Charles II, son of Charles I, became King of England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland in 1660 as

a result of the Restoration Settlement. Charles ruled to 168 and his reign is famous for
the 166 !reat "lague that #rimaril$ affected %ondon and the 1666 !reat &ire of %ondon.

Charles 'as born on (a$ )*th 16+0 at St. ,ames-s "alace in %ondon. .e recei/ed his
education from the 0isho# of Chichester and the Earl of 1e'castle. .o'e/er, 'hat 'ould be
deemed his formal education ended 'hen the Ci/il War bro2e out in 163). 4n$ education
Charles recei/ed after the 'ar bro2e out 'as dislocated b$ the necessit$ of his famil$ ha/ing
to mo/e. In 163, Charles, the heir to the Cro'n, had to flee England. .e s#ent the ne5t fi/e
$ears as a ro$al refugee in ,erse$, &rance and the 1etherlands.

Charles 'as in 6he .ague 'hen he recei/ed information that his father had beene5ecuted in
,anuar$ 163*.

In 160, Charles landed in Scotland to lead a "resb$terian rebellion against the English
go/ernment. 7n Se#tember +rd, 161, an arm$ led b$ 7li/er Crom'ell defeated the Scots.
6he Scots 'ere also defeated at Worcester 8+rd Se#tember 1619 after their arm$ had in/aded
England. 6his defeat forced Charles abroad again and it #laced England /er$ much under the
control of Crom'ell. Charles li/ed 'ith his mother in "aris. 4s a :aughter of &rance,
.enrietta (aria recei/ed a small state #ension. 0$ 163, di#lomatic relations bet'een
England and &rance started to im#ro/e and Charles once again had to mo/e ; this time to
Cologne.

.o'e/er, Crom'ell-s domestic #olicies did not endear him to the English and 'hen he died
in 168 it is said that his coffin 'as guarded b$ some +0,000 soldiers as it 'as dri/en through
%ondon before his burial. While it is #robable that contem#orar$ commentators e5aggerated
this figure, there is little doubt that b$ the time of his death, Crom'ell had created a societ$
'hereb$ $ou 'ere either for Crom'ell or against him ; 'ith little in bet'een. (an$
celebrated his death and bet'een 168 and 1660, it became clear to the go/ernment that the
restoration of the monarch$ 'as of /ital im#ortance if societ$ itself 'as not going to
fragment.

!eneral (onc2, commander of the "rotectorate-s arm$ in Scotland, belie/ed that the onl$
'a$ to unif$ the countr$ 'as for the restoration of monarch$ 'ith "arliament go/erning the
countr$. In this 'a$ the #eo#le 'ould ha/e an indi/idual to rall$ around 'hile "arliament
continued to re#resent the 'ill of the #eo#le 'hen it came to decision<ma2ing. (onc2 had
much s'a$ in %ondon, if onl$ because his lo$al arm$ had a good re#utation at a time 'hen
the armies of "arliament else'here in the land 'ere being seriousl$ 'ea2ened b$ desertions.
(onc2 had al'a$s maintained connections 'ith Ro$alists so it 'as onl$ a matter of time
before he and Ed'ard .$de discussed the terms of an$ #otential restoration.

Ed'ard .$de, 1st Earl of Clarendon, negotiated the Restoration Settlement on behalf of
Charles. 6he final settlement 'as based on the :eclaration of 0reda 84#ril 16609 in 'hich
Charles #romised libert$ of conscience, a land settlement and arrears of #a$ for the arm$.
.o'e/er, "arliament 'as to 'or2 out the details of these intentions; a sign of the relationshi#
Charles and "arliament 'as to ha/e. "arliament 'anted to ma2e it clear that the$ 'ould not
tolerate an$ similar beha/iour associated 'ith Charles I. Charles II 'ould not ha/e needed
reminding that his father had #aid 'ith his life as a result of ta2ing on "arliament.

Charles landed at :o/er, Kent, on (a$ )th, 1660. 6here seems to be little doubt that the
Restoration 'as a highl$ #o#ular e/ent and contem#orar$ 'riters record the celebrations that
greeted Charles in :o/er that e5tended all the 'a$ to Rochester.

Charles himself 'as too astute to get himself in/ol/ed in similar #olitical situations to his
father ; though he 'as also la=$ and #referred en>o$ing himself to in/ol/ing himself in
#olitical intrigue. .o'e/er, des#ite his re#utation for licentious beha/iour ; in star2 contrast
to the era of the "uritans ; Charles 'as not totall$ #assi/e 'hen it came to "arliament and
#olitics.


"robabl$ most #eo#les- #erce#tion of Charles II is of a man 'ho 'anted to en>o$ himself ;
and there can be little doubt that Charles disa##ointed 'ith regards to this < hence his
nic2name ?6he (err$ (onarch?.

Charles had man$ mistresses 'hile King of !reat 0ritain. "robabl$ the most famous 'as 1ell
!'$nn though others included %uc$ Walter and the :uchess of "ortsmouth. Charles
ac2no'ledged that he fathered fourteen illegitimate children.

6he reign of Charles can be di/ided into s#ecific #arts.

6he Earl of Clarendon 'as the most im#ortant #olitical figure bet'een 1660 and166@ and he
dominated #olitical affairs bet'een those $ears.

6he Cabal 'as the most im#ortant #olitical entit$ bet'een 166@ and 16@+.

Sir 6homas :arb$ dominated #olitics bet'een 16@+ and 16@*.

6he E5clusion Crisis occurred bet'een 16@* and 1681.

0et'een 1681 and 168, Charles dis#ensed 'ith "arliament and ruled as an absolute
monarch.

Charles II died from a stro2e on &ebruar$ 6th, 168.

A.e li/ed 'ith his ministers as he did 'ith his mistressesB he used them, but he 'as not in
lo/e 'ith them. .e sho'ed his >udgement in this, that he cannot #ro#erl$ be said e/er to ha/e
had a fa/ourite, though some might loo2 so at a distance. .e tied himself no more to them
than the$ did to him, 'hich im#lied a sufficient libert$ on either side.

.e had bac2stairs to con/e$ information to him, as 'ell as for other usesB and though such
information is sometimes dangerous 8es#eciall$ to a #rince that 'ill not ta2e the #ains
necessar$ to digest them9 $et in the main that humour of hearing e/er$bod$ against an$bod$
2e#t those about him in more a'e than the$ 'ould ha/e been 'ithout it. I do not belie/e that
e/er he trusted an$ man or an$ set of men so entirel$ as not to ha/e some secrets in 'hich
the$ had no shareB as this might ma2e him less 'ell ser/ed, so in some degree it might ma2e
him the less im#osed u#on.C 8.alifa59

A.e is /er$ affable not onl$ in #ri/ate but in #ublic, onl$ he tal2s too much and runs out too
long and too farB he has a /er$ ill o#inion both of men and 'omen, and so is infinitel$
distrustfulB he thin2s the 'orld is go/erned 'holl$ b$ interest, and indeed he has 2no'n so
much of the baseness of man2ind that no 'onder if he has hard thoughts of themB but 'hen he
is satisfied that his interests are li2e'ise become the interests of his ministers, then he deli/ers
himself u# to them in all their humour and re/enges. .e has often 2e#t u# differences
amongst his ministers and has balanced his fa/ours #rett$ eDuall$ amongst themE..he
naturall$ inclines to refining and lo/es an intrigueE.he lo/es his ease so much that the great
secret of all his ministers is to find out his tem#er e5actl$ and to be eas$ to him. .e has man$
odd o#inions about religion and moralit$B he thin2s an im#licitness in religion is necessar$ for
the safet$ of go/ernment and he loo2s u#on all inDuisiti/eness into these things as
mischie/ous to the stateB he thin2s all a##etites are free and that !od 'ill ne/er damn a man
for allo'ing himself a little #leasure. I belie/e he is no atheist, but rather he has formed an
odd idea of the goodness of !od in his mindB he thin2s to be 'ic2ed, and to design mischief,
is the onl$ thing !od hates.C 8!ilbert 0urnet ; #ublished in c168+9