Charles ii of england biography

Charles set out for England from Scheveningenarrived in Dover on 25 May and reached London on 29 May, his 30th birthday. Although Charles and Parliament granted amnesty to nearly all of Cromwell's supporters in the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion50 people were specifically excluded. The grant, however, proved to be insufficient for most of Charles's reign.

For the most part, the actual revenue was much lower, which led to attempts to economise at court by reducing the size and expenses of the royal household [ 30 ] and raising money through unpopular innovations such as the hearth tax. In the latter half ofCharles's joy at the Restoration was tempered by the deaths of his siblings Henry and Mary of smallpox.

At around the same time, Anne Hydethe daughter of Lord Chancellor Edward Hyderevealed that she was pregnant by Charles's brother James, whom she had secretly married. Edward Hyde, who had not known of either the marriage or the pregnancy, was created Earl of Clarendon and his position as Charles's favourite minister was strengthened. The Convention Parliament was dissolved in Decemberand, shortly after Charles's English coronationthe second English Parliament of the reign assembled.

Dubbed the Cavalier Parliamentit was overwhelmingly Royalist and Anglican. It sought to discourage non-conformity to the Church of England and passed several acts to secure Anglican dominance. The Corporation Act required municipal officeholders to swear allegiance; [ 33 ] the Act of Uniformity made the use of the Book of Common Prayer compulsory; the Conventicle Act prohibited religious assemblies of more than five people, except under the auspices of the Church of England; and the Five Mile Act prohibited expelled non-conforming clergymen from coming within five miles 8 km of a parish from which they had been banished.

The Acts became known as the Clarendon Codeafter Lord Clarendon, even though he was not directly responsible for them and even spoke against the Five Mile Act. The Restoration was accompanied by social change. Puritanism lost its momentum. Theatres reopened after having been closed during the protectorship of Oliver Cromwell, and bawdy " Restoration comedy " became a recognisable genre.

Theatre licences granted by Charles required that female parts be played by "their natural performers", rather than by boys as was often the practice before; [ 35 ] and Restoration literature celebrated or reacted to the restored court, which included libertines such as Lord Rochester. Of Charles II, Rochester supposedly said:. We have a pretty, witty king, Whose word no man relies on, He never said a foolish thing, And never did a wise one [ 36 ].

To which Charles is reputed to have replied "that the matter was easily accounted for: For that his discourse was his own, his actions were the ministry's". Inthe Great Plague of London began, peaking in September with up to 7, deaths per week. After a long spell of hot and dry weather through mid, the Great Fire of London started on 2 September in Pudding Lane.

Fanned by strong charleses ii of england biography and fed by wood and fuel stockpiled for winter, the fire destroyed about 13, houses and 87 churches, including St Paul's Cathedral. The public blamed Catholic conspirators for the fire. SincePortugal had been fighting a war against Spain to restore its independence after a dynastic union of sixty years between the crowns of Spain and Portugal.

Portugal had been helped by France, but in the Treaty of the Pyrenees in Portugal was abandoned by its French ally. Negotiations with Portugal for Charles's marriage to Catherine of Braganza began during his father's reign. Portugal obtained military and naval support against Spain and liberty of worship for Catherine. The next day the couple were married at Portsmouth in two ceremonies—a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by a public Anglican service.

Before Charles's restoration, the Navigation Acts of had hurt Dutch trade by giving English vessels a monopoly, and had started the First Dutch War — To lay foundations for a new beginning, envoys of the States General appeared in November with the Dutch Gift. The conflict began well for the English, with the capture of New Amsterdam renamed New York in honour of Charles's brother James, Duke of York and a victory at the Battle of Lowestoftbut in the Dutch launched a surprise attack on England the Raid on the Medway when they sailed up the River Thames to where a major part of the English fleet was docked.

Almost all of the ships were sunk except for the flagship, Royal Charleswhich was taken back to the Netherlands as a prize. In fact, the Cabal rarely acted in concert, and the court was often divided between two factions led by Arlington and Buckingham, with Arlington the more successful. Louis made peace with the Triple Alliancebut he continued to maintain his aggressive intentions towards the Netherlands.

In exchange, Charles agreed to supply Louis with troops and to announce his conversion to Catholicism "as soon as the welfare of his kingdom will permit". Charles endeavoured to ensure that the Treaty—especially the conversion clause—remained secret. Meanwhile, by a series of five charters, Charles granted the East India Company the rights to autonomous government of its 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 its possessions in the Indies.

Although previously favourable to the Crown, the Cavalier Parliament was alienated by the king's wars and religious policies during the s. InCharles issued the Royal Declaration of Indulgencein which he purported to suspend all penal laws against Catholics and other religious dissenters. The Cavalier Parliament opposed the Declaration of Indulgence on constitutional grounds by claiming that the king had no right to arbitrarily suspend laws passed by Parliament.

Charles withdrew the Declaration, and also agreed to the Test Actwhich not only required public officials to receive the sacrament under the forms prescribed by the Church of England, [ 59 ] but also later forced them to denounce transubstantiation and the Catholic Mass as "superstitious and idolatrous". ByEngland had gained charles ii of england biography from the Anglo-Dutch War, and the Cavalier Parliament refused to provide further funds, forcing Charles to make peace.

The power of the Cabal waned, and that of Clifford's replacement Lord Danby grew. Queen Catherine was unable to produce an heir; her four pregnancies had ended in miscarriages and stillbirths inFebruaryMayand June Partly to assuage public fears that the royal family was too Catholic, Charles agreed that James's daughter Mary should marry the Protestant William of Orange.

Charles did not believe the allegations, but ordered his chief minister Lord Danby to investigate. While Danby seems to have been rightly sceptical about Oates's claims, the Cavalier Parliament took them seriously. Later inDanby was impeached by the House of Commons on the charge of high treason. Although much of the nation had sought war with Catholic France, Charles had secretly negotiated with Louis XIV, trying to reach an agreement under which England would remain neutral in return for money.

Danby had publicly professed that he was hostile to France, but had reservedly agreed to abide by Charles's wishes. Unfortunately for him, the House of Commons failed to view him as a reluctant participant in the scandal, instead believing that he was the author of the policy. The new English Parliament, which met in March of the same year, was quite hostile to Charles.

Charles ii of england biography

Many members feared that he had intended to use the standing army to suppress dissent or impose Catholicism. However, charles ii of england biography insufficient funds voted by Parliament, Charles was forced to gradually disband his troops. Having lost the support of Parliament, Danby resigned his post of Lord High Treasurerbut received a pardon from the king.

In defiance of the royal will, the House of Commons declared that the dissolution of Parliament did not interrupt impeachment proceedings, and that the pardon was therefore invalid. When the House of Lords attempted to impose the punishment of exile—which the Commons thought too mild—the impeachment became stalled between the two Houses. As he had been required to do so many times during his reign, Charles bowed to the wishes of his opponents, committing Danby to the Tower of Londonin which he was held for another five years.

As the king's chief physician, Harvey accompanied Charles I to the Battle of Edgehill and, although some details are uncertain, [ 71 ] [ 72 ] he had charge of Prince Charles and the Duke of York in the morning, [ 73 ] but the two boys were back with the king for the start of battle. Howard and his pensioners. During his exile, in France, Charles continued his education, including physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Although some of Charles's studies, while abroad, may have helped to pass the time, [ 80 ] on his return to England he was already knowledgeable in the mathematics of navigation and was a competent chemist. The new concepts and discoveries being found at this time fascinated Charles, [ 83 ] not only in science and medicine, but in topics such as botany and gardening.

From the beginning of his reign, Charles appointed experts to assist him in his scientific pursuits. These included: Timothy Clarkea celebrated anatomist, who performed some dissections for the king; [ 91 ] Robert Morison as his chief botanist Charles had his own botanical garden ; [ 84 ] Edmund Dickinsona chemist and alchemist, who was tasked with carrying out experiments in the king's laboratory; [ 92 ] [ 93 ] Sir Thomas Williamswho was skillful in compounding and inventing medicines, some of which were prepared in the royal presence; [ 94 ] and Nicasius le Febure or Nicolas LeFevrewho was invited to England as royal professor of chemistry and apothecary to the king's household.

In addition to his many other interests, the king was fascinated by clock mechanisms [ 70 ] and had clocks distributed all around Whitehall, including seven of them in his bedroom. InCharles was pleased to grant a royal charter to a group of scientists and others who had established a formal society in to give a more academic and learned approach to science and to conduct experiments in physics and mathematics.

Over the years, Moray was an important go-between for Charles and the Society, [ ] and his standing with the king was so high that he was given access to the royal laboratory to perform his own experiments there. Charles never attended a Society meeting, [ ] but he remained aware of the activities there from his discussions with Society members, especially Moray.

However, Charles preferred experiments that had an immediate practical outcome [ ] and he laughed at the efforts of the Society members "to weigh air". Although Charles lost interest in the activities of the society, he continued to support scientific and commercial endeavours. He founded the Mathematical School at Christ's Hospital in and, two years later, following concerns over French advances in astronomy, he founded the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.

Pepys confessed to finding what he saw there beyond him. Charles developed painful gout in later life which limited the daily walks that he took regularly when younger. His keenness was now channelled to his laboratory where he would devote himself to his experiments for hours at a time, [ ] [ ] sometimes helped by Moray. Charles resumed his experiments with mercury and would spend whole mornings attempting to distill it.

Heating mercury in an open crucible releases mercury vapour, which is toxic and may have contributed to his later ill health. Charles faced a political storm over his brother James, a Catholic, being next in line to the throne. The prospect of a Catholic monarch was vehemently opposed by the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury a former member of the Cabal, which had fallen apart in Lord Shaftesbury's power base was strengthened when the House of Commons of introduced the Exclusion Billwhich sought to exclude the Duke of York from the line of succession.

Some even sought to confer the Crown on the Protestant Duke of Monmouththe eldest of Charles's illegitimate children. The Abhorrers —those who thought the Exclusion Bill was abhorrent—were named Tories after a term for dispossessed Irish Catholic banditswhile the Petitioners —those who supported a petitioning campaign in favour of the Exclusion Bill—were called Whigs after a term for rebellious Scottish Presbyterians.

Fearing that the Exclusion Bill would be passed, and bolstered by some acquittals in the continuing Plot trials, which seemed to him to indicate a more favourable public mood towards Catholicism, Charles dissolved the English Parliament, for a second time that year, in mid Charles's hopes for a more moderate Parliament were not fulfilled; within a few months he had dissolved Parliament yet again, after it sought to pass the Exclusion Bill.

When a new Parliament assembled at Oxford in MarchCharles dissolved it for a fourth time after just a few days. Lord Shaftesbury was prosecuted albeit unsuccessfully for treason in and later fled to Holland, where he died. For the remainder of his reign, Charles ruled without Parliament. Charles's opposition to the Exclusion Bill angered some Protestants.

Protestant conspirators formulated the Rye House Plota plan to murder him and the Duke of York as they returned to London after horse races in Newmarket. A great fire, however, destroyed Charles's lodgings at Newmarket, which forced him to leave the races early, thus inadvertently avoiding the planned attack. News of the failed plot was leaked.

Essex slit his own throat while imprisoned in the Tower of London; Sydney and Russell were executed for high treason on very flimsy evidence; and the Duke of Monmouth went into exile at the court of William of Orange. Lord Danby and the surviving Catholic lords held in the Tower were released and the king's Catholic brother, James, acquired greater influence at court.

Thus through the last years of Charles's reign, his approach towards his opponents changed, and he was compared by Whigs to the contemporary Louis XIV of France, with his form of government in those years termed "slavery". Many of them were prosecuted and their estates seized, with Charles replacing judges and sheriffs at will and packing juries to achieve conviction.

To destroy opposition in London, Charles first disenfranchised many Whigs in the municipal elections, and in the London charter was forfeited. In retrospect, the use of the judicial system by Charles and later his brother and heir James as a tool against opposition, helped establish the idea of separation of powers between the judiciary and the Crown in Whig thought.

Charles suffered a sudden apoplectic fit on the morning of 2 Februaryand died four days later at the Palace of Whitehallat am, aged Mercuric poisoning can produce irreversible kidney damage, but the case for that being a cause of his death is unproven. On his deathbed, Charles asked his brother, James, to look after his mistresses: "be well to Portsmouthand let not poor Nelly starve".

On the last evening of his life he was received into the Catholic Church, in the presence of Father John Huddlestonthough the extent to which he was fully conscious or committed, and with whom the idea originated, is unclear. The escapades of Charles after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester remained important to him throughout his life.

He kept his own royal court there until He was chosen as leader of the country by Parliament. When Cromwell died inhis son Richard was chosen to be the next leader. Richard Cromwell was not the man his father had been. Charles II was asked to come back and rule Britain. InCharles II was brought back to Britain and took his throne.

This was the English Restoration. Many of his enemies were punished for having executed his father and fought against him, but Richard Cromwell was allowed to go and live quietly away from London. Charles was popular and was called "The Merry Monarch" because he changed many laws that Cromwell had made and allowed people more freedom to enjoy themselves.

He liked to go to the theatreplay cards, and enjoy sports such as horse racing. Some people thought that a king should be more serious and not spend so much time and money on fun. There were also some people who did not like King Charles II because of his religious beliefs. He had been brought up by his mother, who was Roman Catholicwhile most people in the country were Protestant.

He married a princess from Portugal, Catherine of Braganza. They did not have any children, but Charles refused to divorce Catherine. Before he was married, he had several girlfriends and lovers, and even after he was married, he went on having lovers, who were called mistresses. The most famous was an actress called Nell Gwyn. In Titus Oates, a former Anglican cleric, falsely warned of a "Popish Plot" to assassinate the king and replace him with the Duke of York.

Charles did not believe the allegations, but ordered his chief minister Thomas Osborne, 1st Earl of Danby to investigate. Danby was highly skeptical about Oates's revelations, but reported the matter to Parliament. The people were seized with an anti-Catholic hysteria; judges and juries across the charles ii of england biography condemned the supposed conspirators; numerous innocent individuals were executed.

Later in Lord Danby was impeached by the House of Commons on the charge of high treason. Although much of the nation had sought war with Catholic France, Charles II had secretly negotiated with Louis XIV, trying to reach an agreement under which England would remain neutral in return for money. Lord Danby was hostile to France, but reservedly agreed to abide by Charles's wishes.

Unfortunately for him, the House of Commons failed to view him as a reluctant participant in the scandal, instead believing that he was the author of the policy. A new Parliament, which met in March of the same year, was quite hostile to the king. Lord Danby was forced to resign the post of Lord High Treasurer, but received a pardon from the king.

In defiance of the royal will, Parliament declared that dissolution did not interrupt impeachment proceedings. When the House of Lords seemed ready to impose the punishment of exile—which the House of Commons thought too mild—the impeachment was abandoned, and a bill of attainder introduced. As he had had to do so many times during his reign, Charles II bowed to the wishes of his opponents, committing Lord Danby to the Tower of London.

Lord Danby would be held without bail for another five years. Another political storm that faced Charles was that of succession to the Throne. The Parliament of was vehemently opposed to the prospect of a Catholic monarch. Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury previously Baron Ashley and a member of the Cabal, which had fallen apart in introduced the Exclusion Bill, which sought to exclude the Duke of York from the line of succession.

Some even sought to confer the Crown to the Protestant Duke of Monmouth, the eldest of Charles's illegitimate children. Two further Parliaments were called in Charles's reign one inthe other inbut both were dissolved because they sought to pass the Exclusion Bill. During the s, however, popular support for the Exclusion Bill began to dissolve, and Charles experienced a nationwide surge of loyalty, for many of his subjects felt that Parliament had been too assertive.

For the remainder of his reign, Charles ruled as an absolute monarch. Charles's opposition to the Exclusion Bill angered some Protestants. Protestant conspirators formulated the Rye House Plot, a plan to murder the King and the Duke of York as they returned to London after horse races in Newmarket. A great fire, however, destroyed much of Newmarket and caused the cancellation of the races; thus, the planned attack could not charles ii of england biography place.

Before news of the plot leaked, the chief conspirators fled. Protestant politicians such as Algernon Sydney and the Lord William Russell were implicated in the plot and executed for high treason, albeit on very flimsy evidence. Charles suffered an apopleptic fit and died suddenly on Wednesday, February 6, at the age of 54 at am at Whitehall Palace of uremia a clinical syndrome due to kidney dysfunction.

Charles II left no legitimate issue. He did, however, have several children by a number of mistresses many of whom were wives of noblemen. Many of his mistresses and illegitimate children received dukedoms or earldoms. He publicly acknowledged 14 children by seven mistresses; six of those children were borne by a single woman, the notorious Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine, for whom the Dukedom of Cleveland was created.

Albans all descend from Charles in direct male line. Charles's relationships, as well as the politics of his time, are depicted in the historical drama Charles II: The Power and The Passion produced in by the British Broadcasting Corporation. James II, however, was eventually dethroned in in the course of the Glorious Revolution. James was the last Catholic monarch to rule England.

Charles, a patron of the arts and sciences, helped found the Royal Society, a scientific group whose early members included Robert HookeRobert Boyleand Sir Isaac Newton. Charles was the personal patron of Sir Christopher Wrenthe architect who helped rebuild London after the Great Fire in Wren also constructed the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which Charles founded as a home for retired soldiers in The anniversary of Charles's Restoration which is also his birthday —May 29—is recognized in the United Kingdom as "Oak Apple Day," after the Royal Oak in which Charles is said to have hidden to escape from the forces of Oliver Cromwell.

His Catholic brother James was thus his heir. Knowledge of his negotiations with France, together with his efforts to become an absolute ruler, brought Charles into conflict with parliament, which he dissolved in From then until his death he ruled alone. Charles's reign saw the rise of colonisation and trade in India, the East Indies and America the British captured New York from the Dutch inand the Passage of Navigation Acts that secured Britain's future as a sea power.

He founded the Royal Society in Charles died on 6 Februaryconverting to Catholicism on his death bed. Search term:.