Biography:Charles was the King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1660 until his death in 1685, and had been King of Scotland from 1649 until he was deposed in 1651. His father, Charles I, was executed at the height of the English Civil War in 1649, after which the younger Charles fled to Europe.
A crisis that followed Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658 - after he had established a dictatorial republic in England - allowed Charles to make his comeback after the monarchy was restored in 1660.
His time in power saw a number of foreign policy crises and religious crises. He signed an alliance with Louis XIV of France in 1670 after promising to convert to Roman Catholicism at a future date; Louis aided him in his war with the Dutch. He had numerous conflicts with Parliament, particularly when it was discovered his cousin, James, the Duke of York, was a Catholic and when Charles himself attempted to introduce religious freedom but was struck down by his MPs.
He abolished Parliament in 1681 and ruled alone until his death in 1685. He converted to Catholicism on his deathbed.
1661-05-25 English King Charles II marries Portuguese princess Catherina of Braganca
Historical Events
1640-05-03 English Upper house accepts Act of Attainder to execute Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, a leading advisor to Charles II
1649-02-05 Prince of Wales proclaimed King Charles II of Great Britain by Covenanter Parliament of Scotland
1651-01-01 Charles II Stuart crowned King of Scotland at Scone Abbey
1651-09-04 King Charles II of England, on the run from Parliamentarians at White Ladies Priory, disguises himself as a countryman rubbing his hands and face with soot
1651-09-06 King Charles II of England spends a day hiding in an oak tree during his escape after losing the Battle of Worcester
1651-10-15 Future King of England Charles II flees England and pursuing Parliamentary forces, sailing from Shoreham, West Sussex to France
1660-04-04 English King Charles II issues the Declaration of Breda, promising a general pardon for crimes committed during the English Civil War and the Interregnum and religious toleration for all those who accepted him as King
1660-04-25 English Convention Parliament meets and votes to restore Charles II
1660-05-08 English Parliament proclaims Charles II, King of England and invites him to return
1660-05-23 King Charles II returns from exile sails from Scheveningen to England
1660-05-24 English king Charles II visits Netherlands
1660-05-25 King Charles II of England lands at Dover harbour on his way to London during the Restoration
1660-05-29 On his 30th birthday Charles II returns to London from exile in the Netherlands to claim the English throne after the Puritan Commonwealth comes to an end
1661-04-23 English king Charles II crowned in London
1661-06-23 Marriage contract for King Charles II of England and Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza agreed, giving Tangier and Bombay to England
1661-10-01 Yachting begins in England as King Charles II beats his brother James, Duke of York in a yacht race from Greenwich to Gravesend
1662-01-12 British King Charles II grants a charter for The Royal Society after its establishment in 1660, officially renamed The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, af
1662-10-17 Charles II of Great Britain sells Dunkirk to France for 2.5 million livres (320,000 English pounds)
1663-01-10 King Charles II affirms a new charter for the Royal African Company granting it a monopoly over trade along the west coast of Africa in "redwood, elephants' teeth, negroes, slaves, hides, wax, guinea grains, or other commodities of those countries"
1663-04-06 King of England Charles II signs the Carolina Charter, gifting land in the American Southeast to eight friends who had helped him regain the throne
1663-07-08 King Charles II of England approves the Rhode Island Royal Charter giving royal recognition to the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and freedoms to its colonists, among them Roger Williams
1665-03-04 English King Charles II declares war on Netherlands
1668-03-27 English King Charles II grants Royal Charter giving control of Bombay, India to the English East India Company
1668-04-13John Dryden, aged 36, appointed the first English Poet Laureate by King Charles II
1670-05-02 King Charles II gives a royal charter to the Hudson's Bay Company
1670-06-01 English King Charles II & French King Louis XIV sign secret anti-Dutch treaty
1672-03-15 King Charles II of England enacts the Declaration of Indulgence in an unsuccessful attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics in his realms
1672-05-02 John Maitland, administrator of Scotland for Charles II, made the Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March
1673-03-29 English King Charles II accepts Test Act: Roman Catholics excluded from public functions
1673-11-09 English King Charles II dismisses the Earl of Shaftesbury from his post as Lord Chancellor
1673-11-13Christopher Wren is appointed architect for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral in London by King Charles II
1675-06-22 Royal Greenwich Observatory established in England by King Charles II
1675-08-10 King Charles II and John Flamsteed lay the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London
1675-11-22 English King Charles II adjourns parliament - beginning of the "Long Prorogation" (parliament doesn't resume until February 1677)
1677-02-15 King Charles II reports anti-French covenant with Netherlands
1679-01-24 King Charles II disbands the English Cavalier Parliament after 18 years - the longest of any English or British parliament
1679-07-12 Britain's King Charles II ratifies Habeas Corpus Act allowing prisoners right to be imprisoned to be examined by a court
1681-03-04 English Quaker William Penn receives charter from Charles II, making him sole proprietor of colonial American territory Pennsylvania
1682-12-02 Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury flees to Amsterdam following the failure of his plots to prevent a Catholic succession should King Charles II die
1684-10-23 English King Charles II revokes the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter due to repeated violations of the charter’s terms including trading with other countries and running an illegal mint
Christian II
Edward VI
Edward VIII
George VI
Richard II
Victor Emmanuel II