Today's Monarch is in my personal top 5 favorites... the Merry Monarch, the King of Partying, the Randy Ruler, or the Lord High Fop of the British, however you want to refer to him, you can't ignore King Charles II.
- Was born to Charles I in 1630. He was the second of 4 sons, the first died almost upon birth, so was not named. The younger was James, the youngest, Henry. - Was, by birth, heir to England, Scotland, and Ireland... this made things complicated, as England was Anglican, Scotland was now Presbyterian, and Ireland was Catholic. - He was raised Anglican, although his Godparents were Catholic, and he held a nominal claim to be Presbyterian through family. If this is confusing to you, imagine how it would have been to a toddler. - Little is written about his childhood, though it seems he and his little brother James were close. Both of the brothers seemed to enjoy military matters. Charles even helped his father in the civil war in his 14th and 15th year. However, by the time Prince Charles was 16, his father was rapidly losing the war, and the Royal Family (sans the king) went to live in France. (Louis XIV, the "Sun King," was his cousin by way of his mother.... but about 8 years younger than Charles.) - Prince Charles tried desperately to save his father's life through negotiation with Parliament, but was unsuccessful. Charles I was beheaded, and Prince Charles , at 19 years of age, was now a king living in exile. - The Scots offered to help Charles II retake his throne, though only if he forced England and Ireland to become Presbyterian. Charles responded by sending an invasion force to Scotland, which was a failure. Now humiliated, Charles was forced to agree to become Presbyterian and to sign the League and Covenant with Scotland. He was now firmly the king of Scotland, though now the English had NO desire to see him return. - Charles quickly started to despise the Presbyterian "Covenanters." The invasion of England was crushed by Cromwell, and Charles's forces turned on the Presbyterians. Despite this betrayal, the Scots and Charles both realized that they were the only hope for either party to remain free of the Puritanical forces in England. They shakily reconciled, and attacked again, only to fall apart in the face of Cromwell's army. Charles was separated from his forces. - Charles escaped England through a series of now legendary adventures, hiding in trees while patrols searched for him, stealthily moving under cover of darkness, and even disguising himself as a peasant. At 6 foot, 1 inch, it was difficult as hell for Charles to hide, but he managed it. - When France and the Netherlands allied with Cromwell, Charles had to run to the Southern (Spanish) Netherlands, where he and a few loyal retainers managed to put together a small band that called itself an army. No one took it seriously.... he spent the interregnum broke and drinking. - When Cromwell died in 1658, James had very little hope of returning.... however, Richard Cromwell was sidelined, and England descended into anarchy. New elections for parliament were held. The old parliament had made restrictions on who could run, in an effort to keep royalists out. However, as soon as they were gone, those restrictions were ignored. Royalists flooded into parliament on a wave of anti-Puritan sentiment. - This new, divided Parliament, agreed to let Charles return on the condition that he not punish those who had a hand in his fathers' fall. Charles agreed to this provision. - In 1660, Charles headed to England, landing on his 30th birthday. He was crowned Charles II, and set to his task of ruling. Strangely, 50 of the most egregious offenders of Parliament and their friends were left out of the agreement. 9 lost their heads. In an amusing turn of events, Charles had the bodies of Cromwell and two of his associates exhumed, tried, and publicly beheaded. Cromwell didn't seem to put up much of a legal defense, being dead and all. His head was given the traditional "Pike on London Bridge" traitor's treatment. - Charles quickly re-established old institutions like Christmas and sports, making him wildly popular with most of the people and earning him the nickname "The Merry Monarch." - Faced family tragedy, as his youngest brother Henry and his sister Elizabeth died the same year from smallpox.... then, his younger brother James, who already had publicly associated with the Catholic church, married a COMMONER girl, Anne Hyde. This cast an ominous shadow over the throne, but most did not worry. Charles was young, and he was sure to have children of his own. (And surely lots of them! He was also known as the "Randy Ruler," or "Old Rowley," the name of his favorite stallion.) - Theater was formally and bombastically reinstated, and "Bawdy Comedies" became the most popular form of entertainment under Charles II. Charles also passed laws that said that WOMEN could now act in theater, so that female roles could now be played by women instead of boys. Charles was well known to...uhm... "Patronize" his favorite female actresses, assuring them star billing in exchange for their love. - Was a well known friend of the "Merry Gang" with members such as John Wilmot, (Famously played by Johnny Depp in 'The Libertine.') They were known to be infamous rakes and thoroughly debauched. Though this also made him popular with the more enlightened and many of the poor, religious leaders were none too pleased that Charles was creating a legion of bastards... but no legitimate heirs. - In 1665, plague ripped through London, killing thousands... at the end of this, a great fire swept through London in 1666. Charles and his younger brother James personally took charge of lifesaving efforts. Though London was badly damaged, Charles's reputation was left better off than ever before. Charles used this popularity to help raise money to rebuild London as a center for art and Enlightenment thinking. Many of the stately old buildings in London today were built by Charles II. - Charles was not allowed to levy taxes, which left him poor, (as kings go,) for most of his life. He was given an allowance of 1.2 Million Pounds a year, but was never actually allowed to use it all. This treatment upset him, but if he complained, it was not too loudly. (Wouldn't want to wind up like dear old dad, after all...) However, this led to one of his most famous missteps, when he sold the fortress of Dunkirk to France in an effort to get some extra cash. Nationalists were outraged. - Was continually tossed back and forth in the ever changing alliances of the 1600s. He stood with the Netherlands, then with Sweden against the Netherlands, then against France, and so on and so on. These wars were mostly economic, not royal.... the times were changing, and Parliament had more control over who was perceived as the enemy of the British. - Pushed by Parliament, Charles allowed the up and coming British East India Company to have extraterritoriality, acquire land, mint money, and generally take India for themselves. This would have DIRE consequences later, but the move was, at the time, financially beneficial for the King and England. - Had seven KNOWN mistresses, including actresses, and more infamously, famous prostitutes. Charles's marriage wasn't particularly bad, but Charles was known for his voracious sexual appetites. (Which were rumored to be more than a bit deviant in some cases by disgusted Puritans,) though he doted on his children, he knew they could never succeed him. Still, he seems to have tried very hard to make sure all his kids and mistresses were cared for, even after his death. (Princess of Diana, mother to two of the current heirs to the throne, as well as Camilla, the current stepmother of those two, were both descended from Charles's love children.) - By the 1670s, Charles was standing up to Parliament more. He started his own war, helping Catholic France. He also passed laws to reduce penalties to Catholics charged with crimes. Anti-Catholic sentiment was still very strong, so this angered many members of Parliament, who felt it was Britain's duty to help Protestant countries AGAINST Catholic ones. - Parliament gradually de-funded Charles's war, and stood against his "pro-catholic" stances. People were becoming worried. Charles had many many sons, but his wife, Catherine, had only delivered stillbirths or miscarried. Next in line would be James, who had by now become a proud Catholic, along with his wife. In order to dissuade fears, Charles decreed that his niece, James's daughter Mary, should marry William of Orange, a Protestant royal from the Netherlands. (James had no legitimate sons, so Mary was second in line.) - A false "Popish Plot" to kill Charles II was claimed to have been discovered. Charles didn't believe a whit of it, especially as the main conspirator was supposedly Queen Catherine, but Parliament investigated anyway. A wave of mass hysteria led to dozens of innocent Catholics being murdered across the realm. The religious issue seemed to be getting out of hand again. - As Charles became older, his years and years of partying started to catch up with him. It was clear he would not have a true heir... and he was becoming paunchy and prone to sudden illnesses. He poured money into the arts, and on hospitals and charitable institutions, (A practice still performed by the royals to this day.) As his health declined, Parliament went into a right panic. James would indeed become king... James was a Catholic!!! - Some of Parliament raised a bill to pass over James as the next monarch. This "Exclusion Bill" caused an absolute uproar throughout the country. Those that opposed it were called the "Abhorrers" or "Tories," (the name of Catholic bandits from the past.) Those who put it forward were called the "Petitioners" or "Whigs," (The nickname of hard core Scottish Presbyterians from the past.) These two parties would dominate Parliament for the next few centuries. - Now deadlocked, Parliament could not stop king Charles from stepping in. He sent everyone home, and ruled effectively without Parliament until his death. It was noted that most people seemed to support Charles II in this endeavor, as many were tired of Parliament's continuous squabbling. - Narrowly avoided assassination at the hand of disgruntled Protestants, who felt he was giving too much to the Catholics. This "Rye House Plot" was uncovered, leaving the Protestants looking just as bad as the Catholics ever did, for trying to kill Charles and his brother, James. Pro-Catholic sentiment... or at least reconciliation sentiment, began to become more popular. - Charles had a sudden fit at the age of 54, and died within 4 days. Many suspected poison, and it was generally accepted as fact for quite a long time. However, current knowledge points to kidney failure and a buildup of urea in his system, most likely due to years of alcohol abuse and poor diet. - On his deathbed, Charles figuratively gave the finger to Parliament by converting to Catholicism. This paved the way for James to ride in with his brother's blessing. - Charles would go down in history as a fun loving, randy patron of the arts, and is generally beloved by most of England. However... his little brother would leave a very, very different legacy. |
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