Taking back the throne

(Instead of taking an in depth look at a portion of Paradise Lost, this post will focus on a portion of the book Essays on the Later Stuarts. In particular, it will focus on Charles II, the first monarch to follow Oliver Cromwell's rule.)

"Charles the Second by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defneder of the Faith, &c." or simply put Charles II, finally gained his rightful place on the throne in May of 1660. Like all monarchs, he had to wait his turn to take the throne, but his wait was very different from theirs.

Because of the fall of the British monarch, the beheading of Charles II's father Charles I and the rule of Cromwell, Charles II waited eleven years between succeeding his father and actually taking the throne. Seeing that his father was not a popular figure in England, he spent those eleven years, along with three previous years, in other countries.

An interesting topic that appears regularly is Charles II's religion; what it was, was he faithful to it. He was born an Anglican, forced to accept Presbyterianism and then accepted as a Roman Catholic upon death.
This should probably be taken one religion at a time.
As the prince, he was naturally born into and raised in the Church of England. However, later in life before becoming king, he sought the help of Scotland, as Presbyerian country. Before Scotland would side with him, he had to accept their religious covenants, or state that he believes their religion. Later when he did reign as king, many people could notice behaviors that led them to believe Charles II would switch to the Roman Catholic faith. He wanted Catholics in England to be tolerated, meanwhile he was caught napping during many Anglican services. He never publically stated what he truly believed in beyond God. Finally, on the day of his death, he was accepted into the Catholic Church.

Charles exhibited many other interesting characteristics either as the king or in his personal life. He certainly had no problems in having a good time as he was a ladies man and enjoyed his share of alcohol. As the king, he was not quick to trust councils or committees and had been known to persuade the House of Commons with bribs.

In many aspects, Charles II, King of England was interesting man who had difficulties gaining the title that was his by birth.




Davies, Godfrey. Essays on the Later Stuarts. San Marino, California: The Huntington Library, 1958.