Restoration England - AQA History

Note: Have fun reading the notes (studying sucks) and don’t use them as your ONLY revision
resource - history is the type of subject where knowing more is helpful, so read your textbook
too!

● In 1660, Charles Stuart becomes Charles II King of England, Scotland and Ireland. This
is a bigger deal than a usual coronation but to understand why we have to go back
almost 150 Years

Backstory - civil war and interregnum

1517
● Martin Luther initiates a schism (separation) in the Western Christian Church
● Europeans (individuals and nations) now define themselves as either Catholic or
Protestant, different branches of Christianity

1530s
● Henry VIII wants a divorce that can only be granted by the Pope. He initiates a “break
from Rome” that will make him head of a Protestant church in England

1540’s-1603
● Henry’s children change the English religion several times, vacillating between
Protestantism and Catholicism before Elizabeth I settles on a form of Protestantism
with what some might perceive as Catholic elements that we today refer to as
“Anglicanism”
● All these people die childless

There’s been some problems with Catholics

● Spain (ruled over by a Catholic king who was married to the Catholic Queen of
England, Mary) tries to invade England in 1588 and fails
● English Catholics, persecuted by their own rulers, tried to blow up parliament and
James I in 1605 (*cough* Guy Fawkes *cough*)
● Catholicism has a bit of a bad reputation in England by the 1630’s

Not all Protestants are the same

● Not all Protestants like the Elizabethan Settlement
● Puritans believe in a more purely Protestant approach to Christianity and they reject
anything that might be seen as Catholic or that was not expressly mandated in the
Bible. Some reject the idea of bishops for example

Although there’s a king, parliament’s a thing

● The House of Lords and Commons exist during this period. The Commons are elected
by roughly 1/12th (8%) of the adult male population
● The king can largely rule as he wishes, but if he wishes to make an official law it must
be approved by parliament. This is particularly important if he wishes to raise taxes

The reign of Charles I (1625-1649)

● The next in line after Elizabeth I is James Stuart, the King of Scotland
● He rules a dual monarchy of Scotland and England and is succeeded by his son
Charles I
● Charles I had conflict with his parliament:
● He tried to rule without summoning them for 11 years. He believed he has a divine
right to rule
● He had found alternative ways to raise money without summoning parliament
● There was a feeling that he was inclined towards Catholicism: he had imposed a
prayer book on the Scottish that was far more Catholic than the strict Protestant
taste of many Scottish nobles
● He tried to arrest 5 of the MPs who were most critical of his actions in Parliament
● This leads to a civil war between supporters of the king and the supporters of
parliament

The Civil War 1642-49

● The civil war is the bloodiest conflict ever to take place on English soil, killing
proportionally more British people than World War I
● At the end of the conflict parliament was victorious. The king is a captive of the
parliament and his sons have fled to France

The King is Executed

● Oliver Cromwell, a key parliamentary military leader, purges the parliament of those
who oppose the execution of the king (Or he has Colonel Pride, one of his
subordinates do it, in an event known as Pride’s Purge)
● Charles I is tried and executed by his subjects 30th January 1640

The Interregnum/The Commonwealth 1649-1660

● England is ruled without a king for 11 years
● Initially it is ruled by parliament but Cromwell ultimately dismisses them and rules as
“Lord Protector” king in all but name

Life in the Commonwealth

● England becomes more Puritan during this time
● Before the war Parliament had already begun to push a more Puritan law. This
accelerated during the commonwealth
● Theatres were shut down. Observation of the Sabbath. A monthly fast was
encouraged. Restriction on gambling, dancing and music
● This is not necessarily the belief of the majority of English people, who may have
missed the simple pleasures that the puritan parliament tried to restrict

Cromwell Dies: 1658

● Cromwell dies and the role of Lord Protector is taken over by his son: Richard
Cromwell. He is forced to resign as he does not have the support of parliament or
the army

Restoration of the king

1658-60: The army
● The army is the most powerful institution in Britain
● Particularly the army of General Monk who are more regularly paid than other army
units
● Monk restores the parliament that was purged by Cromwell

1660
● This more moderate parliament then invites the exiled son of Charles I, Charles to
return and take up the throne
● After some negotiation Charles returns to England and is crowned king
● He is restored to the throne so we refer to his reign as the Restoration

Charles Stuart (Charles II)

● Crowned King of Scotland 1651
● Flees to France and lives in the court of the absolutist monarch, Louis XIV
● As the commonwealth begins to collapse, Charles moves to the Netherlands in order
to be nearer to England (and perhaps to be in a Protestant rather than a Catholic
country)
● Issues Declaration of Breda 1st May
● 8th May he is proclaimed king by parliament. He has no direct involvement in the
decision that makes him king, instead
● Charles has a reputation as the “Merrie monarch.” After the commonwealth that
was dominated by conservative Puritan values he brought back an interest in a more
self indulgent and extravagant lifestyle. He was a “public king” using his physical
presence and image to impress people with the power of his monarchy

The Convention Parliament 1660

● Elected just before Declaration of Breda
● Some members tried to limit king’s powers before his return but were defeated
● Officially invites Charles to return
● Undid all the legislation that had been put in place during the commonwealth
● Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon is chief minister
● Contains many Presbyterians but not a majority
● Raises money to pay off and disband the army that might challenge Charles’ power
● Awards Charles an income of £1,200,000 giving him taxation/duty rights to fund this

1660 Declaration of Breda

● It was passed because the parliament was ready to give up ruling without a monarch
● It is called so because Charles II live in breda, Netherlands, during his exile from
England
● In it, Charles II said that he supported:
○ Free and general pardon to his enemies
○ Freedom of conscience
○ Payment to soldiers who were in arrears
○ Any land disputes due to civil war will be settled in Parliamentary court

The Cavalier Parliament: 1661-79

● There are fresh elections in 1661
● The new parliament composition is more blatantly royalist than the one that
proceeds it. It is also more Anglican in its nature. This leads to the introduction of the
Clarendon Code that attempts to impose religious conformity on England
● It oversees the final settling of the Restoration Settlement

Religion: visual aid

Plainer & less -------- ---------------------------- --------------------------- ----------------------->
hierarchy

Protestant ------------- --------------------------- ----------------------->

Puritan/dissenters ----------------------->

Catholic: Anglicans: Presbyterians: Quakers:

● Pope = head ● King = head ● Local church ● English
of church of church governed by prayer
● Latin prayer ● English an elected ● No church,
● Decorated prayer elder just a room
church ● Decorated ● English ● No one
● Robes on church prayer really in
priests ● Robes on ● Plain church charge
● Incense priests ● No robes on
● Bishops ● Incense priests
 ● Bishops ● No bishops

The King’s rule and relationships with the parliament/ministry

Problems faced by Charles II with the parliament
● Making enough money
○ Charles was dependent upon the parliament to provide him with an income
through taxes to fund his lifestyle but also the machinery of his government
○ Parliament controlled taxation and so Charles was dependent on them for
cash
● Religion
○ Charles was pretty relaxed about toleration. He had catholic sympathies and
his brother James would become a committed Catholic by the late 60’s
○ Parliament was pretty anti-Catholic and also anti dissenter. Charles would
come into conflict with them as they tried to restrict the power and freedom
of non-Anglicans
● Foreign police
○ The main military opponent for the English during this period was the Dutch
○ The wars are not very successful and are quite expensive
○ They are also against a Protestant country and, sometimes, in alliance with
Catholic France
○ Thus conflict over funding and who they are fighting with parliament

Ministries and parliament

● Parliament - Lords and Elected MPs. Summoned, dismissed and having elections held
at the kings whim
○ Loyal to the king but also represents the interests of the country. Will not
allow him free reign with spending or to do whatever he pleases with religion
● Ministry - the government. Men given position of responsibility by the king. They are
chosen and dismissed by the king
○ A minister is effectively a king’s servant, and exists to try an enact the will of
the king. However a minister’s personality and preferences may impact on
policy
○ The Clarendon Ministry lasts 1660-67. Clarendon is being Charles’ Chief
Minister full time
● Parliament and the ministers are separate. It is likely that that a minister will be
blamed more readily by the parliament for failings

Cavalier parliament
● The cavalier parliament remains elected to their position for 18 years. 1661-79,
although they are not doing MP work all that time
● Contains many royalists: should be predisposed to Charles
 ● 1661-63: parliament are happy to raise a Hearth Tax to meet failings in original plan
for Charles’ income
● Grant him control of a small standing army (militia and guards regiments) which
meant Charles had the greatest amount of military power in the kingdom (but still
not massive)
● Charles II and the parliament have different views towards religion
○ Charles wants to be very relaxed about religion. He has no strong religious
convictions and wants tolerance for Catholics and Dissenters. Makes the
Declaration of Indulgence in December 1662
○ Predominantly Anglican Parliament doesn’t like this and delays vote on
Charles’ income so Charles backs down. It promises laws to restrict non-
Anglicanism
● 1664-65: Charles reduces the power of Parliament through changes to Triennial Acts.
Charles was originally obliged to have elections every 3 years. He changes this so he
is obliged only to summon parliament every 3 years. If a parliament is to his liking he
can just bring it back again and again without free elections. He does this until 1679
● Parliament is supportive of this, possibly because at the same time Charles consents
to an increasing number of anti Catholic/Dissenter laws that become known
collectively as the Clarendon Code - although he wants toleration of religion, he is
willing to ditch this idea for other benefits from the government
● Parliament votes £2,500,000 for a war against the Dutch Charles wants(1664). He
gets another £1,250,000 in 1665

Clarendon code
● The Corporation Act (1661) - All municipal officials to take Anglican communion, and
swear loyalty to the Crown. The effect of this act was to exclude nonconformists
from public office
● The Act of Uniformity (1662) - Muse of the Book of Common Prayer (The official
Anglican prayer book) compulsory in religious service. Upwards of 2000 clergy
refused to comply with this act, and were forced to resign their livings. These were
Presbyterians for the most part and their departure was peaceful
● The Conventicle Act (1664) - This act forbade conventicles (a meeting for
unauthorized worship) of more than 5 people who were not members of the same
household. The purpose was to prevent dissenting religious groups from meeting
● The Five Mile Act (1665) - This final act of the Clarendon Code was aimed at
Nonconformist (Dissenting) ministers, who were forbidden from coming within five
miles of incorporated towns or the place of their former livings. They were also
forbidden to teach in schools

Worsening relationship between Charles II and the parliament: 1666-167

● 1666 - There’s a plague and a giant fire in London
 ● 1667 - The war with the Dutch goes really badly and there is a raid up the Medway
by Dutch ships
● Charles summons a land army
● Parliament is worried about the expense and tries to get him to disband the army
● Charles prorogues (stops them from being powerful without actually dismissing
them) the Parliament
● Peace with Dutch is signed
● Parliament is summoned again because Charles needs money
● They manage to have a Commission of Account set up to investigate what went
wrong in the war. They blame Clarendon who flees to France to avoid being
Impeached

The fall of Clarendon

● Members of the Lords in parliament who go after him are also members of Charles’
Court (people who are around Charles on a “social” level). Clarendon is taken down
by court rivalries as much as parliament vs minister
● The fact that he was not noble born, and had married his daughter to the King’s
brother, made other nobles dislike him
● Some of the men who drove him out would be in the next ministry: personal gain

The CABAL Ministry: 1668-1673

● Lord Clifford, Earl of Arlington, Duke of Buckingham, Lord Ashley-Cooper, Duke of
Lauderdale
● These men, particularly Buckingham (who had been a rival of Clarendon) ran England
for the king. They were members of Charles’ Court as well as the Lords and as such
had personal as well as political influence

Key Events of the Cabal Ministry

● 1668: the King tries to get more toleration for Dissenters (not Catholics), instead
Parliament enforces fines for attending non-Anglican services. Charles signs this into
law as it is the only way to access cash he needs
● 1670: Charles signs Treaty of Dover with France
○ Publicly this is a military alliance against the Dutch
○ Privately he is paid £250,000 by Louis XIV per year and promises to convert
to Catholicism at some point in the future. The Cabal ministers know about
this treaty
○ 1672: Charles signs Declaration of Indulgence: an attempt to introduce more
tolerance for non-Anglicans
○ 1673: Parliament keep wanting to introduce a Test Act. This will require
anyone occupying office in England to swear they are Anglicans. This is a
problem because of James Duke of York
James Duke of York
● Charles’s brother
● Heir to the throne
● Openly Catholic since 1660s
● James will be excluded from office as he cannot swear the Test Act Oath
● It will also damage his capacity to succeed Charles
● Charles continually prorogues parliament to stop the act being passed
● James marries a Catholic princess which means a male Catholic born heir to the
throne is a possibility
● 1673: Charles withdraws his Declaration of Indulgence and then pass the Test Act.
He has already had to announce a Stop of the Exchequer where he admitted he
could pay no debts in 1772, but now he needs money for the Third Dutch War

Third Dutch War (1772-74)

● The war is expensive and doesn’t go very well
● In the context of the conflict over the Test Act people become suspicious that
England is allied to a major Catholic power in a war against Protestant Holland
● Charles has to abandon the war in 1774. Unsuccessful
● Charles shuts down parliament for over a year
● The Cabal falls from power

The beginning of party politics

● The power of the Cabal in the Lords led to increased resistance in the commons who
felt like the Lords had become too servile to the king
● A group in the commons forms called The Country Party (also called Whighs). They
believe in
○ Greater power for parliament
○ Toleration for dissenters
○ James not becoming king
● To oppose them a Court Party (also called Tories) emerges in the Commons they are
○ Supporters of king and his ministers
○ Anglican
○ Pro-James succession.

Titus Oates and the Popish Plot

● He has had a failed academic career, become a sailor, been arrested for perjury on
several occasions and made what was probably a very insincere conversion to
Catholicism whilst continuing work as an author of anti-Catholic pamphlets. He trains
as a Catholic priest but is very bad at it and is kicked out. His offer to write down his
 experiences amongst the English Catholics for a vehemently anti-Catholic associate
of his is the genesis of the Popish Plot
● Oates claims he knows about a plot to murder the king and replace him with his
brother James followed by the French take over of Ireland and enforced Catholicism
for all. Catholics were feared and disliked in England so this was seen as alarming
● He claims he has letters from James’ Chaplin proving this
● Oates appears before the king. The king knows Oates is lying, not least because he
claims that people the king has played tennis with are involved in the plot but gives a
completely inaccurate description of them
● Nevertheless anxiety allows the plot to flourish
● Oates’ claims are ridiculous but are bolstered when the magistrate he is revealing
this information to is mysteriously murdered
● Prince James’ secretary has really been writing to the Jesuit Catholic priests although
Oates doesn’t know this he just guesses and is sort of right
● 13 people are executed for involvement in the plot
● However the investigation does throw up a revelation that Earl of Danby has been in
secret communication with France.
● Oates’ allegations are entirely nonsense, a trial that goes on into the 1780s proves
this, but this feed into an atmosphere of anti-Catholic hysteria

Consequences of this made-up plot

● Danby falls
● The Cavalier Parliament in dissolved and fresh elections are held
● The majority of the Commons elected support excluding James II from the
succession (although the Lords do not)
● Charles attempts to win over some Whigs (who support exclusion) by giving them
privy council positions as his personal advisors
● Charles offers to limit the power of any Catholic English monarch by law
● This splits opposition

Exclusion crisis
● 1679: New parliament (sometimes called the Habeas Corpus Parliament) presents
bill to exclude James from the succession. It almost passes
● Charles dismisses parliament again, calls fresh elections, a majority of exclusion
supporters are elected again
● 1680: new parliament (Exclusion Bill Parliament), another exclusion bill is presented,
fails, but the atmosphere is still strongly anti-James
● 1681: Charles dismisses parliament. New elections
● Exclusion bill is presented at Oxford where Charles has arrived with armed followers.
He dissolves the parliament after a few weeks
 ● Charles has opposition leader Shaftesbury arrested for treason (although he is later
released as there isn’t really any evidence he has committed treason)
● 1682: There is no parliament. With no options Shaftesbury really does begin to plot
treason but is discovered and flees
● 1682-85: Charles rules without parliament

Propaganda
● The debate around the exclusion crisis is not only happening in parliament. Public
discussion occurs as well, particularly as the Whigs are collecting petitions to call for
the recall of parliament
● They Whig argument is based around the fear of Catholicism
● Tories meanwhile are arguing that the Whigs are secretly republican of Presbyterians
and that their overall goal is to return England to a religious setup something like
that seen under Cromwell. There was a fear they would take England back to Civil
War
● The atmosphere of confusion and debate is enhanced by the failure of parliament to
renew the Licensing and Press Act 1662 (because Charles had dissolved them at the
time). Restrictions on what could be written about therefore fell away and the press
became more aggressive in their criticism

Rye House Plot (1673)

● A genuine plot to kill James and Charles and make Charles’ illegitimate son the Duke
of Monmouth king
● It is planned by former republicans and soldiers, led by Hannibal Rumbold, but they
do have some communication with the Whigs’ leaders
● The plot fails to happen, is discovered, and is used as an excuse to arrest and execute
many of Charles’ chief critics in the Whig party

King’s Court
What is a Court?
● The decision making government of the king: his ministers gathered together in one
place
● The Privy (private) council of the king was gathered here and in his private chambers
would advise him on how to govern the country here
● The other branches of government were based around him here too

Site of political intrigue

● Physical proximity to Charles, and if he liked you as a person, made you powerful and
gave you influence over the king
● Buckingham in the Cabal was powerful in part because the king thought he was
amusing and they had a close relationship as friends.
 ● Charles had spent time in the court of Louis XIV. Louis had created the palace of
Versailles in part because it was a way to stop nobles intriguing against him by
having political status be based upon proximity to the king. To an extent Charles was
emulating this

Centre of fashion
● Charles copied extravagant French fashion. As time went on a distinct English style
emerged (surcoat etc) which became more extravagant again over time
● All of this was emanating from Charles and the court as trend setters

Enhanced king’s status

● Charles believes in the divine right of kings
● The court is where he performs the curing of the kings evil, an immensely popular
ritual and a public demonstration of his divinely given powers
● Charles reintroduced knightly orders such as The Knights of the Garter
● Being awarded membership of a group like this gave a noble man enhanced status in
court whilst the group’s existence added to the glorious and dignified image of the
court

Site of Patronage
● High aristocrats would seek the Kings favour and lower people would seek the favour
of those aristocrats in turn as patrons
● As a client of a patron you were his supporter
● This led into factional conflict at court. Clarendon was brought down as much by
conflicts with his rivals at court than he was by parliament or failures in government
● This patronage was not only political power but of the funding of the work of artists.
Who would in turn produce art to enhance the king and their patron’s image
● Charles promoted the arts and culture, giving work to creative people (Wren as an
architect, Dryden the poet). This could also be political. So Samuel Pepys rose in
power as he became associated James Duke of York who used his influence to
promote men who were loyal to him to positions of power
● King controls new fashion, new art and science through his patronage. His ideas and
tastes shape national tastes

A sexy place
● The court had a reputation for sexually debauchery and freedom
● The king had multiple mistresses and this was common among other leading
members of the court
● However the mistresses were political figures as well as they could provide
ambitious courtiers with access to the king and influence his decisions. Different
factions in court, particularly around religion would form around mistresses
 ● An aside on Charles’s mistresses:
○ Charles was very loyal to his wife Catherine politically (Portuguese Catholic)
and never accepted suggestions he should divorce her and marry a
Protestant despite her failures to produce an heir
○ He fathered many children on his mistresses and acknowledged them with
the name “Fitzroy” son of the king
○ The status of his illegitimate children would lead to some calls for his oldest
son, the Duke of Monmouth to be legitimised as his heir. Some Whigs
claimed Charles had secretly married Monmouth’s mother

Restoration society - Great Fire of London

● There was a Plague too but we have covered this in the medicine course already so
I’m not including it here

Great Fire of London (1666)

● The fire started on September 2nd, Saturday, on Pudding Lane
● Believed to have started in Thomas Farriner’s bakery
● Burnt for 4 days

Fuel Heat Oxygen

What made ● Crowded houses ● Fire was main way ● Dry winds blowing
London a ● “Jettying” – top of cooking food, encouraged fire to
fire risk? floor bigger than baking bread, grow by spreading
bottom, can shake heating and sparks to other
hands from across lighting rooms, and areas of London
the street – little finding way home
distance, easy to at night
spread ● Summer 1666 was
● Flammable goods hot and dry:
stored in droughts - little
warehouses and water in rivers
workshops on the
same street as
homes

Which ● Blowing up ● Working together ● The wind dropped

Restoration buildings around in teams – one on the third day
methods of fire to make passes buckets and stopped
fire- “firebreak”, also with water, the spreading as fast
fighting created by using other one passes and burning as
tackled long poles with empty buckets much, it was safe
which parts hooks and pickaxes back to try to control it
of the fire? to bring the houses ● Fire squirts (had to
down be refilled after
 each squirt)
● Fire engines
● Equipment was
stored in local
churches

How ● Wood and plaster ● No firemen – ● Weather (wind)

effective from pulled down people had to be cannot be
were these houses had to be pressed to help, controlled so the
tools or quickly carried but many people city had to rely on
techniques away or they will volunteered luck that the wind
? catch on fire and anyway because will stop soon
firebreak will fail lives were at risk
● Those in charge
worried that they
will have to pay for
the damage so
preferred not to do
it
● Exploding the
buildings is also a
fire starter hazard

● Thomas Bloodworth, the Mayor of London refused to give orders to pull down
houses because he was angry to be woken up early. He didn’t want to pay the losses
and said “a woman might piss it out”
● Charles II sent James and the army to create a big firebreak, but it did not work
● The hot dry wind stopped on Wednesday so people were able to take control
● 6th September - city was back to work

How/why did it start?

● There was a belief that either the French or the Dutch (war with them was going on
at the time), or both, were behind the fire
● Frenchmen living in London were beaten for carrying “fireballs” (actually tennis balls)
● Robert Hubert (French) confessed to starting the fire with the aid of 23 others. He
wasn’t actually in London at the time the fire started though. Parliament’s official
belief was that it was an accident and did not believe Hubert. Nevertheless he was
hanged on October 23rd and the official monument built to commemorate the fire
made reference to London’s survival of a Popish conspiracy (although this would be
added later)
● It was also understood as being a punishment from god either because London has
supported parliament in beheading Charles I or because of the immorality of life in
the city after the Restoration (depending if you asked royalists or Puritans)
 ○ ‘The time of London's fall is come...and therefore all attempts to hinder it are
in vain’ - Thomas Vincent, puritan preacher, 'God's Terrible Voice in the City',
1667
● ‘The judgement that has fallen upon London is immediately from the hand of God
and no plots by Frenchman or Dutchman or papists have any part in bringing upon
you so much misery’ - Charles II, addressing the crowds of refugees at Moorfields
● Numerological interpretations of the year 1666 (666 being the number of the devil in
the book of revelations) were already rife and the fire fed into this. Pepys bought a
book on numerology at this time, although the extent to which this was a major
concern for the general population of London is up for debate

Impact of the fire

● £25,000 of cloth burnt: financial impact across England (who made money by selling
cloth)
● 20,000 tonnes of coal burnt: price of coal rockets
● 20% of all housing destroyed so rents double and triple
● 13,000+ houses, 90 churches, st Paul's Cathedral, and Royal Exchange burnt
● £1-20 was the possible poor relief available for the homeless
● Hearth tax falls from 150,000 to 100,000 in London
● Customs taxes fall from 890,000 to 690,000 between 1665 and 1666

Samuel Pepys
● Samuel Pepys (you say PEEPS) lived more than 300 years ago. He worked for the
British government, and did much to make the Royal Navy better. However, he is
famous because he wrote a diary
● Pepys was born in 1633. He was a young man during the Civil War in England. He
lived through two disasters - the Plague and the Great Fire of London. He died in
1703
● Pepys started his diary in 1660. He went on writing it until 1669. It's full of
information, because Pepys was interested in everything around him. He wrote
about London, his home, his wife, his friends, about great events such as the Great
Fire, and about himself

Changes after the fire

● A Fire Court was set up to fix disputes about the ownership of land and who should
pay for rebuilding
● Rebuilding started off slowly and picked up pace in 1671
● Every building looked slightly different because land owners and architects wanted
to put their own stamp onto their buildings
● The Royal Exchange was used less and less because coffee houses became more
popular places to do business
 ● New regulations about fire-fighting: four fire districts with a parish officer in each.
They had to check and maintain buckets, ladders, squirts and shovels
● Fire insurance introduced, Nicholas Barbon who invented it also came up with the
idea of professional fire-fighting by employing teams of men to tackle fires that he
had insured

Failed changes - what stayed the same

● The King let parliament to decide how to rebuild London, which style and materials
to use. Architects took inspiration from European cities – grid layout and large public
squares. It turned out that the designs produced were too expensive to build so the
street plan stayed pretty much the same

Christopher Wren
● Rebuilt 52 churches after the fire, including st Pauls
● Also built The Monument (a huge classical pillar you can climb up inside)
● His style was heavily influenced by classical values

Architecture during Restoration

● Wren was the foremost architect of the period
● He admired the Baroque style popular in France but would not always be fully able
to realise these desires, the baroque being too associated with Catholicism
● Charles spent the years of interregnum in France so he is used to this architecture
● In the 1600's, the renaissance architects began to get bored with the symmetry and
same old forms they had been using for the past 200 years
● They started to make bold, curving, and not at all symmetrical buildings, with ornate
decorations
● They started to make curving facades, and used the double curve (in at the
● sides, out in the middle) on many different buildings
● The baroque architects used marble, gilt, and bronze in abundance
● Complex architectural plan shapes, often based on the oval, star and the dynamic
opposition and interpenetration of spaces were favoured to heighten the feeling of
emotion and sensuality
● Pediments (triangular projections above doors on the outer wall of a building) were
often highly decorated. Its art and architecture, often used to express emotion, and
was very elaborate
● The most distinct shape of the Baroque style is the oval. It was a very common shape
among baroque buildings

Features of Renaissance buildings

● Symmetrical arrangement of windows and doors
● Extensive use of classical columns and pillars
 ● Triangular pediments
● Square lintels
● Arches
● Domes
● Niches with sculptures

Characteristics of romanesque architecture

● Thick walls with support stone roofs
● Round arches
● Sturdy piers
● Groin and barrel vaults
● Large towers
● Decorative arcading
● Small windows to keep the strength of the walls going

Characteristics of gothic architecture

● Airy and bright
● Focus on verticality
● Pointed arches
● Rib vaults
● Flying buttresses
● Large stained glass windows
● Ornaments and pinnacles

Architecture spectrum
● Catholic/Foreign -> Baroque -> Classical -> Romanesque -> Gothic ->
English/Anglican

Old st Pauls
● This medieval building was 178 meters long, and, until the spire was struck by
lightning in 1561, it stood 149 meters high
● The exterior had been remodelled in the early 17th century when the architect Inigo
Jones added a colossal porch of free-standing columns. The medieval crossing tower,
however, remained unstable
● In 1666 - just before the Great Fire of London - Christopher Wren recommended that
the tower be taken down and a classical dome put up in its place. His design was
inspired by the church architecture of Paris, which he had recently visited
● The 'Great Fire' put an end to the project when the old St Paul's was reduced to
ruins. Wren was eventually commissioned to build a new cathedral in its place

New st Pauls - an evolution

 ● In 1670-72 Wren produced the 'Greek Cross' design. In the context of English
cathedral design, this project, like its successor the 'Great Model', is remarkable for
two reasons: it is in the classical style of the Italian Renaissance; and it is centrally
planned, which is to say it has a main interior space set beneath a vast dome and
subsidiary spaces located radially around the sides
● Inigo Jones's work at Old St Paul's had sanctioned the use of classical architecture in
Anglican church design (most English churches were 'Romanesque' or 'Gothic'). But
the clergy, who were used to cathedrals shaped like Old St Paul's objected to the
centralised plan. Wren was forced to go back to the drawing board, a bitterly
disappointed man
● Charles II had Wren make a model of his proposed design (‘Great Model’) so it could
be replicated if he were to die or become unable to continue work. It was still
viewed as unacceptable by English clergy
● The 'Warrant' design was probably draughted in the winter of 1674-75. In this design
Christopher Wren deliberately responded to the criticisms levelled against the 'Greek
Cross' and 'Great Model' designs. The plan was now longitudinal, nave and choir
flanked by lower aisles, and with the towers and spire evoking the silhouettes of
medieval England. Crucially the architectural style, remained classical

Wren gives up and builds his initial idea

● The 'Warrant' design was approved by Charles II, and work began in the summer of
1675. But Wren was able to realise some, if not all, of his artistic vision, because the
King:
○ 'was pleas'd to allow the liberty in the Prosecution of his work, to make some
variations, rather ornamental, than essential, as from Time to Time he should
see proper'
● Wren fully exploited this license to the full and the cathedral that began to rise in the
summer of 1675 was, by the time of its completion, substantially different from the
'Warrant' design in almost every respect
● The new st Pauls looked a lot more baroque than the ‘Warrant’ design - a larger
circular dome was what really stood out from the approved design, although the
floor plan remained quite similar

Theatre
Theatre has been banned since 1642
● Theatre was seen as inherently immoral by puritan forces in England
● The subject matter having a secular focus was seen as ungodly
● At the same time the theatre was forbidden to mention god or Christ in any detail
● All the pretending it entailed was viewed with a degree of suspicion
 ● Theatres themselves were perceived as locations of iniquity. Prostitutes would use
them as locations to pick up clients and, because performances were in the day time,
they stopped people from doing an honest day’s work

Theatre changed when it was allowed again

● Elizabethan/ Jacobean theatre:
○ Predominantly open air
○ No women allowed: women’s parts played by boys
○ Romantic comedies, tragedies often focused on violence driven by sexual
desire in a courtly setting. Also satires on contemporary society
● Restoration Theatre:
○ Performed indoors: a smaller more exclusive audience
○ From 1662 women were allowed on stage
○ Comic plays with a focus on sexual immorality, adultery etc in an aristocratic
setting
○ Also tragedies: heroic tragedies focused on military figures or she-tragedies
that focused on women in tragic circumstances. Satires of political life

The new theatre

● Two companies founded in 1662: Kings Company (Killigrew, Theatre Royal) and
Dukes Company (Davenant Dorset Gardens Theatre)
● Wren builds two large theatres which are followed by others
● Seating reflected status: king sitting in royal box for example
● Plays performed are originally pre-Civil war plays but their own style emerges in time
● Changes in design: proscenium arches are introduced, scenery that slides on and off
the stage
● Political satire becomes popular in plays
● Still a lot of prostitutes there, poor people attended, still a popular entertainment
among the people

Political satire
● Early restoration plays were primarily focussed on audience numbers. “The Country
Wife” (1675) is an example of this type of play with its focus on sexuality
● “The Rehearsal” (1771) was a satire of the tragic style of theatre that was popular at
the time, specifically those of Dryden, written by the Duke of Buckingham. Dryden
never wrote another tragedy after its performance.
● Buckingham was also behind “The Country Gentleman” (1771) that was never
performed because its criticism of the politician William Coventry were considered
so shocking
● Politics became more central to theatre as politics became a greater concern in
society with the Popish Plot and the exclusion crisis
 ● The plays would often include allegories (think Animal Farm) where, for example
Crowne’s “City Politics” was set in Naples but featured clear analogous figures from
English politics such as Titus Oates
● Earlier pre-Civil War playwrights like Ben Johnson (or even Shakespeare) had
satirised the idea of the Puritan. But he was a stock figure. In the restoration the
reputation of individuals were held up to scrutiny through theatrical performances

Women in theatre
● It was certainly a change to have women admitted to theatre. It is a key piece of
evidence about the changing role of women in this society
● Whilst She-Tragedies, emerging at the end of this period, like Virtue Betrayed by
Banks (1682) focused on female suffering, restoration comedies portrayed women as
witty, in control and with a degree of agency over their desires
● Women were originally allowed to perform at least in part because this was seen as
a potential moralising influence on the theatre. Puritans had disliked the cross
dressing which is forbidden in the Bible
● Ironically once women were allowed on stage, plays which featured female cross
dressing became quite popular
● However actresses had poor reputations, revealing costumes and a reputation for
sexual availability that was only partially accurate damaged their image
● Nell Gwynne became a prominent and long serving mistress of the king as well as a
prominent actress
● Aphra Behn is a rare example of a female playwright rather than a performer. She
wrote plays that supported the King during the exclusion crisis

Role of women

Role Examples of women and what they did

Politician ● Charles II had a wife Catherine of Braganza and she was the
queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland
● The King also had many mistresses
● Since the King had many mistresses, he had 4 illegitimate
children and no lawful children, which was not a good thing
 Business ● Mrs Constance Pley – a widow who expanded her sail-making
woman trade into an international business. She made a fortune
supplying sails to the English navy for the Dutch Wars (1660s
and 1670s)
● Many women ran businesses alongside their husbands, for
example alehouses, cooked food or sold books
● Pepys’s bookseller Mrs Mitchell ran the business successfully
after her husband’s death

Medical worker ● Jane Sharp published a book called The Compleat Midwife’s
Companion (1671) which contained pictures of babies in
different positions in the womb to advise other midwives in
difficult births where the baby was stuck

Explorer ● Celia Fiennes travelled England on horseback and wrote a

journal where she described the places she saw

Writer ● Aphra Behn was a successful playwright because she knew

what the audience wanted to see. She was a supporter of the
Tories during the Exclusion Crisis

Coffee shops
● Exotic novelty that becomes incredibly popular (500 in London by 1700)
● Locations where business conducted (especially after the fire destroys the Royal
Exchange) function as informal stock markets
● Locations for political discussion. Newspapers were made freely available there so
long as you could afford coffee
● Levelling locations, members of different classes mixed together
● During the exclusion crisis Charles attempts to shut down coffee shops but reopens
them when owners swear oath to ban seditious (criticizing) talk. Briefly associated
with Puritanism at this time
● Locations for scientific discussion
● Different coffee houses were focused on different groups/political alliances
● Women could work at coffee shops but not go there for fun

Advancement of science - Royal Society

Where science is at in 17 century
● This is the beginning of the enlightenment, a more modern understanding of the way
in which the world operates
 ● People you would recognise from your science GCSE: Newton and Boyle are
operating at this time
● But Newton also believes in alchemy
● Robert Hooke, who develops the microscope, also believes that wearing two hats in
bed made him dream about fire
● Pepys was heavily involved in the Royal Society and observational science but also
believed that touching a hare’s foot cured constipation
● Charles is touching people to cure them of “The King’s Evil” as all of this is going on
● These people are not dummies
● Rather a new found passion for observational science leads to widespread
speculation about what might be possible. This is partially based on pre-existing
beliefs (does alchemy work? Let's find out!) and observations (Hooke really did
dream about fire after wearing a double cap…What can that mean?)
● These men are the fathers of modern science, but they are not modern scientists
● Indeed there is no such thing as science: they would perceive themselves as being
“Natural Philosophers”

Royal Society
● An interest in science was considered a gentlemanly pastime
● Charles grants a charter for the formation of a Royal Society 1662
● However he never really follows through and gives them any money
● But the status of the name probably helps boost their reputation and acquire further
patrons and members
● He would fund the building of the Royal Observatory. This was partially a practical
investment because of the role of astronomy in naval navigation which would help
English oversea trading

Their philosophy
● “Nullius in verba” - “Take no one's word for it” the idea that scientific experiments
should be repeatable and observable one’s self (which is the underpinning of
modern science)
● This was based in part on the work of Francis Bacon, a renaissance era philosopher
● Part of their activity was making their own discoveries but they also tested the
discoveries of others
● They published the first scientific journal: The Philosophical Transactions from 1665
to share discoveries and publish letters to allow debate between natural
philosophers
● Issued patents and settled disputes over who was responsible for inventions

Some key discoveries

● Boyle & Hooke’s pneumatic pump was used to demonstrate the effects of a vacuum
 ● Antoni van Leeuwenhoek sees little animals under the microscope the first sighting
of microorganisms. The Royal Society repeats his observation and the science of
microbiology is born (1665)
● The Royal Society publishes Robert Hooke's Micrographia, containing landmark
drawings made using a microscope and including the famous flea. The book coins the
word cell as a biological term (1665)
● The Royal Society publishes Sir Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica describing the
action of gravity with the help of Edmond Halley. It remains one of the most
influential books of all time (1687)

Land, trade and war

Mercantilism: The philosophy of trade in the 17th century
● Today it is often argued that trade makes everyone richer. The dominant economic
model is one of free trade where we allow countries to trade with each other
without making one another paying particularly harsh tariffs (taxes on the sale of
goods) that would make the goods more expensive and less appealing in your
market
● Allowing everyone to sell as much as they can to everyone makes everyone richer
● Some countries might pursue protectionist policies where they try to price foreign
goods out of the market through tariffs, encouraging people to buy home grown
goods, but then the countries will place retaliatory tariffs on them and make their
goods less saleable abroad
● In the 17th and 18th centuries mercantilism was favoured
● Mercantilism argued that the amount of trade that was available at any one time
was fixed, and that nations competed for it with each other
● Consequently you wanted to sell as many goods abroad as you could and buy in as
few as you could
● Building up foreign territories that you controlled was also important because they
created new markets for your goods and generated goods that you could control the
sale of
● By the 1660’s England had developed a number of colonies: foreign territories that it
effectively controlled for trade

Mercantilism in practice
● Keeping trade with foreign powers as low as possible
● Competition with foreign powers over access to valuable non-European trading
markets
● Increasing access to non-European peoples and controlling who they traded with
● Disrupting foreign trade using the Navigation Acts and Privateers (licensed pirates)

Navigation acts
 ● Originally passed before the restoration (1651) but kept in place post 1661
● Only English ships with at least ¾ English crews could trade to and from the colonies
● Rice, tobacco, dyes, wool, cotton, spice produced in English colonial territories had
to be sent only to England
● If they were going to be sold in Europe they had to be shipped to an English port first
● From 1663 European goods travelling to America had to be shipped through English
ports first

England’s Rivals: France, Spain, Netherlands

● Spain was England’s greatest threat due to its wealth in gold and silver
● Netherlands won independence from Spain and the war exhausted Spain’s money so
it is not a threat anymore but the Dutch became more powerful after the war
● France was not a threat to England because they were interested in taking over
Spanish Netherlands, but people feared that France would turn them Catholic
● The Dutch and English are friends because they are protestant
● English won Jamaica from the Spanish
● Dutch ships were caught by English pirates
● In 1664 Charles II took an area of North America that belonged to the Dutch

Bombay & the East India Company

● Originally Portuguese (captured in 1544) but was given to Charles for marrying
Catherine de Braganza (who was also Portuguese). There was a growing port but
wasn’t seen as important to Charles. He needed money at one point and considered
selling it back to the Portuguese
● 1668 - East India Company offered to run Bombay in return for a loan to the king for
50,000 pounds because they needed a port because the Dutch were forcing them
out of the spice trade in Indo-China. This gave the company a monopoly (only
company allowed to trade in Bombay) of English trades with east indies. They had
permission to trade with China without taxes and able to trade diamonds, cotton,
pepper, dyes - profitable trade with Portuguese neighbours. Complete control of the
area, could enforce laws and protect their area (The company becomes the
government of Bombay but belongs to Charles)
● Originally called ‘Company of Merchants of London Trading with the East indies’.
Elizabeth gave company an exclusive access over trade with the East Indies, three
major companies. Conquered Bengal and eventually other places, eventually taking
over India (in the future)
○ Started with Bombay and started expanding to other areas and they had
enough power to control India
● Company is profitable so the England benefits

The Hudson Bay and the Americas

 ● The colonies were established before the Restoration. Charles attempted to gain
more control over his lands in America. 1670 - Charles granted a trading monopoly
over a large area of North America called Hudson’s Bay Company, company
exchanged with British, built trading posts at rivers
● Created to trade beaver fur with the Native Americans. Blankets, pans, kettles, etc in
return. Fur trade is incredibly profitable – cold in winter, Europe killed off all the
furry animals so no one has warm clothes
● Company Pennsylvania established by William Penn, he buys land in America from
Charles. Penn is a Quaker, creates a colony with no religious persecution. Established
for religious tolerance, but Charles wants the money he doesn't care about it
● Fight with the Dutch. New Amsterdam was given to James Duke of York, named after
him to New York in 1664. Delivered a humiliating blow to the Netherlands. New
Netherlands were established and fully recaptured by British and used as a port
● Shareholders in Hudson Bay Company were the king, his cousin Prince Rupert, and
other Aristocrats

Tangiers
● When he married Catherine of Braganza in 1662, her father (King of Portugal) gave
Charles II the territory
● The objectives for this territory were to expand beyond the city and create a colony
of English settlers, trade silk
● 600 settlers but minimum needed to defend was 4,000. ‘Mole’ (large stone pier with
cannons) built as breakwater, town defence, and place to unload goods
● Moroccan forces wanted Tangier for the Moroccan Sultanate. Armies of Algeria and
Morocco sometimes surrounded Tangier. Pirates and the Dutch at sea
● Food imported from England was poor quality, rubbish was thrown onto the streets,
water supply was not clean, mosquito bites plagued people
● During the Exclusion Crisis, Tangier seemed like a hotbed of Catholicism, Charles
allowed Jews and Catholics to worship openly. Appointed two governors who were
Catholics
● In 1680 the House of Commons refused to raise taxes to spend on Tangier and in
1683 Charles was forced to order that the city be evacuated and the fortifications
destroyed, which was completed in 1684

Jamaica and Captain Morgan

● Originally was ruled by Spain but during the interregnum Cromwell's forces captured
it and made it the center of trade of the Caribbean and England
● In 1660s Charles couldn’t afford troops to protect Jamaica so he licensed privateers
to raid the Spanish and look after Jamaica. Captain Morgan was one of them
● Sugar, coffee, cocoa and tobacco were imported to England or traded with other
countries so it brought a lot of money
 ● Bristol processed large amounts of sugar so it was the main beneficiary of Jamaica.
People bought land in Jamaica cheaply, employed workers there and sold produce
for a lot of money. Some owners never even visited their plantations but they knew
that business was working because the money was coming in
● Privateer Captain Morgan: protected the colony in Jamaica from Spanish ships,
raided Spanish town Puerto Principe and got 50,000 ‘pieces of eight’ (Sapnish
dollars). Raided Porto Belo in Panama, 100,000 ’pieces of eight’. England and Britain
signed the treaty of Madrid which was a peace treaty against war but Captain
Morgan broke the treaty by raiding and burning Panama. Ruined the improving
relations with Spain. Eventually becomes governor of Jamaica

Why did slavery develop? - Demand

● The work on slave plantations growing sugar was brutal and hard. Originally settlers
had volunteered to come and work in the Caribbean as indentured servants but
there were not enough to meet the needs of the plantations
● There were indigenous people who had originally been enslaved when settlers had
arrived on these islands, but the European Settlers had brought diseases with them
that had heavily reduced these populations
● By 1680 65,000 West Africans were enslaved by the British, 40,000 in Jamaica.
● Slaves need to be replaced at a rate of 10,000 a year
● Average life expectancy was 7 years (after becoming a slave)

Why Did Slavery Develop? - Supply

● Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa is set up by Charles and led by
James DofY in 1660
● Meant to acquire gold on the Gambia river, splits profits 50/50 with Charles
● 1667 - falls into debt. Relaunched as Royal African Company in 1672, this time with a
focus on slave trading
● 1680 - sending about ½ of the required slaves to Jamaica each year (5000)

Impact of slavery on England

● Growth of trade in exotic groceries
● Growth of London trade. London processed about 75% of sugarcane at this time
● English landowners who invested in plantations but never went to visit them made
enormous profits from them
● Subsidiary industries. Production of chains for slave ships, slave ships built in
Deptford London. Even coffee houses were in a way a product of the growing
transatlantic trade

English Sea Power

● Britain was an island which provided a defence against rival powers
 ● Key victories like that over the Spanish Armada gave an enhanced sense of
importance to naval power in the English mindset
● As English overseas territories became more important, so did the navy that
protected them and their trade. This mutual development was known as Charles’
Blue Water Policy

The nature of naval warfare

● Massed sea battles were relatively rare. Much of the naval violence that took place
during this period were raids by privateers or small groups of ships on vulnerable
opponents
● At the same time however more and more specialised heavy warships were
developed to enhance the Line of Battle technique that was important at this time

The Line of Battle / Line Ahead

● Ships would form a line bow to stern
● They would then sail past each other firing as many cannon balls as they could into
the opposing ships
● This led to the development of heavier and more heavily gunned ships that would be
able to apply more fire power to a tight area and also survive enemy fire power
slightly better

Key features of the English Navy

● High positions of command would be held by aristocrats (notably the Duke of York)
● Middle ranking officers tended to have a degree of experience, especially after the
changes introduced by Pepys
● Some men were volunteers
● Some men were “pressed”: forcibly conscripted from the streets of ports. It is
debatable the extent to which this undermined the navy as the men who were
pressed were often selected because they were experienced sailors

The English Navy & Pepys

● Samuel Pepys was born a tailor's son. His cousin, Edward Viscount Montagu helped
him get his first post with the Navy Board (a Government office responsible for the
provisioning and maintenance of ships). When Pepys started his job as Clerk of the
Acts to the Kings’ Ships, he knew nothing of ships or seamanship, but in time, his
 enquiring mind, hard work and concern for detail made him the most influential man
in the administration of the Royal Navy
● Pepys discovered that cheating and theft had ruined standards of supplies and
shipbuilding. After the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–74), sailors complained their
food was so bad that it included mouldy bread and diseased meat. Pepys met with
suppliers and agreed rules about the standard of food to make up crews’ rations.
Every day, sailors were to get one gallon of beer, 500g of biscuit, 100g of salt beef or
fish, butter and cheese. The absence of fresh fruit and vegetables ensured that the
terrible disease of scurvy would continue.
● He was also determined that naval commanders should have more experience of the
sea. In 1677, he created the first exams, including some for mathematics and
navigation, for would-be lieutenants. At the same time, he set standards for ships'
surgeons, pursers and even parsons. Pepys also tried to tackle the problem of sailors’
pay

The First Dutch War

● Occurred under Cromwell
● English Victory
● You don’t need to know about it

2nd Dutch War (1665-67)

● Reason for war: mercantilism – finite amount of resources in the world and everyone
wants them. Royal African Company are asking for war, English and Dutch are trade
rivals, JDoY attacks New Amsterdam and makes it new York
● 1665 - English win the battle of Lowestoft using line ahead tactics. Lose 1 ship, Dutch
32. JDoY is a good naval leader
● Reasons for the English defeat: Charles is worried about JDoY being killed in battle.
Earl of Sandwich replaces him but he is not as good a commander. The plague makes
it hard to supply the navy, also the fire happens. He tries to attack the port of Bergen
and fails. Sandwich is replaced by Monck – 4 days battle (June 1667), doesn’t use line
ahead tactics, so English lose again. Navy runs out of money because of plague and
fire, navy cannot be rebuilt. Dutch build new ships, go to Chatham, burn 13 English
ships, break the chain across the Medway

3rd Dutch war (1672-74)

● Reason for war: Idea of Charles, but its Lois 14’s idea really – France want Dutch
territory, Charles wants money. Louis gives Charles money so he fights the Dutch for
him
● Reasons for the English defeat: raiding each other rather than big battles, English lost
more ships. James is not allowed to be Admiral because of test act. Prince Rupert
(Charles II’s second second cousin) is Admiral instead but he’s bad. Parliament
doesn’t want to support the war because Charles is allied to the Catholics. It doesn’t
give money to Charles to fight the war. Propaganda that Charles wants to rule
without parliament. Peace treaty signed in february 1674, war is waste of time