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Charles II 1630-1685
Charles II was king of Great
Britain and Ireland from 1660 - 1685.
The Family of
Charles II
Charles's father was
 Charles I. His mother was
Henrietta Maria of
France. His brother was
James II.
Charles II had an affair with consequence
with Lucy Walter. The liaison resulted in son James, who
later became
James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth.
The Reign of Charles
II
Charles' time in
office became known as the
Restoration period in England.
What was being restored? The monarchy.
Because of the
English
Civil Wars (also called the Great Rebellion), which were
fought 1642
until 1651, the monarchy was temporarily abolished.
In context, the rulers of England
were:
James I - ruled 1603 -
1625
Charles I - ruled 1625 - 1649
Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth - 1649 - 1660
Charles II - ruled 1660 - 1685
James II - ruled 1685 - 1688
For the full chart see
Governments of Great Britain.
Charles II and the
Civil Wars
The Civil Wars were fought between the Royalists and the
Parliamentarians. The Royalists allied with the Irish and the
Parliamentarians allied with the Scottish.
The Parliamentarians, led
by
Oliver Cromwell, won. They executed Charles I, Charles II fled to
France in 1651, and the Commonwealth was established.
Oliver Cromwell died in 1658 and the
country was in danger of falling into political chaos. Thus, it was
arranged for Charles II to be restored.
Charles II and
Religion
Charles II was a Protestant but converted to Catholicism on his
deathbed. His mother and aunt had been Catholics all along. During Charles II's reign, the Puritans were
persecuted.
Charles II and Our
Time
In 1675, Charles ordered the construction of a Royal Observatory in
Greenwich, London. Sharp brains discovered in Charles's observatory that the earth is not at a
constant speed.
And if you wonder where our Greenwich Mean Time
(GMT) had its origin, well, there it is.
During Charles' reign, the
Hudson's Bay
Company was incorporated.
You can read Charles's
story
online
and free.
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