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Charles II died on 6 February 1685. He was
54. As we said he and his wife had no children and so he was succeeded by his brother James, who immediately became James II.
Charles was not very good with money during most of his reign. In fact one of the reasons he had married Catherine of Braganza in 1662 was because she
brought with her a large dowry. A dowry is the sum of money and gifts that a bride’s family would give to the man she married.
His reign saw a few wars, notably with the Dutch from whom he gained New Amsterdam which we now know as New York. England's overseas colonies grew and
prospered. Parliament became even more organised and on several occasions over-ruled what Charles wanted to do. In 1681 he sent Parliament home and ruled on his
own until his death.
He was known as the Merry Monarch, partly because of the behaviour
of his court and also because people were so glad to return to something like normality after Cromwell and the Puritans had painted everything black. Red doors
could come back again. Charles had a couple of times in his reign promised to become a Catholic, once when he wanted the French to help him beat the Dutch and,
on his deathbed, he did indeed convert to being a Catholic.
As soon as he became King, James II said he wouldn’t make everyone follow his religion but a lot of people weren’t sure.
Meanwhile, over
in Holland, one of Charles’ illegitimate children, another James but also Duke of Monmouth, claimed he was the rightful heir to the throne. James II said he wasn’t
because Charles wasn’t his father it was someone else who his mother was having an affair with at the same time.
However, Monmouth had his supporters and on June 11 1685 Monmouth landed at Lyme Regis in Dorset. He began to gain some followers but at the Battle of Sedgemoor on July 6 Monmouth was defeated. Monmouth’s future claims to the throne stopped pretty quickly as he was executed for treason on July 15.
Many of his supporters were also tried and executed or else sent to America.
Forward to 1688AD
