Charles II and the English Restoration (The Stuarts: Part Three)

Video

Mark Cartwright
by Tom Richey
published on 15 September 2022

http://www.tomrichey.net/euro

Soon after the death of Oliver Cromwell, the Commonwealth government collapsed and Charles II, the son of the executed Charles I, was invited to return to England and restore the monarchy. Charles II, known as the Merry Monarch, abandoned the strict religious policies of his father and grandfather, pursuing a policy of Christian toleration and non-enforcement of laws against Catholics and Protestant nonconformists. The court of Charles II was interesting, to say the least, frequented by bawdy poets like Rochester.

Charles had over a dozen illegitimate children with several mistresses and struggled to maintain them comfortably. Louis XIV offered Charles money in return for assistance from the Royal Navy in his wars against the Dutch as part of the Treaty of Dover. Another provision of the Treaty of Dover, which was kept secret, involved Charles converting to Catholicism if an opportune time to do so presented itself. Charles found this opportune time on his deathbed before passing the throne to his brother, James II, who would not wait until he was dying to convert to Catholicism. James' Catholicism was a major cause of the Glorious Revolution.

This is the third part of my four part lecture on the Stuarts, the English Civil War, and the Glorious Revolution.

View Part 1: https://youtu.be/zKrK5iDz6ps
View Part 2: https://youtu.be/vWtnHWG48Bg
View Part 4: https://youtu.be/xhHgAuyGm7o

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APA Style

Richey, T. (2022, September 15). Charles II and the English Restoration (The Stuarts: Part Three). World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/video/2833/charles-ii-and-the-english-restoration-the-stuarts/

Chicago Style

Richey, Tom. "Charles II and the English Restoration (The Stuarts: Part Three)." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified September 15, 2022. https://www.worldhistory.org/video/2833/charles-ii-and-the-english-restoration-the-stuarts/.

MLA Style

Richey, Tom. "Charles II and the English Restoration (The Stuarts: Part Three)." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 15 Sep 2022. Web. 12 Nov 2024.

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