Second and charles series#

In May 1660 Charles II was proclaimed King and on 30th May he entered London, five days after landing back in England at Dover. In 1660, with the help of chief adviser Edward Hyde, Charles issued the Declaration of Breda in which he promised a pardon for crimes committed during the civil war to those who now recognised him as King. As a power struggle developed within England which threatened to return the country to turmoil, many saw the return of the monarchy as the only chance to bring peace and stability back to the nation.Д¬hief among these was General Monck who had been one of CromwellвЂ™s leading Generals.

In 1658 Oliver Cromwell died and although his son Richard was named Lord Protector he lacked his fatherвЂ™s authority. He initially joined his mother in Paris, before moving to Cologne for diplomatic reasons and then Bruges in the Spanish Netherlands, as Charles increasingly looked to Spain for help in winning back his crown. However, their defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 by Oliver CromwellвЂ™s Parliamentary army signalled the end of the civil war.Д¬harles II managed to escape capture, hiding in an oak tree to avoid Roundhead troops according to folklore, before returning to exile with the help of subjects who remained loyal to the crown.Д®xile was hard for Charles as Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the newly formed Commonwealth, put pressure on those looking to host the exiled king in waiting. It was here he was informed of his fatherвЂ™s execution in 1649, before one more plot was hatched to try and save the embattled monarchy.ДЇollowing the execution of the king, Scotland proclaimed the exiled prince as King Charles II.ДЄs part of the deal Charles had to accept Presbyterian church governance in the British Isles and in 1650 he landed in Scotland from where he led an invading force across the border in to England. He joined his mother in France via the Scilly Isles and Jersey, before taking up residence at The Hague in the Netherlands. The Royalist cause was all but lost in 1645 and as heir to the throne young Charles was helped to flee the country. The young Charles was to support his father against the Parliamentary forces and when still only 14 years of age was made nominal commander of the English forces in the West country.

Second and charles series#

However this conflict of power between monarchy and parliament was to spill over on to the battlefield in a civil war, which over a series of engagements was to last nine years. His father wholeheartedly believed in a kingвЂ™s divine right to rule, something his son would also believe as King Charles II. However political unrest was already brewing and when the civil war began in 1642 his formal education came to an abrupt end. He was educated by the Bishop of Chichester and the Earl of Newcastle in an early childhood which befitted a KingвЂ™s son and was given the title of Prince of Wales when aged eight. James Palace in London on May 29th, 1630, a son to King Charles I and Henrietta Maria.