Charles II of

England
Project made by Radu Alexandru
Charles II was the monarch of
England, Scotland and Ireland
for most of the second half of
the 17th century, marking the
era of the Restoration.
• Charles II was born on May 29, 1630, in St.'s
Palace, London, England. After his father's
execution, Charles lived in exile until he was
crowned King of England, Ireland and
Scotland in 1661. His reign marked the
Restoration period, Charles was known for
his lifestyle and feuded with Parliament. He
converted to Catholicism just before his
death in London on 6 February 1685.

Summary
Youth
 When Charles II was born in the Palace of St.
James of London, England, on May 29, 1630,
signs of political unrest were on the horizon in
England. Two years earlier, his father, King
Charles I, reluctantly accepted the passage of
the Petition of Right, which placed limits on
the king's authority.
In 1642, civil war
broke out
between
Parliament and
Charles I over his
claim to divine
right to rule. By
the end of the
decade,
Parliament, led
by the Puritan
Oliver Cromwell,
was victorious.
The young
Charles II fled to
France and
Charles I was
executed in 1649.
Restoration
• The English republican government collapsed
after the death of Cromwell in 1658, and Charles
was restored to the throne in 1661. In his
restoration agreement with Parliament, he was
granted a standing army and allowed to purge the
officials responsible for his father execution. In
return, Charles II agreed to honor the Petition of
Right and accept a limited income.
 By this time, Charles was
The Royal Court was notorious
cynical and self-indulgent, less
for its wine, women and songs,
adept at governing than at
and Charles became known as
survival. Like his father, he
the "Merry Monarch" and for his
believed he had a divine right to
indulgence in hedonistic
rule, but unlike Charles I, he did
pleasures.
not make it his priority.
The late years
• In 1670, Charles signed a treaty with the
French king Louis XIV in which he agreed to
convert to Catholicism and support France war
against the Dutch in return for subsidies. French
assistance still allowed him some breathing
room in his relations with Parliament.
Wife of Charles Queen Catherine failed to
produce a male heir, and by 1677 many
feared that her Catholic brother James,
Duke of York, would assume the throne. To
appease the public, Charles arranged for
his niece Mary to marry the Protestant
William of Orange.
Thank you very
much for your
attention