(Redirected from Charles II of Great Britain)
'Charles II' (
29 May 1630 –
6 February 1685) was the
King of
England,
Scotland, and
Ireland.
According to
royalists, Charles II became king when his father
Charles I was executed at
Whitehall on
30 January 1649, the climax of the
Second English Civil War. The
English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II
king at this time, however, and England entered the period known to history as the
English Interregnum. The
Parliament of Scotland, on the other hand, proclaimed Charles II
King of Scots on
5 February 1649 in
Edinburgh. He was crowned King of Scots at
Scone on
1 January 1651. Following his defeat at the
Battle of Worcester on
3 September 1651, Charles fled to the continent and spent the next nine years in exile in
France and the
United Provinces.
After
the Protectorate collapsed under
Richard Cromwell in 1659, General
George Monck invited
Charles to come to England and assume the throne. Charles II arrived on English soil on
23 May 1660 and entered
London on his thirtieth birthday,
29 May 1660. The
Convention Parliament declared Charles II King of England and Ireland and declared that, for legal purposes, his reign had begun on
30 January 1649. Charles was crowned King of England and Ireland at
Westminster Abbey on
23 April 1661.
He was popularly known as the ''Merrie Monarch'', in reference to both the liveliness and
hedonism of his court and the general relief at the return to normalcy after over a decade of rule by
Oliver Cromwell and the
Puritans. Charles' wife,
Catherine of Braganza was barren, but Charles fathered at least 14
illegitimate children by various mistresses.
Charles' parliament, the
Cavalier Parliament (1661–79), enacted harsh anti-
Puritan laws known as the
Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-
established Church of England in English society. Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he himself favored a policy of religious toleration. The major foreign policy issue of the early part of Charles' reign was the
Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–67). In 1670, Charles entered into the
secret treaty of Dover, an alliance with
Louis XIV under the terms of which France agreed to aide England in the
Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–74) and Charles received a pension from Louis, and promised to restore
Roman Catholicism in England at an unspecified future date. Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672
Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679,
Titus Oates' revelations of a supposed "
Popish Plot" sparked the
Exclusion Crisis after it was revealed that Charles' brother and heir (the future
James II) was a Roman Catholic. This crisis saw the birth of the
Whig and
Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories in this fight, and many Whig leaders were killed or forced into exile, especially following the discovery of the
Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683. Following the dissolution of the Cavalier Parliament in 1679, Charles ruled without parliament until his death on
6 February 1685. Charles converted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed.

Charles presented with the first pineapple grown in England (1675 painting by Hendrik Danckerts).
Early life
Charles II, the eldest surviving son of
Charles I of England and
Henrietta Maria of France, was born Charles Stuart in
St. James's Palace on
28 May 1630. At birth, he automatically became (as the eldest surviving son of the Sovereign)
Duke of Cornwall and
Duke of Rothesay; shortly after his birth, he was crowned
Prince of Wales. Due to the disruption caused by the
English Civil War, he was never formally invested with the
Honours of the Principality of Wales.
During the 1640s, when the Prince of Wales was still young, his father Charles I fought parliamentary and
Puritan forces in the English Civil War. The prince accompanied his father during the
Battle of Edgehill and, at the age of fifteen, participated in the campaigns of 1645, when he was made titular commander of the English forces in the
West Country. In 1647, due to fears for his safety, he left England, going first to the
Isles of Scilly, then to
Jersey, and finally to
France, where his mother was already living in exile. (His cousin,
Louis XIV sat on the French throne.)
In 1648, during the
Second Civil War, Charles moved to
The Hague, where his sister
Mary and his brother-in-law
Prince of Orange seemed more likely to provide substantial aid to the Royalist cause than the Queen's French relations. However Charles was neither able to use the royalist fleet that came under his control to any advantage, nor to reach Scotland in time to join up with the royalist ''
Engagers'' army of the
Duke of Hamilton, before it was defeated at the
Battle of Preston.
At the Hague, Charles II had an affair with
Lucy Walter (whom, some alleged, he secretly married). Their son,
James Crofts (afterwards
Duke of Monmouth and
Duke of Buccleuch), was to become the most prominent of Charles's many illegitimate sons in English political life, and famously led a rebellion on Charles' death, aimed at placing himself (a staunch Protestant) on the throne instead of Charles' Catholic brother James.
Charles I was captured in 1647. He escaped and was recaptured in 1648. Despite his son's efforts to save him, Charles I was beheaded in 1649, and England was proclaimed a
republic.

Charles II when Prince of Wales by
William Dobson, circa 1642 or 1643.
Immediately following the execution of Charles I however, the Scottish Parliament recognized Charles II as his father's successor, and on
5 February 1649, Charles II was proclaimed King of Scots in
Edinburgh—a proclamation that split the Presbyterians into "Resolutioners" who supported this restoration, and "Remonstrants" (signers of the
Western Remonstrances of 1650) who opposed it
[1] despite the promises Charles had been induced to make that he would abide by the terms of the
Treaty of Breda (1650), and support the
Solemn League and Covenant, which authorized
Presbyterian church governance across Britain. Upon his arrival in Scotland on
23 June 1650, Charles formally agreed to the Covenant; his abandonment of
Episcopal church governance, although winning him support in Scotland, left him unpopular in England. Charles himself soon came to despise his Scottish hosts (or "gaolers", as he came to see the dour Covenanters), and supposedly celebrated at the news of the Covenanters' defeat at
Dunbar in September 1650.
Nevertheless, the Scots remained Charles's best hope of restoration, and he was crowned King of Scots at
Scone on
1 January 1651. With
Cromwell's forces threatening Charles's position in Scotland, it was decided to mount an attack on England. With many of the Scots (including
Argyll and other leading Covenanters) refusing to participate, and with few English royalists joining the force as it moved south into England, the invasion ended in defeat at the
Battle of Worcester on
3 September 1651, following which Charles is said to have hidden in the
Royal Oak at
Boscobel House, subsequently escaping to France in disguise. Parliament put a reward of
£1,000 on the king's head, and the penalty of death for anyone caught helping him. Through six weeks of narrow escapes
Charles managed to flee England.
Impoverished, Charles could not obtain sufficient support to mount a serious challenge to Cromwell's government. Despite the Stuart familial connections through Henrietta Maria and the Princess of Orange, France and the
United Provinces allied themselves with Cromwell's government, forcing Charles to turn to
Spain for aid. He attempted to raise an army, but failed due to his financial shortcomings.
Restoration
After the death of
Oliver Cromwell in 1658, Charles' chances of regaining the Crown seemed slim. Oliver Cromwell was succeeded as
Lord Protector by his son,
Richard Cromwell. However, the new Lord Protector, with no power base in either Parliament or the
New Model Army, was forced to abdicate in 1659. The Protectorate of England was abolished, and the
Commonwealth of England re-established. During the civil and military unrest which followed,
George Monck, the Governor of Scotland, was concerned that the nation would descend into anarchy. Monck and his army marched into the
City of London and forced the
Long Parliament to dissolve itself. For the first time in almost twenty years, the members of Parliament faced a general election.
A predominantly Royalist House of Commons was elected. The
Convention Parliament, soon after it assembled on
25 April 1660, received news of the
Declaration of Breda (
8 May 1660), in which Charles agreed, amongst other things, to pardon many of his father's enemies. It also subsequently declared that Charles II had been the lawful Sovereign since Charles I's execution in 1649.
Charles set out for England, arriving in
Dover on
25 May 1660 and reaching London on
29 May (which is considered the date of the
Restoration, and was Charles' thirtieth birthday). Although Charles granted
amnesty to Cromwell's supporters in the ''
Act of Indemnity and Oblivion'', this made specific provision for people to be excluded by the indemnity through act of Parliament. In the end 9 people were executed: they were
hanged, drawn and quartered; others were given life imprisonment or simply excluded from office for life. The bodies of
Oliver Cromwell,
Henry Ireton and
John Bradshaw were subjected to the indignity of
posthumous executions.
Cavalier Parliament

Charles II was restored as King of England in 1660.
The Convention Parliament was dissolved in December 1660. Shortly after Charles's coronation at
Westminster Abbey on
23 April 1661, the second Parliament of the reign assembled. As this parliament, dubbed the
Cavalier Parliament, was overwhelmingly Royalist, Charles saw no reason to dissolve it and force another general election for seventeen years.
The Cavalier Parliament concerned itself with the agenda of Charles' chief advisor,
Lord Clarendon, who sought to discourage
non-conformity to the
Church of England; at his instigation, the Cavalier Parliament passed several acts which became part of the "Clarendon Code". The
Conventicle Act 1664 prohibited religious assemblies of more than five people, except under the auspices of the Church of England. The
Five Mile Act 1665 prohibited clergymen from coming within five miles of a parish from which they had been banished. The Conventicle and Five Mile Acts remained in effect for the remainder of Charles' reign. Other parts of the Clarendon Code included the
Corporation Act 1661 and the
Act of Uniformity 1662.
Charles agreed to give up feudal dues which had been revived by his father; in return, he was granted an annual income of £1,200,000 by Parliament. The grant, however, proved to be of little use for most of Charles' reign. The aforesaid sum was only an indication of the maximum the King was allowed to withdraw from the Treasury each year; for the most part, the amount actually in the coffers was much lower. To avoid further financial problems, Charles appointed
George Downing (the builder of
Downing Street) to reform the management of the Treasury and the collection of taxes.
Foreign policy
In 1662 Charles married a
Portuguese princess,
Catherine of Braganza, who brought him the territories of
Bombay and
Tangier as
dowry. During the same year, however, he sold
Dunkirk—a much more valuable strategic outpost—to his first cousin King
Louis XIV of France for £40,000.
Appreciative of the assistance given to him in gaining the throne, Charles awarded
North American lands then known as
Carolina—named after his father—to eight nobles (known as Lords Proprietors) in 1663.
Whereas the
Navigation Acts (1650), which hurt
Dutch trade, started the
First Dutch War (1652–1654), the
Second Dutch War (1665–1667) was mainly started by the King's new advisor
Lord Arlington, who hoped for personal gain if the Dutch possessions in
Africa and
America could be conquered. This conflict began well for the English, with the capture of
New Amsterdam (later renamed
New York in honour of Charles' brother
James, Duke of York, the future James II of England/James VII of Scotland), but in 1667 the Dutch launched a surprise attack upon the English (the
Raid on the Medway) when they sailed up the
River Thames to where the better part of the English fleet was docked. Almost all of the ships were sunk except for the flagship, the
HMS ''Royal Charles'', which was taken back to
the Netherlands as a trophy. (The ship's transom remains on display, now at the
Rijksmuseum in
Amsterdam.) The Second Dutch War ended with the signing of the
Treaty of Breda in 1667.
As a result of the Second Dutch War, Charles dismissed his advisor
Lord Clarendon, whom he used as a scapegoat for the war. Clarendon fled to France when impeached by the House of Commons for
high treason (which carried the penalty of death). Power passed to a group of five politicians known as the
Cabal—
Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford,
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington,
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham,
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley (afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury) and
John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale.
In 1668, England allied itself with
Sweden, and with its former enemy the Netherlands, in order to oppose Louis XIV in the
War of Devolution. Louis was forced to make peace with the
Triple Alliance, but he continued to maintain his aggressive intentions. In 1670, Charles, seeking to solve his financial troubles, agreed to the
Treaty of Dover, under which Louis XIV would pay him £200,000 each year. In exchange, Charles agreed to supply Louis with troops and to convert to Roman Catholicism "as soon as the welfare of his realm will permit." Louis was to provide him with 6,000 troops to suppress those who opposed the conversion. Charles endeavoured to ensure that the Treaty—especially the conversion clause—remained secret. It remains unclear if Charles ever seriously intended to convert before his death bed.
Meanwhile, by a series of five acts around 1670, Charles granted the
British East India Company the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops, to form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas in
India. Earlier in 1668 he leased the islands of
Bombay for a paltry sum of ten
pounds sterling paid in
gold.
[2]
In 1670, Charles also granted a royal charter to establish the
Hudson's Bay Company in
North America. The company eventually became the oldest corporation on the North American continent. It started out in the lucrative fur trade with the native peoples, but eventually governed and colonized a large portion of the land that would eventually make up
Canada.
Great Plague and Fire
In 1665, Charles II was faced with a great health crisis: an outbreak of
Bubonic Plague in
London commonly referred to as the
Great Plague. Believed to have been introduced by
Dutch shipping vessels carrying
cotton from
Amsterdam, the plague was carried by rats and fleas and the death toll at one point reached up to 7000 per week. Charles, his family and court fled London in July 1665 to
Oxford. Various attempts at containing the disease by London public health officials all fell in vain and the disease continued to spread rapidly.
On
2 September 1666, adding to London's woes was what later became famously known as the
Great Fire of London. Although effectively ending the spreading of the Great Plague by burning the plague-carrying rats and fleas, the fire consumed about 13,200 houses and 87 churches, including
St. Paul's Cathedral. Charles II is famously remembered for joining the fire-fighters in combating the fire.
At the time, a
comet was visible in the night sky. The supposition of the day claimed it was
God's message, and that the above crises were as a result of God's anger. Blame was placed upon Charles and his Court, but later the people shifted their blame to the hated
Roman Catholics. The situation was not helped by Charles' brother (
James II)'s conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1667.
Conflict with Parliament

Half-Crown of Charles II, 1683. The inscription reads CAROLUS II DEI GRATIA (Charles II by the Grace of God).
Although previously favourable to the Crown, the Cavalier Parliament was alienated by the king's wars and religious policies during the 1670s. In 1672, Charles issued the
Royal Declaration of Indulgence, in which he purported to suspend all laws punishing Roman Catholics and other religious dissenters. In the same year, he openly supported Catholic France and started the
Third Anglo-Dutch War.
The Cavalier Parliament opposed the Declaration of Indulgence on constitutional grounds (claiming that the King had no right to arbitrarily suspend laws) rather than on political ones. Charles II withdrew the Declaration, and also agreed to the
Test Act, which not only required public officials to receive the
sacrament under the forms prescribed by the Church of England, but also forced them to denounce certain teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as "
superstitious and
idolatrous". The Cavalier Parliament also refused to further fund the Anglo-Dutch War, which England was losing, forcing Charles to make peace in 1674.
Charles' wife Queen Catherine was unable to produce an heir, her pregnancies instead ending in
miscarriages and
stillbirths. Charles' heir-presumptive was therefore his unpopular Roman Catholic brother,
James, Duke of York. In 1678,
Titus Oates, a former Anglican cleric, falsely warned of a "
Popish Plot" to assassinate the king and replace him with the Duke of York. Charles did not believe the allegations, but ordered his chief minister
Thomas Osborne, 1st Earl of Danby to investigate. Lord Danby was highly sceptical about Oates' revelations, but reported the matter to Parliament. The people were seized with an anti-Catholic hysteria; judges and juries across the land condemned the supposed conspirators; numerous innocent individuals were executed.
Later in 1678, Lord Danby was impeached by the House of Commons on the charge of
high treason. Although much of the nation had sought war with Catholic France, Charles II had secretly negotiated with
Louis XIV, trying to reach an agreement under which England would remain neutral in return for money. Lord Danby was hostile to France, but reservedly agreed to abide by Charles' wishes. Unfortunately for him, the House of Commons failed to view him as a reluctant participant in the scandal, instead believing that he was the author of the policy. To save Lord Danby from the impeachment trial in the House of Lords, Charles dissolved the Cavalier Parliament in January 1679.
A new Parliament, which met in March of the same year, was quite hostile to Charles. Lord Danby was forced to resign the post of
Lord High Treasurer, but received a pardon from the king. In defiance of the royal will, Parliament declared that a dissolution did not interrupt impeachment proceedings. When the House of Lords seemed ready to impose the punishment of exile—which the House of Commons thought too mild—the impeachment was abandoned, and a
bill of attainder introduced. As he had been required to do so many times during his reign, Charles II bowed to the wishes of his opponents, committing Lord Danby to the
Tower of London. Lord Danby would be held without
bail for another five years.
Later years
Another political storm which faced Charles was that of succession to the Throne. The Parliament of 1679 was vehemently opposed to the prospect of a Catholic monarch.
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (previously Baron Ashley and a member of the Cabal, which had fallen apart in 1672) introduced the
Exclusion Bill, which sought to exclude the Duke of York from the line of succession. Some even sought to confer the Crown to the Protestant
Duke of Monmouth, the eldest of Charles's illegitimate children. The ''Abhorrers''—those who opposed the Exclusion Bill—would develop into the
Tory Party, while the
''Petitioners''—those who supported the Exclusion Bill—became the
Whig Party.
Fearing that the Exclusion Bill would be passed, Charles dissolved Parliament in December 1679. Two further Parliaments were called in Charles' reign (one in 1680, the other in 1681), but both were dissolved because they sought to pass the Exclusion Bill. During the 1680s, however, popular support for the Exclusion Bill began to dissolve, and Charles experienced a nationwide surge of loyalty, for many of his subjects felt that Parliament had been too assertive. For the remainder of his reign, Charles ruled as an absolute monarch.
Charles' opposition to the Exclusion Bill angered some Protestants. Protestant conspirators formulated the
Rye House Plot, a plan to murder the King and the Duke of York as they returned to London after horse races in
Newmarket. A great fire, however, destroyed much of Newmarket and caused the cancellation of the races; thus, the planned attack could not take place. Before news of the plot leaked, the chief conspirators fled. Protestant politicians such as
Algernon Sydney and the
Lord William Russell were implicated in the plot and executed for high treason, albeit on very flimsy evidence.
Charles suffered an
apopleptic fit and died suddenly on Wednesday,
6 February 1685 (at the age of 54) at 11:45 a.m. at
Whitehall Palace of
uremia (a clinical syndrome due to kidney dysfunction). He is purported to have said to his brother, the
Duke of York on his deathbed: 'Let not poor
Nelly starve.' and to his courtiers: 'I am sorry, gentlemen, for being such a time a-dying.'
[3] He was buried in
Westminster Abbey 'without any manner of pomp'
and was succeeded by his brother who became
James II of England and Ireland, and James VII of Scotland.
Posterity and legacy

A monument to Charles II who contributed to the restoration of the
Lichfield Cathedral following the English Civil War today stands outside its south doors.
Charles II left no legitimate issue. He did, however, have several children by a number of mistresses (many of whom were wives of noblemen); many of his mistresses and illegitimate children received dukedoms or earldoms. He publicly acknowledged fourteen children by seven mistresses; six of those children were borne by a single woman, the notorious
Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine, for whom the
Dukedom of Cleveland was created. His other favourite mistresses were
Nell Gwynne and
Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth. Charles also acknowledged children by
Lucy Walter,
Elizabeth Killigrew, Viscountess Shannon and
Catherine Pegge, Lady Greene. The present
Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry,
Duke of Richmond and Gordon,
Duke of Grafton and
Duke of St Albans all descend from Charles in direct male line. Charles' relationships, as well as the politics of his time, are depicted in the historical drama '' (produced in 2003 by the
British Broadcasting Corporation).
Diana, Princess of Wales was descended from two of Charles' illegitimate sons, the
Duke of Grafton and the
Duke of Richmond (who is also a direct ancestor of
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, second wife of
Charles, Prince of Wales). Thus Diana's son
Prince William of Wales, currently (2007) second in line to the British Throne, is likely to be the first monarch descended from Charles II.
Charles II's eldest 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. James II, however, was eventually dethroned in 1688 in the course of the
Glorious Revolution. James was the last Catholic monarch to rule England.
Charles, a patron of the arts and sciences, helped found the
Royal Society, a scientific group whose early members included
Robert Hooke,
Robert Boyle and
Sir Isaac Newton. Charles was the personal patron of
Sir Christopher Wren, the architect who helped rebuild London after the
Great Fire in 1666. Wren also constructed the
Royal Hospital Chelsea, which Charles founded as a home for retired soldiers in 1681. Since 1692, a statue of Charles II in ancient Roman dress (created by
Grinling Gibbons in 1676) has stood in the Figure Court of the Royal Hospital.
The anniversary of Charles'
Restoration (which is also his birthday)—
29 May—is recognised in the United Kingdom as ''
Oak Apple Day'', after the Royal Oak in which Charles is said to have hidden to escape from the forces of Oliver Cromwell. Traditional celebrations involved the wearing of oak leaves, but these have now died out. The anniversary of the Restoration is also an official
Collar Day.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles
★ '
29 May 1630 –
30 January 1649': The Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay
★ '
30 January 1649 –
6 February 1685': ''His Majesty'' The King
Styles
The official
style of Charles II was
:''Charles the Second, by the Grace of God,
King of England,
Scotland,
France and
Ireland,
Defender of the Faith, etc.''
(The
claim to France was only nominal, and had been asserted by every English King since
Edward III, regardless of the amount of French territory actually controlled.)
Honours
★ 'KG':
Knight of the Garter, ''
21 May 1638 –
30 January 1649''
Arms
His
arms were: ''Quarterly, I and IV Grandquarterly, Azure three fleurs-de-lis Or (for
France) and Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for
England); II Or a lion rampant within a tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for
Scotland); III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for
Ireland)''.
Ancestors
Children
Charles left no legitimate heirs but fathered an unknown number of illegitimate children. He acknowledged fourteen children to be his own, including
Barbara Fitzroy, who almost certainly was not his biological child .
;By 'Marguerite or Margaret de Carteret'
#Some accounts say that she bore Charles a son named
James de la Cloche in 1646. James de Carteret/de la Cloche is believed to have died sometime around the year 1667.
;By '
Lucy Walter' (1630–1658)
#
James Crofts/Scott (1649–1685), created
Duke of Monmouth (1663) in England and
Duke of Buccleuch (1663) in Scotland. Ancestor of
Sarah, Duchess of York.
#Mary Crofts (born c. 1651 - ?), not acknowledged. She married a William Sarsfield and later a William Fanshaw and became a faith healer operating in Covent Garden.
;By 'Elizabeth Killigrew' (1622–1680)
#
Charlotte Jemima Henrietta Maria Boyle (FitzCharles) (1650–1684), Countess of Yarmouth
;By 'Catherine Pegge, Lady Green'
#
Charles Fitzcharles (1657–1680), known as "Don Carlos", created
Earl of Plymouth (1675)
#Catherine Fitzcharles (born 1658, died young)
;By 'Dorothea Helena Kirkhoven',Countess of Derby
#George Swan born 1658 died 1730.
;By '
Barbara Palmer' (1640–1709) (née Villiers),
Countess of Castlemaine and
Duchess of Cleveland
#
Anne Palmer (Fitzroy) (1661–1722)
#
Charles Fitzroy (1662–1730) created
Duke of Southampton (1675), became 2nd
Duke of Cleveland (1709)
#
Henry Fitzroy (1663–1690), created
Earl of Euston (1672),
Duke of Grafton (1709), also 7th Great-Grandfather of
Lady Diana Spencer, mother of
Prince William of Wales
#
Charlotte Fitzroy (1664–1718), Countess of Lichfield. She married
Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore.
#
George Fitzroy (1665–1716), created
Earl of Northumberland (1674),
Duke of Northumberland (1683)
#
Barbara (Benedicta) Fitzroy (1672–1737) - She was acknowledged as Charles' daughter, but was probably the child of
John Churchill, later
Duke of Marlborough
;By '
Nell Gwyn' (1650–1687)
#
Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726), created
Duke of St Albans
#James Beauclerk (1671–1681)
;By '
Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kéroualle' (1648–1734),
Duchess of Portsmouth (1673)
#
Charles Lennox (1672–1723), created
Duke of Richmond (1675) in England and
Duke of Lennox (1675) in Scotland. Ancestor of
Lady Diana Spencer,
The Duchess of Cornwall, and
Sarah, Duchess of York.
;By 'Mary 'Moll' Davis', courtesan and actress of repute
#Mary Tudor (16 October 1673 – 5 November1726), married to Edward Radclyffe (1655–1705), the Second Earl of Derwentwater from 1687–1705. Upon Edward's death, she married Henry Graham (son and heir to Col. James Graham), and upon his death she wed James Rooke in 1707. Mary bore four children to Edward, which continued the house of Derwentwater.
;By 'Unknown mistress'
#Elizabeth Fitzcharles (1670–1731), married Sir Edward Morgan (1670–1734), the son of
Sir James Morgan, 4th Earl Baronet of Llantarnam and his wife
Lady Ann Hopton. She bore her husband ten children. Some sources give her surname as Jarman, however, that remains inconclusive.
[4]
;Other mistresses
#Cristabella Wyndham
#
Hortense Mancini, Duchess of Mazarin
#Winifred Wells - one of the Queen's Maids of Honour
#Mrs Jane Roberts - the daughter of a clergyman
#Mary Sackville (formerly Berkeley, née Bagot) - the widowed
Countess of Falmouth
#Elizabeth Fitzgerald,
Countess of Kildare
#
Frances Teresa Stewart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox
Footnotes
1. John Coffey ''Politics, Religion and the British Revolutions'' (Cambridge UP: 1997) 57.
2. Bombay: History of a City. The British Library Board. Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
3. Bryant, Mark (2001). ''Private Lives''. London:Cassell. ISBN 0304357588 p.73
4. Scroggins, William G. Genealogical and Heraldic History.
References
★ Abbott, Jacob (1849). ''History of King Charles the Second of England.'' Available at
Project Gutenberg, Retrieved on
2007-05-18
★
Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Brewer, E. Cobham, , , Cassell reference, ,
★
CHARLES II (r. 1660–85)
★
The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England, , , , Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ,
★
King Charles II, Fraser, Antonia, , , Phoenix Press, ,
★
Restoration : Charles II and his kingdoms, 1660–1685, Harris, Tim, , , Allen Lane, ,
★
Kings, Queens, Bones and Bastards: Who's who in the English Monarchy from Egbert to Elizabeth II, Hilliam, David, , , Sutton, ,
★
Charles II: King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Hutton, Ronald, , , Clarendon Press, ,
★
Charles II, Miller, John, , , , ,
★
Restoration England : the reign of Charles II, Miller, John, , , Longman, ,
★
External links
★
Chronology Charles II World History Database
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