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King Charles II of England and The Restoration, for Children The reign of King Charles II is often called the Restoration, because when he was crowned it was the restoration of the British monarchy that had been overthrown when his father, Charles I, was beheaded in 1649. From that time on, Oliver Cromwell had ruled as Lord Protector of England until his own death in 1658. Cromwell's son, Richard, tried to take his father's place but after eight months the people of England were fighting with each other - they were on the brink of civil war (again). General George Monck marched from Scotland to restore law and order. He wrote to Charles II, who was almost thirty years old and was staying in the Netherlands after his father's beheading. General Monck wanted Charles II to come back to London to restore peace and restore the Monarchy. Charles II wrote to the Speaker of the House of Commons and wanted to come back to put the country back to monarchy to restore everybody's rights. The Restoration Settlement was a series of laws written from 1660 to 1664 as part of repaying Charles II to come back and give him money for the royal lands that were taken from his family. His letter was called the Declaration of Breda and he promised no bloody wars like the kind of monarchy that England had with his father, King Charles I. He offered to pardon everybody except the people that killed his father and he promised the freedom of worship and support for the Anglican Church. The new parliament was elected on 25 April, 1660 and on 8 May, 1660 both Houses made Charles II the new King of England and Ireland. He came back to England on 25 May, 1660 and General Monck was the first person to greet him, when he came ashore. The people of England were filled with joy when Charles II came to London on his 30th birthday, 29 May, 1660. Standing more than six feet tall, handsome and calm, Charles II brought with him peace to the people of England; no fighting broke out and with his return also came the return of Christmas and Maypoles, as well as theatres once again opened. He lived up to his promise to punish his father's killers and he dug up the bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, Thomas Pride and John Bradshaw. These bodies where hung at Tyburn, and then Oliver Cromwell's body was beheaded and his head was stuck on a pike at the London Bridge, after it was paraded through the streets of town. Charles II was crowned King of England and Ireland on 23 April 1661, on Saint George's Day. The ceremony was held at Westminster Abbey, where he said the same words that his father and grandfather said when they were made king. After the ceremony, they had a large banquet with all kinds of foods and drinks. King Charles II had completed The Restoration Settlement and the Monarchy and in 1662 he married Catherine of Braganza, who was a princess from Portugal. They never had any children together to take over as the heir to the throne, but he had many affairs and more than 12 children with other women - but he never married their mothers. He was known for spending lots of money and he drained the bank accounts of England. He went to war with the Dutch, a comet appeared in 1664, and in 1665, a severe plague hit the land and the Great Fire of London broke out. It was thought by the people that these occurrences were God's wrath, because of the sins committed by the country and its King. Charles II remained King until he died on 6 February 1685.
This is an original news article © The Kids WindowOne in a series of articles on History, see our range of historical clothing for children. | |||||||
