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Charles II, King of England,
Scotland and Ireland 1660-1685
Born 29 May 1630 St.James's, London
Died 6 February 1685 Palace of Whitehall
Buried Westminster Abbey
Married 21 May 1662 Portsmouth
Princess Catherine de Braganca, Infanta of Portugal,
daughter of Joao IV, King of Portugal 1640-1656
and Dona Luisa de Guzman, Regent of Portugal 1650-1662
Born 25 November 1638 Villa Vicosa
Died 30 November 1705 Palace of Bemposta, Lisbon
Buried Santa Maria de Belem
Affaire with (a) Marguerite Carteret,
daughter of Sir George Carteret
Born circa 1626
Child by (b) Lucy Walter,
daughter of William Walter, of Roch Castle and Elizabeth Protheroe
Born circa 1630
Died 1658 Paris
Child by (c) Elizabeth Killegrew
baptised 16 May 1622 St.Margaret's, Lothbury
Buried 4 January 1681 Westminster Abbey
Affaire with (d) Eleanor Needham,
daughter of Robert Needham, 2nd Viscount Kilmorey and Eleanor Dutton
Died 26 January 1664 Chester
Affaire with (e) Elisabeth Angelique de Montmorency,
Baronne
de Meilou,
daughter of Francois de Montmorency, Seigneur de Bouteville, Comte
de Luxe
and Elisabeth Angelique de Vienne
Born March 1627 Paris
Died 24 January 1695 Paris
Child by (f) Catherine Peg
Children by (g) Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland,
daughter of William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison
and The Hon. Mary Bayning
Born circa 1641
Died 9 October 1709 Chiswick, Midx.
Buried Chiswick
Children by (h) Eleanor Gwyn,
daughter of Thomas Gwyn and Rose
Born February 1650
Died 14 November 1687 London, 79 Pall Mall, Midx.
Buried St.Martin's-in-The-Fields
Child by (i) Louise de Penanco‰t de Kerouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth,
Duchesse d'Aubigny,
daughter of Guillaume de Penanco‰t, Sieur de Kerouaille and Marie de
Ploeuc de Timeur
Born September 1649 Kerouaille
Died 14 November 1734 Paris
Child by (j) Moll Davis
Affaire with (k) Hortense Mancini,
daughter of Michaele Lorenzo Mancini and Girolama Mazzarini
Born 6 June 1646 Rome
Died 16 July 1699 Chelsea, England
Affaire with (l) Mrs. Margaret Hughes
Affaire with (m) Jane Roberts
Affaire with (n) Mary Knight
Affaire with (o) Winifred Wells |
Born in 1630 it took until 1638 before he was declared Prince of Wales,
but without the formal patent. He was educated by the Duke of Newcastle,
the Bishop of Chichester and later by Dr. John Earle. At
the age of twelve, Charles and his younger brother James were with
their father at the Battle of Edgehill, and only just escaped capture by
the Parliamentarians.
During the Civil War he was at his father's side and only towards the
end escaped to France. His father's execution in 1649 made him de jure
King and in 1650 he went to Scotland where he was crowned King of Scots,
1 January 1651. He then marched into England but, at the Battle of Worcester,
Cromwell defeated him; and after having been a fugitive for six weeks,
Charles II was again able to escape to France.
The following eight years were spent in exile in France, Germany and
Holland. When Oliver Cromwell died in 1658, he was succeeded as Lord Protector
by his son, Richard Cromwell, who, in 1659, resigned his office. This was
the sign for Charles II's restoration as King of England and Scotland.
On his birthday, 29 May 1660, he entered London and on 23 April 1661 was
crowned king by William Juxon, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Charles II was a clever ruler; but due to money problems imposed by
parliament, he allowed himself to be bribed by his first cousin, Louis
XIV, King of France. He even sold Dunkirk to France for 400,000
pounds. His marriage in 1662 to Catherine de Braganca, brought him
Tangiers, Bombay and 300,000 pounds as a dowry.
His marriage brought him no children; but children he had plenty, fathered
by several mistresses. He ennobled these children and tried to procure
for them profitable functions and marriages. The Great
Plague of London took place in 1665 to be followed in 1666 by the Great
Fire. In this, helping to fight the fire, Charles displayed great courage.
Nell Gwynne was instrumental in Charles II's founding of the Royal
Hospital in Chelsea. Also, being a patron of arts and sciences, he founded
the Royal Society. During his reign the party system evolved; sea-wars
were fought with Holland; and the fear of Catholicism in England forced
him to allow his niece, Mary, to marry his Protestant nephew, William of
Orange. Concerned Protestants tried to make him exclude his Catholic brother
James from the throne and acknowledge his eldest son, the Duke of Monmouth,
as legitimate. Having Catholic sympathies himself, he did neither.
He suffered a stroke on 2 February 1685 and died on 6 February after
having been received into the Roman Catholic Church. Yet he was buried
in Westminster Abbey with Anglican rites.
Source: Leo van de Pas |
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