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Charles II hoped to establish English control of the area between Virginia and Spanish Florida. To that end, he issued a royal charter in 1663 to eight trusted and loyal supporters, each of whom was to be a feudal-style Lord Proprietor of a region within the province of Carolina.
Charles II granted William Penn the land that eventually became the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in order to settle a debt the English crown owed to Penn’s father. The Restoration colonies also included Pennsylvania, which became the geographic center of British colonial America.
The official style of Charles II was "Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc." The claim to France was only nominal, and had been asserted by every English monarch since Edward III, regardless of the amount of French territory actually controlled.
- Early Life
- The Anglo-Scottish War
- The Stuart Restoration
- Coronation & Regalia
- Building An Empire
- Disasters & Achievements
- Death & Legacy
When Elizabeth I of England died in 1603 without an heir, James VI of Scotland (r. 1567-1625) was invited to also become the king of England as James I of England (r. 1603-1625). James was the first of the Stuart kings, and he was succeeded by his son Charles I of England (r. 1625-1649). Charles' battles with Parliament over religion, finances, and...
While the monarchy was abolished in England after Charles I's execution, Scotland was permitted to choose its own way. Charles' eldest son was made the king of Scotland as Charles II in February 1649 (formally crowned on New Year's Day 1651 at Scone). Pro-Royalists rallied around Charles as their figurehead, and so began the Third English Civil War...
Oliver Cromwell was made Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland in December 1653, and so he was head of the military state known as the 'Commonwealth' Republic. Cromwell's authoritarian rule and imposition of Puritanism made many wish for the moderation and tradition of the old monarchy. When Cromwell died in 1658, his republic died with ...
After the Civil War, the British Crown Jewels were broken up and sold off, but Charles II's coronation in Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661 would have been a drab affair without some glittering baubles. Accordingly, an entirely new set of regalia was created, although some of the old gemstones were recovered and used in the new pieces. The gold St...
On 21 May 1662, Charles married Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705) who was the daughter of King John IV of Portugal (r. 1640-1656). The couple had three children, but all died in infancy. Charles had many mistresses. With these women, who included a duchess, an actress, a prostitute, and a spy, the king had 16 illegitimate children. Not for nothing ...
Back in England in the 1660s, Charles, the 'Merry Monarch', was notorious for living it up in his high-spending court and playing all manner of sports (he rode winners at Newmarket horse races and celebrated his Scottish coronation with a round of golf). He was also fond of strolling through his magnificent gardens pursued by his noisy spaniels. Wh...
Charles died four days after suffering a stroke in London's Whitehall Palace at the age of 54 on 6 February 1685. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Without a legitimate heir and despite the Duke of Monmouth's attempt to take the throne by force in July 1685, he was succeeded by his younger brother James. James II of England (also James VII of Sco...
- Mark Cartwright
Charles II hoped to establish English control of the area between Virginia and Spanish Florida. To that end, he issued a royal charter in 1663 to eight trusted and loyal supporters, each of whom was to be a feudal-style proprietor of a region of the province of Carolina.
Charles's ' mechanical head ' was a token of the distance between the style of his own monarchy and those of continental states (Character of Charles II, ed. Brown, 2.499). It was true that he harboured an ambition to emulate the architectural grandeur of Louis XIV's court and the aspirations of his father.
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May 25, 2024 · Charles II (born May 29, 1630, London—died February 6, 1685, London) was the king of Great Britain and Ireland (1660–85), who was restored to the throne after years of exile during the Puritan Commonwealth. The years of his reign are known in English history as the Restoration period.
