Charles II of England Timeline

The anniversary of the Restoration, which was also Charles's birthday, was recognised in England until the mid-nineteenth century as Oak Apple Day, commemorating the Royal Oak in which Charles hid during his escape from Oliver Cromwell's forces after the Battle of Worcester.

Image source: Royal Oak

Charles suffered a sudden apoplectic fit on the morning of 2 February 1685, and died four days later at the Palace of Whitehall at 11:45 am, aged 54, having ruled alone since dissolving Parliament in 1681.

Charles's eldest illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, led a rebellion against James II, but was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685, captured and executed.

Image source: Monmouth Rebellion

James II, Charles's brother and successor, was eventually dethroned in 1688 in the course of the Glorious Revolution.

Image source: Glorious Revolution

In the latter half of 1660, Charles's joy at the Restoration was tempered by the deaths of his siblings Henry and Mary from smallpox.

On 23 June 1661, a marriage treaty was signed; England acquired Catherine's dowry of Tangier in North Africa, the Seven Islands of Bombay in India, valuable trading privileges in Brazil and the East Indies, religious and commercial freedom in Portugal, and two million Portuguese crowns (equivalent to £300,000 then).

Image source: Catherine of Braganza

The Corporation Act 1661 required municipal officeholders to swear allegiance; the Act of Uniformity 1662 made the use of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer compulsory; the Conventicle Act 1664 prohibited religious assemblies of more than five people outside the Church of England; and the Five Mile Act 1665 barred expelled non-conforming clergymen from coming within five miles of their parishes.

Image source: Act of Uniformity 1662

Catherine journeyed from Portugal to Portsmouth on 13–14 May 1662, but was not visited by Charles there until 20 May. Earlier, in February 1661, the earl of Bristol had travelled to Parma to inspect Farnese, but she refused to marry the English monarch because she wanted to become a nun.

In 1665, the Great Plague of London began, peaking in September with up to 7,000 deaths per week. Plague cases ebbed over the winter, and Charles returned to London in February 1666.

Image source: Great Plague of London

After a long spell of hot and dry weather through mid-1666, the Great Fire of London started on 2 September 1666 in Pudding Lane, destroying much of the City of London.

Image source: Great Fire of London

In 1670, Charles, seeking to solve his financial troubles, entered into the Treaty of Dover, an alliance with his cousin Louis XIV of France, under which Louis would pay him £160,000 each year.

Image source: Secret Treaty of Dover

In 1672, Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his Royal Declaration of Indulgence, purporting to suspend all penal laws against them, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it.

In 1678, Titus Oates, who had been alternately an Anglican and Jesuit priest, falsely warned of a 'Popish Plot' to assassinate the king, even accusing the queen of complicity, sparking anti-Catholic hysteria across England.

Image source: Popish Plot

Later in 1678, the House of Commons impeached Danby for high treason over his role in negotiations with France. To save Danby from the impeachment trial, Charles dissolved the Cavalier Parliament in January 1679.

Image source: Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds

In 1679, Titus Oates's fabrication of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charles's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, had become a Catholic. The prospect of a Catholic monarch was vehemently opposed by the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, whose power base strengthened when the House of Commons of 1679 introduced the Exclusion Bill to bar James from succession.

Image source: Exclusion Crisis

Fearing that the Exclusion Bill would be passed, and bolstered by some acquittals in the continuing Plot trials indicating a more favourable public mood towards Catholicism, Charles dissolved the English Parliament for a second time that year in mid-1679.

Lord Shaftesbury was prosecuted (albeit unsuccessfully) for treason in 1681 and later fled to Holland, where he died.

Image source: Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury

When a new Parliament assembled at Oxford in March 1681, Charles dissolved it for a fourth time after just a few days, and subsequently ruled alone until his death in 1685.

Image source: Oxford Parliament (1681)

To destroy opposition in London, Charles first disenfranchised many Whigs in the 1682 municipal elections, and in 1683 the London charter was forfeited. By 1682 political problems had also left the Admiralty Board split along political lines, reducing its ability to function.

Image source: City of London Corporation

After the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, some Whig leaders were executed or forced into exile, strengthening the Crown's position against its opponents.

Image source: Rye House Plot

In 1662, Charles granted a royal charter to the formal society of scientists established in 1660, giving a more academic and learned approach to science and conducting experiments in physics and mathematics. He had visited Gresham College in October 1660 to see new telescopes developed by Sir Paul Neile, and Evelyn described a May 1661 visit to view Saturn's rings.

Image source: Royal Society

The Second Dutch War (1665–1667) was started by English attempts to muscle in on Dutch possessions in Africa and North America. The conflict began well for the English, with the capture of New Amsterdam (renamed New York after James, Duke of York) and victory at Lowestoft, but ended with the Dutch Raid on the Medway in 1667.

Image source: Second Anglo-Dutch War

In 1668, England allied itself with Sweden and with its former enemy the Netherlands to oppose Louis XIV in the War of Devolution.

Image source: Triple Alliance (1668)

Earlier in 1668, Charles leased the islands of Bombay to the company for a nominal sum of £10 paid in gold, laying the foundations for British commercial expansion in India.

Image source: History of Mumbai

In 1670, Charles granted control of the entire Hudson Bay drainage basin to the Hudson's Bay Company by royal charter, naming the territory Rupert's Land after his cousin Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the company's first governor.

Image source: Rupert's Land

Although Charles lost interest in the activities of the Royal Society, he continued to support scientific and commercial endeavours, founding the Mathematical School at Christ's Hospital in 1673.

Image source: Christ's Hospital

By 1674, England had gained nothing from the war, and the Cavalier Parliament refused to provide further funds, forcing Charles to make peace.

Image source: Third Anglo-Dutch War