliament from passing the Test
Acts that prevented Catholics from being Members of Parliament
or from holding any other high office.
Charles and his wife Catherine
of Braganza did not have any children. There were two possible
candidates to become king when Charles died; James,
his younger brother and James Scott,
Duke of Monmouth, his eldest illegitimate son.
In 1678, Titus
Oates, an Anglican minister announced that he had discovered a
Catholic plot to kill Charles
II. Oates claimed that Charles
was to be replaced by his Roman Catholic brother, James.
He went on to argue that after James came to the throne Protestants
would be massacred in their thousands. This announcement made Catholics
more unpopular than ever, and eighty of them were arrested and accused
of taking part in the plot. Several were executed before it was revealed
that Titus Oates had been lying.
Earl
of Shaftesbury
was a senior member of the king's government. Shaftesbury was strong
supporter of religious toleration and this resulted in him clashing
with Earl
of Clarendon.
Shaftesbury survived but was later
dismissed from office when he expressed doubts about the role being
played by the king's brother, James.
Shaftesbury now argued
that the king should call a
new Parliament to discuss these issues. His supporters began to wear
green ribbons (the colours of the Levellers).
The king, concerned about this act of rebellion, had Shaftesbury arrested
and sent to the Tower of London.
Dissatisfaction with the
king continued and after a year Shaftesbury was released and James
was sent to live abroad.
Shaftesbury was brought back to power as president of the privy Council.
In this position he urged Charles
II to remarry
in an effort to produce an heir to the throne. Charles, who wanted
his brother to succeed him as king, refused, and dismissed Shaftesbury
from office.
In July 1681 Earl
of Shaftesbury was
arrested and charged with high treason. However, in November, 1681,
the grand jury threw the charges out. Shaftesbury was released but
fearing he would be arrested again, he fled to the Netherlands where
he died in 1683.
Just before he died in
February 1685, Charles admitted that he was a Roman
Catholic. He also announced that his brother James, who was also
a Catholic, was to succeed him to the throne.
(1)
Letter
sent by a man living in London to one of Charles II's advisers
(1659)
You cannot imagine how
all people here are affected with joy at the hope of having a King
again. His (Charles) picture is hung up in many places in the streets...
there was a man yesterday who said that he had seen him lately and
that he was not so handsome as that picture, at which the people were
so angry that they fell upon the man and beat him soundly.
(2)
In his diary, John
Evelyn described Charles II entering London. (29 May 1660)
There were 20,000 soldiers...
shouting with joy; the streets covered with flowers, the bells ringing,
fountains running with wine.
(3)
When
Charles dissolved parliament in 1678 he made the following remarks
to his friend Thomas Bruce.
I feel better now... It
is better to have one king than five hundred.
(4)
Gilbert
Burnet, History of My Own Time (1723)
King Charles II... was
corrupted by France... he was continually cheating his people... he
was lazy... he enjoyed the pleasures of wit and laughter, with the
most worthless, vicious men of his age.
(5)
Sir
Thomas Clifford worked for Charles II. In 1682 he recorded these views
on the Secret Treaty of Dover.
Henrietta
of England... whose intelligence was equal to her beauty... sister
to the King of England and sister-in-law to the
King of France... met Louis XIV and promised that Parliament would
re-establish the Catholic religion in the three kingdoms of England,
Scotland and Ireland.
(6)
The Secret Treaty of Dover
(1670)
The King of England, being
convinced of the truth of the Catholic religion... agrees to be reconciled
to the Church of Rome, as soon as his kingdom's affairs shall permit
him... the said King (Louis XIV) agrees to assist his Majesty (Charles
II).. if in need... by sending 6,000 men.
(7)
John
Evelyn, diary entry, (4th
February, 1685)
He (Charles II) had many great faults... He neglected the
needs of the people... Wars, plagues, fires made his reign very troublesome
and unprosperous.
(8)
Sir
John Reresby described how Charles II spent his final years living
in Newmarket.
The King... mixed himself
amongst the crowd, allowed every man to speak to him as he pleased,
went hawking in the mornings, to cock-fights or foot races in the
afternoons (if there were no horse races), and to plays in the evenings.
|
The image of Charles II as a promiscuous monarch
who dragged the crown through the moral mire and irredeemably
weakened its position has persisted throughout the last three
centuries. That judgment, according to Derek Wilson, is fair as
far as it goes. The Restoration court did set an example of cynical
libertinism that provoked opposition not only from outraged preachers
but also satirical journalists and angry mobs who pelted royal
mistresses and burned down brothels. But the author argues that
Charles' bedroom antics are symptoms and not the causes of social
decadence. (Derek Wilson, Hutchinson, ISBN 0 09 179379 3, £20.00)
|
Derek
Wilson, All the King's Women, Hutchinson
